Lock and Key | Naegami

Chapter 3 - Russian Roulette

'Russian roulette, the rules are simple. Each gun has one bullet in it. Spin the barrel, put the gun to your head then pull the trigger. You have ⅙ chance of death, ⅚ chance of survival. If you lose, then you die, if you win, then you get a reward!'

'Suddenly this doesn't seem like a fair deal..' Byakuya muttered, 'Can we back out?'

'Uh... no. Either play, or you both die!'

'Th-That isn't fair!' I yelled at the camera, 'What happened to Just Dance?!'

'Is... is that your main priority right now...?' Byakuya asked, glaring at me.

'This is your fault!' I turned to the taller boy, clenching my fists, 'Just because you insisted on being too high and mighty for a game, now we

might die! Sometimes I don't believe you.'

I glared at Byakuya one last time, before grabbing the gun. I checked that there was only one bullet in, before spinning the barrel and pointing it to my head. 'I'll go first.'

I closed my eyes. 'If I die, and you somehow manage to get out this goddamn room, tell everyone I said sorry.'

Byakuya scoffed. 'And why would you want to say sorry?'

'For not being with them when they escape.'

And with that, I pulled the trigger.

....

......

........

*click*

I opened my eyes, relief flooding through me. 'Th-That was..' I mumbled to myself, trying to slow my breathing.

'Your Ultimate Luck was on your side,' Byakuya said, 'I, however, have no such thing, so the odds of me dying are much higher.'

Byakuya spoke calmly as he checked that there was a bullet in the chamber, before spinning it and placing the gun to his head.

'Oh, and if I die, tell Toko I hate her.'

He pulled the trigger, and I prepared myself for the click that would show he shot with the empty chamber.

It didn't come.

Instead, there was a loud bang, and Byakuya staggered forward, a bright pink liquid sprared across the floor.

'B-Byakuya-!'

...

'That hurt..'

'Huh..?'

Byakuya slowly stood up, wiping the pink liquid off his head. 'Ugh, now I have paint in my hair..'

'P-Paint?!' I stuttered out, not believing what I was seeing.

'The bullets were fake. And filled with paint,' Byakuya put the gun down on the table, 'But.. I lost. So now I face punishment.'

'Right you are, Byakuya!' Monokuma said, 'So, Makoto gets a nice mattress to sleep on, and you can stay on the blankets! That's if you're not dead after this punishment..'

'Just... get it over with.'

'Fine,' Monokuma groaned, 'As a punishment, I'll be reading your deepest darkest secret to Makoto and the rest of the students!'

Byakuya's eyes widened with fear. 'If you-'

'If I what? Is that a threat?'

'C-Come on, it can't be that bad,' I reassured, 'I don't judge people..! And I'm sure the others won't either!'

Byakuya didn't respond, but instead walked away and sat in a chair at the opposite side of the classroom.

'Anywho..' the monochrome bear began, 'Let's go! Ahem, ahem, mic check, one two three... Hello, Hope's Peak Academy students, welcome to Secrets with Monokuma! In this episode, we'll be revealing your dearest classmate, Byakuya's deepest darkest secret! So.. without further ado.. Byakuya Togami is gay!'

'...'

'...'

'That was... anticlimactic..' I mumbled.

'Anticlimactic? How can it be? I'm Byakuya Togami, I can't-'

'Why not?' I asked, 'Why do you have to be straight?'

'It's not normal to like people of the same gender,' Byakuya sighed, folding his arms. He was still facing away from me, so I took a step closer.

'If it makes you feel any better, I'm bi..' I said gently.

Byakuya suddenly froze. He was silent for a few seconds, before he finally spoke. 'I'm going to take a shower.. I need to wash the paint out my hair..'

'Okay!' I smiled at the taller boy as he walked through the only unlocked door in the room, shutting it behind him. I sat on a desk, swinging my legs, before realising, though it was only around 9AM, it already felt like it was the evening.

This is going to be a long day.

*****

I spent the rest of the day lying on the floor and playing games that Byakuya forced Monokuma to download onto my eHandbook.

After my 147th game of Snake, I threw my hand over my face. 'This is getting boring..'

'Just be glad that Monokuma actually gave us some form of entertainment,' Byakuya turned his eHandbook off, 'Otherwise we'd be slowly driven insane by boredom. And besides, if we complain too much about boredom, Monokuma will suggest another challenge.'

'A challenge, huh..' I said to myself, remembering something Monokuma had said earlier. I sat up, looking at the screen, 'Monokuma, how about that game of Just Dance?'