Anguish & Desire/Chapter Twenty Eight

This is Chapter Twenty Eight of Danganronpa: Anguish &amp; Desire, Drag Time!. In this chapter, Ken has a heart-to-heart with someone special. That's really it lol nerds

Author's Note: /IM JUST BEING HONNNNNNNNNNNNEST/

I’m ashamed to admit it, but...last night I couldn’t cry. I know that sounds weird. But, I felt that if I let it all out then maybe I’d find sense in Nakata’s words from last night, but no tears would come. This shiver instead overtook my body, and I was so overcome with shock and fear from her venom-filled tongue that I sat in front of her door for almost an hour. Not only couldn’t I cry, but I couldn’t move. My body froze in its place. No matter how many times I told myself to get up and go back to my room before someone found me like this, my body wouldn’t cooperate.

I love Nakata. I love Nakata like I love Yuka, like I love Rai. Like I loved Sasada. And...and to hear her tell me she hated me, that she wished I was dead...it hurt. It made everything in that moment seem so pointless. And, because of that, I guess my body found it pointless to move at all.

But, I eventually snapped out of it. Not because of my own will, though, no. Because of someone else.

“Ken-chi, what’re you doin’ here?”

I didn’t even hear him at first -- or, rather, my brain didn’t register that he had said anything. But, once he got within arm’s length to me, he too registered what was going on. My head had shot up to look at him, and all I could do was see the disgusting look on his face.

The face of pity.

He kneeled down beside me and cautiously placed the back of his hand on my forehead. “You’re shaking pretty bad, Ken-chi. What’s wrong? Got a fever?”

I could only just shake my head, and he bit his lower lip. “Did Nakata-chi dump ya?”

That time I couldn’t force myself to move anything, and that was all he needed to know. “Look, I don’t know what happened Ken-chi, but if ya want, I’d love to have ya over.”

I shook my head. I...didn’t wanna be a burden on him. If I was, then Nakata would…

...what would she do? She’d just look at me with those all-knowing eyes. A look of, ‘I told you. You’re useless.’

But, Nakamoto himself just nodded. He put his arm around my hip and gently helped me to my feet. He guided me back to my room.

“Leave your door unlocked, will ya?” Nakamoto asks, scratching the back of his head. “I’ll be back to check on ya, Ken-chi.”

I had hoped he wouldn’t come back -- that he’d leave me be. I didn’t want him to see me like this -- hell, I didn’t want anyone to see me like this. But Nakamoto saw me. MonoMech was watching. My sister is watching.

Still, he came back. A few hours later, Nakamoto had popped his head back in and trotted in with a couple of bottles of water he kept hidden under his bed. He was all dressed for the day, too, as if he knew he wouldn’t be going back to his room.

And now here we are. In a half an hour the morning announcement will ring, and currently Nakamoto sits beside me on my floor with his hands behind his head. He leans his back against the wall, and ties his dirty blonde hair up behind his head.

I’m wrapped up in a blanket with my head turned away from him. I don’t want him to look at me with that...pitiful look on his face.

Ya know, for everything I’ve said about him...Nakamoto’s pretty considerate. He might be a questionable character, but he’s genuine.

“Sorry.”

He sighs from behind me. “Really? That’s the first thing you say to me all night? After everything?”

He sighs once more, this time louder. I feel like he’s doing it just ‘cuz I can’t see him shaking his head in disapproval from where I sit. “Ya know Ken-chi, I’d much rather hear a ‘thank you’ than a ‘sorry’. Now, if you were thinking about murdering me right now and escaping, then you can say sorry!”

He forces a boisterous laugh out, but quickly he gasps. “You’re not actually planning on killing me, are you?!”

I shake my head. “No. I wouldn’t.”

There’s a brief silence, but Nakamoto doesn’t let it last long. “I, I know I don’t have the right to say this, Ken-chi, but for what it’s worth, I don’t think I was wrong.”

I find myself turning toward him, and he smiles when we make eye contact. “About Nakata-chi, I mean. You probably don’t wanna hear it, but I do think she loves you. I think talking to Mono-chi -- something must’ve happened. I think.”

I just bring my knees closer to my chest. “She doesn’t. She...she made it clear.”

“You sure ‘bout that?” he pauses, and I hear him click his tongue. “Whatever you say, Ken-chi.”

Yes. Yes, I’m sure.

“Sorry.”

He sighs once more. “Forget about it.”

I idly stroke my mom’s necklace which hangs from my --you guessed it -- neck. It’s cold, but it’s comforting at the same time. She’s here with me, right? At least in some way…

The morning announcement plays soon after, and though I know I’m gonna see her there, I really don’t think skipping is an option. It’s bad enough Nakamoto has to see me like this, but I don’t wanna draw too much attention to myself...especially Nakata. If I don’t show up, then I’ll just prove her point. I need to--I need to go. It isn’t an option.

So, with whatever strength I can muster (and with a tiny bit of help from Nakamoto) we make our way to the dining hall and meet up with Yuka and Shiomi, who’re waiting for us.

I sit beside Yuka, and Nakamoto sits on the other side of me. Yuka’s quick to latch onto my arm in...I don’t even know, it’s probably just habit at this point. She yawns though and leans her head on my shoulder.

She yawns, and, within that yawn she whispers to herself. “At least Big Brother Ken still loves me. Rai-chan doesn’t talk to me anymore, and Isa-chan thinks I’m too mean to him! But you’ll never betray me, right?”

…

I offer whatever smile I can force out. “Of course not.”

As Yuka’s fac brightens, Shiomi clears his throat.

“Good morning,” he says, letting his eyes fall on Nakamoto and myself. “Weird to see you two together.”

Nakamoto fakes offense. “You mean I’m not allowed to have friends beside you, Shiomi-chi?!”

“That’s not what I was saying,” Shiomi mumbles. “I’m glad, I guess. I know Obinata’s death was hard on you...”

Nakamoto shakes his head. “I’m the oldest here. I can’t be sulking around like the rest of you--! I need to lead you youngin’s out of here.”

“Youngin’s?” Yuka pouts. “I’m, like, super duper old, ya know?!

“Could’ve fooled me,” he says, shrugging his shoulders.

As Yuka shrieks in both fear and disappointment, the four of us are joined by Satoshi, Rai, and Azama. Satoshi and Azama sit on their side of Shiomi, and Rai sits beside Azama.

Rai’s eyes lock with mine for a moment, but Azama’s head finds its way in between us. The two of us haven’t spoken since we kissed, or er, when Rai kissed me, and...I don’t know why. I’m sure I made Rai mad at me, but why…? How?

“What’s on the agenda for the day?” Satoshi asks.

“We’ll talk about it when Tomori and Nakata arrive,” Azama says. “I think I have a vague idea on what we should do today…”

“Can we get a hint?” Yuka asks.

As Azama leans back in her seat, she shakes her head. “Nope.”

Yuka frowns, and as Satoshi and Azama begin to lazily talk about their sleep, my gaze lands back on Rai. To my surprise, Rai’s already looking at me, and er, well, was it really a surprise…? Yeah, I guess it was, considering...

Rai weakly smiles and mouths the words, ‘good morning,’ and I return the favor. I can’t reciprocate the smile, or force my voice out, so hopefully that’ll do for now.

I feel like I’ve been with these people for months now, and well, when you’re stuck with people like this, you start to recognize the little things they do. For example, when Shiomi’s stressed out he’ll absentmindedly write in his notebook. His handwriting is so messy though that even he had no idea what he was writing, and he doesn’t even realize he’s doing it half the time. When he comes back, he’d think Nakamoto or Azama were to blame for it.

But, Rai has a very specific sequence of actions they do when they have something to say. First, Rai takes a deep breath, then they close their eyes and sticks their lower lip out, and last but not least, Rai crosses their arms and turns their head away from everyone else. Typical tsundere. I watched Rai complete all four actions in front of my eyes, so, it takes a lot for me not to get up and ask Rai to come with me to talk.

But, I can’t.

Because the second I considered it, two familiar figures come into my sight. Next to Nakamoto, Tomori sits down and chuckles to herself. “Good morning, everyone.”

And, beside Satoshi sits the woman who’ll be the death of me. She quietly takes her seat, and I can feel my entire body tensing up as we make eye contact. “Good morning.”

Yuka probably feels my body tense as well, as she looks up to me and tilts her head. I can’t force myself to break my gaze on Nakata, until she looks away first...and I’m sure Nakamoto’s noticed the tension as well, as he steadily places his hand on my shoulder.

When I look away from Nakata and back to Yuka, she’s already leaning in closer to me and is quick to whisper in my ear. “Wanna go?”

I just shake my head. I see her eyes narrow in response, and she does her best to look tough and mean, but it just doesn’t work. She’s just too cute.

With everyone here, it doesn’t take long for our morning meeting to be underway. Azama begins by looking across to Nakata, who ideally pokes at some fruit she’s got.

“Nakata, would you mind telling us anything you know?” Azama asks. “Really--anything works right now.”

Nakata just shakes her head, and she rests her hands on her table. “I do not mind.”

She pauses and looks among the eight of us -- her black hair falls in front of her face as she makes eye contact with Nakamoto, and she quickly brushes it off. “I was taken by surprise in my room. As you saw by the state of my room I assume, I tried to struggle, however, I was defeated. As the Ultimate Mercenary, I’m quite disappointed in myself.”

“You...fought back?” Tomori asks.

“Yes.”

…

“Someone beat Ma-chan in a fight--?!” Yuka asks. “Isn’t that, like, impossible?!”

Nakata’s eyes meet the table in front of her. “Everyone has their weaknesses, Yuka. Whoever attacked me was fast; faster than anyone or anything than I’d seen before.”

“So, what happened next?” Nakamoto asks. “Did you see the person who trapped us here?”

She shakes her head. “I only saw a live person when I was being attacked. After that, I only spoke to MonoMech. I had no idea what was going on down here, and to think Sasada, Saishi, and Obinata would all be gone...”

There’s a silence. Really no one knew how to -- or if they should -- respond to that. I can’t bring myself to even look at Nakata as it is. It just hurts too much, but thinking about Sasada...god, why wasn’t it me--!

She didn’t deserve it. I’m useless -- Sasada would’ve been so much more useful. She’s the only one with any medical experience, I don’t bring anything to the table.

“How did it happen?” she asks.

Out of the corner of my eye I see Nakamoto wince and turn away from the group. Obinata was his best friend the moment we woke, it must be taking it’s toll. How could it not?

Tomori and Satoshi begin to retell the story of the investigation and trial, but to be honest, I just can’t do it. I don’t know if I can be near her. Everytime she talks it’s like I’m being stabbed in the back over and over.

She betrayed me. She was only using me. She never cared.

I was foolish to think she did -- to think that ANYONE cared.

As they finish explaining the story of the trial to Nakata, she sits in silence for a few moments. “...I see.”

“It was smart of him,” Rai mumble. “He killed when we least suspected it was him.”

“And then he manipulated the rest of us,” Satoshi says, dejectedly. “I’m ashamed.”

“It’s not your fault,” Azama sighs, narrowing her eyes in Shiomi’s direction.. “Right?”

He nods. “S-Sorry, too.”

“M-Me too,” Yuka pouts. “If I would’ve just said something--!”

“You’re fine, Yuka-chi,” Nakamoto says, scratching his chin. “But, do you mind if I ask you something…?”

She nods, wiping a tear away from her eye. “Mhmm.”

Nakamoto goes silent for a moment, but nods to himself. “What was his end goal? Did he tell you?”

Yuka shakes her head. “Obi-chan never told me. But...I don’t think he wanted to get away with it, in the end.”

Nakamoto tilts his head. “What do you mean?”

“The way he shook over Sai-chan and Sa-chan...he didn’t wanna do it. You heard him yourselves--! He didn’t wanna kill Sa-chan! He was gonna save her but then Sai-chan distracted him! That’s why I think that. He liked all of us with the exception of Kimie-chan...he just wanted to kill her and turn himself in.”

“That’s why he tried to convince himself they were traitors?” Shiomi asks. “Because he had to convince himself so the guilt wouldn’t overtake him…”

“Poor Obi-chi,” Nakamoto mumbles, and his hand meets my shoulder. “But, that makes me feel a little better.”

I’m sure it made Obinata feel better, too. At least for a little bit.

“So, in the end, we have no new clues…” Tomori sighs. “Besides this Komaru Izumi character, the only lead we have is that door on the fourth floor. Even then we need a passcode to complete it, and we’ve got no idea what it could be.”

I mean, I had some idea…

I feel Tomori’s gaze fall on me when the thought crosses my mind -- and by gaze, I really mean a glare. I feel like she’s staring through me.

...what do you even care, Tomori? I can’t help us.

“Ya know, the more I think about it, the less it makes sense…” Rai mumbles.

“What doesn’t make sense?” Azama asks.

Rai nervously itches at the back of their neck. “The door is on the fourth floor of the school! Isn’t that weird to anyone else--?!”

Nakata only nods. “I was thinking the same, actually.”

Saishi mentioned something similar to me a while ago…

“How is that possible?” Nakamoto asks, sighing to himself. “Scratch that--who cares?! I don’t get why that matters! We’re still trapped, ya know?!”

“It doesn’t hurt to ponder,” Rai says. “Especially since we don’t have the code…”

“That’s what I was thinking we could do today,” Azama says, shifting uncomfortably in her seat. “At least for a little while, it might be worth it to take another look around the school, just in case it’s lying around somewhere.”

“I seriously doubt that,” Nakata says.

“But it won’t hurt to look.”

Satoshi nods. “It’d be nice to have something to do, anyway.”

Shiomi sighs. “What else would we do? There’s literally nothing to do here.”

“If you’re that bored, kill already!”

MonoMech’s shrill voice comes out of nowhere, and MonoMech’s small body soon finds it’s way onto the table we’re all sitting at. He waddles his way in front of us, and curls into a ball. “Guyz, listen, I feel like we need to have a talk…”

“Oh, this should be good,” Shiomi says, sarcastically.

“As your principal, it is my duty to help my students learn and grow! That’s why I’ve come up with an amazing plan to get everyone back on their feet!”

There’s a silence. It’s long, it’s tense, cause--!

“A motive?” Nakata asks.

MonoMech shakes his head. “Sorry, sir. It’s only been a day since the trial, and there’s so much tension between the few of you as there is…”

“Tension?” Azama asks, standing to her feet. “There’s no tension here. We will defeat you -- all of us!”

MonoMech pops out of his ball and jumps to his feet, as if to mimic Acama. “No tension?! Where have you been?!”

MonoMech sighs and looks at the nine of us. “Ken is fighting with both Madoka and Rai over here, Kimie and Yuka have been at odds for a while now, and I think we can all admit that Kei is about to snap!”

…

“That’s not true--!” Nakamoto nearly screams. “I’m not going to lose to you, Mono-chi.”

With that, he shoots out of his chair, and turns his back to us. “I’m going to find that combo. I’ll talk to you guys later.”

Yuka giggles to herself as Nakamoto exits the dining hall. “There goes our fearless, pervy leader! Off to save the day!”

Tomori turns her attention back to MonoMech. “I take it there’s a reason you came here?”

MonoMech shakes his head. “Nope! Sorry about that! Just wanted to let you all know that the passcode to the lock on the fourth floor is the number 11037! That’s all!”

…

...wait, what?

The number is--I was right?!

“Seriously…?!” Shiomi asks.

I was right…?

“Seriously!”

“Why would you tell us that?” Azama asks. “I don’t buy it.”

That means...we can leave…?

“Ken, what’s wrong?”

I was right.

''I was right. I was right. I was right. I was right. I was right. I was right. I was right. I was right. I was right. I was right. I was right. I was right. I was right. I was right. I was right. I was right. I was right. I was right. I was right. I was right. I was right. I was right. I was right. I was right. I was right. I was right. I was right. I was right. I was right. I was right. I was right. I was right.''

“We need to talk about this as a group,” Satoshi says. “For all we know he’s lying.”

We can get out of here.

“No--Rabbit, don’t--!”

Out of the corner of my eye I see Tomori jump to her feet, but, I’m faster than she is. I was a Survival Games Player whose only strength was my speed. It’s the one thing I was ever completely confident in.

I’m also confident in these guys, too. I’m confident that they’d try to stop me. No one would wanna take that risk. I will, though. If we can make it out of here, then I’ll do what it takes. I’ll prove myself to them.

I hear Satoshi squeal as I race out of my seat. “Ken, no, please--wait!”

His yell is followed by a thud, but I don’t find myself turning back to check on him. I don’t find myself stopping as I race past Nakamoto, who had only just gotten to the bottom of the staircase. I hear him yell after me, too, but his tone was that of confusion--nothing more.

By the time I reach the fourth floor, everything is shaking. The walls won’t stop moving, and before I know it, I fall forward onto my knees. I find myself coughing into the floor, and, it doesn’t take long before I hear *someone’s* footsteps following me.

I have to keep moving.

I struggle back onto feet, and hurry forward. It takes longer than I would’ve wished for me to get to the metallic door. My body pushes itself forward, and I grab hold of the console--the console that was the key to our freedom.

We can finally get out of here. We can go home now.

I steady myself and input the code that MonoMech had given us: 1-1-0-3-7.

“Yes!” I exclaim to myself.

I press enter, and, after buffering for a short while, the screen flashes red!

…

W-Wait…?

Red…?

“Ken, no--!”

Before I could turn away from the minigun, my body hits the ground with an incredible force. Someone had tackled me onto the floor, and now my body begins to shake.

They have their hand on my head, and my body is being crushed by their body. Whoever it is squeezes me tight and stays on top of me for, what feels like an eternity. I try to squirm out from underneath them, but they won’t let me. They won’t let me go.

…

...wait a minute, there were no gunshots? But, what about the minigun?

“What’s this?”

“Huh?”

With that, the person who lays on top of me both sits -- and looks -- up. As my vision returned to me, and my head stopped shaking, Tomori’s head hangs over me, though she’s looking behind her, back to where the passcode is.

“What…?”

“What is it, Shiomi?”

“It’s set up like a baseball game. Three strikes and you’re out.”

“What does that mean?”

“It’s, like, you get three chances to get it right,” Nakamoto’s voice calls out. “Two more wrong, and that gun starts firing.”

Why--Why…?!

Tomori, why the fuck did you do that?

Why did she jump on top of me--?!

“So he lied,” Shiomi sighs.

Tomori clicks her tongue. “Yeah, he lied.”

She looks back down on me and furrows her eyebrows. “Why the fuck are you giving me that face?”

“What face?”

I feel the venom in my voice.

“Woah, woah, what’s wrong you two?” Shiomi asks.

“Get off of me.”

“No.”

“What’s going on--what happened?”

Rai’s voice rings out, and, I turn my head to face them. Rai, Yuka, and Satoshi

“Oh thank god,” Satoshi cries., cupping his hands over his mouth.

Were you always so emotional…?

Rai and Yuka rush toward us, but Tomori’s sharp tongue stops them in their place. “Can you guys leave us? We’ll be back down in a few, we just have something we need to discuss.”

Rai and Yuka both look at one another, and then to me. It was like they wanted to make sure it was okay to go, but I don’t care. I really don’t.

So, I just nod, and, with that, the three -- and Nakamoto and Shiomi as well -- leave the scene. It was awkward, it was tense, but…

Tomori’s tone grew more violent when they were gone.

“What were you thinking, Rabbit--?!”

“What was *I* thinking? What were you thinking? You almost got yourself killed!”

“You’re gonna turn this around on me…? What the hell is wrong with you?

“You would’ve died for nothing, Tomori!”

“For nothing? Is that what you think?”

“Yes.”

She grips my collar, and pulls me closer to her face. Her dark blue eyes pierce mine, and I swear to god I heard her growl. “You really think that?”

“I know that. You’re smart, Tomori. You get it, don’t you?”

“No, I don’t, Rabbit. All I know is YOU have been acting weirdly lately. Skipping out on morning meetings, the cuts on your arms, acting irrationally...so sorry I don’t know what’s going on. How’re we supposed to know what’s going on if you won’t tell us?!”

Her eyes narrow, and mine close in response. “You won’t be losing much if you let me go, Tomori. There was no reason for you to do that.”

“You’re just clueless, aren’t you? Did you not hear Satoshi scream for you? Did you not just hear Kitoaji crying because they thought you were killed? What’re you trying to get at?”

“I’m clueless? Yeah, I guess you’re right...but that’s just another reason I--”

She grits her teeth. “Shut it, will you? I’m not Kitoaji -- I’m not gonna cater to your fuckin’ needs. I’ll beat the shit out of you right now just because I don’t like your tone. Tell me why you’re being like this.”

“I don’t care what happens to me, Tomori. I just wanted to get everyone out of here.”

“And if you were wrong? You were willing to let yourself die?”

“Who else would do it? If I die it’s no loss to the rest of you guys--and if I got it, we’d all get out. No one else would have to die”

Her grip tightens. “Yeah, keep telling yourself that. You’re just trying to take the easy way out.”

She isn’t wrong. I know that, and, I think she knows I know that, cause she continues. “I’m not going to let you go down this path, Rabbit. You’re trying to destroy yourself, and I’m not going to stand for it -- I won’t let you do this.”

…

I don’t wanna die, Tomori. I know that’s what you think, but…

...I just want the pain to go away.

“I just wanted to save everyone. I wanted to help get everyone out of here, but--”

“But, what?”

“I just wanna be useful.”

She sighs. “You really are clueless…” she trails off for a moment, and she closes her eyes. “...you think you’re useless? Why?”

Why…?

“I’m emotionally inept.”

“You’re emotional, so what? That doesn’t make you weak. You’ve done more in class trials than over half of the people here. If you and Satoshi hadn’t reached out to me, if you didn’t make Yuka as happy as you do, then maybe this convo would go differently...you said you wanted to save everyone, right? You said in the last trial, too. I was looking after myself when I tried to kill Shimazaki. If you’re useless, then what am I? Huh?”

“I’m just…”

“Scared? I am, too. But that doesn’t mean you’re worthless, Rabbit. Trust me.”

I want to, Tomori.

“I’m sorry,” I choke out, and she raises an eyebrow in annoyance. “I mean--thank you.”

I can’t promise I’ll be open with you guys about everything, but, I’m sorry.

“Now, what about me?”

I tilt my head. “What about you?”

She smirks, and tightens her grip on my collar once more, this time more playfully. “You think I’m gonna risk my life for you, give you a show, AND you can get out of here without showering me with compliments? Think again, buddy.”

I...laugh. I can’t not. “Okay, well...you’re blunt. I like that about you. I like how you’re always looking out for Satoshi -- he’s sweet, and, I can tell you mean a lot to each other.”

She beams. “He’s like the little brother I’ve always wanted. Okay, what else.”

“You’re...strong. You could probably bench-press Rai, Yuka, and Satoshi all at once, and you don’t care what anyone else says about you. You don’t let personal grudges cloud your judgement.”

Tomori boisterously laughs as I finish, and she places her hand on her neck. “That’s what I like to hear, Rabbit! You sure know how to make a woman feel good~!”

She ends that sentence with a wink, and rolls off of me. She helps me up, and, when I’ve finally regained my composure, she pats me on the back, and brushes the hair that fell in front of my face behind my ear. “Don’t get me wrong though, I will kill you if you try anything like that again.”

I nod, but…

...I can’t make any promises. I can’t. If I can get everyone out of here, then I’ll do it. I don’t care what happens to me.

“If you hurt us -- or yourself -- I will kill you. Do you understand me?”

Once again, I nod.

Tomori leads me back to the dining hall, but as I store at the back of her head, I...I couldn’t stop thinking. About Nakata, about Rai.

Cause, now not only do we know -- but MonoMech does for sure -- that we are beatable. We’re right where MonoMech is.

I wanna talk to them. We need to address the problems.

...I’ll talk to Rai, actually. I don’t think my heart would be able to talk to Nakata so soon, but I know that that’s a road I’m going to have to cross.

When we get back to the dining hall, everyone’s waiting for us. Tomori quickly sits next to Azama and Nakata, and I sit across from her, in between Yuka and Satoshi. Yuka quickly wraps me up in a hug, and I lean backwards into Satoshi.

His brown eyes avoid my gaze, and, I guess that makes sense. I gave him a scare. I put my free hand on his shoulder and smile when he looks back up to me. “Thank you, Satoshi.”

If looks could kill, I’d be dead.

Satoshi’s eyes began to water, but only for a second. He quickly wipes them away, and in response showers me with a warm smile of his own. “Don’t do that again.”

“Yeah!” Yuka exclaims. “What did you two even talk about…?!”

Tomori shrugs her shoulders. “He confessed his love for me and my body.”

…

“When did that happen?”

“You forgot already?”

Nakamoto and Tomori can’t help but chuckle amongst themselves, and Azama just gives us all a solemn nod.

“Since everyone’s here and okay now, I’d like to suggest something.”

Rai tilts their head. “What is it?”

“No one gets to try their luck at the lock without permission from now on, got it? Speaking of which, we’re not going to trust anything MonoMech says from now on, right?”

Her eyes fall on me. As does Tomori’s. And Nakata’s. And Rai’s. And...okay, everyone’s eyes fell on me. But, she continues.

“Shall we get to searching then?” Azama asks.

With the group in agreeance, we all began to go our separate ways. Nakamoto, Azama, Nakata, and Shiomi left with no words. Even if I wanted to talk to Nakata right now, there was no way she’d consider talking to me.

“Want me to fight her?” Yuka asks, who I guess was watching me watch Nakata leave the dining hall. “Ma-chan lost once already! Give me the chance!”

I shake my head. “Why would you do that?”

“Cuz she attacked you! And...and she did this to you! She made you sad, and no one gets to do that to you but me!”

“I wouldn’t bother,” Satoshi says. “Nakata could still take on all of us at once.”

“You think?” Tomori asks, draping her arm around Satoshi’s shoulders. “The badass, super-fit model, the speedy survival games player, and the precise archer? We could do damage.”

He sighs. “To ourselves, maybe.”

She chuckles. “Really? Are you suuure?”

My focus shifts from Tomori and Satoshi to Rai, who’s walking toward us. It’s time we talked anyway.

Rai walks with their head down, their blonde hair resting in front of their eyes. There’s something about Rai...it was like Rai had bloodlust seeping out of every pore of their body. Is Rai gonna slap me? Did I do something wrong?

I’ve seen this on a show before, if I act quickly enough Rai’ll feel bad and not hit me. I shut my eyes and prepare for the embrace. “Rai, I’m sor--!”

My pleas get interrupted by Rai, not with a slap though. I feel Rai’s hands grip the front of my shirt, and with one swift motion, Rai pulls me down to them.

And then Rai locks me back in another kiss.

I hear Tomori squeal from behind me. “Oh my god!”

Rai breaks it off, and my eyes slowly open. Rai’s anger had turned into a blush, but they never once let go of me. Rai’s grip was...so loose, and Rai’s voice was so tender. “I’m sorry for not talking to you before, Ken. I’m sorry for avoiding you.”

My eyes shift to the audience before us -- Yuka stands their with her jaw dropped to the floor, and her cheeks are stained red, too. Tomori holds Satoshi close and smiles brightly, while Satoshi himself nods to himself, almost approvingly.

Rai doesn’t stop, though. “Just please…! Don’t do anything like that again, Ken, I...I can’t see you go. If something were to happen to you, I don’t know what I’d do--!”

It’s my time to cut Rai off, and I do so with a hug. I hold Rai tight and close, and once their body melts into my embrace, they reciprocate the hug. “I’m sorry for worrying you…”

“...you better be.”

''Sasada and I sit together on my bed, reading a manga together. I never really took Sasada for the manga-type, but after finding out about her love for dating sims, the two of us found out we had more in common than we thought.''

“That was so cute--!” I nearly squealed to myself as Sasada closes the manga shut.

''“That’s it?” she asks, looking back to me. “When does the next chapter come out?”''

''I can’t stop smiling as I turn back to her. “I don’t know, but, oh my god! I can’t believe it took twentyeight chapters for them to get back together! They’re so cute -- that was so cute!”''

''Sasada sits in silence. “I need more.”''

“There isn’t anymore, though--!”

''Sasada frowns. “But…”''

''I wrap my arm around her shoulder. “Want me to load up Midnight’s Choice?”''

''Midnight’s Choice is Sasada’s favorite dating sim, and she still hasn’t finished Toujou’s route yet. I heard it was the best one, too!''

''She shakes her head. “I can’t, Kijmuta. ”''

''It’s my turn to frown. “Why not?”''

''“I’m needed by Tsumiki-senpai. Apparently a whole bunch of upperclassmen got the flu, so they need me to come up with something to help.”''

''She rolls off my bed, and looks back to me. “Can I borrow some sweatpants before I go? It’s kinda cold.”''

''I nod, and point to one of the drawers, which she opens and pulls out a pair of gray sweatpants. She quickly throws the pair of gray sweats on over her shorts, and when she does so, she gives me a quick thumbs-up.''

“Where are they making you go?”

''“Just across campus, to the Nurse’s Office,” Sasada says. “Maybe we’ll play tonight. Would Shiomi, Kitoaji, and Tsuda like to join us?”''

''“They’d probably love to,” I say. “Ko-chan and Saishi, too.”''

''She nods. “Thanks again, Kijmuta.”''

Sasada quickly slides out of my room, and I’m left by my lonesome.

''She scared me at first, but...she’s really sweet. I think that’s how I felt with most of these guys, though. Sasada in particular, though. Her monotonous, always-serious nature threw me off, but when she warms up to you, she’s the sweetest.''

''I smile to myself. “Sasada...she better come back.”''

''She didn’t, though. She never did.''