The doors slowly opened and Stevie sighed, she wasn't ready for the Class Trial. She shook her head as her and her classmates stepped out into... Well, a court room.

Inside, there were sixteen podiums, each with one of their names on them. Reluctantly, Stevie headed forward and stood at her podium as others quickly followed.

When she looked up from her podium however, Stevie realized something and a feeling of unease washed over her. Dawn had a podium... But all that stood there was a portrait of her there, a pink butterfly crossing out her face.

"Howdy there, students! I hope you had fun investigating the crime scene." Monoyagi hopped onto her seat

Her podium was in front a large, throne-like chair that fit her perfectly, letting Monoyagi look down at them all like they were ants to be stepped on.

"Well, I'm about to explain the rules so listen closely~" Monoyagi hummed,"If you all can figure out the culprit and vote for them, only they will receive punishment. However... If you vote for the wrong person, I will punish everyone besides the Blackened and the murderer will graduate!"

"Just so we're clear, the killer is definitely one of us... Right?" Jay asked slowly, her head tilted to the side.

"Of course, Miss Young." Monoyagi answered.

Jay rolled her eyes at Monoyagi's words and leaned forward on her podium as Scott spoke up.

"Well... We can awready clear at least three o' us." He stated,"Scorpius, Dimtiri and Jay. They werenae here since they were taken by the motive."

"That's right, there was no possible way we could've done this." Dimitri agreed.

"Well, that leaves us with thirteen other students." Akira hummed, glancing around the room,"But oh, I wonder who could've done it. Me? You?"

"I've already got my suspicions." Crystal crossed her arms,"I've narrowed it down to two people."

"Already?" Jeff raised a brow,"Alright then, who are your main suspects?"

"I'm glad you asked." Crystal turned to Akira,"Obviously Akira's one of my suspects because she's a criminal, clearly she'd be the first to turn to murder?"

Akira's eyes widened before narrowing into a glare,"Is that so, popstar?"

"It is. Now, my other suspect..." Crystal then turned and looked at Stevie,"Is you."

Stevie stepped back in surprise, her eyes wide with shock,"M-me?"

"Yes. You. You could easily be fooling us with your 'sweet caregiver' act." Crystal pointed at her,"Besides, your alibi of being unconscious was weak. Can anybody even prove that?"

Stevie looked around the room. Crystal... She was certainly right about the last thing, nobody could prove her alibi but she wasn't a murderer! She'd never kill anyone!

"Actually, Crystal, there are quite a few people here with paper thin alibis." Terishi spoke up,"That means Stevie isn't the only one we should look into."

"Fine then." Crystal turned to look at Teri,"I guess... Maybe she wouldn't even be strong enough to kill someone, physically or mentally."

Stevie inhaled sharply. She was insulated but if it meant she wasn't implied in the murder, Stevie didn't mind.

"I still think she's suspicious but I suppose we could look into other people." Crystal shrugged.

"Well then... Let's properly start with what we know." Ray cracked his knuckles,"Dawn was killed with a blow to the head but something happened before that."

"W-what? Something h-happened to them before?" Sancia gasped,"What do you mean, R-ray?"

"Well, as noted by Stevie, the brusie on her neck showed evidence that someone tried to strangle Dawn before hitting her on the head." Ray explained.

"How cruel." Kirari commented.

"So... What does that tell us?" Ash crossed her arms,"Does it give us any idea on a killer?"

"Well, not exactly. But it shows that they failed first and I wanted to laugh at them for that." Ray smirked.

"I have evidence too!" Yūrei raised their hand.

"Oh, god, no." Jay groaned,"They don't have any evidence, it's just some riddle."

"Got it, ignoring Yūrei." Crystal nodded.

Stevie sighed, she thought the riddle could be useful... If she could figure out what it meant.

Yūrei looked disappointed but remained silent until Daiko spoke up,"Wasn't her body moved, too?"

"Ah, that's right." Dimtiri nodded, adjusting his sleeves,"We found evidence of a struggle, blood splatters on the wall outside of the kitchen."

"Now... Who did we find by the kitchen?" Crystal hummed.

Stevie sighed and shook her head,"Crystal, I didn't murder Dawn! I would never kill anyone!"

"Ya do look quite suspicious." Scott nodded slowly.

Stevie had to be careful now, she didn't want this crime pinned on her..she was innocent and she had to prove it here. But how?

"Well Stevie? How did things go for you?" Teri asked her calmly.

"I was in the kitchen alone, around ten since I zoned out. I was washing the dishes when I heard this loud crash. When I tried turning around to see what happened, someone hit me in the head and... Well... You guys know the rest." Stevie explained, looking down at her hands.

The room was quiet but Crystal scoffed,"That just makes you look more suspicious, Stevie."

"Yeah... Nobody else here had access to any weapons other than you, in the kitchen." Scorpius agreed.

Stevie bit her lip and looked down. She knew she was telling the truth. Wait. She'd taken notice of something Scorpius said. She knew that wasn't true, some people did have weapons!

"Actually Scorpius, that's wrong. I wasn't the only one with access to weapons." Stevie spoke up.

"Really?" Scorpius asked her.

"Oh, do tell us more." Ash pressed her for the information.

"Last night, Sancia took a knife from the kitchen. I just wanted to get some water and we... Had an encounter." Stevie stated although she didn't want to reveal exactly what happened,"And Ray won a nerf gun at the game corner, although it was loaded with one real bullet."

"We checked afterwards and there was only that one real bullet." Daiko added,"Besides, I don't think Dawn was shot."

"True, but Ray could've smacked over the head with it." Jay shrugged.

"Actually, Stevie and I found the murder weapon." Ray took out the hammer statue,"This is what killed Dawn Kamakiri."

"Some stupid statue?" Jeff raised a brow.

"Yes, Jeffy! Some stupid statue whacked her like some spider." Akira giggled.

Jeff sighed, pushing up their glasses,"Never call me that again. Go on, Ray."

"Well, a day or so ago, I had a friendly competition with Stevie and Akira to see who could find the most of those dumb coin thingies." Ray began.

"Yagicoins!" Monoyagi cut it,"They're my special form of currency!"

Ray rolled his eyes and continued,"Anyway, I got my nerf gun and some seeds. However, one prize remained... This hammer statue."

"Therefore, anyone who visited the game corner is a suspect." Terishi concluded.

"Exactly." Ray pointed.

"Well Monoyagi? You don't happen to have a record of everyone who visited the game corner, do you?" Daiko turned to look up at her.

"Not an exact record but Stevie, Akira and Ray came in together, then Scott and Crystal afterwards. The only other person to visit was Yūrei but they just looked at me and walked out." Monoyagi told them.

"I was merely reading you." Yūrei explained.

"I, uh, I don't mean to be rude but I don't exactly think you'd be able to 'read' a robot." Kirari shook her head.

"It wasn't my most successful endeavour." Yūrei sighed,"But I got all the information I needed."

"Well, Ray and Akira can prove that I didn't purchase anything and I still only have my fifteen Yagicoins." Stevie told her, taking out the fifteen coins.

"W-well, Scott can vouch for me." Crystal quickly shot him a look.

"Aye, Crystal did'nae buy any'hing." Scott shook his head, looking away.

"Scott? You look... Nervous." Daiko pointed out.

"N-nervous?" Scott stammered,"Naw, no me."

"I have a feeling I know who did this." Terishi looked up.

"Me too." Stevie looked over at Crystal,"Do you have anything to say, Crystal?"

Crystal's eyes widened,"Of course not, I'm innocent!"

"Yūrei, could you tell that riddle to everyone now?" Stevie spoke, almost out of nowhere.

"Of course." Yūrei nodded and took in a deep breath,"Failure lead to success, success was my demise. She hit us both, although only one died. Do not trust the music of the night."

"What the heck does that even mean?" Jay questioned.

"Well, the killer failed to kill Dawn once... Them succeeding killed her." Ray slowly spoke as he worked it out.

"And the killer was probably the one who hit you Stevie, but you survived." Teri added, nodding slowly.

"And... Crystal is a singer." Daiko sighed at her before Scott spoke up, not believing what he was saying.

"Her most famous song was... The Music of the Night." Scott spoke, his voice shaky,"Crys... You did'nae kill her right? You did'nae... Lie tae me?"

Crystal seemed taken aback,"Scott... Would I lie to you? We're friends!"

Scott's whole body seemed to tremble with each word. Stevie could see how desperate he was to believe Crystal but the truth was... She'd betrayed him, his trust and his kindness.

"Well... How about we start voting? Yeah?" Monoyagi looked around the now silent courtroom,"Just select who you want to vote for on your screens!"

A screen suddenly shot up from each one of their podiums and they each selected an answer.

"Well? Let's see who you all voted for..." Monoyagi checked her own screen,"Oh! It looks like you've all guessed correctly. The Blackened was indeed, Crystal Cobain!"

"Why!?" Scott slammed his hands down on his podium,"Why did ya kill her!?"

Crystal sighed,"Scott, I did it for you and Scorp."

"What?" Scorpius turned to her,"Why us?"

"You got taken Scorpius! I was terrified for you, I thought I'd lose you because I didn't know if that damned robot was telling the truth!" Crystal shouted,"I didn't want that happening to you, Scott. I had to... Do something. Dawn was an easy target. Stevie was an easy target... I just had to kill one to save you."

"How did things go down then Crystal?" Ray questioned.

"Well, I saw them walking past the kitchen and so I left Scott alone. I tried  choke her but she kicked me and ran off so I just... I hit her." Crystal looked down at her hands,"It made such a loud noise and I saw Stevie in the kitchen so... I hit her too. Monoyagi watched me and so I just... Panicked. I demanded she switch off the lights and she just... Did. I tried to cover it up but..."

"Akira, Ray and Kirari found the body." Ash sighed.

Crystal nodded slowly,"I just didn't want to lose any more friends.."

"Oh, poor you." Monoyagi shook her head,"Oh well, time for your Punishment!"

"What's going to happen to me?" Crystal asked, looking up at their Headmistress.

"Oh, the punishment for being caught is... Execution." Monoyagi glared down at her.

"W-what?" Scott's eyes widened.

"Yep." Monoyagi nodded and pulled out a gavel,"Goodbye, Chrissy!"

"Wait, naw! Please, don't!" Scott cried out as Monoyagi banged her gavel against her podium.

A grey chain then grabbed Crystal by the neck and yanked her back, pulling her up as Scott screamed. Suddenly, a large screen switched on and revealed what was happening to Crystal.

Crystal was on a stage holding her guitar which she began to play for a live audience, cheering for her and clapping. Everything seemed to be going so well... But it wouldn't last.

Crystal was taken by surprise as when she paused, the music kept going... She wasn't playing or singing yet the music continued. The crowd began to boo and jeer and throw things at her, growing in intensity until they were actual rocks, after realising her trickery.

Before Stevie could even really tell what was happening... Crystal Cobain, the Ultimate Lead Singer, was stoned to death by her own audience...

Stevie felt tears sting her eyes but she felt worse as she heard Scott's cries, the heartbroken sobs of a man betrayed by his close friend. She could see Scorpius, Daiko and Dimtiri trying to comfort him but she was just... Numb.

She'd watched someone who she would consider a friend killed one of her other friends and tried to pin it on her... Stevie was terrified but she just... Couldn't feel anything.

Stevie didn't remember getting in the elevator but apparently she did because she was stood outside of her room, Ray beside her.

"Come on, you should go and rest." Ray opened the door for her.

Stevie shook her head and clung onto him. She felt Ray tense but he soon relaxed, holding her close and gently stroking her hair.

"You're scared, aren't you?" Ray sighed.

Stevie nodded as she felt tears build up in her eyes. Ray, still holding her, entered her room and shut the door before setting Stevie down on her bed.

"Ray..?" Stevie looked up at him and rubbed the tears from her eyes.

"Yes, ma chére?" Ray tilted his head to the side.

"You won't leave me... Right?" Stevie asked him slowly.

"Of course not." Ray shook his head.

"Promise?" Stevie held up her pinky.

"Ma chére, I don't make promises." Ray sighed.

Stevie looked down as her tears started falling. Seconds later, Ray linked their pinkies together as he looked away.

"I promise."