Everyone, Everything, All Over Again

Chapter 16: Gundam's Resolve

-Third Person P. O. V.-

Hajime and Chiaki went to the old lodge. They went to the storage room to look for Gundam and Sonia. When they opened the door, Gundam was there, inspecting behind the boxes.

"Gundam, what are you doing?" Hajime asked, startling the scarf wearing boy.

"Ah!" Gundam soon realized who had surprised him as his friends and his expression changed to one of anger. "Fiends! Do not dare to ambush us!"

Us... He must means his hamsters. Hajime thought.

"What are you doing?" he repeated.

"'What am I doing', you say? Ha! Now that is truly a foolish question!" Gundam then scoffed and moved to the side to allow the pair to see. Hajime and Chiaki saw a hatch, with a thick padlock attached to it. "Cham-P led me and Lady Sonia here, but it seems like someone has enchanted the hatch to not open."

"Padlock" has been added to the Truth Bullets section of your handbook.

"Speaking of which, where is Sonia?" Chiaki asked.

"She just went to the bathroom. Anyway, there is no key to this lock. I should know, I found this hatch to recover my Hell Hound Earring. There was no lock before. I am highly suspicious of which being placed it here, and for what reason."

Probably to hide something... Hajime thought, mentally face palming.

"Gundam's Account" has been added to the Truth Bullets section of your handbook.

"Chiaki, you and Gundam tried to get under the floorboards someplace else. Was there any other way to get under there?"

The gamer shook her head. "No. It was so dark, we couldn't even see his earring through the holes in the fences."

That's when something clicked in Hajime's head. "The fences! Maybe if we get grab a flashlight at the supermarket, we'll be able to see Mikan and Nagito under the lodge!"

Chiaki nodded. "I was thinking that, too. It's very important that we determine where they are, as it could help establish how the crime was committed."

Gundam smiled. "Well, it appears that you mortals are starting to see how I see things."

"What do you mean, Gundam?" Chiaki asked, tilting her head to the side.

The breeder brandished his hamsters. "This thrill! We are once again discovering the trail of the being who thinks they can elude the might Gundam Tanaka! The last time I was able to do this was when the clumsy nurse fell prey to that monochrome bear's sickness! Soon after, I had to play the role of the mastermind. Though I pretended to elude you, because I feared that the bear would not allow me to give a simple sacrifice. I was ready to give up at the last moments, but you were able to see through my false ruse. But now..." His hands seemed to shake for a moment. "Now, it is different! Now we must live on together! Together we can overcome this!"

Hajime and Chiaki took a moment to consider what Gundam was saying. Hajime realized exactly what it meant.

Gundam had made a new resolve after getting his second chance on the island. He wants to live on the island with the rest of them, and stop the culprit. He enjoyed finding the truth of the crimes, and felt determined to find the perpetrators. Though he acted like he wanted to get away with Nekomaru's murder, he would've given himself up if he wasn't found out. He pretended to try to get away with it in case Monokuma wouldn't let him simply confess. Gundam... really cares about his friends.

Hajime couldn't picture Gundam as the one who kidnapped Nagito and Mikan. He had to be innocent.

"Now, be off, mortals!" Gundam spoke up again. "Leave me in peace. Once Lady Sonia returns, I shall discuss with her our next move."

Hajime and Chiaki left the lounge and headed towards the supermarket.

-Nagito's P. O. V.-

It's been a full night. Or at least, I think it must have been.

It's hard to tell how much time has passed when blindfolded. And I guess, to a lesser extent, tied up.

Not much happened since the last time the kidnapper spoke to me. Let me go over this in my head again.

First, what happened when I woke up.

I was blindfolded and tied up, as I am now.

I heard the sound of a door opening. Then, the kidnapper spoke to me with that voice changer.

Then, they left.

Nothing else has happened since then, aside from sleeping and slowly starving.

I was awoken by the sound of Gundam's voice, yelling things and speaking to what sounded like Chiaki and Hajime. Soon, I heard Sonia's voice talking to Gundam and then it sounded like she and Gundam left.

Right after they left, I realized that I should have tried to call out to them. Oh, how unlucky I am...

That was the only new things to happen since the kidnapper spoke to me.

But... something about that encounter bothered me.

The door... It didn't sound like the door to the storage area. It sounded like... It almost came from above me...

After the door closed, I could hear a lock. We must be locked in here.

But, we CAN'T be under the hatch that Gundam found, right? Who even knows about it? It must mean that the kidnapper is someone from Class 77!

Oh wait... When we introduced ourselves, I gave a basic rundown of the island... And I mentioned the hatch...

Dammit!

Well, even if we ARE under the hatch, I couldn't tell the difference. The ground is hard. Wait, I banged my head against the wall here earlier. Did the kidnapper set up some kind of wall? Why?

"Na... gito...?"

Mikan! She's awake!

"Mikan! Can you hear me!?"

"Y-Yes... But... I can't see you! And I can't move! Where are we!?"

I explained to Mikan that we had been kidnapped and are most likely under the old lodge.

"W-What!? W-Who kidnapped us!?"

"I have no idea."

I could hear her crying softly.

"Mikan... Please don't cry. We'll be alright."

"B-But Nagito... What if they don't find us? What if we're stuck down here until we die!?"

"Mikan. Do you trust me?"

"W-What?"

"Do you trust me?"

"...yes. I trust you."

"Even after all the stuff I did? Attempt murder? Blame you for murder?"

"Nagito! Please!"

She actually raised her voice.

"I... I always trusted you... I always believed in you... Even when everyone thought you murdered Twogami, I still believed in you..."

"Mikan..."

"I trust you. Now what were you going to say? I-I'm sorry for interrupting you..."

"If you trust me, you'll have to trust the others, too. I trust that they'll find us. Hajime, Chiaki, Gundam. They will find us."

"Okay... I-I trust you, Nagito..."

"Thank you. say, Mikan?"

"Y-Yes?"

"I trust you too."

"O-Oh..."

I don't know why...

But I was glad that I had her trust.