There wasn't even a trial. He was caught red-handed. 

I couldn't believe my eyes when was brought to the crime scene and saw what had happened. Another one of us, dead. Gone, forever. My heart was racing. Everything seemed wrong. 

No one else was supposed to die. 

But someone did. 

They were saying Saikoro did it.

Saikoro, the one who danced in the rain with Keiko last night.

Keiko, who was no longer with us. 

I couldn't believe what I was being told.

We were all standing in the woods. Every single one of us. Yuuki and Ahmya had found the body at first, however, the announcement wasn't triggered until Daiki, Kichiro, and Ruji showed up. According to Yuuki, he and Ahmya arrived just seconds too late. If they walked just slightly faster, maybe Keiko would still be alive.

The ultimate public speaker had been stabbed. Plain and simple. Stabbed right through the back by the person who was her closest friend. By the time Yuuki and Ahmya arrived, Saikoro was holding her closely and crying for help, covered in her blood. I had never seen him cry before. It felt like the kind of thing he'd never do, although looking back he seemed close to crying over Sora. 

When Rantaro and I arrived, he was no longer himself. I didn't see the cool and confident gameshow host I had grown accustomed to. His charming smile was gone, replaced with emptiness. He muttered to himself, like a madman saying, "I didn't do it," over and over again. 

But Yuuki had seen the knife in his hand.

"Ghosts," Saikoro kept whispering. "It was the ghosts."

"He keeps saying that," Ruji whispered as his group and mine stepped back. "It couldn't have been ghosts, though. Ghosts can't wield physical objects like that. Not weaker spirits, anyway. The ability to possess an object takes a lot of negative power and... well, it's complex, but I highly doubt a ghost could do this." 

He was trying to explain, but it was hard to pay attention with the sight of Keiko's limp and lifeless body in Saikoro's arms. It was hard to pay attention to anything other than my racing heart. 

"What seems to have happened," Kichiro explained in a mock-serious tone. "Is that Saikoro killed her, then the despair got to him, making him all, well, this. Hehehee, soon the rest of us will follow in his footsteps! "

I didn't want to agree. I didn't want to just shrug and be done with this investigation. I wanted Saikoro to be innocent. However, Ahmya wasn't saying anything that went against Yuuki's claims, and judging by what went down, everything seemed to line up. The Monokuma file even stated that Keiko was "stabbed in the back by a close friend."

Why would he do that, though? They were dancing together before. They were friends...

"It wasn't me," Saikoro whimpered, all his confidence having been stripped away. "It wasn't me. The mastermind! It's the mastermind!"

He looked up at Kichiro, narrowing his eyes. There was an intensity that had never been there before. One that sent chills down my spine. 

Daiki pushed the ultimate unlucky student behind himself, though Kichiro didn't seem affected by the ice-cold glare. Why was Saikoro looking at him like that, of all people? Kichiro wasn't the one who discovered him. 

"Shhh, calm down," Yuuki told the gameshow host, kneeling down and placing his free hand on Saikoro's shoulder. "Just... breathe. We're all friends, and the trial isn't for a while. Maybe we can find a way out of this place before-"

"ONE OF US!" Saikoro cried. "The mastermind is one of us! They did it! It wasn't me! I saw... I don't know what I saw... ghosts..."

Kichiro began to whistle and twirl his finger next to the side of his head teasingly, implying that Saikoro had gone crazy. I couldn't blame him. The man was muttering and trembling. Killing his best friend must have been super traumatic for him. I can't even fathom why he would do it. We had barely even been handcuffed together. It hadn't even been one night, and someone was already dead.

Keiko, the ultimate public speaker. She had always been so bright and cheery. She had this smile, this warm, genuine smile. It was similar to Yuuki's in a way. I always thought that Yuuki, Keiko, and Saikoro would be good friends because they were so outgoing. But the two of them never really included Yuuki. It was always just Keiko and Saikoro. 

Yuuki was the kind of person who was friends with everyone, but never really had a close group of people. Keiko and Saikoro on the other hand could get along with everyone, but it was clear that the two of them were closer.

I wanted to become closer to Keiko. She seemed so bright and fun. But now I'd never get the chance.

Why? Why did this have to happen? Why would he kill her?

"We need to confirm. Just to be sure," Yuuki breathed. "Ahmya and I know what we saw, but... if this was an elaborate setup, we need to be sure to figure this out. We need one group to watch the body-"

"We volunteer," Rantaro said quickly, raising his cuffed hand and by default, my hand as well. "I think since you two discovered it initially, you best be out exploring. Plus, I don't want Kichiro around the body, in case he messes with something, so it's probably best that his group sets out too. Not to mention they have Ruji, who has done quite a bit of good work when it comes to these cases."

Ruji looked away shyly upon being complimented. I watched one of his hands go to the flashlight on his belt, tracing his fingers over the switch which had the power to turn it off and on. Daiki nodded as if agreeing to Rantaro's plan. Meanwhile, Kichiro started fussing about being essentially called untrustworthy. 

Yuuki seemed more than happy with the plan, though, so the other two groups set off to look for clues. 

Rantaro waited until they were long gone, then quickly kneeled down before Saikoro, his expression compassionate. 

"I need you to tell me what happened. What YOU think happened," the ultimate adventurer breathed. 

I tilted my head slightly. What was he trying to do here? It was clear that Saikoro had already lost it. 

"It wasn't me," Saikoro whimpered with tears slipping from his slightly red eyes. He continued to tremble, clutching his friend closely. "My hand... but not me. The ghosts, Rantaro. They're-"

"I believe you. Just... explain in chronological order."

The ultimate gameshow host nodded and looked down at the girl in his arms. He was fighting tears. Although, I wasn't sure if they were tears for her, or tears for himself. 

"We were walking," he quietly explained. "Exploring. She was curious about the forest, so we decided to go. She was telling me about her dog. Big German Shepard named Pita, like Pita Bread. She's always liked Pita Bread... ha... no one else noticed, but she always went for the pastries first whenever eating. She's a vegetarian. Never eats meat. She hasn't told me this, but I can tell. I've noticed. I also noticed that she's left-handed. Slightly crooked teeth, but not crooked enough to warrant braces. She likes to climb. When walking, she talked about how fun it would be to climb trees, but I kept telling her.... I kept saying maybe tomorrow. Because I was scared. I was scared of falling and tearing up my jacket. I didn't want her to climb alone, but I couldn't bring myself to climb with her, and she couldn't bring herself to go alone. I didn't tell her I was afraid, though. I just said I didn't want to get my outfit dirty. Isn't that stupid?"

Okay, they were tears for her. Unless he was making this up to make himself seem innocent. Then again, he probably wasn't innocent. From the way things seemed and from when the body discovery announcement went off, it had to be him. 

That doesn't mean he didn't care about her, though. That doesn't mean he didn't feel guilty. 

"Then, we found something. I... can't say what. The ghosts, they don't want me to say what," he whimpered. "I... there's a mastermind, though. In this game! One of us! It could be one of you. But... whoever it was.... they don't want us to know. So... the ghosts killed her. I blinked, and there was a knife in my hand. Then... it was in her back. But I didn't... I promise I didn't... She screamed... I caught her... then Ahmya and Yuuki came running. And now the ghosts... now they're going to kill me too... the game's over for me, isn't it? I can't... continue on to the final round this time."

His voice broke as he clutched her body closer, muttering to himself about all the things he wanted to do after escaping. All the things he'd never get to do now. 

He knew he was a goner.

"Maybe I have lost it..." he whispered. "Maybe... that's for the best. There's nothing out there anymore."

"Nothing out there? What do you mean?" I questioned.

Saikoro shook his head, tears falling from the corners of his glassy eyes. 

Rantaro seemed to let out a strained breath, then reached into his pocket and set a small candle on the ground, close to Saikoro and Keiko. He took out a box of matches, then lit it, creating a small flame which oddly enough, didn't smell of smoke. 

"Wait, you're the one who leaves those?" I asked, frowning slightly as the tiny light danced in the gentle breeze.

Rantaro nodded, saying not a word, and Saikoro was back to muttering to himself. 

I felt lost. I always felt lost and scared in this place, but Saikoro looked a different kind of terrified. Who could blame him? He saw all the executions that came before. I couldn't even imagine the anxiety, knowing what was coming to him. I couldn't even imagine what Maikeru, Bashira, and Nori felt like during those class trials, the world against them. 

Still, even with all the evidence against the gameshow host, I wanted to believe he was innocent. I wanted to believe this was all a joke, or that this was part of something bigger. Something that had nothing to do with us. 

I wanted to believe that people were inherently good and would never kill one another to survive. No matter how many times this game has proven me wrong, I still want to believe that. 

I kept that belief close to me as the handcuffs keeping Rantaro and me together unlocked and announcements told us it was trial time.

I stayed silent during the trial. I couldn't find the strength to speak up and tell everyone I thought he might be innocent. I didn't want to lose credibility. I didn't want everyone to think I was an idiot for speaking out against the mountain of evidence against him. 

Rantaro stayed silent as well.

With a shaking hand, we cast our votes, and Saikoro was confirmed to be the blackened. 

I guess I was wrong about him.

He was dragged off to the execution room, and that was it. 

Monokuma created what looked to be a gameshow with a large wheel for him to spin. Saikoro was forced into a small booth, taking the role of the contestant. Sweat dripped from his forehead, his cool and smooth demeanor having completely vanished.

The wheel was spun, half of the pegs being labeled with a large cash sum while the other half were labeled with the phrase "INSTANT DEATH." Thank goodness it said instant. Maybe an instant would mean it wouldn't hurt so badly. 

The wheel continued to spin and spin as Saikoro trembled until it stopped.

"INSTANT DEATH!" Monokuma grinned, rubbing his hands together. 

A red light flashed over Saikoro, and different wheels came falling all around him, cutting at his limbs. He screamed in pain as one sliced through his fingers, cutting them clear off. I covered my eyes, but not soon enough to miss the look of terror on his face as blood started to spray everywhere. 

With my eyes covered, all I could do was listen to his screams of pain and terror, until he finally fell silent.