As soon as the door shut behind Yamazaki, the quietness in the room returned. I stared at the floor, almost feeling ashamed. I took a small sigh. What had come over me? I could've died, and for what? A meaningless speech blinded by rage?
"W- where did Taguchi go?" Arima asked.
"Oh, he sprinted out of here as soon as we got distracted! Maybe he was just so intimidated by my malice he had to get out of the room as to not show how terrified he was!" Sugai laughed.
"That, my dear unpredictable chihuahua, is definitely not the case..." Kajiwara replied.
"Chihuahua!?" Sugai responded, his face scrunching up angrily.
"Imamura, where are you going?" Otani asked. "Do you not want to stay and eat something? I think you'd find being here would help you release some stress." Imamura looked over to Otani from where she stood at the door. Honestly, I'd been so distracted I hadn't even noticed that she'd gone to the front of the door.
"That..." she began, taking a small pause, staring at the floor. "Is quite alright... I'd rather not make myself puke." She said. She took another moment to stop and think. "I'm gonna talk to Taguchi." She wandered out of the room.
"... hey, why is Taguchi being such a scaredy cat anyway? Wasn't he giving us evil glares yesterday? It just seems.." Sugai paused. "... out of character..." he chuckled.
"I feel like I know the answer to that, but I'll keep that a secret for Taguchi's sake." Otani replied. He paused, and then looked over at me with a smile on his face. "Oh, Hirano, I just wanted to say." He began, before walking over and placing a hand on my shoulder. "You did great." I stared at him for a moment.
"O- oh, I, thank you..." I replied, nervously shuffling where I stood.
"I was kind of hoping you'd punt that stuffed animal across the room." Sugai chuckled.
"So you're saying you hoped Hirano would die?" Kajiwara asked, staring at Sugai.
"Huh!? What!? Why would you even ask that!?" Sugai replied, a surprised look on his face. He stared at Kajiwara for a moment. "Yes." He responded nonchalantly. Kajiwara took a small sigh, before turning to Kawata.
"Also, thank you for protecting Hirano, but wasn't that a bit intense?" Kajiwara asked.
"POLICE BRUTALITY!!!" Sugai called out, before suddenly being slapped across the head by Kajiwara. Kawata stared at Kajiwara and Sugai, his eyes wide as sweat rolled down his face.
"I- I'm sorry... I- it's been really tense lately and I- I acted on impulse and I was just really scared and I'm supposed to protect everyone and everyone is looking to me for help and if I didn't do anything then it would've been my fault and I've already messed up so many times already and I CAN'T STAND not being able to do my ONE AND ONLY JOB that is literally the MOST IMPORTANT THING HERE and-" Kawata looked over at my worried expression, and then stopped rambling. He took a deep breath in. "I'm sorry."
"U- um, it's fine, I'm a little bit more concerned about you though-" I began.
"How did that feel on your wrist Kawata?" Kajiwara asked. Kawata paused for a moment before lifting his arm up and moving it around.
"Oh, I uh, I didn't even realize this cast was on." Kawata awkwardly laughed. Kajiwara paused for a moment.
"You may be able to take it off now, since it wasn't to severe of a wound. I also believe you can have those bandages removed soon." Kajiwara said.
"Oh, that's good. They were starting to get a little annoying..." Kawata replied awkwardly.
"I- I'm gonna go... I- I'll talk to you guys later..." Arima said, his head hung low, as he wandered out of the room. Everyone paused for a moment, staring at the door that Arima had just left.
"Hey! He left the macaron!" Sugai cheered, reaching for the pastry on the table. Suddenly, his hand was smacked away by Kajiwara. "What? Do you want it to go to waste?" Sugai said, glaring at Kajiwara. My eyes drifted to Otani, who was staring at the door sorrowfully.
"Everyone's become... a lot more tense... recently..." Otani said.
"Well duh! When a tiny red panda controls your well-being, it's kind of hard to stay relaxed!" Sugai snapped back, before he chuckled for a moment. "But at least he's an idiot... otherwise I wouldn't have half the joy I do now ripping on the guy." He laughed to himself.
"You mean 'the thing'. I would not refer to that psychopath as a person." Kajiwara replied.
"Hey, maybe we could throw a celebration! That would cheer everyone up." Otani said, a bright smile on his face.
"NO!!!" Kawata yelled, slamming his normal hand down on the table. Everyone jumped back, their gaze's suddenly turning to Kawata. Kawata's face was filled with anger and terror, before the rage subsided and all that was left was fear and sorrow. He sifted his hands through his hair, gripping onto his head in a panic. "No, I'm sorry, but the answer is no. We have so few people left as it is, and I- I really don't want anyone else to die, despite how flawed they may be." Otani stared, a look of sadness but understanding on his face.
"Yeah. I'm sorry. It was a stupid suggestion. I apologize." Otani replied, looking away a and staring at the floor sorrowfully. I stared at Kawata, concerned. Was... he okay?
"Hirano!!!" Sugai whispered, suddenly grabbing my attention. I paused, before walking over and leaning my ear over to his mouth. "I have a great prank in mind that I need your help with..." Sugai chuckled.
"What are you whispering about?" Kajiwara asked, skeptically looking over at the two of us.
"Wouldn't you like to know sawbones?" Sugai replied, an evil look in his eyes.
"Oh I very much would." Kajiwara responded. I stared at the two of them for a moment.
"U- um, I'd love to Sugai, but I have something I need to do today. W- which I should probably do right now." I replied, laughing nervously. Sugai folded his arms, making a pouty face.
"Goody two shoes always doing good stuff ruining my fun..." Sugai pouted. Kajiwara rolled his eyes, as I started to walk towards the door.
"Wait, Hirano! Do you not want any breakfast?" Otani asked.
"Oh, um, can you save some for me?" I replied. Otani stared sadly, but reluctantly nodded. "Th- thanks! Talk later!"
I sighed, walking over to my room. I pushed past the caution tape, and wandered around. The entire place seemed abandoned, or rather ransacked. Everything had been ripped apart, as if a hurricane had raced through and scattered the room with items and pieces of furniture.
I began to ravage through the area, finding little things that I had before the room was destroyed. Books, pencils, a pamphlet, and other studying supplies. And suddenly, my hand stopped. It had been a while since I'd last seen it. I slowly picked it up, turning it over in my hand.
The sticky note I'd written to myself near the start of this killing game. I paused for a moment, sitting down on the ground, looking upwards. That was quite a phenomenon. Even though it wasn't even that long ago, it felt like it had been forever. And the thing I was the most surprised about was how long I'd lasted. I was still alive? Honestly, I'd expected to die almost immediately. The fact I was still here was so surprising to me. I looked at the note again.
If I died now... would I die happy? Would I die proud of myself? Proud of the person I'd turned out to be? That was a good question. I stared at the note for a little more time. Well, what had I done up until now? It's hard to say. I mostly... care if everyone died proud. Did Furuya? Did Sazama? Did Shishido? Did Morita? Did Naito? Did Tengan? Did Miyazaki? Those were the questions I did care about. I stared at it for another moment. Well, I'm proud that I've grown so much. I'm proud that I care so much. And I'm glad that I've finally stood up for myself. I still have a ways to go but... yeah. I think I'd die proud.
I stuffed the note in my pocket, and kept sifting through the room, looking for anything that may have gone missing. But, how could I tell if something disappeared if I never found it? Especially in this disaster of a situation. I paused, looking over at a small heap of wooden planks. Slowly, I moved them back one by one.
"DON'T KILL ME!!!" Someone screamed. I jumped back, the sudden yelling causing my eyes to involuntarily water up.
"WH- WHO'S THERE!?" I yelled out. The wooden heap began to shuffle around, as I stared with panic plastered on my face. And suddenly, a small stuffed animal popped out.
"Ssshhhhhh! Please be quiet!" Araigu said, trying to calm me down. I shuffled backwards.
"Y- YOU STARTED IT!!!" I yelled back.
"I- I'm sorry! P- please just listen t- to what I have to say!" Araigu replied. I shut my mouth, staring at the stuffed animal. "P- please don't tell Ressa I- I'm here! I don't wanna die! L- let me just s- stay hidden in this room! PLEASE!!! I- I DON'T WANT TO DIE!!!" Araigu called out. I stared at the raccoon for a moment, thoughts racing through my head.
"Y- you aren't gonna be safe here. Ressa's is coming t- to renovate this room tonight." I replied.
"Oh no no no th- this is terrible!" Araigu said. "Y- you gotta hide me!"
"H- huh? W- what!? Why should I do that!?" I responded.
"I- I am a being too! I- I have feelings! A- and I'll explain e- everything I know! A- and I'll help you f- find a way to escape! J- just, don't let me d- die!" Araigu cried out. I stared at them for a moment. Escape? No... this was to hood to be true. But... what if..?
"L- listen, even if I wanted to help you, I- I have no idea where I'd hide you! Th- there are cameras everywhere, a- and I'm surprised y- you could even hide here!" I replied.
"W- well, the cameras have b- been disabled in this room b- because there wasn't a p- point for staring at a r- room that's entirely destroyed. A- and..." Araigu paced back and forth. "Y- you can hide m- me in the morgue room! I- I can momentarily disable th- the cameras, b- but you gotta hurry! P- put me in this box, and m- move me to that room." Araigu said, pulling a cardboard box from the piles and placing it on the ground. Araigu opened up the tops of the box.
"W- wait! I- I never said I was going to help you! Y- you can't just force me!" I replied. Araigu stared at me, a sense of dread on them.
"Please... I- I'm one of the only ch- chances you have of getting o- out of this place." Araigu said. I stared at the box, despair filling up inside of me. What if this was a trick? What if this went wrong? What if Araigu was lying? What if I never got to see my family again? I looked back to the raccoon. Aw crap... what am I planning on doing? I nodded, Araigu smiling.
Quickly, they climbed the walls, doing some wiring on the camera before swiftly returning to the inside of the box. I closed the top of it, running out into the hallway. Almost immediately, I headed to directly to the dining hall, opening the door swiftly.
"KAWATA!!!" I yelled. Everyone in the room, which consisted of Otani, Kajiwara, Sugai and Kawata immediately turned to me. "I need you right now!" I called out, before leaving the room. I could sense the confusion as I sprinted off, heading directly for the morgue. I heard the dining hall doors open quickly, and fast footsteps following after me.
"What's wrong Hirano!?" Kawata called out. I didn't turn back, heading directly towards the room morgue.
"Kawata, I need you to unlock the door." I said.
"Hirano, wait, what's going o-" he began.
"I DON'T HAVE TIME TO EXPLAIN JUST HURRY!!!" I yelled out. Kawata stared nervously, before pulling the key out of his pocket and swiftly unlocking the door. I raced inside, and placed the box onto the table, and shut the door behind us. I took a long sigh, before sitting down on the table.
"Hirano... what is this about?" Kawata asked. I stared at him nervously for a moment, before opening the box. I reached inside, and pulled Araigu out. Kawata stared for a moment, before looking me in the eyes. "I- I don't think I understand..."
"I- I'm helping them..." I replied. Kawata shook his head back and forth, a look of disbelief in his face.
"Hirano no! We can't trust that thing! What can you possibly hope gain from this!?" He replied, terror in his eyes.
"K- Kawata, I- I couldn't just let Ressa kill them! A- and they said they can help us get out of here!" I responded. Kawata looked to Araigu, a nervously terrified expression on his face.
"Hirano, I don't know. Can we really trust them? I don't want to put out lives on the line for a stuffed animal." Kawata replied.
"P- please, I can be useful! Please, I- I don't wanna die..." Araigu responded. Kawata's face went pale, as sweat rolled down his face. He stared at the floor for a moment, his eyes darting back and forth as a conflict went on his mind.
"I..." Kawata paused, looking back at Araigu's desperate face. "I'll listen to what they have to offer."
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