T̢H̢҉̴E̢͝ ̡S͝E҉̡C̡̢O̵N̡̕͠D̵͡ ̕͠T̀͢R͞IAL

[strangerpeople]

T͝HE͘ S̴̸E҉̶̀C͜Ơ̷̢N͏D̡͟ T҉̧R͘I͟A̧͟͠L̢

Heyyyyyyyyy, Strangers! How's Valentine's Day going? Unfortunately we have to start the trial soon if you want to get any dinner dates in before midnight!

I know some of you have a very special day near today, too! So let’s get a move on, shall we? You know the drill! Though you know… since we saw one of those clues, you can bring your pets in today.

[And so it is. Just like last week, the elevator shoots everyone down to the trial room. Lala's podium, now, is Xed out in red. And like last week, five of the podiums' dot matrix name plates suddenly flash with a red border.]

THE BRITTLE	THE CIRCUIT	THE ENEMY	THE NOODLES
				THE UNKNOWN

[And clashing with the borders whether red or not, on each Stranger’s podium is a little piece of candy: A gray heart, printed with a message in nearly black capitals. These candies are similar to the pills in that they taste like nothing at all rather than sand; while a pill is meant to serve as a full meal, one candy is about as filling as a single apple.

The messages are as follows.]

KING: BEST FRIEND	ARTHUR: LOOKING GOOD	OSOMATSU: ONE OF A KIND	ESTELLE: BRIGHT SPARK	MCBURN: NEVER MEANDER	JONATHAN: DOUBLE THE FUN
AMBROSINE: QUEEN OF MY HEART	CALEB: HOT	KARMA: YOU’RE A DOLL	VITA: TRUE BLUE BEAUTY	KURAMA: FOXY	ERIC: SEW NICE

I'd call what you had to look at "inhumane", but Lala Hagoromo wasn't human, was she?

Now, now, Hiyori. I’m not human, either.

Doesn't change how sad it is that she lost her chance to be happy... Oh, why don't you give them a good look at what you have there, Link?

[Link holds up the heart labeled "OUT OF / THIS WORLD". The hosts are visible behind the glass of their sterile observation room this time by the way.]

We made too many because we hoped all of you would finally join in on the fun by today... So, if you retire, culprit, you can eat this one!

[...Well, maybe the evidence will cause the Hosts to eat their words. BOOM. Burn........or...well, it doesn't matter. The clock is ticking.


The trial for the murder of Lala Hagoromo, The Chance, has begun.]

Comments

[otherworldlyking]

It's one thing to protect someone else, but another to hide information in order to do that.

[poorlovefool]

[for once he doesn't even mind the cloyingness of this type of support, he is just that done]

[mermaidkin]

[the record will show that Hiyori ALSO seemed to FAINTLY LIKE Vita's comments on what Lala would have wanted but is generally not Cloying Harder and letting Kyuu have the spotlight]

[poorlovefool]

So it's not always, we just have to guess if someone's working for them or not...? Damn it...

[cuteandinnocentpet]

. . .

Ah. An excellent question, Karma!

I can confirm that this was the case.

[comesaround]

[ His entire face just goes pale at this, breath hitching. There's only one person he knows who could shoot without a gun and who would be angry enough to attack Kyuubey without thinking. ]

...Then that means... I think I know who was responsible for shooting Lala.

[ A pause. God he hates everything. ]

Thanks. That clears something up.

[cuteandinnocentpet]

Of course!

[unwittingking]

[Still keeping Kyuubey against the pedestal, but instantly getting his attention.]

You do?

[That look...isn't a happy look...]

[comesaround]

Yeah.

[ Ugh. He has to come outright and say it... and he absolutely HATES it. ]

[otherworldlyking]

Then say it so we can end this trial already.

[unwittingking]

[…he hates having to do this...but he doesn't want an innocent person dying...]

Can you tell us? Please?

[comesaround]

[ He's quiet for some time, looking like he might be physically sick to his stomach, hands clenched tightly on-top of his podium. ]

Guys... I was trying to hold off on this until I had a little more to go off of... but since there wasn't a gun found at the scene and Lala has a gunshot wound to her stomach? With what Kyuubey told me, I can only guess that it was Kurama that came across Kyuubey speaking with Lala, trying to make a contract with her.

[ Yeah he's just processing everything and he wants Kurama to somehow tell him he's wrong. ]

Due to his mindset and that both of us know what Kyuubey is capable of doing, I'm positive he used his power to try and shoot Kyuubey. That's when I bet Lala stepped in and took the hit instead. [ He shakes his head, pounding a fist on the podium. ] I can't say if he's the one who cut her throat but... i'm sure it was him on the stomach injury.

[ He then looks to Kurama, expression torn between anger and sadness. ]

Please. Tell me i'm wrong. I don't want to be right.

[otherworldlyking]

[ Finally...time for a nap while waiting ]

[incendiarize]

It doesn't explain the knife, like, at all! He wouldn't have needed it!

[He focuses and replays his vision of Lala's death. Can he get any sense of how old the stomach injury was compared to how new the neck injury was?]

[illusionarymelody]

That doesn't mean he's the one who killed her. The stomach wound wasn't the fatal injury.

[comesaround]

I know. That's what I'm hoping on. I want to believe someone else came in after and finished her off so she wouldn't suffer.

Mods?

[unwittingking]

[…there's irony here, and he knows it. But...he needs to point it out.]

But...if he made a mistake, and...wanted her to stop suffering…

[And important question: Was the carotid or the jugular cut from the throat slit?]

[illusionarymelody]

A gunshot to the head or heart do that quite effectively as well.

[Sorry Karma, she doesn't know that Kurama died of a shot to the heart. She only knows those are preferred for assassinations for a reason.]

[unwittingking]

If you want to make it quicker and painless, would you risk messing it up like that? Especially after the first shot failed?

[incendiarize]

Going for the heart would've been near-instant and Kurama knows how to do it.

[illusionarymelody]

Karma is saying he may have been aiming for Kyuubey and Lala interfered. Someone got close enough to her to cut her throat. If that could happen, he could have done the same.

I'm not buying that he'd suddenly use a different weapon and then wait for the blood to dry before disposing of it in the weapon storage. I'm more inclined to believe the evidence is leading us to the fact that the knife user is a different person.

[unwittingking]

But...would he? After what happened last week, I'm not sure he'd be so up for it.

[You don't usually go for heart-shots once someone you love dies from one, do you?]

[incendiarize]

If someone who wouldn't ordinarily go for the motive found someone already dying from someone else's attack....they'd have an easier time pinning the blame on the original attacker.

[strangerpeople]

[Both arteries were cut, on Lala's right side.]

[illusionarymelody]

Though there is one other possibility. They wanted the motive and saw her dying and finished her off to be the one who could claim it rather than the first attacker.