Graham Forester's Story

Clair smiled, gesturing for Faussin to join her outside. She paused, then glanced around the room.

"This isn't something we have to do alone," she said, addressing everyone equally. "It's just...I would like to fix up my arms a bit, and I thought Fauss might like some fresh air since he seemed a bit uncomfortable during that hug too. Anyone is welcome to come along. I-I know I'm not...not exactly trustworthy after what happened. I-I'm so sorry."

"Clair," Madoka began, softly, "it's okay. I trust you."

Clair let out a small sigh, forcing a smile. "Thanks, good luck charm. B-but seriously, I swear, I-I just wanted...it's a quick trip to the nurse's office and if we're not there and something goes wrong, I...I'm willing to accept responsibility for that."

"Good enough for me," Faqir decided, obliging Graham's offered bro-five. "I'll be here, chilling with my ideal threesome."

"I don't think I'll ever understand you," Madoka admitted.

"I'd be more worried if you did."

Romano looked around the room, debating going along with Clair and Faussin if they did leave the room. It wasn't because he didn't trust her, honestly--or that he didn't trust Faussin--it was rather that he didn't trust the two of them together. Clair already made him uneasy, but Faussin's lack of a response to the "don't kill me" offer made Romano a bit apprehensive.

Thinking of the things that could be hidden in the nurse's office was worrying, to say the least. It was likely he would follow the two if no one else spoke up, considering Faussin ended up leaving at all.

---

She definitely noticed. Or at least kind of noticed, Faussin thought, watching Clair. He was, admittedly, wary of walking alone with her--he just couldn't stop thinking about the things that could go wrong, the things that she could end up saying. Biting his lip, though, he realized there was nothing she could do that he wouldn't tell the others.

Besides, maybe it was nothing. Faussin was prone to overreacting--or at least, that's what his sister liked to say. Of course, that was an entirely different matter. Though if that wasn't enough, his brother told him that he tended to dwell on the negatives more than the positives, but he had gotten better at it. Faussin doubted the others were going to let Clair and another male student go off on walk alone, anyways.

Sighing, he stood, slipping his cards into his pocket.

Vivara watched as he walked toward the door. "That's funny. I hadn't actually expected Faussin to agree."

He laughed nervously. How was he going to walk off with Clair and make it look like he wasn't about to plan a murder? That being said, he was not going off to plan a death. Murder was the absolute last thing that he wanted to commit, no doubt, but even he knew this looked suspicious.

He stood by the doorway, as if waiting for someone else to join them. He didn't want to walk with her alone.

It seemed they were going after all--Romano stepped forwards, clearing his throat.

"If all is well with you, I would like to accompany the two of you to the nurse's office. As I mentioned earlier, I have basic nursing knowledge which may be beneficial to you."

It wasn't the real reason, but there was no need to worry the two by telling them the truth. Romano didn't exactly expect anything to happen, but a three-person group was better in terms of having an alibi anyway--you just never knew.

Clair dipped her head. "That's fair. I-I didn't really expect to be let out alone with someone, haha."

It was likely she knew even if Romano hadn't said anything. He bowed, moving to follow Clair out into the hallway. Clair paused by Faussin, whispering something to him briefly. Romano stiffened.

"And what is this that you must whisper?"

Clair hesitated. "I have no trouble with him telling you, but...it's a bit of a personal matter. I've been plenty open with you but when it comes to others, I...don't have the right to say."

Romano paused. It clearly had something to do with the way she had related Faussin to the discussion earlier, but it was still suspicious. He nodded, turning towards the hallway towards the nurse's office. If anything happened, he would just have to be ready.

He had to make Madoka's words during the last trial true--it had to be the last one.

---

Faussin hardly slept that night, which was no surprise. Getting out of bed was a chore in and of itself--one that required immense effort--but like the days prior, he'd somehow managed. Slipping his newly washed jacket on over his bandaged arms, he took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and mustered up the courage to face a new day. They were going to find a way out of there--they had to.

Just as he was about to leave his room, someone knocked. Graham's voice spoke from the other side: "Fauss, you awake?"

Suddenly worried, Faussin opened the door, facing a rather worried-looking Graham. Behind him, he realized Finnian was knocking on other people's doors as well. "Is something wrong?"

"Romano found Amelia," he started, "dead. In the garden. Finn and I are waking up anyone who's not up already so we can start investigating."

Dead.

Why was he surprised?

Whatever confidence he'd woken up with now gone, Faussin stepped out of his room and closed the door behind him. Of course, the next person to die had to have been the one who'd brought her happiness to the group when everything was falling apart. By the time this trial was over, they'd all be locking themselves in their rooms. He could feel it.

"Do we know anything so far?" Faussin asked, glancing in the direction of the stairs. "How long ago was she, um... found?"

"I'm not sure," Graham admitted. "Vivara was the one who woke me up, so you'd probably be better off asking her. To be honest, I'm kind of half asleep, half in shock right now..."

Faussin looked around, not feeling too great himself. Waking up to murder wasn't exactly his ideal way to start off the day.

Slowly, the students began to gather in the garden, where Romano stood guard over Amelia's body. Romano drowned out the familiar chime of the body discovery announcement, focusing instead on observing his classmates. Predictably, Clair was huddled in Madoka's arms, trembling. Oni moved as close to Romano as she could get, reaching out to touch his arm. Faqir lingered somewhere between Mercy and Amelia's body, mumbling to himself.

After a moment, his murmurs grew louder. "We barely met Lottie."

Romano nodded solemnly, crouching next to the girl. Oni placed a hand on his back, eerily quiet.

"She had just introduced herself," Faqir continued, laughing. "Man, I had so much fun with that girl. She told the best puns. I was so looking forward to continuing to get to know her, just...just hanging out together, you know?"

"Sucks to suck!"

Monokuma popped up out of nowhere as usual, practically dropping the Monokuma File on Romano. Romano took it.

"There you go, your Monokuma File to help begin your investigation! Good luck, dorks!"

"Wait." Romano rose to his feet, turning to glare at the bear. "Before you go, there is something I must ask you. Is there a way out of this?"

Monokuma frowned. "Well, duh. I already told you, Jarvis! Kill someone and get away with it, and bam, you're free as a bird!"

"Outside of trials. Have we any hope of getting out of here?"

"Whaddaya think I am, some kinda blabbermouth? I ain't telling! Ta-ta for now, see ya at the trial!"

The bear was gone before Romano could continue. He sighed, opening the file.

"Romano," Oni said quietly, "didn't that sound kinda weird? Like he's hiding something from us?"

Romano knew what she meant as soon as she brought it up. "You mean that he did not say 'no'. Yes, it is rather strange."

"So there!" Oni placed her hands on her hips, triumphant. "We can get out without having to kill for it. Where there's a will, there's a way! And where there's a way, the Great Demon Queen will find it!"

It was unlikely, but it was something to cling to. Romano tucked her words in the back of his mind, reading from the Monokuma File.

"To begin our unfortunate investigation, I shall read this out loud. 'The victim was Lottimelia Temmer.' Lottimelia--I suppose it works."

"That sounds like something she would call herself. I like it," Faqir added.

"Yes, it is rather fitting. 'The time of death was four in the morning. The cause of death was lowered blood pressure and difficulty breathing.'"

Odd. There were clear signs of a stab wound, but the Monokuma File indicated some other cause of death. Romano supposed being stabbed in the chest would, in fact, cause lowered blood pressure and difficulty breathing, but if that were the case, why not simply say "the cause of death was a stab wound"?

Additionally, something stood out about the position of the stab wound. Romano frowned.

"May I ask one of our members with medical knowledge to examine the body? This cause of death seems odd to me and I believe there may be more clues hidden in the wound."

---

Faussin lingered a distance away from the body, willing himself not to stare. Another student--lifeless. Cold.

"Of course." Vivara crouched down next to the body, unflinching as always. She adjusted her glasses, stared for a moment, and narrowed her eyes slightly. "I'd like to have Finnian confirm this, but something does seem to be off about the stab wound. The angle suggests she was stabbed while lying down, not while standing."

"That's... weird," Finnian muttered, kneeling down next to her. "I think you're right. Doesn't make much sense, though. Maybe the attacker snuck up on her while she was sleeping?"

Vivara shook her head. "It's hard to believe she'd sleep in the garden rather than her room, which can be locked. Maybe she was tackled and then stabbed?"

Finnian bit his lip. "Not sure. Maybe if we look around, stuff will start making sense."

"Maybe," Vivara muttered. "This wound seems to have been made by something that looks awfully like a knife, but I suppose there's no way to be sure. Does anyone have any instincts on what places to check? Obviously, the rest of the garden, but aside from that? And if she was outside of her room at four in the morning, as the time of death suggests, it had to have been for a reason. If anyone saw her acting suspicious, now would be the time to say so."

"I hate to be the one to point this out," Graham started, seeming hesitant, "but you were talking to her a lot yesterday, Ysabel."

Ysabel, who had been standing a stunned distance away from the body, perked up. "Wh-what?"

"It may not mean anything. But it's worth pointing out," Graham spoke. "The other two trials were pretty easy to figure out, but this feels like it's going to be a bit harder. And we all know what happens if we get the murderer wrong, so..."

"We're not going to get it wrong," Vivara said. "Will someone check her room? She still has her handbook, and there may be some clues inside."

Mercy, who had been silent the entire time, brushed a strand of hair behind her ear. "I'll check with Oni. Would you hand me her handbook?"

Vivara hesitated. "Of course. If you're uncomfortable checking, Mercy, I'm sure someone else could go in your stead."

"Whether I'm comfortable or not does not matter," Mercy replied numbly, taking the handbook from Vivara. "You are needed here for your medical expertise, Clair is unstable, and Ysabel is apparently a suspect. Truth be told, I would be even more uncomfortable letting anyone else check."

"Very well. Do hurry--our time is limited, as always."

Mercy turned, heading for the exit. She gestured for Oni to follow.

Faussin's gaze turned back toward Lottimelia. It was hard to explain, but something about her seemed oddly peaceful. The Ultimate Botanist, laying in a bed of flowers, blonde hair spread out across the greenery...

Why did this have to happen?

Oni seemed almost grateful to have an excuse to be away from the body. She paused, hugged Romano briefly, then trotted after Mercy. Romano watched her, brushing off his sleeve.

How long would it be until she was laying on the ground just like Lottimelia? How far would Oni manage to make it before she, too, lay as a corpse on the ground? Would she be able to escape with the others?

Romano looked over the file again. Something was still strange, but he couldn't tell what.

"The two most likely areas to have a knife would be the kitchen and the nurse's office, correct?" Romano asked. "If no one is opposed, I will take someone along to investigate one of those two areas while two others check wherever I do not. Are there any volunteers?"

Faqir raised his hand. "I'll go somewhere. Viv and Finn should probably stay here and work out the issue with the body, Madoka's gotta stay with Clair or she'll probably kill something, and you've got places to be. Fauss, Graham, Ysabel, anyone wanna come with?"

Clair sniffled. "M-Mado can go," she assured. "I'll be fine on my own, d-don't worry. I-I'm sorry I'm so useless right now."

Madoka hugged her closer, letting her head rest on his shoulder. "Faqir's right, I-I should probably stick with her."

Romano nodded slowly, his eyes drifting over to Faussin. This couldn't have been the best remedy to his own issues--perhaps it was best to ensure he was with someone who could serve as mental support. Still, after the events of last night accompanying the boy himself may raise some suspicions.

"Master Faussin, why don't you go with Master Faqir?" Romano offered. "The two of you may check the nurse's office, if that is alright. I will take Master Graham to check the kitchen. Miss Ysabel, feel free to decide for yourself where you wish to go."

---

Faussin paused, glancing over at Faqir. As with most of the other students, Faussin hadn't grown very close to anyone, Faqir included. He seemed nice, but the way he'd blown up at Clair made Faussin more nervous about reaching out. For now, maybe it was best to keep his distance.

Or was not growing close to anyone going to make him an easier target to kill?

He bit his lip. He deserved it anyway.

"Well." Faussin hesitated. "No time to waste, right?"

"That's for sure," Graham said with an insincere chuckle. He glanced over at Romano, then at the door, as if waiting for them to leave.

Vivara and Finnian were still crouched down by the body, looking down at the Monokuma File and exchanging theories about what may have happened. Faussin had to admit that the file's wording had been a bit weird, but if anyone was going to figure out why, it wasn't going to be him.

As he looked, though, something occurred to him. The flowers around Lottimelia stood tall, as if almost untouched. Normally, this wouldn't have stood out, but if there was some kind of struggle, wouldn't the flowers have been crushed--or at least somehow disturbed?

Maybe it was nothing, but it bothered him.

Romano nodded, moving towards the door. Admittedly, he wasn't sure what anyone might find in the two rooms he had sent them to check, but it was worth a try.

He had sent Faussin to the nurse's office on purpose--if anyone was to know if something was out of place in that room, Romano guessed it would be him. Furthermore, choosing the kitchen was deliberate--Romano had spent so much time in the cafeteria cleaning and gathering food for the others that he had basically memorized the layout of the place. They were probably the best equipped to explore the two rooms.

Just before passing Faqir on his way out, Romano placed a hand on the jeweler's shoulder, leaning in to whisper. "Be considerate."

Faqir tilted his head. "Sure thing, man. You okay?"

"I am perfectly fine, Master Faqir. Do not worry yourself over me." Sure, it was a lie, but there was no need to worry anyone.

Steeling his nerve for whatever he might come across, Romano headed towards the kitchen, only vaguely waiting for Graham to follow.

---

Watching Romano and Graham leave, Faussin got the feeling that he and Faqir were due to leave as well and started heading toward the nurse's office. He glanced over his shoulder to make sure Faqir was coming, then quickened his pace, not wanting to waste any time.

Ysabel stuck by Vivara and Finnian, apparently not sure of where to go.

When Faussin opened the door to the nurse's office, everything seemed to be in order. His first instinct was to check the knives, but as he stepped in, something seemed about the shelves seemed off. It was hard to tell what, but after having been there so many times, he could tell something was different.

"Could you check the knives?" Faussin asked, wandering over to the shelves. "I can't tell what, but something here is bothering me..."

He began scanning the medicines. Yes, something was definitely wrong, but what?

His eyes narrowed.

"This is in the wrong place."

Faussin pinpointed a bottle of sleeping pills, taking it off of its perch and looking at it more closely. He immediately noticed how light it felt--it was as if half of its contents were missing. Carefully, he unscrewed the cap, and sure enough, it was almost empty.

When the nurse's office first opened up, he'd come in not only to clean up his arms, but to look for something to help him sleep. He'd spotted this bottle, but had ultimately decided against taking anything in case they were secretly poisoned. A silly notion, he knew, but one he couldn't stop thinking about.

Even if he didn't end up taking any, he'd put it right back where it belonged, and it had been completely full. Even yesterday, it was still in the same place, which meant someone had moved it some time between yesterday morning and the morning of Lottimelia's death.

"And that wasn't there before," he muttered, eyes fixing on an empty cup from the cafeteria. "At least, I don't think it was."

Romano made his way into the cafeteria, pausing to check that everything in the main dining hall was in order. The chairs were arranged as he had left them, the tables were spotless, and the floors were tidy--part of that had come from Romano's daily romp through the rooms to ensure they were in order, but he remembered that it had been this clean when he had entered earlier as well.

Leaving the dining hall behind, he headed into the kitchen. "Master Graham, do feel free to look around wherever you like. If anything seems out of the ordinary, take note of it--anything could be a clue."

On that note, one of the kitchen knives was clearly missing. Romano memorized the exact number--there should have been six--and there was a distinct gap in the set.

He puzzled through it internally--the knife was not upstairs with Lottimelia, and unless the killer had taken time after the kill to meticulously clean any stains there was evidence they hadn't returned to the kitchen after performing the deed. The missing knife had to be somewhere, but as for where Romano was unsure.

Perhaps Graham had ideas. "Have you any ideas of where a missing knife may have ended up? Were there any clues upstairs that would lead to a particular location?"

---

Faqir saluted, obediently moving to check the collection of scalpels and other assorted sharp objects. "The knives are all very sharp and none are stained with blood. My conclusion is that the killer probably didn't use one. Think they took a knife from the cafeteria when they got that glass?"

Faqir was surprised at how calm he'd managed to stay thus far--it was almost as though he was getting desensitized to the sight of a dead body.

The thought was terrifying.

Maybe he had just stopped believing it could be true. It was likely Faqir had simply labelled all of the deaths as a horrific nightmare, some kind of illusion or prank being played on the students. All those who appeared dead were still alive, laughing about how "we got them!" Bonnie, Xhevona, Eriko, Braeden, Lottimelia...they'd all been in on the joke, that was all. He was just being pranked.

His mind was quickly turning to a darker place. Trying to remain calm, Faqir examined the cabinet holding the knives before moving on to check other areas of the nurse's office. Everything seemed mostly in order--perhaps Faussin had had better luck.

---

"Maybe," Faussin muttered. "It just seems kind of weird, right? If they used a knife from the kitchen, then what would they even be doing in the nurse's office?"

He sighed, walking over to the glass. From what he could tell, it was empty, but there were droplets of what looked like water stuck to the side. Like the bottle, it had to have been brought into the room after he and Clair visited the day prior. Unless it was always there and he just hadn't noticed it...?

No. Even if he hadn't noticed it, Romano would've spotted it and brought it back the cafeteria.

Faussin took a breath. He didn't like how comfortable he was with all of this. Not that he was exactly 'comfortable', but even during the first trial, he hadn't reacted to Bonnie and Xhevona's deaths the way everyone else had. It drilled in the feeling that something was wrong with him. It made him more afraid of what he might do, considering he didn't even seem to flinch at a body in the first place.

"Do you see anything else?" Faussin asked, looking around.

---

---

---

Graham turned to Romano, admittedly glad he had found something--Graham's search had turned up nothing so far.

"Nothing that comes to mind right away," he admitted, frowning. "There are tons of places to hide things, especially now that we have three floors. I would know."

He paused, thinking. Where would I hide something?

"Could we check the rooms?" He asked, immediately thinking of the collection of treasure hidden in his room. "Wait, no. That'd take too long. I just feel like someone may have hidden it in their room because our rooms lock, and going into your room to hide things is a lot less suspicious than returning a bloody knife to the kitchen."

The rooms--it made sense the more Romano thought about it. If the killer had brought the knife back to their room, it would have looked like an ordinary trip back to where they slept and would have reduced the risk of blood getting in one of the rooms Romano checked frequently.

The question was, whose room?

"Miss Mercy and Miss Oni are searching Lottimelia's room," Romano muttered. "We can rule out our own two rooms, but that still leaves quite a few we could attempt to search. I don't suppose you have anyone's handbooks on you, do you?"

If anyone was going to mysteriously have one of the other students' handbooks, it was Graham. Even so, he was right that checking every room would take too long...they would have to plan carefully to save the most time.

---

Faqir glanced around at all the cabinets and counters, scanning for anything that looked particularly "out of place". Nothing caught his eye...until he glanced down at the floors to search for bloodstains and found some pill capsules instead.

He nudged the pile with a foot. "I don't suppose this is some kind of Morse code message. Think the killer was trying to spell something, or did someone just drop these while trying to get high?"

If nothing else, at least Faqir still had some semblance of a sense of humor. He wasn't yet sure whether that was a good thing or not.

---

Faussin looked down at the pills Faqir was referring to, then back to the bottle in his hand.

He knelt down, taking a pill from the floor and one from the bottle. Just to make sure he wasn't wrong, he checked both sides of each pill, then looked up at Faqir. "They're sleeping pills. There are a ton missing from the bottle, but I don't think these are enough to make up for everything that's missing."

Faussin bit his lip. Why would the killer want anything to do with sleeping pills? If anything, they would at least bother to notice the pills they'd dropped, right? It wasn't as though they weren't obvious.

---

---

Graham took three handbooks out of his pockets. "Well. I'd be lying if I said no. I've got my handbook, Faqir's, and Ysabel's. Normally I just have me and Faqir's on me, but when I saw Ysabel talking to Lottimelia last night, I got suspicious. I mean, normally, it'd be nothing, but... Ysabel isn't very talkative, and considering that Lottimelia just ended up dying this morning, I didn't want to take any chances."

He paused, taking one last handbook out of his pocket. "I also have your handbook. Not for any particular reason, I just like to steal things, which I'm sure is no surprise. Here, you can have it back now. Also, we should hurry, because we're on a time limit, as I'm sure you're aware."

Romano would be lying if he said he was surprised to see Graham had his handbook. Sighing, he reached out to take it, tucking it away in his pocket.

Somehow, Romano couldn't see any reason Faqir would kill Lottimelia--he had quickly grown incredibly attached to Lottie and was one of the most adamant about preventing more death.

Ysabel, however--Romano knew next to nothing about Ysabel.

"If you do not mind, I would like to check Miss Ysabel's room," Romano said. "Just like you, I am...somewhat suspicious of her. I will be the first to admit I know nothing about her."

---

Sleeping pills?

"Maybe the killer was just having trouble sleeping." Faqir shrugged, examining the spilt pills. "...Hey, you said that glass wasn't here yesterday, right? Do you think the two are connected somehow? Like, maybe Lottie was poisoned or something. I don't know a whole lot about drugs, surprisingly."

Poison--it was possible, but was it likely? Something still felt off about the whole thing. Why poison Lottimelia and stab her?

No matter the end result, Faqir felt sure--this was going to break the group all over again.

---

"Poison?" Faussin let out a sigh. "But how would they have gotten her to take it? And she was stabbed too, right? Th-this doesn't make any sense. I hope everyone is having more luck than we are."

He stood, taking a deep breath. He glanced toward the door, then back at Faqir, suddenly feeling awkward. Of course, of all times to feel awkward, during the investigation of a murder was most definitely the one. He stuffed his hands into his pockets. As much as he was trying not to, he couldn't help but think about how everyone would probably miss him the least of all if he died.

But that was what he wanted, right? He didn't want to be close to anyone and he didn't want anyone to be close to him, because that's what he was used to. He liked staying in his own little bubble. When the suffocating feeling grew more and more, however, sometimes the bubble seemed to just be making it worse.

"We checked everything, right?" Faussin asked.

---

---

Graham nodded, heading for the cafeteria door. Something had always seemed weird about Ysabel--she never talked, she always seemed distant from the rest of the group, and she didn't even know her Ultimate. It was weird, to say the least, and seeing her talk to Lottimelia the night before she died only made her seem even more suspicious.

"So it's not just me," Graham confirmed, tightening his grip on Ysabel's handbook. "Let's go check out her room. ...Except we can't, because we're guys. Let's go ask Mercy and Oni to check out her room."

He wasn't sure what he was hoping for. If they found something suspicious, then they'd have a solid suspect. If they didn't, then they'd have nothing.

Of course, the others were searching for clues, too, right? Hopefully, they were all coming up with something. Failing a trial would spell everyone's doom, after all.

Romano nodded, following Graham out of the kitchen. "During the first investigation, the law against male students entering a female student's room was revoked. Do you think the same may be true now?"

As if on cue, Monokuma popped out of the ground. "Bingo! It'd drag forever if I didn't let you sneaky bastards into those rooms every once in a while."

Romano sighed. "Then I assume we are welcome in Miss Ysabel's room."

"Sure, sure. But I'll be watchin' you! Nothing creepy, okay? And if I see you opening any weird drawers...it'll be double punishment time, got it?!"

Talking with Monokuma always gave Romano a headache--he pushed it away. "Understood."

As quickly as he'd come, the bear vanished. Romano continued down the hallway, his mind whirling.

"...That all said, shall we attempt to search the room ourselves?"

---

Faqir sighed, fiddling with the chain around his neck. "All I'm sayin' is, this is some Sherlock Holmes sh*t we're being forced to crack. I guess that's everything, huh? I didn't find anything else worth mentioning."

How were the others doing? Had they nailed down a suspect? Did they have the missing puzzle pieces?

Puzzles. Not for the first time, Faqir found himself missing Eriko. She would have solved the case in a snap--it was her specialty, after all.

For her sake, they had to solve this puzzle.

---

"You're not wrong," Faussin admitted, laughing nervously. He moved to scratch his arms, then stopped, slipping a hand into his pocket and taking out his deck of cards. He hadn't parted with them the moment they'd arrived. "Um. Should we go back to the garden?"

Then again, the idea of going back up there made him slightly nauseous. It was just a reminder of the hopeless situation they were in.

He began to shuffle the cards. "Unless you have anywhere else you wanna check?"

---

---

"It would be faster," Graham pointed out. "And if anyone's going to be thorough, it's probably us. Or Vivara. You and Vivara would probably do the best job going through someone's room, but right now she's examining a dead body and to be honest I don't envy her. Better that Mercy doesn't have to do it anyway."

Not missing a beat, he stopped in front of Ysabel's door. Admittedly excited to break into her room without her knowing, (not because of anything weird, he just got a weird satisfaction from breaking into things), he unlocked it with the handbook and swung the door open.

Everything seemed normal--almost too normal. Nothing was personalized. Which, he supposed wasn't too weird, but maybe as someone who'd spent hours organizing and reorganizing all of the things in his room over and over again and mentally declaring his room as his fortress, it stood out to him.

Romano examined the room, marveling at how clean it appeared to be. It certainly wasn't quite up to his standards, but Ysabel clearly took good care of her things, if nothing else. Beyond that, it was...empty. Strangely empty.

"Search wherever you like," Romano urged, moving to Ysabel's dresser. "I shall search the dressers. Do let me know if you find anything unusual."

The countertops were immaculate--Romano moved on to the drawers, only moving any items contained within enough to spy if anything was out of the ordinary. Most were full of normal things such as clothes and knickknacks; Romano tried to avoid fiddling around in any drawers that contained undergarments out of pure respect for privacy.

It was the last drawer he checked that hid the kitchen knife. Romano recognized it immediately, pulling it out of the drawer.

"...Well, well, well."

---

Is there? Truthfully, Faqir didn't have any other ideas on other places to check, but he also really didn't want to go back upstairs yet.

"Maybe Romano and Graham missed something in the kitchen." Faqir knew they hadn't--Romano was far too thorough in those things--but anything that would give him something to do besides going upstairs was better than nothing.

---

Faussin scratched the back of his head, looking over at the door. Somehow he doubted they'd missed anything, but Fauss would take any excuse to not have to go back upstairs. "It wouldn't hurt to double check, right?"

"Time's up! Everyone, report to the red door so the trial can begin!"

He paused. "Or not. T-time to start the trial, I guess."

---

---

Graham perked up at the sound of the announcement, both standing up and glancing over at Romano to see what had peaked his interest. When he realized the kitchen knife had been buried in one of Ysabel's drawers, he suddenly felt his chest constrict. It was lucky that they'd checked her room, for sure, but it was still hard to accept that there were so many cold-blooded students among them.

But they weren't exactly cold-blooded, were they? It was the hopelessness and desperation of such a situation that drove them to kill another student, and that was terrible, to say the least. He briefly wondered how many people among them were capable of something so terrible when pushed to their limit.

There wasn't a way to know, was there?

He sighed, heading toward the door. Things were getting worse and worse, and he wasn't sure they were going to get any better. How empty would the conference room feel after this trial finished?