...

Robin's words shocked us all. Even Monkomi stayed quiet.

"Ok dude. No need to scare us like that," Toshiaki said, his voice shaking a little.

"But I'm telling the truth. You guys all want to know who the culprit is. Well," Robin spread his arms out, "Here I am!"

"No it can't be you! Y-you said that you couldn't see anything and maybe the simulation glitched out on you," Yuki pointed out.

"I lied. Did you seriously believed that? Were you all just so happy to jump the gun on blaming Kana? I thought the majority of you were smarter than that!" Robin snapped.

He never acted like this before, what's going on?

Robin looked around at us and said, "So? Happy that the culprit confessed? Happy to finally get the chance to execute me? For killing when I helped out in the shadows beforehand? I bet all of you must deeply hate me now!"

His voice was filled with self hatred and anger.

"Hate? W-we would never h-hate on you R-Robin, it's just th-that," Hirohito said, fiddling with his fingers but didn't finished his sentence.

>Something's wrong here. I just can't believe that Robin is the culprit but...

"Well Kuro?" Robin asked, making me flinch.

"Go on and tell them that I'm the killer. You have evidence to show them," he said.

"Evidence...?" I asked, my voice trailing off.

>Usually when we find the culprit, I have evidence to back up that the culprit really did committed the crime but this time...no there has to be one. Or else Robin wouldn't be so pristine on insisting that he is the culprit...unless

"There is no evidence! Robin must be lying again," Toshiaki pointed out.

"Sad to say it but I don't think that he is lying. When would Robin lie...well other than where he was in the simulation but that's just one instance," Toshino shrugged.

"He couldn't be the culprit. It's impossible. He just couldn't," Yuki said.

"I do find it hard to believe. Where was Robin even in the simulation?" Kana asked.

"Yeah oddly enough I agree with Kana. Where was he even?" Ichigo asked.

"If you don't believe me than all of you will die," Robin said.

"So...we're at a split decision are we?" I asked.

I heard it!

"Seems like it," Toshino sighed.

"Hoohoo~. Smart aren't ya? Looks like the only thing that we could settle this is with a little Scrum Debate!" Monkomi cheered

"Looks like it's the only way. Go on and start it already," Robin said.

"Allllright! It's Scrum Debate time!" Monkomi cheered.

Is there any evidence left to support the fact that Robin is the culprit?

No there isn't

Toshiaki Daiki

Ichigo Hina

Yuki Yuudai

Hirohito Tsutomu

Kana Akari

Yes there is

Kuro Tamashi

Toshino Yu

Robin Oga

Scrum Debate: Start!

Toshiaki: He's just lying! There's no way that he's the culprit!

[Lying]

Toshino: It may be outrageous sure but that doesn't mean that Robin is lying.

Hirohito: B-but we hardly have any evidence left as it is. How c-can we connect the dots th-that he's the culprit?

[Any evidence left]

Kuro: We still have evidence. It's not like we don't have any at all. We got to make use of what we have.

Ichigo: Yeah makes sense but we can't just go by Robin's word alone.

[Robin's word alone]

Robin: Oh? But you absolutely can! Ever realized that all of the previous culprits have either denied or stalled for time when they were caught? I'm just giving you an easy victory here.

Kana: But your word isn't enough. We still need more evidence. Do we even have any left?

[have any left]

Toshino: Of course we do. Don't be stupid.

Hirohito: But h-how much? We n-need to have plenty m-more evidence so w-we can know for s-sure that Robin really is th-the culprit

[Plenty more evidence]

Robin: You don't need to. All you need to do is to connect the damn dots!

THIS IS OUR ANSWER!

[Break!]

"You legitimately repeated the same thing over and over. You don't need a lot of evidence to prove that I'm the culprit. Just connect the damn dots that I did it," Robin explained.

"Connect the dots? Ooh I see, we're gaining new evidence as we speak once you confessed! I think...well I'm sure we can connect the dots," Ichigo suggested.

"Yeah, Robin confess so we'll have an even bigger chance at figuring this out," Toshino said.

"Let's back up a little. Use one of the pieces of evidence that you do know and find a connection that happened earlier," Robin said.

>Evidence that we do? I think I got it! We hypotheses this earlier!

Truth Bullet selected -> First one to take headset off

I got it!

"Didn't we hypothesis that the culprit would have been one of the first people to take off their headset due to them not having enough time?" I asked.

"Hmm? Yeah...oh I get it. Most of us spoke after we got out but before we saw Amy's body," Kana said.

"Right and what was those words and who spoke them?" Robin asked.

[Flashback]

"Looks like we're back."

"Wait is that blood?"

"HOLY SH*T!"

"Oh no! She...she...,"

[Flashback end]

"Only one person actually spoke that we gotten out while the rest was focused on the body," I said.

"Only f-four of us s-spoke before the b-body announcement came o-on," Hirohito said.

"Yep and just guess who was that one person who spoke?" Robin asked.

"You?" Toshiaki said.

"Bingo," Robin said.

"So how did you manage to get out of the simulation?" Ichigo asked.

"Well I technically didn't find it. Amy did. In fact, she logged out first," Robin explained.

"So we were almost there. There was a secret where you can log out of the simulation. We thought that you found out but it was actually Amy?" I asked.

He nodded.

"I see..," I muttered.

>We're so close and yet we're so far. I feel like we're missing something

This is no magic trick!

I turned to see Yuki clinging onto his hat, his legs shaking.

Actually now that I think about it, Yuki hasn't spoken in a while. Not even in the scrum debate.

"I refuse to believe it! He...he can't be the culprit. Even if we connect the dots, there still could be missed pieces of the puzzle. Like how was it possible that her head was sliced off," Yuki explained.

!

>I guess he's right but that's why we need to connect the dots! To know how, what and why it happened

Rebuttal Showdown

Truth Blade: Discussion Bullet #1

Yuki: He just can't be. Big Bro couldn't have killed her. He would have had to prepare beforehand and since we don't know what he did in the simulation, we don't have any idea whether he saw Amy or not.

[Advance!]

Kuro: We could ask Robin himself. He looks so glad to reveal the truth. He is the only one who actually knows what happened even with how little evidence we got. We just need to scrape by with what we do got!

Yuki: Scrape by? Damn you Kuro! What if we're wrong? What if he's lying? How would it be possible to prepare beforehand in only a few moments. He would have had to tie the string hard enough to cause pressure and pull it himself! He doesn't have anything on him that signify that

>...

[Truth Blade: Discussion Bullet #1. Use on had to tie the string hard enough to cause pressure and pull it himself.]

Kuro: Allow Me To Cut Through Your Words!

[Break!]

"..."

He stayed silent as I took a shaky breath to present why he's wrong in his statement.

In

And

Out.

"It doesn't seem like Robin himself was the one to have pull on the string. He must have used an alternative way to make a clean slice and kill her...," my voice trailed off in the end.

"Interesting how you think outside of the box," Robin said.

"Toshino brought that up," I muttered.

Robin gave Toshino a nod which Toshino just turned away from him.

"So you're saying that Robin attached the string to something which caused the pressure on Amy's neck before slicing it clean off?" Toshino asked, his hands gripping at his folded arms.

"Most likely," I replied.

"It seems like we're getting closer to solving this," Ichigo cheered.

"Buuut, it seems like we're missing something," she added on.

"What do you mean?" Toshiaki asked.

All according to plan~

"Tami~chan! I'll need your help to show everyone here that something is missing. Ok?" Ichigo smiled at me.

I was confused on what she wanted but it wouldn't hurt to hear her out.

Logic Refresh

Truth Bullets: Kana's Account, Discussion Bullet #3, Wrench and Poison

Ichigo: Yep yep, we're definitely missing something. Robin doesn't seem to be the type of person to kill

Ichigo: I guess unless he was pushed against a wall but why? Just why?

Ichigo: We can ask him why once we figure out what's missing!

Ichigo: You understand right? You're smart!

-Doesn't seem to be the type of person to kill
-Why? Just why?
-Ask him why

Truth Bullet selected: Discussion Bullet #3

I Agree With That!

[Break!]

"Wait are you talking about the reason why?" I asked.

"Yep! Killing someone is out of character for someone who is highly against it," Ichigo explained.

"Yeah...Robin seemed to be the detective type in our group and he always seems to despise killing of sorts. *gasp* Are you the Ultimate Detective or something?" Toshiaki asked.

"Nope. It doesn't seem right to me, also my talent is irrelevant to this case," Robin folded his arms.

"If Robin really was a detective, he wouldn't out himself like this. But back to the point that Ichigo was trying to make, why would he kill Amy?" Toshino asked.

"Amy wasn't the best person to be around but there was no reason to kill her. Why?" Kana asked.

Robin stayed silent.

"C-come on...you w-were so open in t-telling us that you're the culprit. Wh-why are you being s-so silent right n-now?" Hirohito asked.

Robin continued to be silent as he stared at the ceiling, his hair covering his eyes so we couldn't see what emotion his eyes were showing.

"...Big Bro...Robin? Why? Why are you silent now?" Yuki asked, his fist shaking.

...

Robin's mouth curled into a grin.

>Why is he smiling?

"Heh...guess I really am both the luckiest and unluckiest guy ever," he finally said.

He then slammed his hand onto the podium, making some of us flinch.

"Oh god please tell them that he isn't crazy like the rest minus Uyeda," I heard Toshino mutter.

"I'll say one thing. Poison. Figure it out yourself," Robin said.

Everything about his position was calm and collected but his tone and eyes told a different story.

They held anger and frustration.

>Figure it out ourselves? What does he mean by poison?

Logic Dive

Question 1
What does Robin mean by poison?

A. He was actually going to poison Amy

[B. Amy was going to poison someone]

C. Nothing, he's just trolling

[Good!]

Question 2.
How do we know that Amy was going to poison someone?

A. Her corpse held poison

B. She wrote about it

[C. It was near her chair]

[Good!]

Question 3
Why does this correlate to Robin's case?

[A. He killed her to prevent Amy from murdering someone]

B. It doesn't

C. He wanted to use the poison himself

[Good!]

Answer Key: B. C. A.

This is it!

"I think I get it. You saw that she was going to commit a murder so you tried to stop her. Am I right?" I asked.

Robin made a seesaw effect with his hand.

"More or less. What actually happened," he brushed aside some hair to show his neck.

There was a cut there. It looked like it was brand new but was hastily hidden away from our eyes.

"You're correct that she wanted to commit a murder but I didn't kill her because I tried to stop her," Robin placed his hand on where the cut was.

"She tried to kill me."

...

Everyone was speechless.

Even Monkomi looked deeply invested in this.

"So it was out of self defense?" Yuki finally asked after a while of silence.

"In a sense yes...but," Robin looked at the floor.

" I Don't Remember How."

"Remember how? How you killed her?" Toshino asked, raising an eyebrow.

"How did I killed her? I should have died...and yet she took my place. How...," Robin trailed off.

>This is getting weird. One moment, Robin sounded like he was confident that he's the culprit and another he isn't. What's going on?

"Umm should w-we start voting n-now? I mean we got th-the culprit right? It's R-Robin right? We c-couldn't have gotten th-this wrong right?" Hirohito asked.

"Uhh maybe. I don't know," Toshiaki said.

"Wait we can't leave off like this. Just what the hell is going on with Robin and what does he mean by how did he kill her?" Toshino asked.

"And why he should be dead instead?" Ichigo added on.

"I don't think that's important right no-," Yuki said but got interrupted.

"You idiots!"

That was Robin.

"You can't just end it off like this. How and why?" Robin said, sounding very different from when we usually heard him.

"Robin...what's going on with you?" I asked.

"I...I should be dead. I should have not been here. I really shouldn't. She was supposed to kill me and yet she ended up in my position with me pulling the string. I shouldn't be standing here at all!" Robin pulled on his hair as he said all of this.

>This...THIS ISN'T ROBIN AT ALL!

>From the time that we known him, Robin always kept his cool but now...

>What's going on?

"I'm a murderer. I killed her...I was supposed to die," Robin rasped.

"This is getting too confusing. Doesn't make any sense at all," Ichigo said.

"He keeps on contradicting himself, what is going on with him?" Kana asked.

"Why the hell does he kept repeating himself that he should have died?" Toshino asked.

Everyone had the same thought in their mind.

>There has to be a way to clear the confusion up. Wait I think that this could answer some questions

Truth Bullet selected -> Wrench and Poison

I got it!

"I still believe that Robin acted out of self defense. Here's why: Remember the wrench and poison that we found. And how Robin wanted us to place the poison thought in our minds?" I asked.

"Yeah that was a weird transition. So you're saying that Robin acted out of self defense and somehow got Amy's neck to be wrapped around the string?" Toshiaki asked.

"Yes because remember what Monkomi said? He said that Amy might have brought it in before we entered the simulation," I pointed out.

"Guilty as charged," Monkomi slowly bowed.

"So you're saying that Amy was planning a murder beforehand and the person that she wanted to kill was Robin himself?" Kana asked.

"Yeah, that's exactly what I'm saying," I replied.

"But you really don't have any solid evidence to back it up do you?" Robin asked, suddenly.

"What? Of course I do, it's the wrench and poison," I said.

"Don't lie to me. You really don't," Robin sighed.

>This is getting too confusing. I have to show him that it's the truth!

"Look I-," I tried saying but got interrupted.

This situation isn't as black and white as you think!

"You don't, you really don't! Once you figure that out, you'll hate me even more than you already do!" Robin snapped.

>We really don't hate you Robin. Understand that...please

"We...we don't hate you. This isn't you. I don't know if it's the pressure of the trial that is getting to your head or is it something else, but I know that we can't just leave it like this! This trial needs to end at a satisfactory ending or as satisfying as it can be. Whatever the end result is, I won't hate you for it," I said, loudly.

Everyone was temporarily speechless.

...

"Well then...you just have to show me," Robin muttered.

Argument Adamant

>I truly am worthless

>I know you'll hate me even after everything I tried to do

>Stupid Amy!

>If she never tried to kill me, this would have never happened

>It's not self defense isn't it?

>I can't do this anymore

>I can't! I simply just can't

>Just hate me already! It's already over!

>Stop fighting Kuro! It's already over

"There really was no reason for me to kill Amy like that!"

>Ka
>Na's
>Acc
>Ount

It All Ends Here!

[Break!]

"No. You probably didn't know this but according to Kana, Amy was planning on killing someone. Saying that this was the last straw and how she was getting out of here no matter what," I explained.

"What?" Robin asked.

"Due to Amy's distrusting of us and her violent impulses, I guess it wouldn't be surprising that her way of getting out of here was to murder you and would have tried to get away with it. Too bad her plans backfired and she ended up getting killed," I explained.

"And you really trust Kana? After what happened?" Robin asked, more curious if anything.

I glanced at her.

"It's not like I completely forgive her but what else am I supposed to do? Completely ignore her input regardless whether it's right or wrong because of how low my trust in her is? Doesn't seem smart to me. Plus I was there when she and Amy argued," I explained.

>Have to take a gamble on this

"Even though she caused Minami's death?" Robin asked.

"We'll talk with her about it. While she did cause her death, other than that Kana didn't really do anything else. She stayed in the background most of the time. I need to trust her...this once," I sighed.

"Heh...you were always a sucker in trusting others. Yep, just do it already. Do your closing argument and finish it," Robin held his hands up in surrender.

>He sounds like himself again. What was that all about?

I shook myself.

Now wasn't the time to find out why Robin was acting strange earlier.

Got to end this!

Closing Argument

The motive was really different this time because there was no actual motive. We all ended up in a virtual simulation where we were separated from each other. Once some of us reunited again, we all thought that we would just have to play along with the games in order to escape.

However, Monkomi being Monkomi, decided to make that a motive. In order to get out of the simulation, we would need to kill. But it seemed like no one was going to commit a murder.

Or so we thought.

Amy, the victim, was planning a murder even before we got stuck in the simulation henceforth the wrench and poison which was really ink.

Amy struck up an argument with Kana, telling her that she would be getting out of here no matter what, hinting that she was going to murder someone.

She left Kana alone and went to do her own thing. Amy must have found a secret way to get out without completing the mini games or to murder. She would have gotten away with her plan if it wasn't for the culprit who found her.

Amy left the simulation with the culprit right behind her. The culprit here was her target for murder.

Amy attempted to kill the culprit but got tangled up in the string. The culprit used a method to pull the string to slice her head clean off, killing her.

They dragged her body off to hide it behind a box before quickly placing the headset on before we all woke from simulation.

It was a difficult case and we wouldn't have gotten it right if it wasn't for the culprit's confession.

Why did it have to be you...Robin?

[Break!]

"Hoohoo~, this was quite an intriguing trial. I had chills going down my non existent spine," Monkomi cheered.

"Nobody asked for your input!" Robin snapped, causing the robotic monkey to go quiet.

"S-so it's time to v-vote?" Hirohito asked, meekly.

"I guess...," Toshiaki said.

I hovered my finger over Robin's picture.

I'm usually not exactly confident when it's near the end of a trial but now, my stomach was curled up in knots.

I had to put my trust in a very untrustworthy people, putting a risk in our safety.

>Was it the right thing? Guess I'll find out

Those were thoughts as I voted for Robin.

A/N: yay I'm finally done!

Was this trial too confusing? Don't worry, I was also confused myself. I swear that it's intended to be confusing.

I also swear that there's an explanation on Robin's basically meltdown. I hope I didn't ruin his character.

Anyway, half way there.

Oh boy 😅

Anyway hope you liked it

Cya in the next one -Flare