Despair's Last Resort: Part Thirty Seven

Chapter 4: Crashing Tides - Class Trial II

"Hearing? How can you tell?" Ryouta asked.

"Think about it, what was the loudest sound in the restaurant at the time?" Takara asked.

"Oooooooo! I heard some gagging and choking when the lights went out!" Kumiko said, her hand raised as she jumped up and down. "It was so loud, I could hear it allllllll the way in the kitchen!"

"Gagging and choking..." Miyako said. "That did seem to be the loudest sound."

"Hold on a second, Wasn't Minoru coughing the whole time?" Satoshi asked.

"Are chokin' an' coughin' da same thing though?" Kazumi asked.

"Coughing can happen when a person is choking, so it's likely that Yoshihara's coughing was signifying he choked on something." Arata said. "And it was quite loud, one could hear it even through the chaotic screaming and shouting."

"If the culprit could hear Minoru like that, it's simple to say that they used that sound to find him in the dark!" Takara said.

"Then how did they get back to the kitchen? There wasn't any sound coming from there!" Ryouta said.

"That is, aside from the shouting." Masaru said. "But everyone seemed to be shouting by that point, so there's no way to pick out one specific voice and follow it."

"Actually, I can think of one person who could do such a thing." Arata said, his glasses shimmering under the light. "There's one person here who has extraordinary hearing, and could easily navigate back to the kitchen. Am I right, Katsuya?"

"Excuse me?!" Kazumi shouted. "Why da hell am I bein' accused?!"

"Don't take this as some kind of vendetta, I'm merely throwing ideas out for discussion." Arata said, trying to calm down the vocalist before she got too angry. "But you've admitted it yourself that your hearing is good, and we've seen proof of that. So if anyone would be able to navigate back to the kitchen using merely sound, it would be you."

"He's got a point." Ryouta said, his arms crossed. Clearly he didn't like the fact that he agreed with the designer. "But is there any way to tell for sure?"

"Woah, Ryose didn't jump on the pointing fingers train like he usually does!" Kumiko said. "That's totally different from the real Ryose! Are you some kind of clone made with his DNA created by some evil multi-billionaire?"

"No, you idiot! I'm not!" Ryouta shouted. "I just don't want to believe this claim without significant evidence! If we vote wrong we die you know!"

"She's right, that's not like the real Ryouta at all." Takara said with a smirk.

"I'M NOT A CLONE!" Ryouta shouted.

"Let's get back on track, please?" Satoshi nervously asked.

"It's not much, but we could ask her." Miyako suggested.

"But she could lie, right?" Masaru said.

"I don' got shit ta hide." Kazumi said. "Ask away."

"Alright, so when everyone was screaming could you pick anything out?" Arata asked.

"Not really." Kazumi said. "I could only pick up a few bits here an' dere. Like Akamine mentionin' somethin' 'bout gummy bears or whateva'?"

"Wait, I said WHAT?!" Kumiko asked, her face turning red.

"But you couldn't focus on one voice?" Takara asked.

"Nope." Kazumi said. "Shit was too crazy ta do dat."

"So hearing couldn't be used to get back to the kitchen." Satoshi said.

"True, but there was another sense they could've used." Takara said.

"Ya mean dey smelled da way back to da kitchen?" Kazumi asked. "How da fuck's dat even possible?!"

"The smell of sausage and fish was overpowering in the restaurant, right?" Satoshi asked.

"Yeah, it was intense." Miyako said.

"So they could've followed the smell of meat back to the kitchen! Woah, that's pretty clever!" Kumiko said.

"Does that answer your question, Kazumi?" Takara asked.

"Yeah, I get it now." Kazumi answered.

"With that out of the way, we should return to the subject of Minoru's smoothie." Masaru said. "Specifically, what was put in it."

"Oh come on, it's completely obvious!" Ryouta said. "The culprit put in poison!"

"Oooooh, the culprit's a poison-type then!" Kumiko said.

"Huh? Poison? How are ya so sure 'bout dat?" Kazumi asked.

"I've done a number of research on poison and poisonous substances, you see." Ryouta said, in a manner similar to bragging. "And while I couldn't perform a proper autopsy or anything like that, I did examine the body for any symptoms. And his mouth is all the proof we need!"

"You're talking about his lips." Arata said. "That's something anyone could figure out, even Katsuya."

"Oy! Ya lookin' for a black eye dere?!" Kazumi said as she cracked her knuckles.

"What happened to them anyway?" Kumiko asked. "They look all red and puffy!"

"They've been burned." Masaru said. "At least, from the looks of it. But how do you know it was poison that caused it?"

"I don't need to explain these things to you!" Ryouta said.

"Actually, you do. We're kinda trying to figure all this out so we won't die!" Masaru said.

"...Well, we already know that the poison was slipped into his smoothie, and that he was drinking it before he died." Ryouta explained. "Therefore, his lips must have been burned from that!"

"Hold on a second, Ryouta." Takara said. "While I think you're on the right track, I don't think we're dealing with an actual poison here. At least, not in the conventional sense."

"Huh?! What makes you say that?!" Ryouta asked.

"There was a small puddle near the fridge in the kitchen. It was a strange clear substance that had an odd smell." Takara said.

"What's that got to do with anything?!" Ryouta asked.

"I noticed the same smell in the smoothies. Not just the one Minoru was drinking, but the ones in the fridge as well." Takara explained. "And it wasn't just any smell, mind you. It was the smell of chlorine!"

"C-Chlorine?" Ryouta asked.

"So someone managed to slip chlorine in Minoru's drinks?" Masaru asked.

"Exactly. And by drinking it, he died." Takara said.

"Objection!" Kumiko shouted. "Karins, that's a pretty big rookie mistake you've made there! There's no way Yoshi just drank chlorine without noticing it!"

"And you're claiming this, why?" Takara asked.

"Because the smell of chlorine is obvious! You were at the pool so you should know!" Kumiko said. "If chlorine was put into a drink, you'd be able to smell it before the stuff went in your mouth! That drink would be in the trash in no time!"

"She's right. Chlorine has an unmistakable scent." Arata added. "I doubt Yoshi would ever drink that smoothie if he knew what was in it."

"So it couldn' be dat den?" Kazumi asked. "Da smell coulda jus' been by chance."

"The smell of it was hidden though. I didn't even notice it until I came close to the drink." Takara said. "So it's possible that Minoru couldn't smell it either."

"You can't just mask the scent of chlorine though! I don't see any way that it could be hidden!" Kumiko insisted.

"I don't know, the smell coming from the kitchen was pretty powerful." Takara said. "We already established that the culprit used the smell to return to the kitchen after stabbing Minoru, so it's possible that it couldn't have been easily detected."

"But is it really enough to hide chlorine?" Masaru said.

"I think if it was strong enough to lead the culprit back, it'd be strong enough to mask the scent." Satoshi said.

"Ohhhhhh, okay! I guess that makes sense!" Kumiko said.

"Alright, so we established that it's chlorine, but where did it come from?" Ryouta asked. "You don't just find chlorine lying around the place."

"Maybe Teddie left it around somewhere!" Kumiko suggested. "It'd be just like him ta leave that kind of thing somewhere for anyone to use as a killy-thing!"

"While I'm flattered you'd think it was my doing, that ain't the case!" Monokuma said. "It was one of you who had access to it from the beginning. Besides, poisonings are getting so old. I don't need to see that again."

"So obviously, it would have to be something found in the hotel." Arata said.

"But dere ain't dat many things in here dat have chlorine in 'em." Kazumi said. "Da fuck would it come from?"

"Maybe it was the pool water!" Kumiko guessed. "Chlorine is found in that!"

"Actually, that's wrong!" Takara said. "It wasn't pool water."

"Huh? But I thought for certain it was from the pool!" Kumiko said.

"This torn off label found at the scene of the crime says differently." Takara said. "Miyako found it in the kitchen's trash can."

"This is for laundry bleach, isn't it?" Masaru asked. "But isn't oxygen bleach more efficient?"

"Not for the culprit. They probably wanted something that was bound to poison their victim." Satoshi said.

"Even if it wasn't for this, pool water wouldn't be enough to kill anybody." Takara said. "You'd need a stronger concentration, I think."

"So they slipped this into all of Minoru's smoothies?" Ryouta asked.

"No, not all of them." Takara said. "Only the ones in the kitchen were poisoned. The ones he had in his room were fine."

"Still, that's like, a loooooooot of bottles to fill with the stuff!" Kumiko said. "When did they do all this?"

"Maybe when no one was looking while breakfast was made?" Satoshi asked.

"No. There would be too many witnesses." Arata said. "There's usually three or four people in there at once, so it's impossible."

"What about last night?" Miyako asked.

"Why do you say that?" Satoshi asked.

"The culprit could have gone around the nighttime announcement." Miyako said. "When no one was looking, they could have taken the opportunity to sneak in the restaurant while it was empty and filled all the smoothies with bleach."

"I have to agree with her." Takara said. "I heard two doors open last night before I returned to my room. The only problem was that I couldn't see who left either of them were thanks to the power outage. And I know it wasn't someone entering their room, I was the only one out in the hall before the lights went out."

"But wouldn't the culprit be trapped in there all night? There's no way they'd be able to fill up all those bottles before the place locked up." Ryouta asked.

"Perhaps we'll never know." Arata said.

"You know, we've spent all this time talking and it doesn't feel like we're anywhere closer to the identity of the culprit." Masaru said.

"Fuck, he's right!" Kazumi shouted. "What're we gonna do?!"

"Actually, with the information we've gathered, their identity could be found if we just put the pieces together." Miyako said.

"Woah, Mimiya, you're being a lot more talkative than usual!" Kumiko said.

"Well I don't wanna die either." Miyako stated.

It was a bit of a long shot, but it was worth a try. Takara put everything she had learned together and thought about it. The culprit had used chlorine bleach to poison Minoru's drinks. They were in the kitchen before the blackout began, and returned before the lights came back on. They had taken a knife sitting near the stove, which meant they had to be next to it. They had to all add up to something...

A sudden realization struck her. "I think I figured out who the culprit is!" she said with a snap of her fingers.

"You can't be serious! How did you figure it out?!" Ryouta asked.

"First of all, I'd like to know who was in the kitchen before the lights went out, and where they were." Takara said. "Just to be safe."

"I was at da stove, cookin' up some kickass grilled fish!" Kazumi said.

"I was also by the stove, helping Akamine with her sausages." Arata said.

"I was at one of the counters waiting for some super delicious toast!" Kumiko said.

"I was on my way to the doors because I heard Minoru's coughing." Masaru said.

"So one of them is the culprit?" Ryouta asked. "How's their positions going to help you in this case?!"

"Actually, it gives me all the answers I need." Takara said. "If I add this up with the choice of weapon, then the culprit becomes obvious! The murderer can be none other than Arata Miyazaki!"