Kawata and I stared at Araigu, who sat on the table, struggling to stand up. They took a deep breath, preparing to speak.
"Um, w- what do you want m- me to say?" Araigu began.
"Are you serious!? Hirano, come on, we have to get rid of it, they're just wasting time! And I'm not putting our lives on the line to protect a-" Kawata started.
"W- wait! I- I'm sorry! P- please just listen first!" Araigu called out. They took a deep breath in. "I- I'm not to sure how to get in and out of this place. U- us mascots are usually p- packed up and moved here b- before we are turned on. I- I do vaguely remember a garage... b- but I'm not to sure about that." Araigu paused for a moment. "I- I don't know exactly h- how you were all brought h- here, but I do know we're v- very close to Yuutsumi."
"Really?" I replied. Araigu nodded.
"I'm n- not to sure where th- though. R- Ressa is responsible for that info. I- I mostly just know layouts, th- the camera's, hotel functions, a- and do most of the r- research." Araigu said. Araigu paused for a moment, taking a small sigh. "A- and I also know how-" Suddenly, the monitors turned on.
"Hello everyone..." Ressa said, sounding very angry. "Please go outside to the fountains at your earliest convenience. Which means NOW. If you don't come now..." Ressa laughed to himself. "I'm going to rip you into pieces while you're still alive! And I don't think you'd want that... SO HURRY UP!!! YOU HAVE THREE MINUTES!!!" Ressa yelled, before the monitor shut off.
"Y- you guys have to go! I- it's n- not good to disobey Ressa w- when he's upset!" Araigu yelled out, racing to the door and opening it.
"Wait, I wanted to hear what you had to say-" Kawata began.
"Th- there's no time! I- I'll tell you when y- you get back!" Araigu called out, forcing us both out of the room before slamming the door shut. Kawata glared, before stuffing the key into his pocket.
"I don't trust that thing." Kawata said. I stared nervously, my eyes glancing at the entrance.
"W- well, we have to at least get something from them." I replied. Kawata sighed, beginning to walk towards the front doors.
"Yeah... I know... it's just..." Kawata paused. "What if this turns out badly?" I paused for a moment.
"W- well, I know you have what it takes to fix it!" I replied, smiling at Kawata. He laughed a bit.
"Yeah, whatever you say." He chuckled. I giggled in return. We arrived at the door, staring at it for a moment.
"Should... we tell everyone?" I asked. Kawata looked up to me, a serious look on his face.
"Not yet. If we tell everyone, there's a bigger chance that they'll slip up and get us caught. Let's keep it a secret for now." Kawata replied.
"Not tell us what?" Someone said, interrupting the conversation. Our eyes darted to see Yamazaki, glaring at the two of us with a skeptical look on his face. I immediately noticed that all the bandages had been removed. There were still small areas that looked painful, but they were mostly in the clear. Kawata's posture became defensive, his arm moving out in front of me and turning his body towards him.
"Why don't you mind your business!? This doesn't have anything to do with you! So why don't you stop eavesdropping and leave us alone!" Kawata yelled back. Yamazaki rolled his eyes.
"It's kind of hard to do that when you're blocking the door to where I need to go..." Yamazaki glared as if he were proving a point. "... Kawata..." Kawata glared back, and slowly opened the door for him. Yamazaki shoved past him, almost throwing Kawata to the floor. I grabbed onto Kawata's shoulder, making sure he didn't fall. But, he didn't seem to notice. He immediately stood back up, glaring at Yamazaki and walking out of the hotel with an angry stride.
"You alright Hirano?" Otani asked, nearly scaring the life out of me.
"Y- yeah, s- sorry..." I replied. Otani stared out at the fountain, where the others had already gathered.
"I don't have a good feeling about this..." he said, before walking out of the hotel, holding the door open for me. We wandered over to the others, seeing an angry Ressa tapping his foot on the ground.
"UGH, FINALLY!!!" Ressa said. Ressa hopped down from the fountain. "I. AM. NOT. HAPPY!!!" He yelled out, stomping around on the ground.
"We can see that." Yamazaki replied. Suddenly, Ressa pulled out a paw, claws immediately flying out. Ressa held them up, glaring at Yamazaki.
"I'M NOT IN THE MOOD YOU EMO MEDUSA!!!" Ressa yelled, stopping Yamazaki from speaking. Yamazaki held his arms up, as if he were being arrested, and with the expression that this was more of a nuisance than a threat. Ressa stomped his way back to the fountain, climbing back on top. "ONE OF YOU, decided it would be FUN to mess with the CAMERA'S!!!" Ressa yelled. "AND WHEN I FIND OUT WHO DID IT I'LL FINALLY BE ABLE TO KILL SOMETHING!!!" Ressa took a deep breath. "But at the moment, I have something a lot more fun in mind." He chuckled. "I'd like you all to look at that building back there." Ressa said, pointing at the a building with a giant tarp over it. "I'd like you all to meet..." Then, he snapped his fingers. The tarp was thrown back, and quickly revealed the building underneath. A giant circus tent. "The dome of sacrifice..."
"D- dome... o- of sacrifice?" Arima replied.
"Well, it would've been 'Circus tent of horrifyingly horrible dread, misery and death' but that title was to long and they told me it was to STUPID so I had to change it to something edgy." Ressa said. "Anyway, everyone follow me inside!"
"No!" Kawata replied. Ressa looked over at him.
"Oh Mr. Blue heeler wants to finally start doing his job huh?" Ressa laughed. Kawata's face went from determined to taken aback. "Come on everyone! I'm STILL NOT in a good mood and if anything sets me off it'll be no food for a week!" Ressa laughed, approaching the giant circus tent. Everyone looked to each other, before silently following after the red panda. Ressa opened the door, and what I saw had completely outweighed every expectation I had going in.
The room was concrete, and smaller than the lively tent outside. Rather, it was dark and dreary and there almost seemed to be no life. The room had a window at the back of it, revealing another separate room. It almost looked like an interrogation room. I turned back to the front door, where I saw Kawata standing with the door open.
"BAHAHAHA!!! Why're you standing there Kawata? You worried you'll get locked up here for a motive or something?" Ressa laughed.
"Yes." Kawata replied. Ressa chuckled once more.
"That's not gonna happen! So close the door!" Ressa said. Kawata didn't move from his place at the door. "MOVE. IT. OR. LOSE. IT. IT being your LIFE!!!" Ressa demanded. Kawata stared at Ressa for a moment, before pulling a taser from his belt. He knelt down, placing in between the doors. "Jeez, you guys are so cautious!"
"I wonder what caused that..." Yamazaki mumbled. Ressa glared, before turning away.
"W- why are we here?" Arima asked, nervously staring at the red panda.
"Oh! Right!" Ressa moved over to the window, and pointed towards it. "I'm here to give you a... motive~!"
"This early!?" Imamura blurted out.
"I haven't done to any later STUPID!!! Now, if you'd look inside, you'll see the motive!" Ressa said. Everyone moved towards the window besides Taguchi and Yamazaki.
"I- I uh, don't see anything..." I replied.
"Well, you might have to actually go inside!" Ressa laughed. Everyone backed away from the window. Kawata stared skeptically at Ressa, before walking over to the door and opening it.
"Make sure I don't get locked in." Kawata said, before walking through the door. And on the other side was a small hallway, reaching to another door.
Everyone raves back over to the window, and peaked through. Kawata was seen looking around for a moment, before staring at the window in front of us. He tapped it ever so slightly, a confused expression coming across his face. He stared for another moment, before he glanced over at the wall, a sense of surprise coming over him. And then he walked away, making his visibility disappear.
"W- we should head in there and make sure he's okay, r- right?" Arima suggested.
"Personally, I think he's fine, but if you really think we should..." Imamura replied, almost taking me off guard. Her voice was so calm I couldn't even tell it was her for a moment. Honestly, she had sounded like Tengan.
"Hey Imamura! Guess who you sound like!" Sugai laughed. Oh, I thought I was the only one who thought that. "Tengan!" Imamura glared at him.
"I do not!" She replied.
"Well, it certainly does seem that way when you talk that calmly. You have similar vocal ranges if you take a moment and stop screaming." Kajiwara replied, his eyes closed. Imamura's eyes furrowed, as she turned her head away.
"This is what I fucking get for adding literally anything to this shitty conversation..." Imamura mumbled, before a hand suddenly landed on her shoulder. Taguchi gave a mischievous smile to her when she turned her head, before her head suddenly flung back to where it was previously, where she threw her face into the palms of her hands.
"Oooooo, the sight of Taguchi's ugly face sent Imamura into a coma!" Sugai chuckled.
"Fuck. You." Imamaura said, still hiding her face in one of her hands, the other held up with a middle finger. Though, Sugai only seemed to care about the sudden slap that came over his head.
"Sugai, that is very offensive. You don't say things like that." Kajiwara said. Sugai grabbed the top of his head, and glared up at Kajiwara. I liked back to Imamura, suddenly realizing that Taguchi had disappeared. I paused, before looking to Otani and wandering over to him. His expression was entirely worried, as he stared through the glass.
"Is... something wrong?" I asked.
"I'm just worried about Kawata." Otani replied. He paused for a moment. "I probably shouldn't be. He's a police officer, the fact he has that kind of talent will probably make him strong enough to get out of this place." Otani stared for another moment, before his school his head back and forth. "Also, I think this window is a lot smaller on the inside!" Otani exclaimed, pointing at the edge of the window with a nervous chuckle. Was he... doing okay? I didn't say anything, only looking down to where his finger was pointing.
"I don't think I understand..." I replied.
"Well, you see..." Otani began. "The wall is pointing outwards to where we're facing, which makes it look a lot bigger. But from the other side, it's facing inwards which makes the window a lot smaller."
"Oh, yeah." I replied. "So... what you're saying is that from Kawata's perspective, the window is smaller?" I replied. He nodded. I stared for a moment. Was that... entirely true?
"G- guys, I'm really worried! Sh- shouldn't we g- go and check on him!?" Arima called out.
"No." Yamazaki replied.
"W- what? Why?" Arima responded.
"Why should we put our lives in danger to help him? What has Kawata ever done for us?" Yamazaki snapped back.
"H- he's done a lot for us-" Arima began.
"Like what? He hasn't stopped a murder, he doesn't do anything during the trials, he hasn't tried to help us escape, he's just dead weight! Honestly, he's been a suspect more than he's been an actual help!" Yamazaki yelled. Everyone fell silent, unable to reply to the sudden outburst Yamazaki held.
"So what?" Otani asked. Yamazaki glared at him.
"Excuse me?" Yamazaki replied.
"So what?" Otani repeated. Yamazaki continued to stare at him, almost as if he were disgusted and confused at once. And then all of a sudden, he started to laugh.
"Are you stupid!? 'So what?' SO EVERYTHING!!! Do you really want us all to risk our safety for someone who hasn't added anything to our team!? Risk our safety to protect someone who hasn't impacted our situation positively!?" Yamazaki yelled.
"I don't think we should risk our groups safety." Otani replied.
"Then why the fuck are you saying such stupid shit?" Yamazaki snapped back, glaring back at him.
"Maybe it will risk our safety. Maybe that is a truth we've had to deal with this entire time, that you refuse to see because you hold a grudge. What I need you to understand that everyone is important. Maybe there are certain aspects that don't seem at all positive for us. But there are positives all the same." Otani stared at Yamazaki for a moment, before his expression changed. "Oh... this isn't what this is about... is it?"
Yamazaki's eyes went wide, as he glared at Otani, looking him up and down. A look of utter surprise and confused anger plastered on his face. And suddenly, he looked at him skeptically, before turning away. Fury sat in his eyes. Otani raised his arms out, as if he were offering a hug. Yamazaki scoffed, moving over to the corner of the room and resting himself against the wall.
I paused, looking to Otani. How did he do that? He'd stopped Yamazaki right in his tracks. He made Yamazaki so taken aback he couldn't even respond. Come to think of it, hadn't he also done the same with Taguchi?
"H- hey, where'd Ressa go?" Arima asked. Everyone suddenly began to scan the room. The robotic red panda had disappeared.
"Jeeeeeeeeeeeeeeezzzzzzzzzzzzzzz, it took you this long to realize I had disappeared!? Am I really not that loved here..." Ressa replied, appearing out of nowhere.
"Where did you go!?" Imamura called out.
"Oh, I just went to help someone out..." Ressa chuckled.
"Help who?" Imamura replied.
"Jeez, you sure are nosy! Why can't you just let me keep my secrets sometimes!?" Ressa said. Then, he chuckled. "Buuuuuuuuuuuuuut, it won't do me any harm to know! Maybe you but not ME!!!" He laughed. "I went to help someone named Kawata Satoru... well... maybe help is the wrong word for it..." he laughed again. And suddenly, in an immediate response, Arima and Imamura dashed for the door.
Arima opened the first one, holding it open for Imamura. Imamura dashed through, and pushed the door open quickly and suddenly. My heart raced, as I followed them through.
"Kawata!?" I called out, running inside. Kawata got up from where he was sitting on the floor, standing straight up out of surprise.
"Woah! Is everything okay!?" Kawata asked.
"We thought you were fucking dead!" Imamura yelled.
"Oh, I'm sorry, I'm fine. I kind of got stuck behind the locked door, so thank you for helping out." Kawata replied. He paused for a moment. "Let's head out of this room, and I'll tell you what I saw in there." He continued, before walking to the doors that were being held open. I followed him out, Imamura and Arima doing the same.
"Ugh..." Yamazaki groaned. Kawata glared at him, before turning away.
"What did you find Kawata?" Kajiwara asked.
"Oh, right." Kawata cleared his throat. "There's not really anything significant about how the room is layer out, escape that the roof is pretty low down compared to what we're used to. Maybe about 7 feet? The room had only one table that's pushed up against the wall closest to this room. And uh, there isn't a window."
"But that's not possible, we saw you through it! You must've lost your mind!" Sugai chuckled.
"Maybe it's a one way mirror situation. That would explain why Kawata couldn't see it." Kajiwara said.
"Yeah, that's why I tapped on the wall." Kawata said. "And uh, there's one more thing I found in there..."
"Ooooo, this sounds sinister! Did you do something illegal? You wouldn't be allowed to be on the force if you did!" Sugai replied, before bracing himself. He paused, before looking to Kajiwara who avoided eye contact.
"Um, I found..." Kawata paused. "A pistol."
"A pistol!?" Sugai blurts out. "I mean, yeah, I knew about that, cuz I'm the mastermind and all..."
"Sugai... you are exhausting..." Kajiwara replied. Sugai chuckled to himself.
"Why would there be a pistol?" Imamura asked.
"Oh my god... isn't it obvious?" Yamazaki responded. "It's for the motive..."
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