You were panicking.
There was no better term to describe the mental state that you were thrusted into after that conversation with Rantaro. Immediately after that conversation you had gone you Kokichi's room to get rest and to ponder your decision... but you still hadn't come up with one. Even after sleeping on the issue.
I have one chance left... do I risk it again and work with Rantaro like this? No what if I change the game too much and I can't complete it in the end... then everyone will disappear... You put your head into your hands, it was already the day of the deadline... and you still didn't have a plan of action.
Even if I do decide not to go through with it how am I going to find a way to make Rantaro go by himself? I already agreed... You started getting up to head to the dining hall, you couldn't risk coming off as suspicious to Rantaro just yet. You quickly made your way to the dining hall, where... you were greeted by an arguing Ryoma and Rantaro.
"Ah (Y/N) perfect timing." Rantaro said upon seeing me enter. "Ryoma's talking about some crazy ideas." You simply turned to Ryoma and motioned with your head to for him to explain.
"It was a suggesstion. I'm offering up my life so more people can live. I have nothing to live for." Ryoma stated.
You slightly sighed, "Ryoma, if we let you do that the guilt would hurt the rest of us." You tried to reason, although you shot Rantaro a 'please help me' look.
"(Y/N)'s right. Plus... I've already decided. I'm going to end this game. So none of you do anything unnecessary alright?" Rantaro's face became serious.
There were a few echoes questioning how he was planning to end this killing game, but you ignored all of them. There was no point in addressing their concerns. Regardless of your decision later today they'd find out. You exited the dining hall soon after, with Rantaro right behind you.
"(Y/N)," You turned around at the sound of Rantaro's voice. "Let's meet up at my dorm before two hours before the time limit ends."
You nodded at him, "Right, sounds like a plan."
"Are you worried?" Rantaro suddenly asked.
Very. I have an important decision on whether or not I should save you or not. Of course I'm worried. You slightly smiled at him. "Just a bit, but it's not like there are many options right?"
Rantaro responded with something among the lines of 'don't worry' but you weren't really paying attention. You inwardly sighed. Alright, I've made up my choice, I'll have to figure out a way to ditch Rantaro last second... You looked up a bit at him. You told me you'd rather die then be erased, and I'll see to it that you don't. Again, I owe you that much.
"Alright Rantaro, I got the plan. For now though we should head our separate ways." You waved slightly to him and walked off a bit. Rantaro had bid you farewell and went in the opposite direction. You walked for a bit by yourself before running into Kaito.
"Oh hey (Y/N)!" He called upon seeing you. Now... to be honest your feelings were kind of conflicted on Kaito, yes he was definitely one of the main antagonists to you... especially with how little he trusted you... but you also knew he wasn't a bad guy. You waved at him. "(Y/N), can you come join our meeting, we'll be discussing what to do when the time limit arrives." Kaito continued.
"Hm? Yeah sure. Oh and I'll bring Rantaro along too if that's okay." You said with a nod.
Kaito gave you the trademark thumbs up. "Of course! The more the merrier. We'll need everyone to try and help take down Monokuma."
You nodded and continued talking to Kaito for a bit, mainly about what he has planned, who he's asked to join the meeting so far and who else he has to ask. It took up a bit of time, but it wasn't like you had much to do.
Of course at some point enough time had passed, so you left to go meet up with Rantaro. You walked to his dorm room and knocked on the door. The door swung open and you waved. "Ready to do this?" You asked. Rantaro gave you a response of confirmation and you told him about Kaito's meeting, you ended up walking towards the game room together.
"Ah (Y/N) and Rantaro!" Kaito shouted upon seeing the two of you. He lead the two of you to the game room, along with the original people there as well. Your gaze avoiding Maki's figure, even now... you couldn't help but feel a bit guilty. Everyone gathered around in the game room, discussing plans on how they were going to fight Monokuma. You remained silent, you were planning your escape. How can I leave... without making Rantaro suspicious?
You're eyes drifted towards the escape with that thought, and that was where you saw an escape route. Your eyes met Shuichi's figure who was peeking in on the meeting. Shuichi's eyes met your and they widened a bit, and then he looked away in embarrassment and walked finally in. "Hey..."
Collectively, everyone turned towards Shuichi as he walked in. "Oh Shuichi! What's up man? We were just starting a meeting about how to take on Monokuma when the time-limit arrives."
"Oh...?" Shuichi muttered walking a bit closer, "Do you have any plans? What time is it anyway? How much time do we have left?"
"It's around 8:47 PM. Less than two hours left." Rantaro answered Shuichi.
Kaito started talking a bit about how we were all going to fight Monokuma when the time limit arrived. "We were going to fight him straight on!"
"A-are you sure that's a good idea?" Shuichi asked. "Maybe a... surprise attack would work better?"
"We could separate the Monokumas into smaller groups to fight them easily." Maki suggested. You were just listening in to the conversation. Of course, the conversation was interrupted when the dreadful music started playing.
"Nyeh? What is this?" Himiko questioned when the music started to play.
"Probably a trick by Monokuma to make us feel more anxious." You said finally speaking up. It's... almost time... You almost felt yourself tearing up, and you slightly glanced towards Rantaro, your heart was beating quicker than before... you still didn't have a way to escape without him being suspicious.
"Ah! We should get Kaede on this as well." Shuichi suddenly said.
Sensing... a way to escape, you nodded towards Shuichi. "Maybe we should get some other people as well? Monokuma's all of our enemies after all, surely we could find the others and have them help us fight. We still have an hour left."
Kaito gave you a thumbs up. "That's what I'd like to hear! The three of us will go and find others, the rest of you stay here and continue coming up with plans!" He motioned to you and Shuichi.
You inwardly gave a sigh of relief, Thank you Kaito! You simply nodded your agreement and got up to walk over to Shuichi and Kaito. You gave a quick apologetic glance to Rantaro, and a slight nod. He nodded back at you in reassurance, and mouthed the words. 'Come back soon.'
I'm... I'm so sorry Rantaro. Your heart was starting to break, you quickly turned away so your back was facing Rantaro. You smiled slightly at Shuichi and Kaito as a signal for them to go, they walked on ahead of you and you followed them.
Thank you Rantaro.... For everything... for being friends with me now and back then... and I'm so sorry... In your head you just kept apologizing to Rantaro as you climbed up the stairs. You knew he would never hear the apology, but there was nothing you could do about that. You followed the Astronaut and Detective silently, slightly in a trance.
Shuichi walked quickly into the classroom that Kaede and him were keeping watch in...
And that was when you heard the cry. The Ultimate Detective was shaking in front of you, "No... No....!" The detective sank to his knees, and you could hear the slight sobs. You walked closer to get a view of the sight that made him tremble. You let out a gasp at the sight.
No... No this is impossible..
In front of you... was the body of...
Kaede Akamatsu, the Ultimate Pianist.
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HAHHAHAHAAHAHA
I could never kill Rantaro and just let this book become Just a retelling of the original story. Too boring.
I'm sure some of you guys'll be happy about this but let's all just keep in mind that Reader is... essentially very screwed. Reader has no idea what going to happen now.
So what do you guys think now? Who killed Kaede? What on earth could've happened? Why did things change so much??
As always though....
THANKS FOR READING!!!