#TDADRPBP

[detectivenyx]

Offer people bottles of vanilla extract to calm down.

You dig into your pockets and present the group several bottles of vanilla extract with an earnest smile.

It definitely stops the argument before it starts and calms everyone down - if only because at this stage, it's utterly baffling.

"... I'm sorry, are those bottles of vanilla extract?"

"I think they just do that in times like this."

You hand a bottle to Hina and Kiyotaka - both hesitantly take them.

"Is... now a bad time to mention another thing Byakuya did?"

"If it's unrelated to the issues we're facing, then yes."

"... It's very related. Byakuya raided the medbay and emptied the blood down the sink."

"He did what?! What if one of us needs a transfusion?!"

"Then you either take the saline solution, or you die. Simple as that."

"Hardly a small price to pay to ensure vampires can only feed through direct confrontation."

"... How would you know the vampire clause in the rules was genuine?"

"What? I didn't. I took a risk."

"You had been indicating you believed it to be just flavour text to our situation. It makes little sense to destroy the blood that may be necessary if the murders are merely violent, to prevent a possibility that would be..."

"... Honestly? Preferable. Vampires having access to non-lethal blood would benefit all parties, if not the humans."

"I see! So Byakuya was a vampire all along!"

"... I didn't say-"

"Whether or not Touko's taste in literature was of a top-tier nature, she did not deserve this fate...!"

"You fools... why would I do this?"

"Simple. You got hungry."

"Why would I kill Touko if I was the one with access to the blood?"

"If you spilled her blood on you, then it would be a perfect alibi."

"... Should we go for it?"

"Absolutely not. You'll waste one of our executions."

"Waste... I don't know about that. You're uncooperative and sabotaging - to the point where we don't know which side you're on. I'd argue you're pretty expendable."

"E-Expendable... any of us? He's not being the biggest team player, but--"

"If he's a vampire, we get rid of one of them. If he's a human, he's an active detriment to us. If nobody else has any argument... I'm calling a trial."

Junko makes her way over to the button.

[detectivenyx]

Dig into your pocket and pull out a gun.

You dig into your pocket, feeling your hands close around the familiar shape of a handle. You pull the gun out of your pocket, aiming it into the crowd.

"A gun?! How could I have been so careless as to let you have a gun?!"

"... You're being sarcastic, aren't you."

"Sarcastic?! They're pointing a gun at us!"

You wave the gun in his direction and he ducks behind a bleacher.

"H-How did you even smuggle a gun of all things into the school?!"

"Because though it looks like a gun, it-"

Before she can finish, you fire the gun at the girl with lavender hair.

...

There's no loud bang. There's no stream of blood. But you fire the gun.

"..."

"I'll give you this. I didn't think you would have filled the water chamber with vanilla extract."

Well, the girl in the purple jacket called your bluff and exposed that your fancy gun was little more than a water pistol. But now her hair is sticky with vanilla extract, so who's the REAL winner?

"... Well, after that, I don't really feel like explaining how this will all work in detail. So, let's get through the cliffnotes version!"

"Yadda yadda, only way out is to kill someone and not get caught, break my rules or get caught and I'll execute you."

"Wait, WHAT?!"

The man in the grey cardigan gets his words out approximately 0.03 seconds before the entire gym erupts into chaos at that announcement.

"Kill?!"

"Execute?!?"

As the questions fire off unanswered, the bear waves to the students and starts to leave.

[detectivenyx]

Talk to Makoto, to see if he experienced a weird dream.

You're very quickly up, and with a quick brush of your hair, you head to his room. You're about to ring the doorbell, when the door opens, revealing Sayaka on the other side.

"O-Oh! Sorry, uh... I take it you're looking for Makoto?"

... You are, but it begs the question - why was Sayaka in Makoto's room?

"It's... a little embarrassing. My door wouldn't lock, and I... I couldn't sleep because of it. I went to Makoto and asked to stay in his room."

"... We did stay in the same room, but that's all that happened, honest."

... That's a lot of words similar to your line of thought...

"I can read minds."

"Kidding! I just have good intuition."

Sayaka heads back out into the hall, still looking somewhat anxious, and you head inside.

"Oh- uh, hey. Did you need something?

You nod - indicating to him the dream you experienced, him in the fields with the warm sun, and asking if he had a similar dream.

"Sorry... no, I didn't."

That's unfortunate. You-

"I had a much worse dream."

You pause, indicating for him to go into detail.

"I... guess it was just a dream. It was... it was a historical village. Byakuya was being dragged through the streets by this girl with short black hair - and a lot of the rest of us were following."

"She... she tied Byakuya to a stake, and lit it on fire. Some of us were horrified, but... a lot of us were cheering. And he was screaming."

"He... he eventually died. Of course he did. But when the black haired girl pulled back his body, she... she seemed to think she'd made a mistake. She started weeping."

"I... don't know why I dreamt something so morbid. They... they'd have to be coincidences, right?"

[detectivenyx]

I'm going to my room to wash the blood off. And hopefully rest.

Leaving Byakuya where you found him, you follow the winding halls of the school, hoping to find a room for you to call 'home' in this twisted game.

You pass by Sakura and Aoi in the cafeteria, catching cups in their hands in the seconds it takes to pass them.

"... was kind of a jerk, but... did he really deserve what he got?"

"... Though I wish it had gone differently, we cannot do anything about..."

You keep moving past them, and come across what you hope is the dormitories - all with a faceplate on the door, indicating their intended occupant.

You soon come across a room that's peculiar - your face is pasted on a door, but you can easily see Touko's face beneath it, roughly scratched out. That's... odd.

You enter the room regardless, and it's empty beyond a bed, a set of drawers, and a desk with a chair at it. There's not even an indication that anyone but you has been in this room.

You fumble around for the lock, before finding it's been hastily un-screwed from the wall, flecks of paint and wood hastily splintered out. Monokuma did say the rest of the school was unlocked... it really must've been the rest of the school.

You move into the adjacent room to find an ensuite shower, the lock removed there as well in much the same fashion. A chill runs down your spine, but Aoi and Sakura hadn't noticed you, and you saw nobody else.

But still, you take the chair from under the desk and push it under the door. You return to the shower, removing the uniform that's been splattered with blood.

You catch wind of your reflection in the mirror - the crimson, dried flecks blending almost perfectly in with its colour. You gently brush it with a comb you see on the desk, ends to tips - a daunting process given its length.

Your eyes reflect light in a way that makes you briefly consider something... something rather unusual. The blood on your face has not quite all dried - and there's... an odd temptation to lick it.

A very odd temptation - you're human, right? You were not given a sheet that indicated vampirism. But there is always the human that could change at any given time.

[detectivenyx]

Chug an entire bottle of vanilla extract.

You unscrew the cap on the emergency bottle of vanilla extract that you keep in your pocket, and start drinking.

It is a small bottle, but you were sure to buy the concentrated kind when out at the supermarkets a week ago, and the absolute sheer taste and pungent smell of concentrated vanilla extract shocks you back to reality.

And then, you keep drinking the bottle.

The door to the classroom opens, and a girl with brown hair pokes her head in, before entering the classroom fully with a look of relief on her face.

“Oh, great! There were some more people in the...”

She notices the almost-empty bottle of vanilla extract in your hands and a thin line of it on your lip.

“... were you drinking vanilla extract?”

[detectivenyx]

To the cafeteria. I want to raise similar questions there.

Considering you are together, you and Makoto decide to head to the cafeteria together.

When you arrive, there's already five others seated around the cafeteria table - Kiyotaka, Chihiro, Aoi, Sakura, and Sayaka. Despite the populated room, it's... rather quiet, here.

"Excellent! You made it just on time! Good morning to the both of you!"

"Er- good morning? What do you mean by 'on time'?"

"It is almost 7am! 6:58 to be exact!"

"Does it matter what time we arrive?"

"Of course it does! There's no excuse for tardiness!"

"G-Good morning!"

You take a seat, and immediately try to grab everyone's attention - to relay the odd dream you had. Even without your words, you - seemingly - manage to convey the idea perfectly to the others. The warm sunlight, the cloudwatching with Makoto.

"That's... I don't think that's a coincidence. That... sounds like it's a clue, of some sort."

"Maybe, but how would a clue appear to us in a dream?"

"I... I'll admit, I'm not sure. I had a similar, but much more devastating dream. A girl with black hair took Byakuya up to a stake, and burned him alive in front of all of us."

"That's... pretty morbid."

"Y-Yeah... after that, she pulled back his- what was left, and... she started to weep."

"... It sounds as though Byakuya was innocent."

"Y-You had these strange dreams, too?"

You tilt your head, waiting for Kiyotaka to go on.

"I'd believed it to be nonsense when it was happening, but now I'm questioning if it was another clue..."

"Another one? What kind?"

"I... I was walking down a dark hallway, and heard strange noises at the end. I approached quietly and cautiously - but I still kicked something loud in the darkness..."

"But by that point, I was close enough to see two people - Touko, who was dead on the floor, and Hifumi, who turned around to face me, with blood dripping from his mouth!"

...

Well. That's certainly an interesting tidbit of information.

[detectivenyx]

Yell at the man to throw the bear away.

You open your mouth to yell, but you remember quickly when no sound comes out that you're mute.

However, you have adapted to accomodate for this authorial oversight.

You point frantically, and the muscular man interprets your pointing as the command you tried to scream.

He throws the bear towards the ceiling - and not a moment too soon. The bear explodes, showering a thankfully-unused section of the gym with metal and plastic debris.

As well as the lovely smell of baking vanilla.

"... Is it dead?"

You walk over to the debris and begin poking it, before nodding with a giant grin.

"S-So... is it over?"

"See? I told you this was just the entrance ceremony!"

"And the gym now smells like lovely vanilla to welcome you all to your new home!"

"It's fucking back!?"

"Of course I'm back! I'm Monokuma! I can't be killed by conventional means!"

"Shot with vanilla extract doesn't seem very conventional..."

"Because it's not fatal! Otherwise, Kyouko over there would be dead as a doornail!"

"Why do we say, 'dead as a doornail', anyway? Doornails never lived to begin with. Why not 'dead as the dinosaurs'?"

"... You mentioned killing each other. What do you mean?"

"Is that a trick question? Killing each other means killing each other. You personally do things to someone else that causes them to cease living."

"Of course, I have another game lined up, if a quid-pro-quo killing game is not to your liking! And since I'm so generous, I'll allow the newcomer to decide which you play!"

You fire at Monokuma again with your vanilla extract gun, but you've emptied the chamber.

"Aw, out of ammo? That's unfortunate. I'll let you slide this once, since you seem to be the kind who takes chances with death! But I may not be so kind next time."

"So... how about it. Killing game? Or... what we'll generously call, the Mystery Box?"

Monokuma holds out a knife in his white paw and a box in his left paw.

[detectivenyx]

Let (Hina) take (your wrist).

Hina grabs your wrist and takes you through a few hallways, all lit up with colourful lights through colourful hallways.* If the class you woke up in wasn't so obnoxious with its own wallpaper, this would've been overwhelming.

It's Hina's warm hand that keeps you tethered to reality, almost holding your very soul in place. The vanilla extract you've been drinking did a bit of a number on your hand-eye coordination, but with her help, you have enough of your wits about you to make it through the trophy room, and to the gymnasium.

It seems, however, when you arrive, there is already a sense of unrest and unease.

"D-Did he just say until the day we d-die?!"

"Oh, but don't worry! We've got a budget surplus, so you'll never have to worry about the necessities or even basic luxuries!"

...

There is a stuffed bear on the podium up on the stage. And for some inexplicable reason, everyone's attention is fixed on it.

"That's the least of our problems right now!"

"Yeah, what the hell! I gotta stay here for the rest of my life? You're fucking with us, right?"

"Nope! Not fucking with you! Just-"

...

The bear stops mid-sentence.

You feel its ice-cold gaze on you - despite its lack of conventional eyes.

"... Whozzat?"

In an instant, the gym full of people follow the bear's gaze, and turn to look at you and Hina.

"Uh... found one extra going through the classrooms?"

"O-One extra?! How embarrassing! I thought I calculated this game perfectly! Did I forget to carry the one?!"

"Game?! What the fuck are you talking about?!"

"Ah, I must've made a big mistake to forget a whole person... game setups can be offset by even one extra person!"

"S-So... who are you?"

Without a name or voice, you know introductions will be difficult. But there's still time to make an impression.

[detectivenyx]

Byakuya is dangerous. I'm steering it with Junko.

You point accusatory fingers at Byakuya, miming the breaking of the CD, as he and Junko return to their seats.

"... There wasn't really a point to doing that in front of us."

"My point with that was to have you search for your own information."

"It's not a free-for-all competition, asshole! We need all the info we can get!"

"With all the facts on the table, it cannot be clearer that Byakuya is a vampire!"

"You're going to waste an execution on me being uncooperative?"

"Given the nature of the game... we are likely to be given more stakes than vampires. How many more is a different question, but with sixteen of us..."

"This is ridiculous."

"I... he did something horrible, but does he really deserve to die over it...?"

"At this stage, it's not really whether he 'deserves' it or not. But he'll get more of us killed if we leave him alive."

"I... I know, but..."

"... How many vampires do we think there are?"

"What kinda question is that?"

"Celes suggested there are more stakes than vampires to accommodate for error. My question is how many people think there are."

"Besides less than five, no idea."

"For a game like this, three to four would be balanced..."

"We're getting off-topic. The topic should be-"

The screens all suddenly light up with a voting board - two options.

[VOTE: EXECUTE BYAKUYA. VOTE ENDS IN ONE MINUTE.]

Two options stare you in the face: a 'yes' and a 'no'.

[detectivenyx]

... let her hit the button.

Junko presses the button, and an alarm horn blares throughout the library. You hear it echoing in the halls, too. The screens around the library light up with red, their brightness pulsing in time with the alarm.

The intercom crackles to life with a sound like a tape being carelessly shoved into a VCR, and that bear's voice appears therein.

"Ahem! It looks like one of you bastards pressed the button! Could all living players please gather at the large, red doors on the first floor? Players who aren't there by the third alarm bell will be executed immediately!"

Well, that's that.

"You'll be making a pretty big mistake so early on in this game."

"Like I said. You're either a vampire who wants us all dead, or a human who's going to get us killed."

Junko joins the group of people leaving the library, and so do you.

The giant red doors are not locked, and you push them open to see two rows of seats, each containing 8.

"What on earth is that?!"

Sayaka points towards something already seated in one of the chairs. Fifth on the left, is a crudely sewn, life-sized doll, resembling Touko Fukawa.

"Oh, that doll is rather... unsettling."

The intercom buzzes, and you hear more from Monokuma.

"You talking about the dolls? I thought it would be unsettling as the game whittled down your numbers, to have to sit in increasingly empty rooms! With the dolls, everyone can stay with you!"

"He thinks that shit's any less unsettling?"

... Despite the doll, everyone takes a seat where they are indicated. The second everyone is seated, sixteen tablets rise from the floor - one presented to each seat.

You look up, and most of the tablets shine white lights onto everyone's face. You look down at your screen, which reads

WAIT FOR THE ACCUSER TO MAKE A SELECTION.

There are only two different lights. Touko's shines a red light onto the doll, glinting off the button eyes. And Junko's shines a blue light, as she presses one of the buttons.

JUNKO ENOSHIMA HAS ACCUSED BYAKUYA TOGAMI.

All tablets beside Touko's turn Cyan, and two podiums rise at the end of the seats.

Junko and Byakuya stand up, and both walk over to them.

The podium lights up on Junko first, and her prosecution begins.

"... We've, like, gone over the reasons why I called the trial. Byakuya's been uncooperative with the rest of us, and even done things to sabotage us."

"He's smashed the blood supply, under some weird idea it would prevent the vampires from hiding or some shit, even though we might need it to save people later. Chihiro, Sayaka and... our friend, also saw him snap a CD with important shit on it."

"Whether a vampire or an uncooperative human, we should get rid of him."

When Junko goes silent, the light shines on Byakuya instead, and he begins his defense.

"This accusation is emotionally driven. I've explained my reasons for destroying the blood supply, but I'll spell it out, too."

"With a supply of non-violent blood, the vampires could time their kills more efficiently. They wouldn't be starving or desperate. With that supply destroyed, they have to rely on us - they will need to kill more often, which opens them up to making more mistakes."

"And the information CD? Of course it wasn't the only copy. I was proving a point about finding their own leads to Chihiro, Sayaka, and that person."

When Byakuya goes quiet... the tablets light up with red text.

DISCUSSION TIME ENDS IN 3 MINUTES.

.. That's not a lot of time once a trial starts. Discussions will need to be quick and forceful.

So that begs the question...

[detectivenyx]

We're going to find Hifumi now.

You stand up from the cafeteria table and scurry back to the dorms, without even bothering to check if anyone is following your lead. It doesn't take too long for you to find Hifumi - he's leaving his dorm when you arrive.

"You approach me like an important character approaches the protagonist... how will this chapter shape out?"

You indicate to him Kiyotaka's dream about him - his attack on Touko.

"What?! A dream is surely important, but he must be mistaken! I never laid a hand on Touko!"

"No matter how much her views on the art of manga hurt, I would never stoop so low as to do something like that!"

You can't tell if Hifumi is being dramatic for the sake of being dramatic, or if his theatrics are covering up a more sinister truth.

"Drop the act, Hifumi! I am now convinced you had something to do with this!"

"Absolutely not! I had nothing to do with this whatsoever! Do not wound my pride with such trivial accusations!"

"... It's a little early for these sorts of arguments, isn't it?"

The three of you all turn around to face Kyouko, folding her arms and staring at you.

"Kyouko! I ask for your help in conducting another trial! I now know Hifumi Yamada must've been the one to kill Touko Fukawa!"

"... You said that about Byakuya Togami."

"I am aware, but I now have new information! The scene playing out Touko's death came to me in a dream!"

"... Let's get to the cafeteria."

"It seems you've made a fool of yourself, Kiyotaka..."

"I know it was you, Hifumi!"

"..."

"Part of solving a crime is to consider all possibilities. You seem to be pushing hard considerations to rash effect - almost as if doing so without pushback would benefit you, somehow."

"What do you mean by that?"

"That you have an advantage to gain by trying to get others executed on rash decisions."

These are... interesting positions being presented.

[detectivenyx]

... Yes.

You push down on the 'YES' button, and patiently wait for the other votes.

Eventually, the screen begins to tally up the votes - it appears to be an anonymous vote, only counting the numbers...

... which display 10 YES, to 5 NO.

"... You voted 'yes' on this?!"

Cold sweat drips from Byakuya's brow, as his eyes dart around the room. His hands, though just barely, shake, and you swear, being to his immediate right... you can hear his very pulse racing, now the vote has finished.

"But... but why?!"

"Seems pretty simple to me. Cooperate or die... and Byakuya has not chosen to cooperate."

"How... how are you so nonchalant about this?!"

"Weren't we all, about Touko's death? You especially. You barely reacted to-"

Junko is cut off mid-sentence by a loud beep. And with that as the only warning, something swings down from the ceiling.

Byakuya barely opens his mouth to further his lecture, before...

[SCHLCK]

You feel something wet and copper-smelling splatter the left side of your face and clothes. You turn your head... and see Byakuya now splayed in place, with a sharp wooden pike directly through his chest, life draining from his eyes.

"..."

"..."

"..."

The room is silent for a moment. As though... for but a moment, perhaps, what just played out may have been a hallucination.

But... when Junko, the first to get ahold of herself, turns to her right - Byakuya to her immediate right - and begins prodding his body...

"... He... he really is dead."

Junko, like you, is splattered with blood. She hasn't even taken the time to wipe it from her face.

"... Naturally. I suppose that... that's as harrowing a lesson as any."

"L-Lesson?! He was- he got fuckin' stabbed right in front of us!"

"Do you care to reveal your vote? Because I voted yes. To ensure this very thing happens to less of us."

"... I voted no. Uncooperative or not, we didn't have enough information."

"What we voted means nothing. Enough of us voted 'yes' to execute him."

The room falls silent, and the air soon grows thick with the stench of iron and the weight of the result.

"I... I'm sorry. I need to go."

Chihiro stands up, her hands covering her face, and quickly excuses herself out the door.

"..."

Sayaka soon follows without a word.

One by one, everyone stands up and heads back out. Several seem to look much more visibly exhausted than when they went in.

Soon, it is only you and Junko, left with the corpse of Byakuya Togami.

"... We sacrificed one guy to ensure we don't suffer thanks to him. I don't know if he was a vampire or not, but... we had to do that to survive."

"... Let's hope things get better tomorrow."

You tilt your head, pointing to the blood splatter across Junko's face, and noting how... calm she looks.

"Eh? Is it really that weird I'm not freaking out? Like... it's just blood. I've- er, not had the best life before becoming a-"

"Wait, why am I explaining it to you, of all people?! Like, I'll just... I'll go wash it off. As much of a bitch as it'll be to do."

Junko heads back out, leaving you alone with Byakuya's corpse.

[detectivenyx]

Touko's case is unsolved. We need to solve it, regardless of how hard it is.

You fold your arms and stand next to Touko's body.

"... Weren't you listening? We've already discussed the most likely possibilities to hell and back and I don't think we've come to a conclusion."

"... Not all the most likely possibilities. They left shortly after mine and Kiyotaka's integrity was brought into consideration."

"You speak of the possibility that I did this, no?"

"You as one potential suspect. Aoi and Sakura are also possible, but unlikely. The other new potential suspect is Byakuya."

"Don't drag me into this."

"If Celestia is a suspect because she was alone at the time of the murder with a flimsy alibi, that applies to you as well. You were not much further away from the body than she was if you were in the A/V lab."

"If I made any attempt to slip past, there were several groups who had doors open and would have seen me go upstairs."

"... Unfortunately, no. Hina and I were conversing with Hifumi inside of the gym."

"I don't think any of us saw him, but that's kinda... not a great alibi?"

"The guys downstairs said they didn't see anyone, but they went to the bathroom at one point..."

"... For what it's worth, I think Touko's assailant had to be taller than her by the placement of the bite marks."

"I see! But where does that get us?"

"I admit it is not a lot to work on at this stage - she was slightly shorter than average. But it can be used in conjunction with some other testimony to at least eliminate some possibilities."

"For example, I don't think it was Chihiro or our friend here. Though one is tall enough to do it, the fact that Chihiro is not indicates they're at least not responsible for this body."

"That should confirm Junko and I, too..."

"Cool, but is there any evidence that could point to the other... what, five suspects?"

"What do you mean by that?"

"Like... Sayaka and Hifumi, Kyouko and Kiyotaka, Celestia, Byakuya... any of those six could've done it. We've gone over the body, gone over the alibis... and nothing sticks out."

"Finally. A little bit of sense. Now, let me leave, please."

"I would like to voice my deduction! I believe Byakuya Togami is Touko Fukawa's killer!"

"Pardon?"

"Everyone, please consider! He has a window of opportunity to commit the crime, albeit a small one, but is also proving uncooperative! He has also destroyed helpful evidence to this game, according to Sayaka, Chihiro, and our friend here!"

"By god... that would make perfect sense!"

"It makes no sense whatsoever."

...

[detectivenyx]

... I lick some of it off.

You wipe the wet stain from your face, leaving a smeared trail behind on your cheek and a line of fresh-ish blood along your hand. Tentatively, you slide your tongue along it, and feel pangs of copper and iron hit your tongue. Odd. Would blood not taste different to vampires?

You feel no satisfaction when you swallow. You feel... nothing. Not the horror of having consumed another man's blood. Not the satisfaction of tasting something divine, that you have been craving.

It's nothing.

You approach the mirror - you still cast a reflection on it, but you do not know if vampires will do that or not.

But from Touko's corpse, you do know that they have fangs. You pull open your mouth and tap each of your teeth one by one. They're all about as sharp and as long as they were before. You try to force your teeth to extend the same way you would raise or lower your hand - and nothing.

You frown, heading into the shower. Why... did you do that? As what remains of Byakuya begins to circle the drain, the rust-flecked water beginning to clear, it is the question that occupies your mind. A question that may have many answers or none, swirling your mind.

You leave the shower, going through the drawers. There are a couple of copies of your own clothes in the drawers, well-stitched but thrown in as if in a rush. Beneath those copies of your clothes are copies of Touko's.

Her clothes... don't exactly smell great, so you remove yours. They seem freshly placed - they haven't had time to smell the same. You fold all but one copy on the drawers, and re-equip yourself with a fresh set of clothes.

You bundle up the set you were wearing previously to take to the laundry, and briefly consider washing the rest of your clothes just to be sure.

You begin to head out of the room, before you hear the door handle rattling, and someone trying to push their way in. After a moment of trying, the doorbell rings.

[detectivenyx]

Stay in the gym and [theorize about the game].

As two groups head out in different directions, you elect to stay with the select few who decided to remain in the gym.

... It really is a few. While most go further into the school, and a few go for the door, only four are left in the gym.

"... My apologies. I do not believe anyone has introduced themselves to you. My name is Celestia Ludenberg."

... Well, Hina had introduced herself. But Hina also left to go investigate the door instead of learn about game theory (and thankfully not the youtube show). And nobody else really introduced themselves.

"O-Oh, right. I'm Chihiro Fujisaki."

Chihiro anxiously sits on the floor with her legs crossed, as Celestia seats herself on the edge of the stage.

You sit down next to Chihiro and look expectantly at the blonde man in glasses, who remains standing.

"... Well? Are you not going to introduce yourself?"

"... My name is Byakuya Togami."

"I don't believe we've heard your name."

"I-I had asked, and they pulled out a gun..."

"It does make them a little bit suspicious to me, but if they will not reveal their name, not much more can be done."

"As for stopping the game..."

"... I don't believe that'll be possible."

"N-No, it has to be. We can figure out who was tasked to k-kill the rest of us, and-"

"Regrettably, I must agree with Byakuya. If those chosen to be the minority are genuinely compelled to hunt us, bloodshed is inevitable."

"Don't agree with me and then spout that nonsense."

"It's because the premise is too rooted in fantasy, that I think we can avoid the killing. If the 'vampires' just come out and refuse to play the game, we can ignore it and find another way out together."

"Unfortunately, that 'If' is doing too much lifting to bear."

"I take it you've dropped the nonsense and are seeing the bigger picture?"

"Always had been. The hunters would need to trust that a majority of us will value the lives of strangers over their own freedom. Given Monokuma's close-proximity explosion, it also stands that even if the vampirism isn't real, the threat of death certainly is."

"I... I want to trust the others."

"Are you confessing to being one of the killers?"

"No, I'm not one of the vampires. I'd have told you if I was, though."

"Although, your word is all we have to go on, correct? It is possible to lie."

"Beneficial, actually. Deny being a killer, then create sympathy for them."

Well, despite your inability to physically speak, you are able to convey your ideas to the others clearly (because otherwise this story would go nowhere) through other means. And you've been going through a few ideas of your own.

[detectivenyx]

Run back to the library as fast as we can.

You pull Sayaka to her feet, and the three of you rush down towards the library. It seems like the scream has drawn the attention of many of the others, as some are rushing past you.

You enter the library, and the first thing you see is the backs of several of the people you'd been in the entrance hall with.

The first thing you smell, however, is the faint, yet bitter, scent of copper and iron.

You do not have to look to know that someone has likely already been murdered. But you push past everyone else to learn who.

...

...

... You find the dearly departed mortal body of Touko Fukawa.

"I... Is that Touko?!"

"Makoto and I, like, came back here after a short discussion with a bunch of y'all in the gym, and like - she was already dead when we found her!"

Hm. There's a few possibilities for what happened.

Kyouko kneels next to the body, pressing the back of her hand against her forehead.

"... She's still quite warm. I don't think she could've been dead more than a few minutes."

"Oh? Are you quite sure about that?"

"You can check her yourself if you believe I'm untrustworthy."

"... Very well."

Sakura steps forward, pressing her hand to Touko's forehead.

"... She is still quite warm. That is a little unsettling."

"A-Another thing... um, the guys at the entrance still aren't here, and neither is Byakuya. Celes, Chihiro, and uh... you, weren't you keeping an eye on him?"

Well. You were, and then he decided to be a shit-for-brains and split up. Honestly, it is a little bit of a miracle for him that you're not all currently gathered around HIS dead corpse.

Though... you have some information of your own. Though Chihiro may still be working against you, you know she isn't responsible for this body - you've been with her the entire time.

You know that she was alive about 15 minutes ago.

You know that Sayaka fled - though she said nothing about Touko's body when you caught up with her. Something else caused her to flee.

Hifumi and Celestia are certainly some of the more suspicious individuals - but of course, hardly the only ones. Kiyotaka and Kyouko were on the 2nd floor, and Makoto and Junko's alert to the corpse could be an elaborate act to take suspicion off them...

There is also the fact that Byakuya has gone AWOL and that several groups split off. Can anyone truly be trusted?