The Game is Afoot

“I killed Mehmet and Fatma!? Are you stupid!?” Keitaro yelled out. “That’s not even possible! Our truce makes it impossible for Coalition members to harm each other!”

“That seemed to be the case, but the evidence tells a different story,” Sean said coldly.

Keitaro felt his rage build. This false accusation from Sean was bad, but what really pissed him off were the looks from everyone else. They all looked at him with pure disgust, like he was lower than the filthiest garbage.

He clenched his fist hard. This is something he would not stand for. “If there’s so much evidence then show it to me!”

Sean stayed silent for a few moments. “Very well. I’ll escort you myself to the crime scene.”

“Wait, Sean.” Beatrice Essex, the Pink Maiden, stood up, grabbing Sean’s shoulder. “You really shouldn’t go anywhere with that guy.”

“It’ll be fine.” He brushed her hand away. “Let’s go.”

Keitaro and Toko followed behind Sean as he led them down the hallways.

Toko hadn’t said anything this entire time, however. She was terrified. False accusations were no laughing matter.

***

The scene itself wasn’t too bad. Mehmet and Fatma were both dead on the floor of their room. Their lifeless bodies were sprawled across the ground and their faces were frozen in horror. Both of their Cores had been damaged, destroyed with small punctures through the middle. However, Mehmet looked to be otherwise entirely unharmed while Fatma only had a cut along her arm.

But the damning evidence was Fatma’s fingers which were coated in red, and on the floor next to her, “Keitaro” was written in her own blood.

“Is this really all you’ve found?” Keitaro asked.

“Yeah, sorry about this.” Jack rubbed the back of his head. He and Ella, who had been assigned to watch the crime scene, were the only people other than Toko who seemed to have any faith in Keitaro.

Additionally, Klaus Wagner the Indigo Knight as well as Hana Hirth the Indigo Maiden were also watching the scene of the crime, but neither seemed to be very charitable.

With a sigh, Keitaro started making his case. “First off, this is flimsy at best. You do realize the real killer could’ve used her hand to write that?”

“Perhaps, but your guilt is corroborated by other evidence. I myself saw you with the victims last night. And that’s not all.” Sean gestured towards Hana.

She had been leaning against the wall, but stood up straight to give her testimony. “I saw you enter their room last night.”

“What!?”

“It was dark, but I could tell that it was you. I’m certain.”

“No way! I went back to my room after I talked with Mehmet!”

“That’s enough.” Sean walked right in front of him.

“That’s enough!? You’re going to convict me over the testimony of this woman who just betrayed her former ally, by the way!”

“You oughta shut your mouth!” Klaus stepped in front of Hana, staring down Keitaro.

“Or what!? Unlike you, I haven’t forgotten that we can’t hurt each other!" Throwing in all his rage, he sent his fist flying right towards Klaus’s face, only for it to be stopped an inch away by an unseen force, leaving Klaus completely unharmed. “See?”

“Obviously you used your Ability!” Klaus said as he tried to swat Keitaro’s hand away.

This made Keitaro pause. If one of them had killed Mehmet and Fatma, then it would’ve had to have been by utilizing some kind of loophole, likely with the help of an Ability. He could prove his innocence right here and now if he showed them that Destruction wouldn’t be capable of doing such a thing. However… their Abilities were their trump cards. If he revealed it now, it would put both him and Toko at a massive disadvantage.

Sean smirked. Keitaro had been backed into a corner. “So. Will you show us your Ability? Could it have been used to kill our comrades?”

Keitaro mulled it over hard. No matter what humiliation he suffered here, it wasn’t worth revealing their hand. “You know I can’t do that…”

“Just as I thought… So now that your guilt has been determined, I think it’s only fair that you are locked out of the negotiations from here on out. And of course, you will be removed from the Coalition as soon as the treaty is signed.”

With a grunt, Keitaro accepted his fate. The Coalition was going to collapse anyway, it didn’t matter if he was kicked out. There were other allies to be found, even if he was branded a murdering traitor here…

“H-hold on!” Toko cried out.

Everyone in the room looked at her.

“U-um…” she stammered. “S-shouldn’t Keitaro be allowed to investigate first…? J-just so he gets a fair chance to prove his innocence…?”

Sean’s gaze narrowed. The seconds felt like hours as he came to a decision. “Fine.” He turned around to walk out of the room. “You all better watch him like hawks, though.”

After Sean left, the room was silent until Keitaro let out a heavy sigh. “What a disaster…”

“A-are you doing okay, Keitaro…?” Toko asked, her voice concerned.

“I’ll be fine…” He rubbed his eyes.

“Hey, things could be worse, right?” Jack patted him on the shoulder. “At least you can make your case now.”

“I guess so.” Keitaro looked at the crime scene. “Can you give me a rundown?”

“Sure.” Jack crouched down next to the bodies. “As you can see, they’re dead. Most importantly, their Cores have been destroyed. Fatma presumably wrote your name with her blood on the floor here.”

Keitaro looked at the bloodied message. It was indeed his name. Turning his attention towards her arm, he noticed something strange. The wound on her arm was across a sizable vein, yet there was hardly any bleeding. “Did you guys notice this?” Keitaro pointed to the wound. “There’s no bleeding here.”

Toko, Jack, and Ella huddled around to look.

“You’re right, actually. What’s up with that?” Jack asked.

“Someone doesn’t bleed if they’re already dead,” Keitaro explained.

“So… Wait, does that mean!?” Ella covered her mouth in shock.

“That’s right. If she was already dead then she couldn’t have written the message. It was forged by the real killer.”

Toko and Ella gasped.

However, Jack just chuckled. “I kinda figured as much. Whole thing just seemed fishy to me.”

“No, no!” Hana, who had been standing off to the side with Klaus, ran over. “Stop trying to weasel out of this! I saw you go in there! It had to have been you!”

With a sigh, Keitaro stood up. “Sorry about earlier, but can you tell me exactly what you saw?”

With a scoff, she replied, “Fine. It was last night and I left my room to get a cup of coffee–”

“Why are you drinking coffee in the middle of the night?”

“It’s none of your business why!” she stammered. “Anyway, as I was about to pass by Mehmet and Fatma’s room, I saw you enter it.”

“Hm… Did you notice anything strange about me? Like how I was dressed or acted or something?”

“You were just wearing what you’re wearing now. And you weren’t doing anything strange other than entering their room.”

“I see. Did you see anything weird elsewhere?”

“Well…” She seemed to be trying to remember something, but suddenly she jumped. “Uh, nope, nothing!”

Keitaro didn’t believe for a second that it was nothing. But he didn’t want to press too hard for now. “All right then…”

They didn’t have much, but hopefully learning that Fatma’s dying message was a forgery would be enough to clear his name. But even if he was off the hook, the real killer was still among them.

Toko walked up to her brother. “W–what should we do now?”

“Well, we have a lead.”

“W-we do!?”

“Yup. I know I didn’t enter this room last night, but Hana seems pretty adamant about what she saw. That means whoever did this likely has some kind of Ability that either lets them disguise themselves or can make people see things that aren’t actually there.”

“R-really!?”

“Probably.” Keitaro thought it over and it made sense. However, that didn’t answer the question of how Mehmet and Fatma were killed… “For now, let’s continue the investigation.” With a wave of his cape and a dramatic turn, he called out, “Come, Toko! The game is afoot!”