"Rise and shine ursines! I came up with that saying on my own! Anyway, I see that many people have been ignoring my little motive. So I've decided that one person needs to go and participate in it every day! Or, you guessed it, I'm gonna kill you! Or something along those lines." Ressa laughed over the monitor. "Alright, I'll leave everything to you guys!" Ressa started to turn off the recording. Suddenly, as he hit a button, he got very angry. "WAIT, WHO BROKE THE TABLE-" The monitor shut off. I grabbed my broken glasses, and put them on my face. This was starting to get really annoying. Only being able to see out of one eye is going to be the death of me I swear.
Suddenly, the thought popped into my head. Oh yeah! Otani and I need to make sure that Imamura is okay! And I need to make sure that Yamazaki and Kawata stay as far away as possible from each other at nighttime. That's when Yamazaki plans to attack him, so I can get as much done as I possibly can now before 10 PM.
I quickly changed, putting on my shoes and rushing out of my room. Sugai, Otani and Yamazaki were the only other people there. I stood in line next to Otani, who gave me a knowing look.
After a couple of minutes, Kawata walked out of his room. He looked exhausted. He held a clipboard in his hands.
"Well aren't you a sight for sore eyes?" Sugai said, giggling to himself mischeviously. Kawata didn't respond, he just looked down at his clipboard.
"Otani." He said. Everyone remained silent for a moment.
"Here."
"Arima." Kawata said. He already knew there would be no response, but there was no use in not checking. He sighed, checking off something on his clipboard. "Yamazaki." He continued. Yamazaki stared daggers into him.
"Here..."
"Hirano." He said next.
"Present."
"Imamura." He finished. No one said anything. He glared at the group. "Where the fuck is Imamura?"
"Maybe she's still in the hospital?" I said. He remained silent, staring at me. He winced, grabbing onto his head. Tears started falling from his eyes, but he stopped himself before they continued.
"... alright, have a good day everyone." He continued, shifting back around and walking away from the group. Everyone remained still for a moment.
"What a crybaby." Yamazaki blurted out. Suddenly, he grabbed Sugai by the wrist, and started dragging him along with him.
"Hey! Wait! I want breakfast!" He yelled. Yamazaki kept moving, Sugai shrieking in anger at the thought of not getting his food. Otani and I looked at each other.
"Did Imamura say anything last night?" I asked. He shook his head back and forth.
"We should probably go check on her right now." He said. I nodded, briskly following him to the elevator. The two of us got on, clicking the button that lead to the floor with the library.
I paused, putting a hand on my heart. It was leaping out of my chest. Why was I so nervous? It's... it's fine! Why wouldn't it be!? I took a deep breath. I'm getting worked up over nothing.
The two of us raced out of the elevator, heading to the secret bookcase door. Otani took the key from his pocket, and waited for the camera to turn away. As soon as it did, he stuck it into the keyhole and unlocked the door. The two of us raced into the room.
Imamura sat in front of the laptop in silence. I was about to say something, but then I noticed something. Slowly, I started moving to stand to the side behind her. Imamura was staring at the camera footage of the hospital. She kept clicking on the same time over and over again. After a moment... it hit me. The footage was of Taguchi's death.
Kajiwara shooting him, Taguchi stumbling into the room, blocking the door, giving the usb to Imamura, and then dying. And she just kept watching it over and over again. Suddenly, Otani raced over. He clicked out of the camera's, forcing her to stop watching.Startled, her arms raised up. Almost as if she was just caught doing something bad. This was bad... just a different kind of bad. After a moment, her expression became tired... for more than just one reason.
"Imamura, you can't be watching that." Otani said. "It's just going to make you upset. I know... things are hard... but that's only going to make it harder." Imamura stared at the ground blankly with bags under her eyes.
"... right..." she whispered. After a moment, she turned back to the computer, clicking on the documents. "... I found the code..."
"... what?" I blurted. She slowly started scrolling through the first passage.
"... these reports have different parts bolded. The first one spells out the number 'one'." She said, pointing out the letters that were darker than the others. After a moment of focusing on it, my eyes went wide. Oh my god... it is! She continued to the second document. "This one just has the number nine bolded." She pointed it out once again. Lo and behold, the number was darker than the others. She clicked on the third document, scrolling down. "This one was a little bit trickier, but it still makes sense. The number one is underlined, and so is the plus sign. Then, the number one is spelled out in bolded letters." She pointed to each of them as she did.
"... so the code so far is 192..." Otani said. A bright smile spread across my face.
"Imamura! You're so smart! Thank you thank you thank you!" I called out, throwing my arms around Imamura in a big hug. I could feel the tears welling up in my eyes. The passcode is right here! One more number, and we'd be able to unlock the exit! Imamura gently pushed me back, one of her hands tapping the table.
"... I gave up on the last number..." she said. I stared at her, confused.
"... what? Why?" I asked. She sighed, opening the last document on the laptop.
"... it just doesn't make sense to me..." she explained. She started to scroll through. "The number is five is underlined, and then the word in 'shift' is bolded. But what comes next doesn't make any sense to me..." she nervously scratched the back of her neck. "The letters E, J, W, T are underlined, but that's not really a word that leads to a number. I tried to click shift and 5 on the keyboard, but that didn't really do anything. Even when I did it at the same time it just didn't work." Otani and I leaned in, staring at the document.
"... so we're only a little bit closer..." I said, a frown spreading across my face. "I mean... it can't be too difficult... right?" I asked, nervously. Imamura and I stared at each other in silence, neither of us willing to speak. I could feel the sweat rolling down my face.
We need to figure out this code quickly, or we're not getting out of here alive. We have to do this quickly, because tensions are high, and we can't afford to lose anyone right now. Not when we're on the edge of figuring this all out. If we're trapped in here any longer... one of us is going to die. With Arima, Yamazaki, and Kawata acting differently lately, things are going to go down hill if we don't get the final number for the passcode. We could guess it... but we only have one shot at this. Knowing the passcode perfectly helps make sure we're prepared to get out of this place.
"Do either of you have a piece of paper and a pencil?" Otani asked, after a while of intently staring at the passage. Imamura raised an eyebrow, looking absolutely befuddled.
"What? Why?" Imamura replied. Otani sighed, readjusting his posture.
"I think I know what to do, but I can't really work it out in my head." He said. Imamura rolled her eyes, pulling out a small notebook from her pocket, along with a pencil.
"... you just have that on hand?" I asked. Imamura glared at me as she handed him the materials.
"I'd expect you to do the same, what with you being the smart one." Imamura replied. A grin slowly made its way across my face.
"... you think I'm smart?" I responded. Imamura seemed bewildered by the question. Otani proceeded to stare at the two of us confused, before starting to write the English alphabet on the paper.
"I thought that was your whole thing. It's LITERALLY your talent!" She said. I nodded, a bashful smile on my face. I rested my right cheek in my hand, slightly swaying in place.
"But no one's really complimented me on it before!" I giggled slightly, Imamura rolling her eyes in response, turning to Otani. It felt nice to get a slight bit of praise. We haven't really been focusing on the positive since this whole killing game started.
"What the fuck are you doing?" Imamura asked, staring down at the notepad. Otani had written out the English alphabet, and was drawing a backwards arrow from one letter to another, seemingly without reason.
"I'm trying to figure this out. The letters are E, J, W, T right?" Otani asked.
"... uh... yeah?" Imamura said. Otani continued writing on the notepad, Imamura and I looking over his shoulders to see the paper. After a bit more working, Otani wrote out a word.
"It's zero." He replied. Imamura and I stared at him silently.
"Wait, how did you figure that out?" I asked. He pointed at the letters with the pencil in his hand.
"It's a shift cipher. You move the letters based on the number given to you, in this case 5, until you reach a different letter of the alphabet. And that's how you get the actual word with that cipher." Otani said. Imamura picked up the notepad, staring it in silence.
"... so the code is 1, 9, 2, 0..." she thought aloud. A huge smile spread across my face, as tears started to well up in my eyes.
"... does this mean..." I put my hands together, placing them in front of my chest.
"... yeah... I think..." Imamura asked, knowing what my question was. I sniffled, the water falling down my cheeks as my lips curled to express something that I hadn't felt in a while. I'd tried to feel this before, and maybe I had, but not to this extent. I was filled with overwhelming hope. A joy that I couldn't place a finger on. I had felt so tired... but in that very instant, my body became replenished with life.
"THIS IS IT!!!" I yelled, jumping up and down in place. "WE'RE GOING HOME!!!" Suddenly, the relief I felt made my legs crumple to the floor. "I'll see my dad... and my little brother..." I said, wiping the tears of absolute bliss from my eyes. I pulled myself up from the floor. "Come on! Let's go right now-"
"Hirano... you might want to slow down." Otani said, cutting me off. My smile slowly dissipated and fizzled out, until I was only staring blankly at him.
"... what?" I replied. Otani placed a hand on my shoulder.
"... don't get your hopes up to much." He responded. A sudden, bone chilling feeling went down my spine.
"... are you... saying we're not going to leave?" I asked. I could feel my blood run cold, my body becoming numb to the touch. Otani shook his head back and forth.
"No! No! Not at all!" Otani replied. He took a long deep breath. "... it's good to be excited. It's good to be hopeful. But... if you're so eager to leave... anything that might go wrong will hit you harder than it usually would." I didn't respond. I just stared at him in silence, unable to even open my mouth. "There are a lot of things that might go wrong... but that doesn't mean there won't be anything good. Just... prepare yourself." I felt a small drop of sweat start creeping down my face. I removed myself from Otani's grasp, scratching the back of my neck.
"... y- yeah... of course... I- I was just being optimistic..." I said. To be honest... I wasn't really thinking about that. For a moment... I'd forgotten what disappointment felt like. It's dumb... but... it felt like everything would be okay... for at least a split second.
"He's right. We've got to plan this out. We've got to get everyone in on our plan, plan out the blackout, plan out our distraction against Ressa, plan out how we'll even get to the door, plan out what we do after we get out of the door, plan out how we're even going to get everyone into the same room that is quiet and out of the way of Ressa, plan out..." Imamura started, her rant only being stopped by Otani staring at her in silence, trying to signal her to stop. He sighed, turning to me.
"Let's try to do this carefully is all I'm trying to say. Right now, let's head down to the motive room. I know it's not ideal... but it will be good to follow Ressa's orders right now. Just so we don't get caught so early." Otani suggested. Imamura rolled her eyes, folding her arms.
"Yeah... let's do it." She said. I nodded, Imamura closing the laptop. The three of us opened the door, heading out of the secret bookcase and closing it quickly. We headed to the elevator, getting on and heading down. I stopped for a moment, looking down at my hand. It was hard to see with only glass, but after a moment the realization hit me. My hand was... shaking?
... am I really this desperate to escape? The only thing swirling around in my head is the thought of getting out of here. I have to get out of here. I think I'm starting to go stir crazy. Even the idea of getting out of here is sending my brain into a frenzy.
"Hirano." Imamura said, interrupting my thought. The elevator door was open, and Otani's hand was making sure that it stayed open. "You coming?" I had spaced out so much that I hadn't even realized we were here.
"... y- yeah... just..." I took a long pause, walking towards the elevator's exit. "... nervous..." Otani, Imamura, and I headed to the game room where the motive resided. Everyone remained silent, staring at the door.
"Alright, I'll do it." Imamura said, breaking the silent.
"... are you sure?" Otani asked. She glared at him in response. After taking a deep sigh, Otani opened the door, Imamura entering quickly.
"Alright, how do I start this thing-" Imamura stopped mid sentence. Even though she was quiet, and even though she was facing away from me, I could tell that she was scared. I could tell that the air had been sucked out of her lungs by a cold, deadly mist.
"Imamura, is everything okay?" Otani asked. Silently, Imamura turned her wheelchair around, and exited the room. I could see the shock and fear plastered on her face. I placed a hand on her back, trying to comfort her as much as I could.
"... h- hey... what's wrong?" I said, concerned that she never said a thing. Suddenly, the game room door slammed shut. I nearly jumped out of my skin from the shock. After a moment, my eyes went wide. "Where's... Otani?"
"SHIT!!!" Imamura yelled, quickly turning to the door and trying to pull it open. But it wouldn't budge. "DAMMIT!!!" Imamura slammed her fists into the door over and over again.
"I- Imamura! C- calm down-" I started, grabbing her by the wrist.
"HIRANO!!! I'M NOT READY!!!" Imamura screamed. "HE'S GONNA KNOW MY SECRET!!! I'M THE NEXT SECRET TO BE REVEALED BY THE MOTIVE ROOM!!!"
"B- but, it'll be fine! H- he'll understand!" I insisted. Imamura shook her head violently back and forth, her face turning a bright red with rage.
"NO HE WON'T!!! AND EVEN IF HE DOES, I'M NOT READY YET!!! I WANT TO SHARE MY SECRET WHEN I'M READY!!! I CAN'T DO IT JUST YET!!!" She screamed.
"What the fuck is happening?" Someone interrupted. I hopped up in the air from the shock, nearly stumbling onto the floor afterwards. I looked up, my eyes going wide.
"... Yamazaki?" I blurted out. Yamazaki stood next to Imamura, staring down at her. He rolled his eyes after I had announced his appearance.
"Why the fuck are you screaming so loud?" Yamazaki snapped. Imamura stared at the ground, a shadow covering her face. Her head hung low, as her fingers balled up into fists. I quickly stepped behind her, placing a hand on her back.
"U- um, where's Sugai? I- I thought you guys had to stick together." I said, trying to divert the conversation away. Yamazaki glared at me. He must still be upset from last night.
"He's in the kitchen, getting his breakfast or some shit. I left because apparently, this bitch can't be quiet." Yamazaki replied, motioning to Imamura, who was now seething. Quickly, I pushed Imamura back, stepping in front of her. I could tell she was going to attack him if she got the chance. Just being in the same room as him was enough to make her lose her cool.
"Th- that's not really your business though." I said. "Besides, don't you have something to do tonight? That might be more important." Yamazaki's eyes became intense, as he shifted his posture.
"... I guess that's true." Yamazaki started. After a moment, he rolled his eyes. He began turning around, before he abruptly stopped. "SHIT!!!" He yelled, nearly falling over onto the floor.
"U- um, is something wrong?" I asked. Yamazaki put a hand out to stop me, before it balled up into a fist. He stood straight up, quickly wiping something from his face before turning around. His face was filled with blind rage. And in a moment, it was right in front of mine. "Stop asking these stupid fucking questions! No matter what you say, I'm always going to hate you." He straightened his posture, taking a deep breath. "We're never getting out of here unless we get the information from Kawata, you hear!?" He quickly turned around. "You're gonna die in here without me." He said, before walking away.
I stared, almost becoming angry. What was his problem!? This isn't the same guy I met at the first day. I swear he's become so much more aggressive. I know that everyone had changed... but somehow... this feels different. But I shook it off, quickly turning back to Imamura. She was practically shaking the entire wheelchair from how hard she had her hands gripped on the arm rests.
"H- hey, it's okay now. He's gone." I said, trying my best to reassure her. She took a couple of deep breaths. Her face was still a a bright red, but she wasn't seething in rage anymore.
"... I don't know... how I stopped myself..." she replied. I smiled, placing a hand on hers.
"I know how Imamura. Because you've changed." I said. She was about to start speaking, but I stopped her. "You have. You're a lot stronger than before. You know that you're overcoming your anger. And at this rate, he won't even be able to bother you." I said that, but I knew it wasn't all true. She would always be upset with Yamazaki. But... she had improved. And that's all you need to do. Suddenly, the game room door slammed open, making me jump once again.
"COME ON OTANI!!! YOU DID THAT WAY TO QUICKLY!!! It's not very fun if you figure out immediately..." Ressa said, forcing him to walk out of the room. Otani seemed slightly distressed as the two of them came out.
"Give me the secret." Imamura demanded, holding out her hand. Otani took a dry gulp, starting to take out the paper from his pocket.
"He already read it Imamura!" Ressa chuckled. Her fists tightened, as her face became a fiery red. I could almost hear the tea kettle sound emanating from her head. Suddenly, Imamura went to grab Ressa, who swiftly dodged. "Woah woah woah! Don't blame me for this Imamura! You know, I'm not the one who has your secret!"
"You set this FUCKING THING UP!!! OF COURSE I'm gonna blame you!" Imamura snapped. She went to attack Ressa again, but Ressa didn't move this time. Otani did, stopping her just before she could hit the teddy bear.
"Aaawwwwwwwww, it would've been fun to punish you Imamura! Oh well, I guess I'll have to try better next time!" He giggled, before disappearing into thin air. Imamura pulled her wrist out of Otani's hand. He took a long sigh.
"It's okay Imamura." He said.
"NO IT ISN'T!!!" She snapped. He looked at her dead in the eyes.
"It really is Imamura." He replied. He looked away for a moment. "You didn't go through with it... and I know that as the person you are now... you wouldn't do that..."
"Then what about the person I was before!? Do you think I would've killed then!?" Imamura snapped.
"Imamura, that's not-" I started.
"HIRANO, THIS ISN'T ABOUT YOU!!!" Imamura yelled. Instinctively, I stepped back. She stared at me for a moment, before taking a long sigh. "... Otani, can I talk with you alone?" Imamura asked without looking over at him.
"... yeah. That's fine..." Otani said. The two of them headed back into the game room alone, closing the door behind them.
I sighed, sitting up against the wall. I'm trying my best to make things right. I'm trying my best to keep the peace. What... what am I doing wrong? I'm really trying to help. But... apparently I'm not allowed to help? I can't help with everything. That's what I need to learn. I guess... I'll try my best to not interrupt. Just... leave things how they are.
My thoughts stopped, as I looked down the hall. Someone was passing by. I looked at the time. Yeah, this would be a good time. Quickly, I got up off the floor, sprinting down the hallway. I turned the corner, and followed them down it.
"KAWATA!!!" I yelled, grabbing his attention. So much so that he jumped, instinctively throwing his hand over to grab his taser. I stopped in my tracks, sweat running down his face as he stared at me. He held the taser in his hands, the small sounds of crackles going off. He looked down, realizing he had the taser out.
"OH SHIT!!!" He yelled, quickly turning it back off, putting it back into his holster. He seemed nervous and slightly panicked. "Sorry about that! I- I'm just really on edge, you know?" I smiled slightly, still a bit freaked out from the electric zaps I just heard.
"... um... it's okay." I said. "Things are getting a lot more tense, so that makes sense." Kawata stared at me for a couple of seconds in silence, seeming kind of confused, but still entirely filled with panic.
"Where's your group?" He asked. I smiled nervously, scratching the back of my neck.
"W- well, Imamura and Otani were just down that hallway, but I think they went into the game room. But I was with them until I came up to you." I said. Kawata stared at me skeptically, but took a long sigh.
"So uh, what did you want to talk about?" He asked. I took a deep breath.
"... I was wondering... what does Hano Yoshiko look like?" I replied. His eyes went wide, panic spreading across his face.
"... w- what?" He stuttered. I avoided eye contact, looking down at the ground.
"I- I... I was just thinking about it... and I... was just curious. Since you saw her." I said. Still in a panicked state, he glared at me, entirely frustrated.
"Hirano, I don't remember what she looks like remember! I can only see a white blur! And you know I get a headache if I even try to think about her!" He snapped. I nervously twiddled my thumbs together.
"... y- yeah... I- I'm... I'm sorry. I thought that maybe you would remember descriptions of her. B- but that's okay. I- I'm sorry." I apologized, looking back up at his face. His face was completely surprised. As if that one comment had made him realize something. Did he... remember? At least a little bit? Suddenly, he collapsed on the floor, grabbing onto his head in agony.
"GOD... DAMMIT!!!" He yelled out, tears running down his face. He began hyperventilating from the severe pain in his head.
"KAWATA!!!" I screamed, kneeling down next to him. I held his body shook. "I- I'm really sorry! I- I shouldn't have asked! I- I didn't think of the consequences! I- I can't believe I even asked! I- I am so-"
"It's... fine..." he muttered. He took a deep breath, his body still shaking. His face was completely pale, as he stood up. He looked like he was going to throw up, and his legs were barely holding his weight. He was going to collapse again. I quickly raced to his side, holding him on my shoulder.
"M- maybe we can go to the hospital! A- and we can get some medicine! Y- yeah, that will help! L- let's go to the hospital!" I said, trying to rush him to the hospital. He pulled away, stumbling next to the fountain, he grabbed his head in pain.
"... it doesn't help... I- I've already tried... th- the medicine. I- it doesn't do anything..." he mumbled.
"B- but, I- I need to-" I started.
"P- please... come sit next to me..." he said. I stared at him in silence. I could feel the pain in his voice. I took a deep, long breath, and moved over to sit next to him at the fountain in the center of the hotel.
"... Kawata, please, let me try to help-" I tried to speak again, but he lifted a hand, stopping me speaking.
"... she... had long black hair..." he whispered. My eyes widened, as I listened intently. "I- I think... she had her h- hair dyed... it was originally... blonde... but I'm... I'm not sure... and she h- had red eyes... b- but... she wore colored contacts... s- so... I- I'm not sure... sh- she was pretty pale... a- and had light skin..." he took a long pause. He grabbed onto his head, more tears dripping down his face. "Th- that's all I remember..." Suddenly, I pulled Kawata into a hug.
"Thank you... for doing that..." I said. There was a long moment of silence, as he slowly and weakly put his arms around me. "P- please... get some rest..."
"... I can't..." he replied. "... I've gotta make sure no one dies..." we left a long moment of silence.
"... but... what if... you die?" I asked. "... if you want to make sure no one dies... you've gotta take care of yourself too..." We left the silence there for a while.
"... okay... I- I can try..." he said. We both stood up, Kawata starting to stumble his way to the stairs. But he stopped after a moment, staring at the balcony. "... Yamazaki?" He muttered. And suddenly, he grabbed onto his head, turning back to me. I felt my heart stop as we made direct eye contact. What... what's happening!? I looked up at Yamazaki, who was staring down at us. Not now... not while Yamazaki is here. I looked back at Kawata. His eyes went so far up they looked like they were going into the back of his head. He fell to the ground. But this time, he wasn't conscious.
"KAWATA!!!" I screamed, racing to his side. I shook his limp body, tears welling up in my eyes. I looked over at the stairs. Yamazaki slowly began walking down them. I could feel life slow down, as I looked down at Kawata's body. His eyes were closed, and he was still breathing. "KAWATA PLEASE WAKE UP!!! PLEASE!!! PLEASE WAKE UP YOU NEED TO WAKE UP RIGHT NOW!!! YAMAZAKI'S GONNA HURT YOU PLEASE!!!" I screamed.
It wasn't working. He was still out. I grabbed him by both of his arms, desperately trying to pull him away. But I was to weak. In one last attempt to save the limp body on the ground, I stepped out in front of him. "LEAVE US ALONE YAMAZAKI!!! I- I'M NOT GONNA LET YOU HURT HIM!!! H- HE DOESN'T DESERVE THIS!!!" I screamed. Yamazaki rolled his eyes, stepping past me. I grabbed onto the back of Yamazaki's hoodie, hopelessly digging the back of my shoes into the carpet to keep us from moving. Yamazaki shoved me silently, making me fall to the floor. Tears ran down my face, as I kept pleading. I couldn't even under my own ramblings at this point. I had just helped him hurt Kawata. If I hadn't asked... Kawata would conscious. I CAN'T BELIEVE I JUST DID THIS!!! IT'S ALL MY FAULT!!! I- I'M SO SORRY KAWATA-
"CALM DOWN!!!" Yamazaki snapped, kneeling down in front of me. Somehow, his yelling made me stop crying. Yamazaki glared at me, frustrated and annoyed. "Jeez, you're such a fucking crybaby." He stood up, starting to walk away. Confused, I wiped the tears from my face. Kawata was still lying on the ground, seemingly unharmed. I stood up, looking at Yamazaki, bewildered.
"Hey! Yamazaki!" I yelled, racing after him. "I thought you were gonna do something! Why are you just walking away!?"
"I lied about the whole torture thing." He said. I still followed behind him, glaring at him.
"Why would you lie about something like that!?" I snapped back. "Did you even do anything!?"
"I can't tell you even if I wanted to." He replied.
"WHY!? WHY CAN'T YOU TELL ME!? DO YOU WANT ME TO HATE YOU OR SOMETHING!? WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU-" I screamed. Suddenly, Yamazaki snapped around, pointing a taser at me with the electricity popping out of the device. The light reflected in my eyes, making me lose my breath.
"Everything." He said. "And yes. I do." He turned off the taser, and stuffed it into his pocket. "I took the taser from Kawata. Now he can't hurt anyone, or threaten them with it." I stared at him, my hands becoming fists.
"... you're gonna do more damage with that than Kawata ever would." I replied. Yamazaki rolled his eyes.
"Sure. Whatever you say asshole." He said, walking away as he held the middle finger high enough that I could see it. I stared at him in silence. What!? Why did he just- I DON'T EVEN KNOW AT THIS POINT!!! There's no time to question Yamazaki's actions. I've go to help Kawata!
I raced over to him, turning him over onto his back. He seemed to be sleeping, but definitely not peacefully. His face was slightly pale, and I could see the discomfort in his expression. Okay, what do I do!? I need to get him to the hospital! I'm not all that strong... but I'll have to try!
I pulled Kawata's arms over my shoulders. Slowly, I started walking. He was lighter than I expected. Still very heavy for me to carry, but I thought it would be even harder than I already is to carry him. I made my way over to the hospital, walking up the stairs and managing to bring him to a hospital room with his name on it. I shoved him into the bed, taking a long deep breath. Quickly, I pulled the blanket over his body.
Okay, now what am I supposed to do now? I didn't think this through. I was panicked, and forgot to use common sense. Okay, maybe I can go get Otani and Imamura! Wait, but aren't they still talking to each other? Maybe I can find some medicine? Yeah! Okay, maybe I can do that! I wish Kajiwara was still here. It would be way easier if he was here. But now I've got to do this on my own.
Actually, I shouldn't give him medicine. I don't know how much to give him, or even what kind. And if it goes wrong, I could kill him! And I can't do that. I'm not gonna be the reason someone dies. Okay, I've got to get Otani and Imamura. It doesn't matter if they're still talking, I need their help.
I headed outside, walking over to the hotel. I paused for a moment, slowly wandering over to look down the side of it. Wait... where did the tent go? I swear I left it right here! I squinted my eyes. It looked like there was something at the end, but I couldn't see. Curse these broken glasses! Carefully, I started walking down the path between the hotel and the giant wall.
Wait, that's the tent! But... why is it back here? I paused, noticing that the tent was closed. Slowly, I walked up to it, grabbing onto the zipper, pulling it up. I reached the top, and started to open the front of it.
"GET BACK!!!" Someone yelled, pointing a knife at me. I screamed, stumbling back onto the ground. "Wait, don't scream! Ugh! How did this happen!" They said, stepping out of the tent. I looked up, a horrified expression on my face.
"Arima!?" I blurted out. Arima glared at me as he fixed up his hoodie. I paused for a moment. There were two black lines on each of his cheeks. "... what's with the war paint?" Arima suddenly became flustered, quickly trying to wipe it off.
"Nothing! I- it's nothing..." he stuttered, turning around, trying to return back to the tent.
"WAIT!!!" I yelled, grabbing the hoodie he had around his waist. It quickly got pulled out from around him, falling lazily onto the ground. He glared at me, almost trying to seem intimidating, but all I could see was the fear in his eyes.
"... leave me alone." He said, snatching the hoodie from the ground. I stood up, looking at him with a puzzled expression.
"... why are you back here?" I asked.
"I'm hiding f- from Kawata... what does it look like?" He replied as he tied the hoodie back around his waist. He started heading into the tent.
"Arima, this isn't a very good hiding place. And how are you gonna survive without food or water?" I asked. Arima proceeded to get into the tent, grabbing onto the zipper at the top.
"I don't know. B- but for now, this is the best solution, so I'm staying RIGHT HERE. Please don't tell anyone you found me here." He said, starting to pull down the tents zipper. I grabbed onto the other side of it, making it so he couldn't close it.
"Wait, please! Can we talk?" I asked. The two of us kept pulling in different directions. Until suddenly, the zippers got ripped off. Arima poked his head out, looking annoyed but also a bit scared.
"... what do you want..." he replied, remaining in the tent. I took a deep breath, sitting on the ground in front of the tent.
"... were you planning a murder? Like what Kawata suspected?" I asked. Even though he had a knife, I wasn't scared. Honestly, he seemed relatively harmless to me.
"NO!!!" He yelled within the tent.
"... then why do you have a knife?" I asked.
"... I think Taguchi was trying to kill Imamura..." he responded. My eyes went wide.
"H- huh?" I blurted out.
"I- I found the knife on the roof... I think Taguchi was going to go kill Imamura that night. But instead of getting stabbed, she fell off the roof... or Taguchi pushed her off. And then, he wanted to finish her off, but Kajiwara was there, and he couldn't kill Imamura anymore because Kajiwara would've been a witness." Arima said. I stared at the tent, befuddled.
"... why were you on the roof?" I asked.
"B- because if Imamura isn't gonna tell me, then I've gotta figure this out myself! Something happened, and I went to figure out what! Case closed!" Arima said, pulling the tent closed. But now he was just holding it shut, and couldn't let go of either side or it would open again.
"... Taguchi wasn't going to kill Imamura." I replied.
"Are you saying Imamura was trying to kill him or something!?" He snapped back. My mouth began to move, but I stopped myself. I can't reveal Imamura's secret. She's not ready to tell everyone what happened to Taguchi. I took a long sigh. What would be a good excuse. You know what? I'll make sure that Imamura isn't apart of this.
"... it's my knife..." I said. There was a long moment of silence. But I could see Arima's hands shaking in the tent.
"... w- what? S- so... y- you're actually going to kill someone here!? Y- you said you killed someone outside of the killing game! W- what-" Arima had started, obviously perturbed by what I had just revealed. Well... not revealed. Lied.
"I did kill someone outside of the killing game... a- and it was an accident..." I took a dry gulp. "I- it... was someone who hurt me... a- and... I pushed them out of a window by accident. I- I didn't know it would break when I shoved them... a- and it was the worst mistake of my life..." I took a long pause. "I... was going to kill Yamazaki. A- and... I told myself that no one would miss him. I- I tried to justify it. But I could never live with myself. Everyone gets a change to live, and I can't take that away from someone. Even if they're mean to me. So... I didn't do it." We remained silent.
"... Yamazaki deserves some kind a punishment though... he's rude..." Arima squeaked out. I giggled, placing a hand over my mouth.
"Yeah, he's pretty mean." I paused. "... why did you... have the rope and bolt cutters?" I asked.
"... I thought I could... break through a door... o- or climb the wall to escape... I- I don't know..." Arima said. "They were both s- stupid ideas anyway..."
"... did... did you ever think about doing it?" I started. "... killing someone..." The two of us sat in silence for a long time. Though... I guess it just felt like a really long time because of the question I asked.
"... maybe a little bit-" he almost seemed to stop himself mid sentence. He took a deep breath, the air seeming shaky. "... y- yeah... I did. I- I... thought about it a lot." After a couple of seconds, he sighed. "... Hirano?"
"... yeah?" I replied. A couple of seconds went by. It seemed like Arima was trying to sike himself up.
"... I'm sorry..." he said. Slightly fearing the worst, I backed up from the tent, carefully movement. Though I wasn't so scared of Arima, he still had a knife.
"... for what?" I asked. Slowly, Arima's hands loosened from the tents sheets, until he let go of it. I could see his face, as he stared at the ground, something like shame on his expression.
"... I- I'm sorry... I was so mean to y- you after you told me your secret." He took a frail breath. "... I- I've... talked to Otani a while ago... a- and I've... been only focusing on myself. I- I've been selfish. When I saw Miyazaki kill Tengan... I didn't tell everyone what happened because I was only thinking about what would happen to me. Not what would happen to everyone else if Miyazaki didn't get caught." He placed a hand on his forehead, wiping some sweat from the front of his face. "When you revealed that you killed someone... all I could think about was whether I was next. I never... thought to question how it happened, or the motivations behind it. But that's... that's not okay. And I'm really sorry."
Arima ran a hand through his hair, chuckling to himself. "... when I got here... I was the Ultimate daredevil. I thought that nothing wrong could ever happen to me. I did stunts, I didn't have fears of hurting myself, and I wasn't able to live without fear. And then... the first murder happened. It was horrible... but it didn't fully register yet. That things were different. But then... Shishido died. He died in a split second, and in the same room as me. It hit me... that things were never gonna be the same. From that point on... I was afraid to speak. Afraid to say the wrong things. Maybe I can control if I get hurt or not... but I can't control other people. They could kill me at any moment. And... I lost all my trust in other people." After a moment, Arima laughed pathetically, taking a deep breath before continuing to speak. "I'm such a coward huh..." He chuckled to himself. The irony had hit him, and it was pitiful. "... I'm really sorry... that I didn't give you a chance to explain yourself. I'm sorry... that I didn't trust you." After a moment, I giggled, smiling happily.
"I forgive you. And... I probably wouldn't trust myself either." I chuckled to myself, finally becoming comfortable again. "Everyone's changed. Even if it's not major, we're not the same people we were at the start of this whole thing." I shook my head back and forth, taking a moment to remember everything. "When this whole thing started... I was scared of everything. I was paranoid, and shy, and terrified of everything around me. But after all this? Well... I'm still cautious... but... I guess you can say... I understand so many more things than I did before." I smiled, staring at the tents entrance. We remained in the serenity of it all... until Arima started to get out of the tent. He left the kitchen knife inside of it. He awkwardly stood in front of me, offering me a hand.
"... I- I'd like to head back now." Arima said. I stared at him, puzzled, as I took his hand and stood up.
"Oh, really?" I replied. Arima ran some of his fingers through his hair, shyly turning his body so he was cheating out.
"... I- I'm still scared to deal with Kawata... b- but th- things aren't gonna get better if I can't overcome them..." Arima responded. Slowly, he began to frown, folding his arms. "... but... I guess nothing will ever get better if we don't get out of here huh..."
"Freedom might come sooner than you think." I blurted out. Arima looked up at me, bewildered and hopeful. Suddenly, I covered my mouth, glancing over at the security camera. "L- let's talk about this later!" I suggested. Arima's face was blissful, as he nodded happily. He understood my vague statement. "U- um, anyway, I bet we can get Kawata off your back. A- and he can't even really threaten you anymore since he lost his taser." I paused, a realization hitting me. "OH YEAH!!! I need to check on Kawata!" Arima stared at me, an eyebrow raised.
"W- what?" He replied.
"Here, follow me. I've gotta make sure he's still okay." I said. I grabbed Arima by the wrist, dragging him behind me.
"P- please don't grab me!" He responded, as he stumbled behind me.
"O- oh, okay, sorry, I didn't mean to." I quickly replied. The two of us raced into the hospital, sprinting up the stairs until we made it to Kawata's room. "So, um, basically, Kawata passed out earlier, and he's not feeling very good."
"I- is he sick or something?" Arima asked. "Why would he just pass out?"
"Um, he's been getting some really bad headaches. I'm not really sure what to do to help him though. I want to give him medicine but I don't know which is which and I don't know the dosage." I said. "And they could easily be poison disguised as medicine." I know Kawata said that medicine doesn't help, but he hasn't tried every single one, right?
"... why don't you... raise his legs?" Arima said. "I- it can help blood flow to the brain. I- if headaches are what is causing it, blood flow to the brain m- might be good." I face palmed, slightly disappointed in myself.
"Yeah... that is probably smart." I replied. "Just, don't touch Kawata. I want him to rest right now. Let's just check up on him, and then we can leave." I grabbed onto the knob, twisted it and opened the door wide. We sat in silence for a moment. "... where's Kawata?" I walked in, silently glancing around the room. His bed was empty.
"H- Hirano... this isn't funny. Y- you can't just tell me someone is here when they're not." Arima said.
"N- no, I swear he was right here!" I replied. Arima started rubbing his arm.
"Did he wake up?" I thought aloud, still looking around.
"... what if someone took him?" Arima asked. I froze in my place. Was Yamazaki bluffing again? Did he wait for me to leave Kawata alone to take him!? This can't be happening! "I- I shouldn't have said that... sorry. L- let's head back to the hotel. Y- you should probably get back to your group."
"Okay... b- but I'm still really worried." I said. Arima nodded.
"Th- that makes sense." Arima scratched the back of his neck. "B- but... there's no use being worried. L- let's just do our best to g- get out of here."
"... right." I said. The two of us slowly walked back to the hotel.
We wandered inside, kind of confused on where we go. But after a bit of talking, we went to the kitchen to get Arima some food. When we stepped inside of the dining room, Arima stopped in his tracks.
"W- what happened to the table?" Arima asked.
"... Yamazaki happened." I said in return.
"Ah, okay." He replied back. We stepped inside the kitchen, Arima walking over to the fridge to grab something out.
"... jeez... Kawata really cleared everything out of here huh..." I thought aloud. Arima stared at me, holding a sandwich that was wrapped plastic wrap. My eyes widened, as I realized what he had in his hands. I sighed, a pathetic smile coming across my face.
"... y- yeah... K- Kawata's kind of going overboard..." Arima said, taking off the wrap and taking a big bite. "Jeez, this tastes really good! You don't realize how good food tastes until you haven't had it for a while." He said with his mouth full.
"You know what's funny... those sandwiches were for Kajiwara. At least... when he was alive." I replied. Arima's face became droopy, as he gulped down what he had in his mouth.
"Well now I'm just sad..." Arima said, taking another bite. I laughed nervously, scratching the back of my neck.
"Aaawwwwwwwwwww, how sad! People are DEAD!!! Get over it prudes!" Ressa said, popping out of the refrigerator. Arima jumped, starting to choke on the food in his mouth from the shock. He spit it out into the sink, wiping his mouth afterwards. "... that's just really pathetic."
"Y- you can't expect me not to be scared when you jump out of the refrigerator!" Arima snapped back. Ressa started to giggle to himself.
"Uh-huh, sure, whatever you say kid." Ressa replied. "Anyway, a little birdie told me that Kawata is in some trouble! The birdie says that they're passing out a whooooooooooooooole bunch!"
"Well, you gave camera's, so that's not really surprising." I said. Ressa glared at me.
"Well guess what!? The camera's ARE the little birdies that told me what's going on! So HA!!! I beat you, idiot!" Ressa replied, seemingly super offended that I pointed out something obvious. Suddenly, Otani walked into the room with Imamura.
"Oh, this is where you went!" Otani replied, smiling at me.
"Jeez, are you guys having a party in here!? It's becoming suuuuuuuuuuuper crowded!" Ressa chuckled.
"Of course this fucker is here..." Imamura said, rolling her eyes. Ressa stamped his foot down on the counter he was standing on, throwing a hissy fit.
"Well you can at least try to act nice! You know, I could KILL ALL OF YOU if I wanted to! Which I do! But I'm NOT ALLOWED TO!!! UUUGGGGGHHHHHH!!!" Ressa jumped into the air, landing in a sitting position when he fell back down.
"I'm talking about Arima, dumbass." Imamura said. Arima frowned, scratching the back of his neck as he stared at the ground in shame. Ressa remained silent, lost in thought.
"... then who was that insult pointed at?" Ressa asked.
"It's pointed at you! Why can't you fucking understand basic information! Jeez! Anyway, Arima, why the fuck are you back? Weren't you gonna kill one of us or something?" Imamura said.
"... huh?" Otani blurted out, staring blankly.
"Just b- because I had that stuff doesn't mean I wanted to murder anyone!" Arima replied, defending himself.
"Oh yeah? Then what were you doing with bolt cutters, rope, AND A KNIFE!?" Imamura asked.
"Hey! You guys need to continue talking to me! This is the only reason I came here!" Ressa snapped.
"I- I thought I could escape or something! W- what do you want from me!?" Arima said back.
"Then why the fuck did you have a knife!?" Imamura replied, not missing a beat.
"Hey! I'm the guy you're supposed to pay attention to!" Ressa yelled, getting agitated.
"I found it on the roof!" Arima justified. Imamura's froze for a moment, anger entering her eyes.
"WHY THE FUCK WERE YOU UP THERE!?" Imamura screamed.
"PAY ATTENTION TO ME!!!" Ressa snapped.
"STOP!!!" Otani yelled, the room becoming quiet. Maybe it was because Otani doesn't usually yell, but his command had worked. "Ressa, can we have a moment?" He glared at him.
"Come on! I want more screen time! I'm the star of the show, you know!?" Ressa said.
"And I'm sorry we can't hang out more, but as you can see, I've got my hands full. For now, I need to talk to them." Otani replied.
"UGH, goody two-shoes..." Ressa complained, before disappearing as quickly as he'd arrived. Otani turned to us.
"I don't understand why you two are arguing, but for now, we need to put that aside. I've come up with a plan, but we're gonna need everyone in on it. I need all three of you to look for Yamazaki, Kawata, and Sugai. Tell them to meet upstairs in the library tomorrow morning at 9:00 AM. We need everyone's cooperation. Kawata might be the hardest to convince though..." Otani said.
"W- what? Why?" Arima asked. Otani took a small sigh.
"I'm not leaving anyone behind. We get out of this together, or none of us will." Otani responded. Arima smiled, nodding. Imamura rolled her eyes, leaving the room.
"... u- um, I'll see you guys in the morning." Arima said, following Imamura out. I stared silently, before looking at Otani. I could tell that he was scared. But of what?
"... is everything okay Otani?" I asked. Otani put on a small smile, looking at me. But the smile disappeared from his face.
"... I'm just a bit on edge. This is all happening so quickly. And that's the way it has to be if we want to survive." He took a deep breath, searching the back of his neck. "It's just hard to stay calm." I stared at him for a couple more seconds.
"... that's not everything, is it?" I said. Otani sighed, chuckling.
"You can tell, huh?" He grinned. "The motive is uh... getting to my head."
"I- I mean... I- I think we should try to cut Imamura some slack-" I started.
"No... it's not that." He said. "The room... it was set up..." he took a deep breath. "It was set up exactly as how Imamura would have died. If Taguchi hadn't intervened, Kajiwara's murder would've taken place. And that's how the room was set up." He sighed. "It just reminds me of how easy it is to turn against each other. If we want to make sure we survive, then we can't let anyone get the chance to kill before we get out of here."
"... yeah... that's true." I said. We remained silent. "Let's get some good nights sleep. We've got to meet up with everyone in the morning." The two of us started heading out of the room. I said goodbye to Otani, and went to my bedroom. I got ready for bed, laying down on the top of my blanket.
It was only really now that I realized that this could be it. This is how we could survive. If everything goes well, then we'll be home free! If... everything... goes well... that is...
-
I started rummaging through the items, being careful not to injure myself. I can't believe someone would take my taser... it's so annoying! I took a deep breath, placing a hand on my forehead. My headache was slowly starting to get better. But at any moment I know it'll start getting bad again.
"S- so this is where you hid all the weapons?" Someone said. Slowly, I stood up, turning around. I glared, my fist tightening.
"Where the fuck have you been?" I snapped back. Arima stood in the doorway of my ultimate lab, staring at me.
"Hiding." He said. He nervously fidgeted with his feet. "Um... anyways... I need you to meet up with everyone at 9:00 AM tomorrow."
"Why should I trust you? Weren't you gonna murder someone!?" I snapped back. Arima glared at me.
"Y- you can't. B- but we need your help Kawata." Arima said.
"With what!? With murder!?" I asked, folding my arms.
"That's not-" Arima replied back.
"Arima, you're still a danger to everyone. I don't know what you're planning, but I'm not letting it go on any longer." I said, reaching for my handcuffs as I approached him.
"I- I wouldn't do that if I were you!" Arima stuttered, stepping back.
"Oh yeah? Why?" I responded.
"B- because I know your secret!" Arima said. I froze in my place, letting go of the handcuffs.
"... what?" I blurted out. We stared at each other in silence.
"I know your secret. A- and if you don't want me to reveal it to everyone, you'll stop with all these stupid rules." Arima replied. I glared at him.
"Are you threatening me?" I asked, he nodded very quickly. I took a deep breath, sighing. "... I don't care about that. I need to keep everyone safe." I said, turning back to the pile of weapons.
"But the rules aren't doing that-" he started.
"JUST GO!!!" I snapped. He stayed in the same place. "I'll... I'll consider your offer for tomorrow... but right now... I need to be alone." Arima silently left. I need to prove myself. I can do this. I need to prove that I'm worthy of this title on my own. Ultimate Police Officer. I can be that. I don't need my parents to get this talent for me. It is my own. And I promise I will prove it.
I AM the ultimate Police Officer.
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