For a moment, I thought that someone else must have discovered a body. Maybe Ahmya really did kill Rantaro. But, in order for an announcement to play, three innocent people had to discover, right? If Rantaro or Ahmya had been killed, then that would have to mean Yuuki and Daiki were with them. And even then, it wouldn't have worked, because one of them would have to be the killer.
No, we discovered the body.
Kichiro stepped forward, his eyes on the ground. I didn't look down, though. I wasn't ready to.
We couldn't have lost someone else. We were a team. The seven of us, we're the team to beat. We were the survivors. We were the ultimate survivors, like the people on my raft had joked about earlier.
That raft... most of them were gone now. Sora, Saikoro, Brittany, they were all dead. The only ones left from that group were me, Rantaro, and Ahmya.
How could we have lost so many people so quickly? The rafting trip felt like it happened just yesterday... I could practically hear Saikoro and Sora joking about being the first mates while Brittany giggled playfully as our boat went over larger waves.
I took a deep breath, then slowly looked down, seeing six letters that glowed red, pulsating on the floor.
Crying
The skin around his wrist had turned a deep purple, as did the entire left side of his body. His chest no longer rose and fell.
Kichiro remained silent as Ruji gasped and covered his mouth, trembling beside me.
The ultimate unlucky student kneeled down by him, picking up something that I couldn't quite see. There was a crumpling noise that echoed throughout the silent room as he stuffed it into his pocket.
"Daiki..." I whispered, breaking the silence we were trapped in. My voice broke as my vision focused in on him. There was a tear, still clinging to his face below his open eyes.
He was dead.
"AFTER A CERTAIN AMOUNT OF INVESTIGATION TIME, A TRIAL WILL BEGIN!" Monokuma's voice added cheerfully. I flinched at the sound of it, fighting not to break down in sobs.
Why him?! He was quiet, he liked to keep his distance, but even so, I felt closer to him than almost everyone else. He was the one who showed up at my cabin after Tora died. He was the one who inspired me to keep fighting.
And now, he was gone too.
Kichiro remained silent as he stepped over the ultimate spy's body, walking up to the monitor. I had no idea what must have been going through his mind. There was an old machine located beneath the monitor with Daiki's tape sticking out of it. Kichiro let out a strained breath as he reached up to it and pushed the VHS tape back in.
The video was static for a while before coming into focus, revealing what looked to be Daiki, looking directly at the camera. He didn't look the same, though. His eyes weren't wide and alert, but tired and sunken.
"Hey," Daiki's image said, his voice as soft as ever. "If you're watching this, then congrats, I guess. You've made it to this point in the game. Again..."
Was this the tape Rantaro had? Did Daiki snatch it back and watch it on his own? Or had Monokuma somehow returned it to him?
Daiki wasn't a thief, so it must have been the latter. Why was it in the monitor, though? Did he actually watch it?
Why would he do that? I thought we all agreed it was safest to keep it from him...
I frowned and looked at Ruji, who seemed equally as lost. Kichiro kept his eyes on the screen, unmoving. I don't think I've ever seen him so focused.
"Um... make sure no one else sees this, okay? You're not supposed to share this information. Think of it as a little bonus for you," the recording of Daiki continued. It was strange to hear him talk so much. He took his hat off and placed it on the table in front of him, using the back of his gloved hand to wipe a little sweat from his forehead. "Sorry if I'm not as enthusiastic as usual. I guess... you probably have a lot of questions, right?" he looked to his left, seeming to nod at someone before looking into the camera. "Right... well... don't worry! I'll explain. Again."
There it was. "Again." What did "again" mean? Did we all record ourselves? Did this have something to do with Project Reset? If so, then why did it seem like he was with someone else during the time of the filming?
"Um, just to clarify, this is you speaking. No actors, no tricks, it's you. You won't remember recording this, but trust me, you did. Anyway, we've had many titles," Daiki explained with a tired shrug. "First, it was the ultimate lucky student. I wouldn't have called winning luck, though. Heh..."
"First?!" Ruji asked. He stepped forward, only to nearly trip over Daiki's body. I had to reach forward to stabilize him as Kichiro made a harsh shushing noise.
"Next round," the recording continued. "I was the ultimate detective. I guess that's a bit of an upgrade, but that also meant I no longer had an excuse for my stupidity, so that was rough... but I guess we got lucky again. We were smart enough to pull it off. And... what are we now?"
In the video, Daiki seemed to lean to the side, listening to a voice that was too muffled to make out. His shoulders sagged slightly as he looked back to the screen.
"Looks like this time, you're the ultimate spy. Oh, that's pretty cool, I suppose. Ultimate spy... that's what you're going to tell everyone. It's what you're going to believe."
He looked down and quietly laughed to himself, shaking his head and rubbing the back of his neck.
"But... in reality, you're none of those things. You're the ultimate survivor."
I shook my head. What was being implied? Did Daiki know any of this? Was this why he was keeping quiet this whole time?
No, that couldn't have been it. If he knew, he wouldn't need the recording.
"This is your third killing game," the recording continued. "The third of what they hope to be many more. They want you to keep winning, Daiki. They like watching you... they love you... they love me."
He didn't sound enthusiastic. Daiki seemed to lower his gaze in the recording. His skin was pale and damp. He looked ill.
"It's weird... I never thought this was what love would feel like," he muttered. "I... It's tiring. I'm so tired. At first... things were different, you wanted this. I wanted this. But now... all the memories from each game, I keep them all. Each person I lose I remember, even if it's all... huh?" he looked off the screen again. "Oh, I guess I can't talk about that. Right... I forgot. Sorry."
He lowered his head, closing his eyes. He looked lost. No, that wasn't the right word.
He looked trapped.
"This is your survivor's perk. This video. It's something you get to give you an extra edge. You got one last game, you'll probably get one next game too. They plan on doing more with these in the future, but for now, this tape will be handed to you about halfway through the game," Daiki's recording explained slowly. "And... you have to win. It's selfish to give up when so many people love you. It's selfish to assign your fate to someone else. You may think you want to get out of this loop, but doing so would mean throwing someone else in your place and losing the only love you've ever known. If you lose, no one will remember you anymore. You have to- no, wait, let me finish!" he cried as the camera started to shake.
Everything became static once again, then the video cut out.
The monitor returned to giving off an eerie blue glow as the three of us remained silent.
Multiple killing games?
This has happened before...?
I turned my gaze down to Daiki's dead body. I could hardly recognize him anymore. Who even was he, if not the ultimate spy? Ultimate detective, ultimate lucky student, ultimate survivor?! What did any of those mean?! How could he be all those people?! It didn't make sense!
None of this made sense. Where did this fit with Project Reset?! Where did this fit with the rest of the world?!
"My god," Ruji whispered, trembling.
Kichiro remained silent while turning to look at the body, an empty expression in his eyes as the blue glow from the monitor surrounded him.
I shook my head, still hardly able to process what was happening. I had felt loss before, but this was different. This felt darker. Daiki had always been there to help quietly guide the rest of us. I had been seeing Yuuki as the heart of the group, but it was never him. It was Daiki all along. Daiki was the voice in my mind telling me to keep going.
He was the heart of this game. He was the one I wanted to escape. He was the one the world wanted to win.
How do we even move forward now? What was true, what was a lie? How do we keep fighting without him by our side?
I kneeled down beside his body, placing my hand on his face and wiping the tear. I could feel it as it seeped into my skin.
"He killed himself," Kichiro whispered. His voice was heavy.
Daiki was gone. Gone for good, this time. Safe from the killing game, safe from the rest of the world.
Safe from us.
Then, a quiet laugh escaped the ultimate unlucky student's lips.
"He didn't want to stay for me... he killed himself because he figured it out," Kichiro laughed. "He killed himself because he finally woke up."
The laughter grew louder and louder. I covered my ears, desperate for it to stop. There was amusement, devastation, malice, and fear all mixed into it, creating a horrific symphony of sounds.
I felt Ruji's hand grasp mine as we both started stepping back. Kichiro's laughter grew louder and louder as he turned to face us, the light from the monitor just bright enough to showcase the insane look in his eyes.
"There will be no trial," Kichiro laughed. "There's no one to execute. Unless, perhaps, we execute the dead body. That seems like the kind of thing we'd like to see, doesn't it? Heeheehee, I think that would be QUITE humorous, don't you all, folks?!"
We had to get away from him. But at the same time, we couldn't leave him like this. His grief was driving him mad. He-
"It's not the grief," Kichiro hissed, still smiling. "How can you grieve someone that isn't real?"
"He IS real!" I cried. "Kichiro, snap out of it! We don't know what that video means! I'm real! Everything I feel is real! And I know you're real too! Just-"
"Just what, hmm?" he asked, his tone suddenly calm. He quickly grabbed the monitor and threw it to the wall, smashing it to pieces. Ruji jumped and covered his mouth. "Open your eyes, Suki. We're watching each other die for the benefit of others!"
"What do you mean?!" I cried, confused. I didn't know what conclusions he was drawing from that video. I didn't even know what conclusion I was drawing from it. All I knew was that he needed to calm down.
"Why don't we end this game now?" he asked, laughing again. "With the three of us dead, only three will be left! Aw, that's not two, is it? Hmm, I wonder what will happen then? Who will return to next year's game? Yuuki, perhaps? He seems quite likable. Or perhaps we can put Ahmya through this once more!"
"H-he's completely lost it," Ruji whispered.
"No, I think I've finally found it," Kichiro chuckled, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a set of matches I didn't know he had. He lit one, casting dark shadows that danced over his face. "This will be fun."
"I think we should run," I replied, taking Ruji's hand and running down the hall, into the darkness. I kept my free hand out so I wouldn't run into any walls. Laughter echoed in the halls behind us. I wanted to tell myself I knew where I was going, but my memories were starting to fuse together. I kept thinking about Daiki, about Kichiro, about everything.
"Suki, go left!" Ruji called out, just when I was about to turn right. I did as he said without a second thought and kept sprinting, the laughter behind us turning quieter and quieter, but it didn't disappear.
We eventually made our way back to the ladder. I pushed Ruji in front of me and told him to climb. After a few seconds, I followed him. Once he made it to the top he reached down, grasping my arm and pulling me up. Then, we both pushed the trap door shut and stopped to catch our breath.
We couldn't stay in place for too long, though. We had to tell Rantaro and Ahmya. Not to mention the fact that Yuuki was still missing. Was he even alive? What if Kichiro went after him next? He had to still be down there.
How were we going to get him back?! We couldn't leave Rantaro on his own in the lodge. Not with Kichiro knowing exactly where he was. But we couldn't abandon Yuuki either, and I wasn't about to bring Ruji back to the catacombs alone. We needed more backup. We needed help.
We needed Daiki back. Daiki always was able to keep Kichiro under control. I have no idea how or why, but he was always there. When Kichiro fell into the river, Daiki was there to save him. Whenever anything bad happened, Daiki would save him.
Who would save him now that Daiki was gone? I surely couldn't. Not with him acting like this? I wasn't strong or brave enough.
Maybe Yuuki could, but we don't even know where Yuuki is.
Everything was such a mess.
"We need to get back to the lodge," Ruji whispered. "Rantaro's there. Without Yuuki around, you and him make the best leaders."
"Wh- us?" I asked. "But I-"
"You're the hope that keeps us sane," Ruji said. "You're what Daiki was to Kichiro. We just... need to regroup and find a way to get Yuuki back."
"And Kichiro," I said.
He may have lost it, but he was still one of us. We just needed to figure out how to get him to calm down so he wouldn't do anything crazy.