"... the flash drive?" Imamura blurted out, leaning back in surprise. Suddenly, her eye furrowed, adjusting herself to be glaring right into my eyes. "How the fuck do you know about that!?"
"Otani told me to go up to the library and find it." I replied. Imamura took a deep breath, coming to a resting position.
"Okay, that makes sense." She responded. "What do you want to discuss about the flash drive?"
"I have a couple of questions. How did you guys find it?" I asked. She paused, looking to the floor.
"... do you know... how I knew Taguchi had..." she couldn't bring herself to say it. Her hands gripped onto the arm rests. "Ressa didn't tell me what happened. I knew what happened when I woke up with my hand covered in blood... and inside of it... was the flash drive."
"So he gave it to you?" I asked. Imamura's face went blank, as she stared at her hand.
"... I guess he trusted me." She replied. That's right... wasn't it? Taguchi had shown us the flash drive earlier. What had he said about it?
-flash back-
"Well... I'm not helping because, well, I've found something very very interesting about our current situation!" Taguchi responded, giving a mischievous look to the whole group. "You see... I suspect that one of the people in our group..." he paused, trying to create dramatic tension. Which he succeeded in doing. "... is a traitor."
"Huh? N- no! No one would do that!" Naito replied, obviously terrified by that idea. Taguchi left a smile on his face, but the aura was creepy and sinister.
"Oh really? No one would ever do that? Then why did I find this?" He said, pulling out a flash drive.
"Can I see that?" Tengan said, reaching for the flash drive. Instinctively, he grabbed her by the wrist, stopping her from reaching the flash drive.
"Nuh, uh, uh. No one's gonna see this until after the trial." He replied, letting her go. She grabbed her wrist, and glared at him for a moment. "Or, until I decide that any of you are trust worthy!" He slowly pointed around at everyone as he spoke, before laughing to himself.
-flash back end-
"So, Taguchi decided to give it to you before he..." my words started to trail off, realizing I shouldn't be talking about that. "Um... why did you guys only bring it up to the library yesterday then?"
"Well... I had my mind on other things." She replied, looking down at her legs. She took a dry gulp, looking at me. "And I didn't have any place to put it, so it wouldn't be useful."
"Have you guys looked at it yet?" I asked.
"No, we just brought it upstairs. We wanted to wait until you were there to go through it." She said. My eyes went wide, as I laughed nervously. She gave me an unimpressed look. "Did you go through it?"
"... yeah..." I said, giggling awkwardly, rubbing the back of my neck. She glared into my soul, before relaxing.
"... it's fine. We can get Otani in a minute." Imamura replied. "I was actually supposed to be out of here by this morning, but I wouldn't leave. Kawata should try and come and get me again."
"... um, yeah... about Otani..." I started. Imamura raised an eyebrow at me. "So uh, Kawata locked him up for not being in our group."
"Are you fucking serious?" She asked. I nodded, nervously shifting in the chair. She groaned, leaning back in the wheel chair. "FUCKIN- okay! Okay! Okay!" She said, obviously upset. She placed her fingers around the shaft of her nose, closing her eyes in frustration. "We're never gonna get anything done at this rate..."
"... hey, um, it's okay. We can just do it by ourselves." I said. "Or ask Kawata to let Otani out."
"That's not the point Hirano..." Imamura groaned. I stared at her silently. She took that as a hint to keep speaking. "He may be doing this 'for our own good', but it's not even like that anymore. I bet he's doing some sneaky shit, and he just doesn't want us to know about it."
"... w- well, when I talked to Kawata he said that he made the rules because without them everyone had been dying..." I replied. Imamura rolled her eyes.
"I don't know. I just don't think that's the case." She said. She sighed, looking at me. "But... I guess we can go with that answer."
"Well, do you want to leave?" I asked. "Kawata should be waiting for us."
"What?" Imamura replied, staring at me skeptically.
"Well uh, I asked him if I could bring you out. And he said that he'd wait for me to get out with you." I responded.
"Oh..." Imamura said, still sort of skeptical. She turned her wheelchair around, waiting at the door. I smiled, walking over and knocking. After a couple of seconds, Kawata opened the door.
"Oh wow, I didn't think you'd be able to get her out of there!" He laughed.
"I'm not doing this for you." Imamura retorted, immediately using the wheelchair to zoom past him. Though, there wasn't any place to go, since the other door was closed. Imamura seemed pretty peeved by the fact she was still trapped inside.
"Uh, really quickly, I need to tell you something before I unlock the door." Kawata said.
"What is it?" I asked. He sighed, tilting his hat down in front of his eyes.
"Since everyone else is locked up in their rooms right now, we're gonna have to stay together as a group." Kawata explained. Imamura gripped onto the arm rests on her wheelchair.
"The FUCK!?" She snapped. She growled slightly, taking a deep breath before sighing. "Alright... that's fine..." Kawata stared at her for a moment, before slowly walking over and unlocking the door.
"... hey uh... Kawata?" I started as he opened the door.
"Yeah Hirano?" He replied. I sighed, rubbing the back of my neck.
"... do you think... we should let them all out? I- I mean... it's not really good to have everyone held up in their rooms." I said. Kawata stared at me silently, nervously fidgeting with his fingers. He took a long sigh.
"... I don't know Hirano. There have to be consequences for things." We made eye contact. He could tell just from my gaze that I was pleading with him. He looked away, tilting his hat over his eyes. "I'll think about it..." The corners of my mouth perked up, as we wandered out of the back area.
"Alright, so now that you've got two prisoners with you, what are we gonna do?" Imamura asked. Kawata frowned.
"What are you talking about? You guys aren't 'prisoners'." He replied. She rolled her eyes.
"I beg to differ." She responded. Kawata got slightly irritated, but took a deep breath, calming him down. He stumbled into a chair, placing a hand over the top of his face. After a couple of seconds, he looked back up at us.
"You know what, I've made my decision." He said, glancing over at me before looking over at Imamura. "We're gonna go let everyone out of there rooms. And maybe we can do something fun together."
"What?" Imamura replied, in complete disbelief.
"You heard me. Let's go let them out." He responded, getting up from his seat. A bright grin spread across my face, Kawata smiling at me in response.
"Uh, sure. Sounds good to me I guess." Imamura said. Kawata sighed in relief, walking over to the door. He froze for a moment.
"What? What is it?" I asked, wandering over so I could stand next to him. I followed my gaze with your eyes, stopping on a person. They stood at the front of the hotel, now frozen in place.
"The fuck!? Arima!?" Kawata blurted out, astonished. "How the hell did you get out of your room!?" He stood frozen for a moment, before darting back into the hotel. "GET BACK HERE!!!" Kawata yelled, sprinting after him. Imamura and I glanced over at each other, before following them back over to the hotel. When we stepped into the door, we could see Arima running down the hallway's balcony, Kawata tailing close behind.
I started going up the stairs, but stopped myself. I clicked the button to the elevator, Imamura rolling her eyes at what she probably considered as my "stupidity". We got onto it, slowly rising up to the second floor. The doors opened, the both of us quickly rushing down the hallway. In the middle of the hall, Kawata had Arima held up against his own door.
"DO YOU NOT HAVE ANY RESPECT FOR THE RULES!?" Kawata screamed in his face.
"KAWATA!!!" I yelled, racing down towards him. "What are you doing!?"
"HIRANO, THIS DOESN'T-" he started, before looking down at my face. He could see the pleading in my eyes as he stared at me. After a moment, he tipped the front of his hat down, casting a shadow over his face. He dropped Arima on the floor out of the way of the door. He examined the door for a moment. "You... broke the chains!?" I looked over, realizing that there was a chain connected to the door handle, and the second half of it was connected to the wall.
"... I- I guess?" Arima stuttered. Kawata slowly turned around, before putting a hand toward him. Arima, puzzled and scared, started reaching for his palm. He was slapped away, Kawata resuming original position.
"Give me your keys." Kawata said.
"W- what? N- no!" Arima replied.
"THAT WASN'T A SUGGESTION!!! GIVE ME YOUR KEYS!!!" Kawata demanded, moving closer to Arima.
"Kawata, why would you need Arima's keys!?" Imamura asked, glaring at him. Kawata sighed, looking at Imamura, his eyes sluggishly blinking as if he were tired of explaining.
"I'm searching his room. If he has the equipment to break the lock, then it's dangerous." Kawata said. Arima's face became panicked, as he quickly got up from the floor.
"H- HEY! Y- you can't search my room!" Arima replied, approaching Kawata. Suddenly, he was shoved back up against the wall.
"This is your punishment for disobeying the rules I placed. So hand over the keys." Kawata replied, calmly staring at him. Arima slowly began reaching into his pocket, before he stopped, his back stiffening.
"... n- no." Arima responded, holding his back straight up, trying to keep a confident pose.
"... excuse me?" Kawata said, the shadow disappearing enough to see his eyes. Arima took a deep breath.
"Y- you heard me! I- I'm not giving you the k- keys-" Arima started, before suddenly, a crackling sound shut him up.
"You might want to rethink that..." Kawata replied, his taser pointed directly at Arima's face, which was now in a petrified state.
"Kawata, you're going to far! Th- this isn't normal!" I snapped, but no one was listening to me. Slowly, Arima grabbed the keys from his pocket, and placed them in Kawata's hand, who quickly put the taser away and walked to the door.
"Make sure he doesn't run away." Kawata said, opening Arima's room and walking inside, the door left open.
... Kawata wasn't okay. No, this isn't normal! Something is horribly wrong. This wasn't the person I'd spent this whole killing game helping and investigating with! Honestly, I would've started freaking out... if I hadn't seen Arima's panicked face. It was as if he'd been caught in a horrible lie. Or... in a horrible act.
"We can't keep doing this..." Imamura said. Arima's breaths became heavy, as he grabbed onto the top of his head.
"Arima... what's wrong?" I asked. He didn't respond, the only thing signifying a response was how pale his face suddenly became. And then, almost on cue, three items were tossed onto the floor in front of him, coming from the room.
"... oh god..." Imamura blurted out, staring in shock. On the ground... were a pair of bolt cutters, a knife, and rope.
"... Arima..." I said, stepping back in horror.
"What do you need these items for Arima!?" Kawata asked, stepping towards him. Arima closed his mouth, his hands tightening into fists, closing his eyes, and lowering his head. Suddenly, Kawata's hand slammed onto the wall beside his face. "WHAT WERE YOU PLANNING ON DOING!?"
"... I- I..." Arima started, but as if forcing himself to stop, shoved his hands over his mouth.
"WERE YOU PLANNING A MURDER!?" Imamura blurted out, absolutely disgusted. Arima neglected to speak, his hands shaking from how hard he was pushing them against his face. Tears ran down his face, but he tried his best to suck it up.
"That's it. You're going into the sacrifice dome for a very long time." Kawata said, taking the hand-cuff out of his holster. Arima's hands fell to his sides, hand marks being left around his mouth.
"W- what!?" Arima blurted out, backing away. Slowly, he began moving towards Imamura and I.
"I'm sorry Arima, but I have to take this serious. And because you've broken the rules, I'm going to take you away. For your safety and ours." Kawata said. He was trying to reassure him, but his tone came off as cruel, and stern.
"N- NO!!!" Arima yelled, hyperventilating. "Y- YOU CAN'T DO THIS!!! Y- YOU DON'T HAVE ANY PROOF!!!" Arima blurted out, backing up into us.
"Arima, it doesn't matter, we're taking you AWAY, whether you LIKE IT, OR NOT-" Kawata started, reaching for Arima's wrist. Arima suddenly kicked Kawata in the gut, screaming out in what I could only assume was agony. Arima tried to run, but both Imamura and I were in the way. In a moment of desperation, Arima scrambled over Imamura, stepping onto the handle of the wheelchair and sprinting away.
"THE FUCK!?" Imamura yelled. Suddenly, Kawata went running after Arima, shoving both of us out of the way to do so.
After a moment, I looked down at the pile of stuff. But now... something was missing. The knife. My heart stopped, as I turned back around. I started to race after them, but I was grabbed by the wrist.
"Hirano... we shouldn't get involved." Imamura said.
"B- but, what if one of them gets hurt!? W- we can't just let that happen-" I started.
"Do you think that I can catch up with them?" Imamura asked, looking annoyed. She sighed. "Besides, if we do, we'll end up getting hurt ourselves. Maybe it's hard... but we can't follow them because then even more people are at risk of hurting themselves." Imamura explained. I sighed, looking back down the hallway.
"... I guess." I replied.
"And, look what Kawata left behind." Imamura said. She gestured to something on the ground in front of us. A key chain with four keys. I knelt down, and picked them up. Each of the keys has a label of a person on them. Otani, Sugai, Yamazaki... and Arima. "It must've fell out of his pocket when he bumped into us."
"... yeah... probably..." I responded, standing back up.
"Should we let everyone out?" Imamura asked. She stared at the keys for a moment. "Besides Yamazaki." She chuckled to herself as if it were a joke, but she obviously took it seriously.
"... yeah..." I said. "B- but, won't Kawata be upset?" Imamura rolled her eyes.
"We were coming to do this anyway. We'll just say we're doing him a favor." Imamura replied. I sighed.
"Th- that's true..." I looked down at the bolt cutters and the rope on the floor. "We should probably put that in a safe place before we go." Imamura rolled her eyes, quickly heading over to her door. She took out a key, sticking it into the handle. She unlocked it, pulling it open, with some difficulty.
"Just put it in my room. I can't use it anymore because it's impossible for me to open the door and get into my bed. At least, for right now." She said. I nodded, picking up the rope and the bolt cutters. I tossed them in through the open door, Imamura closing the door immediately after.
"Okay..." I took out the first key, holding it up in front of my face. "Let's get this over with." I approached one of the chains on the door, quickly unlocking them. I knocked on the door. It opened.
"Hello?" Otani said. He stared in shock as the door was able to open fully. He stared at the two of us, before a bright smile spread across his face. "Thank you. But won't Kawata be upset?"
"U- um, he said we could let you guys go." I replied. It was technically the truth, but it was still hard to say. It felt like a lie.
"Oh, I'm glad. I'm glad Kawata had a change of heart!" Otani grinned. Imamura and I neglected to comment. I pulled out the next key, walking over to another chain and unlocking it. I knocked on the door.
"Kawata, I'm still reeeeeeaaaaaalllll mad at you after you didn't let me get breakfast! You know, I probably missed lunch, and I really don't appreciate-" Sugai started, before pausing. A huge smirk came across his face, as he strutted out of the room. "Heh heh! See! I told you I'd escape! And it's all thanks to me!" He chuckled, before suddenly taking a dramatic gasp. "I CAN GO EAT NOW!!!" He yelled, gingerly running down the hallway. I put my hand out in front of him, blocking his path. "UGH, what do you want!?"
"U- um, I think we should all stay in our groups." I said. Sugai glared at me, placing his hands on his hips.
"But WWWWWWHHHHHHYYYYYY!?" He whined. I sighed, rubbing the back of my neck.
"Well, uh, you don't want to be trapped in your room again by Kawata, right?" I asked. Sugai kept staring at me angrily for a moment, before folding his arms as he pouted.
"Fine! I'll listen to you... only because you let me out of the room." He pause. "I MEAN, I freed myself! Cool people could free themselves reeeeaaaaaaaally easily." Sugai chuckled to himself, almost proud of his little speech. I paused, taking out the final key. I made eye contact with Imamura. Her fists tightened.
"Hirano, don't." Imamura said, glaring at me.
"It's the right thing to do." I replied.
"Hirano, you KNOW what will happen if you do that!" She snapped backs to me. I sighed, looking to Otani.
"Will you take Imamura up to the library? I'll be up there in a minute." I said. Otani smiled, nodding.
"Okay Imamura, let's head upstairs." He replied, taking the wheelchair by its back handles. Imamura smacked his hands away, moving the wheels herself. She stopped next to me.
"I hope you know what you're doing." She commented, before continuing down the hallway. Otani briskly followed after her.
"Hey! Why do you get to be alone!? That's not fair!" Sugai snapped. I sighed, looking at him.
"W- well, I have to open the door for Yamazaki. A- and then I have to explain something to you guys..." I explained, Sugai staring at me intently.
"Eh, okay! As long as you don't take to long! I'm REEEEEAAAALLLLLYYYYYYY hungry!" He giggled. I smiled, turning to Yamazaki's door. I stared at his key. I took a deep breath. How would he react to this?
I stuck the key in the lock, it coming apart and the chains falling after them. My hand started to shake as I lifted it up to knock. Why? Was I... scared? I took a deep breath, sucking down any doubts I had, and lightly knocked on the door. Sugai and I waited for a couple of seconds, before I knocked again. This time, the door handle quickly shifted. And suddenly, the door slammed open, missing me by an inch.
Yamazaki stood in the doorway, clearly pissed. But there was something else about him. He had bags under his eyes... and his hands were shaking. If I didn't know better, I'd say it was from his rage. But this was something else.
"... Yamazaki... are you okay?" I asked. Yamazaki's eyes went wide, before he began glaring at me.
"Why the fuck are you here?" He replied, clearly pissed.
"U- um, I let you out of your room." I said. Yamazaki stared, disgusted and confused. He took a couple of seconds to think, before shrugging it off. He stuffed his hands into his pockets.
"Whatever." Yamazaki grabbed Sugai by the wrist.
"What the!? HEY!!! You can't just grab me!" Sugai snapped. Yamazaki chose to ignore him, looking at me.
"Now, where the fuck is Arima? I'm not letting Kawata-" he stopped, rage filling his face. "Kawata..." I rubbed the back of my neck nervously.
"U- um, well, K- Kawata let me have the keys so you could get out! So... don't get to upset." I replied. Yamazaki glared at me, rolling his eyes.
"You didn't answer my question. Where's Arima?" He asked. I sighed, rubbing the back of my neck.
"Um... well... he was here a minute ago... but things kind of went... south." I said. Yamazaki glared at me, before scoffing.
"Whatever." After a moment of thought, his eyebrows furrowed. "Hirano, tell Otani and Imamura to meet up for dinner. As much as I don't want to spend time with any of you guys, I'm going to need all the help I can get." He took a deep breath. "And don't tell Kawata."
"Um... okay?" I replied.
"EXCUSE ME, I want you to LET GO!!!" Sugai yelled. Yamazaki rolled his eyes, dropping Sugai's hand. He acted as if he'd been slammed onto the floor from the ceiling when he landed. But he'd only been held up slightly by Yamazaki's hand. Sugai yelled as if he was in pain, being dramatic for the sake of it. Yamazaki glared at Sugai, looking back over to me. I sighed.
"Yamazaki, no offense, but I don't-" I started.
"Trust me? I'm well aware." Yamazaki said. "But I don't care if you trust me or not. I don't trust you one bit after you tried to fucking kill me. And it's not my priority to regain that." He looked down at Sugai, annoyed by the nuisance who was 'writhing' in 'pain'. "Come on Sugai, let's go."
"But I am in pain! I can't move! You hurt me reeeeeaaaaaaalllllllllllllll bad!" Sugai replied, folding his arms in defiance. Before any of us could think, Yamazaki snatched Sugai up by his hood and began dragging him across the floor. "OW OW OW!!! OKAY, STOP, THAT ACTUALLY HURTS!!!" Sugai yelled. Yamazaki didn't respond, he just kept moving towards the dining hall. "ARE YOU LISTENING TO ME!? IT HURTS!!! AAAAAHHHHHHH!!!" Yamazaki dragged Sugai through the cafeteria doors.
I stared at the dining room doors, before looking down at the keys. My hand tightened around them, one of the keys poking me in the palm of my hand. But I didn't bother. I had other things on my mind.
Was this the right decision? Yamazaki seems to be unstable at the moment. No... not just Yamazaki. Kawata is the most unstable. I don't know what's going on with him, but... it's not good. I paused for a second. No. I'm wrong. It's not just them. We're all unstable. Was Ressa correct? Would someone really be willing to kill? I thought.. that maybe we'd avoid that. But... Arima is willing to. Imamura was willing to. Everyone has become agitated, and tensions are getting high. And... as much as I don't want to admit it... if you kill once... it's easier to kill again.
And I almost did kill again. I was so close to murdering Yamazaki. And I tried to justify it. None of us deserve to die. That's just cruel. Well... I guess maybe some people deserve to die. The people who put us here. Or... maybe not. What are their intentions with all this anyway?
I sighed. I need to head up to Otani and Imamura. I wonder what they think of the information found on the flash drive. Maybe they'll know more about the topics than I do, because I'm honestly not sure what it means. I can make assumptions, but there's nothing concrete about it. I'd have to do more research, and it's really hard to do that with the killing game going on.
I walked over to the elevator, getting on and going to the floor with the library. I walked over to desk, and pulled out the drawer. The key wasn't there. I face palmed. Of course the key wasn't there, Otani and Imamura had to use it to get into the room. I walked to the hidden door, looking at the camera. When it turned to face another direction, I quickly knocked. After a couple of seconds, it opened. I raced inside, closing it behind me. Otani and Imamura stared at me for a moment. Imamura turned back to the computer, glaring at the screen in puzzlement.
"So, how did it go?" Otani asked, a smile on his face.
"Um, better than I expected?" I replied, unsure if I even believed my answer. I walked over to the laptop, looking at Imamura, before following her gaze. I squinted, readjusting my one eye glass so I could read the text. "Oh... that one." Imamura adjusted herself, sitting back in her wheelchair.
"So... it's implying that Hano Yoshiko isn't just one person..." Imamura said, astonished, bewildered, and frustrated at the same time. "What? How does that work?"
"I'm not to sure..." Otani replied, rubbing his chin. "They also said she could've been framed..."
"That would also make it easier to rehabilitate her... since it could just be some random girl." Imamura responded. Suddenly, a thought popped into my head.
"Hey, uh, Imamura?" I started. She looked at me, waiting for me to finish my thought. "One of the documents was an email about a student complaining about being harassed by protesters when they went to Yuutsumi. Do you know anything about that." I said. The color drained from Imamura's face, as if she'd been caught. She took a long, deep breath of air.
"Yeah... I do." She stopped. I didn't at anything. I know she was waiting for me to continue speaking, but I wanted her to finish. She sighed, her fist tightening. "Basically, it was a protest against the rehabilitation program. They claimed that there was no way Hano Yoshiko could be redeemed after what she had done. Another argument was that she deserved her death sentence. People were angry that she was getting a second chance after the things that happened." Imamura explained.
"Huh... that's interesting." Otani said. "Do you guys think Hano Yoshiko actually changed? Or do you think she stayed the same?" Imamura rolled her eyes.
"I mean, she had to have changed at least a bit to be successful in the rehabilitation program." Imamura paused. "I still don't think she should be allowed to study to become a political leader. Shit, what would even happen if she came into power!?"
"I- I'm not sure." I replied. I paused for a moment, my mind suddenly stuck on a single question. But it was a stupid question. So I needed to get it out of my head.
"Something on your mind Hirano?" Otani asked. I sighed. Rubbing the back of my neck.
"W- well... it's kind of stupid... a- and I don't think it's all that important... b- but..." I took a long deep breath. "What does Hano Yoshiko even look like?" Imamura seemed like she was about to speak, but stopped in the middle. She stopped to think, seeming stumped by the question.
"I actually don't know..." Imamura responded. She continued to try and think, completely bewildered by the thought.
"Well... I'm not sure, but you should ask Kawata. He was selected by Yuutsumi because he caught Hano Yoshiko." Otani said. I shook my head, frowning sadly.
"No, Kawata said that he can't remember her. He said that in his memories, the places where she's supposed to be are whited out." I responded. Otani thought for a moment, before making eye contact with me.
"Well, maybe he can't visualize her, but maybe he can describe some of her key features. Like hair color, eye color, that sort of thing. I don't know if it will work, but it's worth a try." Otani said. I stopped to think. On one hand, if it worked then we'd have some information on Hano Yoshiko. On the other hand, none of this information was really that vital, and if it failed, then Kawata would go through a lot of pain. I took a deep breath.
"I don't know Otani... it kind of seems like a bad idea to me." I said. Though... I still really want to know what she looks like. He shrugged in response, a smile crawling across his face.
"That's okay. You don't have to ask if you don't want to. Let's just focus on getting out of here." He suggested.
"Well, we can't even really do that, because we still have no fucking clue how to get out of here!" Imamura complained.
"That's understandable. But we still have the code to find! So let's not give up just yet! Keep working, and I know we can get out of here!" Otani said, cheerily placing a hand on each of our shoulders. Imamura stopped to think, before looking at the two of us.
"By the way, we've been talking about this door for awhile... how the fuck did you guys even find it anyway?" She asked.
"W- well, Kawata and I had been interviewing Araigu, a- and in exchange for helping them stay away from Ressa, they helped us find it." I said. Imamura stared at me skeptically for a moment.
"Where is the door? And how do you know you need a four digit code?" She asked.
"Oh yeah. Where is the door?" Otani reiterated what Imamura had asked.
"W- well, it's kind of weird. It's pretty close to the hotel, and it's on the wall surrounding this place. It's in a pretty precise location, so I'd have to show you guys in person." I said.
"We tried to look for the code around the hotel after the new motive was created. We thought that... well... we could get out of here before anything bad could happen." Otani explained. Imamura remained silent.
"... you guys... tried to find a way out... for me?" Imamura asked. The two of us stared at her for a moment. Otani nodded, as I laughed awkwardly. She took a long pause, looking at the screen. "... I think I'm going to stay here overnight." She said.
"H- huh?" Otani stuttered, taken aback.
"I think there's probably some clues in here that can help me figure out this code." Imamura turned to the two of us. "I'm going to spend the night trying to find it. You guys can cover for me. And just come get it me in the morning, alright?"
"B- but, what if something goes wrong!?" I asked. "Like, what is Ressa or someone else finds you in here!? I can't even think about what would happen!" I said, grabbing onto my head, nearly knocking my glasses off my face. Otani sighed, pulling out a walkie talkie from his pocket.
"Here, Imamura. I bought these earlier today when I had the time. We'll stay in contact through these." Otani said, handing her one. "If you have any trouble, contact me through the walkie talkie, and I'll run straight up to get you."
"... why do you have this?" Imamura asked. Otani smiled.
"Well, I thought that if we were going to be sneaky about this, we might want to stay in communication." Otani replied. He turned to me, taking two more walkie talkies out and handing one of them to me. "Now we can make sure we always know what's going on, and how to solve it." I pushed my glasses back up my face, nervously turning to Imamura. Without even thinking, my eyes started to water up with tears.
"... please... just... stay safe... okay?" I said. Imamura smirked, rolling her eyes.
"Yeah yeah, of course. You don't have to cry over me." Imamura replied. I smiled, wiping the tears out of my eyes.
"Y- yeah... okay... I won't." I responded. I took a deep breath. "Um... so... Yamazaki wants us to meet up with him in the dining hall." Imamura glared at me angrily.
"UGH..." Imamura complained. "Yeah, I'm staying up here. No way that I'm going downstairs to see that fucking idiot." Otani frowned.
"Can we at least try and remain positive? Picking fights won't solve anything. I understand why you're angry... but if we want to escape, we at least have to keep the peace." Otani said. Imamura glared at him, before turning her head away. She rolled her eyes.
"... whatever. I'm still not going." Imamura said. Her face became slightly nervous. "... but I can try..." Otani smiled.
"Thank you." He replied. He shifted his body towards me. "So, should we head over to meet with Yamazaki?" I looked over at Imamura. The sinking feeling was still there.
"I know I keep saying this... but... please be safe." I requested, pushing my glasses up. Though, that didn't really help my sight at all. Imamura scoffed, shaking her head back and forth.
"I will. You two get out of here. I'm gonna look through these documents." Imamura replied, turning on the monitor and waving us away.
Otani and I walked out of the room back into the library. The two of us continued to the elevator, heading down until we got to the second floor. And then... we wandered into the cafeteria. Yamazaki was sitting down in a chair, angrily glaring at the table. Sugai, for once, was actually in his seat and remaining quiet. Though, he was staring daggers at Yamazaki.
"We're here." I announced. Yamazaki looked up at me, before looking at Otani.
"Where the fuck is Imamura?" He asked.
"We took her to the hospital for the night." Otani said. Yamazaki rolled his eyes.
"Whatever, I don't really care wherever she is." Yamazaki said. "Four people will work well anyway."
"For what?" I asked.
"We're going to take Kawata captive." Yamazaki said. There was a long moment of silence.
"... what?" I blurted out.
"Oops! Looks like no one likes your prank Yamazaki!" Sugai teased. Yamazaki jumped up from his seat, holding his hand up to slap Sugai, who braced himself in fear. Yamazaki stopped himself, his hand shaking. He took a deep, angry breath, and wiped his arm on his leg.
"Why would we do that?" Otani asked. Yamazaki glared at him, rolling his eyes.
"Isn't it obvious!? He's gone completely insane!" Yamazaki made a circling motion with his finger next to his head. "He's being completely unreasonable. He decided to lock us all up just because we didn't follow a stupid rule! And he's waving that taser around like it's a toy so he can intimidate us..."
"B- but, Yamazaki, we don't have to do that. We can just talk to him!" I said. "He'll understand! I- I... I know it..." he shook his head back and forth, placing his hand on the table.
"Do you actually believe that?" He asked. I stayed silent, trying to decided how to respond.
"I-" I started.
"That's all I need to hear." He cut me off, putting a hand up to signal my silence. "The only want this is gonna stop is if we capture him. Then, we can get any information we want out of him. By any means necessary." My brows furrowed.
"... you mean torture... don't you?" I asked. I knew the answer even before he gave me a knowing look. I shook my head back and forth. "Why!? What would you even want to know!?" I asked, glaring at him.
"I want the information on how to get out of here." Yamazaki snapped back. "Why would be on his own otherwise!? I swear to FUCKING GOD, he's the MASTERMIND!!! And I already know one of his little secrets! He's hiding some really important information, and I WILL GET IT!!!"
"... that's not-" Otani started.
"I DON'T CARE, IF IT'S NOT HUMANE!!!" He yelled. "I'M GONNA GET THE FUCK OUT OF THIS HELL HOLE!!! I DON'T CARE HOW I DO IT!!! I DON'T CARE IF I'M GOING CRAZY!!! IF THAT'S WHAT YOU WANT TO CALL IT THEN FINE, BUT WANTING FREEDOM SHOULDN'T BE PUNISHED!!!" His hands were shaking from how angry he was.
"Yamazaki, let's just calm down-" Otani started. Suddenly, Yamazaki slammed his fist into the table. It made a huge fist indent in the wood. I covered my mouth with my hands, letting out a small gasp.
Yamazaki froze for a moment, his eye brows furrowing. His hand would've been bloody, but he still had his gloves on. He sighed, shaking off the wooden splinters that got stuck in the wool. Now, he was completely calm.
"Tomorrow, before nighttime, we're going to set a trap for him. Sugai will be alone, and we'll watch from a distance. When Kawata thinks he's safe, we'll tackle to the ground and hold him captive. I can take care of the rest. We just have to get rid of that taser." Yamazaki said. Everything was silent, the tension being so think you could cut it with a butter knife. "Hirano, you'll be in charge of getting rid of the taser-"
"NO!!!" I yelled, tears streaming down my face. Yamazaki silently glared at me.
"Excuse me-" he started.
"I'M NOT DOING THIS!!! KAWATA IS A GOOD PERSON!!! NO ONE DESERVES THIS!!! I DON'T CARE IF YOU WANT TO GET OUT OF HERE!!! YOU'RE TREATING HIM LIKE HE'S A MONSTER!!! HE WANTS THE BEST FOR US!!! I- I-" I screamed. I sniffled. "I- I know he's doing it all wrong... I- I know he's going crazy... but- but... he wants the best f- for us... th- that's enough for me..." I looked up at Yamazaki. "And about y- your question... y- yes... I do t- trust him. More than you..." Yamazaki groaned, placing a hand on his face.
"I don't CARE if you trust me or not!" Yamazaki said. "Besides, you're going to do as I say! Or your little SECRET, will be revealed to EVERY. SINGLE. PERSON. IN THIS STUPID KILLING GAME!!!" Yamazaki yelled.
"I DON'T CARE!!!" I shrieked. "I'M NOT DOING WHAT YOU SAY YAMAZAKI!!! REVEAL MY SECRET!!! IT'S NOT WORTH MY FRIENDS WELLBEING!!!" Yamazaki walked forward, glaring down at me. He was trying to intimidate me. But it didn't matter. I wasn't going to back down. "The answer is no, Yamazaki." The two of us glared at each other in silence for a couple of seconds. Then, Yamazaki looked away, walking over to the door. Confused, I followed behind him, grabbing onto his sleeve. "You can't just leave!" Suddenly, with Yamazaki's other hand, he grabbed my other wrist.
"I'm getting out of here... and you're not going to stop me." Yamazaki said.
"Guys, let's slow down-" Otani started.
"No! I'm stopping this right now! We can get out of here without needing to hurt anyone!" I yelled. Suddenly, Yamazaki shoved me back. I tripped over a chair, and landed on the floor. My hand felt a jolt of pain from the injury on my palm jabbing the floor. I held my wrist, wincing slightly. Yamazaki stared at me in silence.
"Well, it looks like someone just got hurt." Yamazaki replied. "What's wrong with one more..." He walked out of the door. I sat on the floor in shock. Otani walked over to me, helping me up off the floor.
"Don't worry. Let's just keep working to get out of here. Yamazaki wouldn't actually hurt anyone to get out of here-"
"Oh yeah he would." Sugai interrupted. Otani stared at him, trying to think.
"Excuse me?" He replied. Sugai chuckled to himself.
"He's gonna hurt Kawata really badly." Sugai smiled. "If that's what he does to a table when he's angry, what's gonna happen to Kawata?"
"But, he wouldn't hurt him that badly. There's no really to be angry with Kawata-" Otani started, but stopped as he spoke. The more he thought, the more he realized what he meant.
"Yamazaki wants to get out of here, right? It seems like he wants to really badly! And well, his biggest obstacle is Kawata. He can't really sneak around and do whatever he does if Kawata is threatening him with a taser. Plus, Kawata and Yamazaki have gotten into a lot of fights. Both of them are going crazy. No matter what... there little scuffle... is gonna leave one of them dead." Sugai said. Otani and I stared at him in silence. Sugai cackled to himself, crying tears of joy. "YOU GUYS SHOULD SEE YOUR FACES!!! YOU'RE SO HORRIFIED!!!"
"Sugai, this isn't funny!" Otani said. Sugai glared at him, rolling his eyes.
"It isn't funny. That's true. But it's true." Sugai replied. "If we don't do something, one of them is a goner. They're going to fight, and then one of them will die. I'm calling it."
"Then they won't get into a fight." I responded. Sugai raised an eyebrow at me, confused.
"What?" He blurted out.
"I'll make sure that neither of them end up fighting." I said. Sugai rolled his eyes.
"Hirano, if you haven't noticed, Yamazaki easily over powered you. You can't stop either of them. Yamazaki is going to attack him on sight." Sugai replied. I stood determined, smiling to myself.
"Then I guess, Yamazaki won't see Kawata at all." I said. Sugai smirked, starting to chuckle to himself.
"And how are you gonna do that huh!? How are you gonna make sure that Yamazaki won't see him?" Sugai giggled.
"I have something in mind." I said, a proud smile crawling across my face. Kawata, don't worry. You'll be safe as long as I say so.
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