Danganronpa: ReProgrammed

All-Star Apologies: Part 21 [Class Trial]

"Let's begin with a basic explanation of the class trial! So, your votes will determine the results! If you can figure out "whodunnit" then only they will receive punishment. But if you pick the wrong one...I'll punish everyone BESIDES the blackened, and the one who deceived everyone else will graduate! Now...Let's begin!"

Chihiro was silent.

Makoto was silent.

Kyoko was silent.

Mondo, Taka, Mukuro and Byakuya were all silent.

"Geez! Talk about lack of excitement!" Monokuma growled "what happened to you guys's spirits!? Usually you'd be able to jump right in it!"

This was of course said sarcastically. There were quite a few reasons why it was harder to get right into the trial than it was the previous three times. For one thing, Taeko wasn't a character many people felt like avenging. She was genuinely a cold, harsh and terrible person, and it was thanks to her that the class trial before this had happened. It was as Makoto had said before...Karma had come back to bite her...

Of course, Karma wasn't actually what killed Taeko. Someone else in the trial room had, and that was the other issue. It was hard to believe that after all the group had been through that a murder had happened again. One could argue Taeko deserved her fate, but even still, murder was wrong, and everyone had thought everyone else would have known by now that it was a bad idea to play along with the game.

Nevertheless, here everyone was, on death's door once again, and no one had any inkling of an idea where to start...

"Seriously though, do you guys plan to start anytime soon? I don't have all day you know!" Monokuma growled "bear in mind, if I get bored, I'll just bring this trial to a quick end and execute you all!"

"Dammit...!" Mondo began to sweat.

"That's not much of an issue on my part..." Byakuya sneered "we already know who the culprit is..."

He didn't need to say who he was suspecting at this point. His eyes were directly straight across the courtroom, glaring at Mukuro. Mukuro turned her head, refusing to meet his glare, and stayed perfectly silent.

"Byakuya, please," Kyoko said "we haven't even begun the discussion yet. You can't easily say that Mukuro is the killer without covering the evidence first."

"I am aware of that," Byakuya sighed "which is why I'm just as eager to get this trial started as Monokuma is. For crying out loud, what do we do first?"

"Well, that's easy!" Taka coughed and began to take charge in his regular booming voice "we start by outlining the basic facts of the case! We can then collectively decide where to go from there!"

"My, my," Byakuya smirked "I forgot you weren't here for the last class trial...Honestly, I did miss that obnoxious voice of yours. You're more dependable in these situations than you seem..."

"Coming from you, I suppose I'll take that as a compliment..." Taka grunted "but what do you mean "more than I seem!?" I may have my hiccups, but I'm still the Ultimate Moral Compass I'll have you know!"

"Let me lend my voice to Taka's suggestion," Makoto spoke up "let's start by presenting the basic facts of the case. It's a staple in these situations to make sure everyone's on the same page, right?"

"Damn straight!" Mondo gave a thumbs up.

"Yeah, let's get into it...!" Chihiro clenched his fists and pumped his arms in determination.

"I suppose we don't really have a choice..." Kyoko sighed "let's begin then..."

Mukuro remained silent.