Snake 9:00 A.M. Thirteenth Day
Walking through different rooms to find another clue was quickly becoming more of a chore than anything else. The place was big enough, and it's not like we had many clues on how a different room could come into play. With Horse…gone, we'd lost a major investigative force. Not only that, but whoever did it has the potential to mess with the investigation.
"I say we call it and just question those who stayed last night." Tiger unhelpfully states. I give him a quick glare.
"If we only take what they said, that's leaving out an entire option of someone leaving their room afterward," I explain, my patience wearing thin.
"How smart do you think the killer is? Though I agree with you, most of the people who left did so because they were drunk, unless you suspect me?" He points out.
"...I guess, it's just frustrating. Are people really that stupid to try to kill to get out of here? I'm sure we wouldn't actually get stuck in here forever, eventually people would notice…" I trail off with a sigh. I can feel a headache building up behind my eyes.
"Well, let's just go get alibis, maybe it'll reveal some new info…who knows." Tiger shrugs, pulling off in the direction we left the others. When we return, the atmosphere is as tense as it was before, though Ox is there, looking like he's recovered a bit. They're standing outside the gym, and Rabbit and Boar are nowhere to be seen. I'd guess they went back to their rooms for the time being.
"So…what do we do now?" Rooster questions, her eyes look lost, staring into the distance at nothing.
"We should get everyone's alibis, starting with the people who stayed behind drinking," I respond, looking over the group.
"I went to bed first, I can't stay up drinking like I used to. Horse, Monkey, and Rooster were still there, though I had convinced them to drink some water by that point." Dog states.
"Mhm, I think I remember that. Afterward, Rooster, Horse, and I went to bed together after we had sobered up a bit. We went to my room first, and then Rooster and Horse went off." Monkey adds. We all turn to Rooster, who flushes, whether it's anger or embarrassment, though I can't tell.
"W-well, I, ahem. I don't, quite, remember what happened." She stutters out.
"...Seriously?" We all turn to shoot her a deadpan look.
"Urk! L-look, when I drink a lot, I don't really remember the next day, okay!" Her voice gets a pitch higher as she tries to argue.
"Great, so we can't get any good information out of that. I'm guessing everyone else was asleep?" I question, turning to the rest of them. They all nod guiltily.
"What are we supposed to do then? We don't have any suspects." Sheep points out worriedly.
"Hah! We have a few; everyone who stayed after I left is a suspect. And if there is anyone here crazy enough to kill someone, I'll bet it's those two." Ox points at Tiger and me bitterly. His voice was laced with agitation.
"Are we going to go through with this again? I thought we had moved past this." I reply, glaring at him.
"What am I supposed to think? You always support Tiger when he's done nothing but stir up conflict!" He shouts.
"Maybe he does, but he also has good points." I try to shut him down, but it's clear he's looking for an argument.
"Hah, yeah right, he's literally a crazy person. Have you seen the clothes he's wearing? You know, he actually looks kind of familiar-"
"I accuse Rooster." The voice rings clear, startling the entire group, most of whom were focused on the argument between Ox and me.
"...Wait, what!?" She shrieks, and everyone immediately turns to the person who made the declaration, Tiger.
"Look, nobody was doing anything. We can just argue it out later when we're all together. Who knows, maybe the high-stakes setting will lead to new ideas?" He places his hands behind his head as the loudspeaker crackles, Mr. Cat letting us know what happened. Our eyes follow Tiger as he leaves.
"...Hmph, whatever." Ox huffs, taking his leave as well.
"What was all that about?" Monkey asks, looking confused.
"No fucking clue, all I know is that I'm about to be implicated because of that bastard." Rooster curses, stomping away from the group while complaining loudly.
"...Let's go, we can figure this out later." I sigh, following the direction Rooster took to make my way to the ballroom. I can't help thinking about what happened earlier. There's no way Tiger believes the best thing to do was to accuse someone, right? He's not that stupid. So he must've done it for another reason…something that Ox was saying.
"A-are we really doing this again?" I can hear someone ask as I walk up to the people gathered around the door. It was Rabbit, her eyes filled with tears.
"Yeah, but it'll be fine, I'm sure we'll make it out," Tiger says, patting her head. It was weird to see him blindly comfort someone like that, maybe it was because she discovered the body this time? Who knows.
"Are we all ready?" Monkey questions as we all gather around the door.
"I guess." Sheep shrugs. I look around at the tense faces, the sad faces, and the deliberately calm faces as we open the door and walk into the room. I carefully keep myself from glancing at the people watching us. I also pointedly look away from Mr. Cat, the man gives me the creeps, and I didn't need him knowing that.
Tiger and Rooster take their seats at the front as the rest of us file in and sit behind Rooster. Not a single person supported the guess that Rooster was the one who did it.
"What's this? You guys don't seem to agree with the accuser, well, I'm sure it won't matter too much at the end of the day. Let's begin!" Mr. Cat waves his hands dramatically to an applause around the room. The noise makes me sick.