CHAPTER 2 · 3 · Sounds like a lie

“Ben?”
My favourite tall guy turns his attention away from the shelf he was staring at.
“…Yes?”
“Aaah, it’s so good to see you!”
It truly is.

See, I would have waited for Ciel, but if I understand anything about their sleep schedule… They’ll probably stay asleep for a few more hours. I woke up this morning, joined everyone for breakfast, and as promised, a lovely set of different types of breakfasts had been prepared by Jan. Alice and Chloe were here as always… So was Akiro, this time. Mina and Oscar joined us after a while but neither of us talked too much.
Alice looked content with her breakfast… Or was it her company? Jan seemed disappointed so few of us showed up but Akiro told him “normal people don’t get up at 7am”—
Mina and Oscar looked fine as usual, and Chloe seemed a bit upset still, but she was holding herself together fine. She sat next to Alice, who held her hand and smiled at her from time to time, which she reciprocated though she may not have meant it.
At some point, I said “I’d like to see if Benjamin shows up”, to which Jan responded he’d been in the kitchen when he arrived… So as soon as I was done cleaning up, I left to search for him, which brings us to the library.
Benjamin didn’t look too happy to see me, but he agreed to sit and chat with me for a while.

“…So, what do you want?”
“Oh, you know, I was thinking about you, so I think I’d just like to know you a little better.”
He raises an eyebrow.
“What? Hmm, wait—Sounds like a lie.”
“Does it?”
“Sounds to me like you think you’ve been too disagreeable with me and our situation is making you think you should fix it before it’s too late.”
…Darn, he’s pretty good. That’s not too far from the truth at all.
“H-hey… Does it sound this way or do you just assume that’s the case?”
“Hmmm…”
He leans back.
“Maybe it’s a little bit of both.”
“Aw… But that’s not all, you know.”
“Then what is it?”
“Well, I won’t tell you.”
He stares at me for a hot second, then sighs.
“I might just go back to what I was doing, then.”
“What were you doing?”
“I was just searching through every single book in hopes for a clue… Or you know, a trend.”
No, I don’t think I know…
“A… trend?”
“Assuming this library was put together by whoever trapped us here… I might find out something about them by pinpointing what type of books they thought should make it here.”
“Oh, so, like… Their personal preference?”
“Something like that… Maybe their motivations, as well.”
Ben looks at the shelves… Seeming unmotivated as always. If that’s the case, why sould he give himself such bothersome task?
“That’s just because I have no other lead… I might try to make it quick and move on to reading the encyclopaedias.”
Hmm… Yes, right. The encyclopaedias. I guess that’s fine…
“Uuh… Yeah… Hmm… I mean, uuh, so I guess you didn’t find out anything interesting yet? What kinds of books are there?”
“Everything and anything… Buncha books I don’t know about, some classics, like Animal Farm, so now I’m just thinking about communism.”
“I guess you couldn’t know about all… O-oh! I just remembered!”
“What?”
“I meant to ask Akiro about Emily Louis… I ate breakfast with him but I completely forgot.”
“You should try to search for him, then. Maybe he’s still there.”
“I guess s- wait a minute. You’re just trying to get rid of me, aren’t you?”
He shrugs.
“Nah… I’m just socially awkward and I have no idea what you want, so you’re stressing me out.”
…
Sounds legit.
Now it’s my turn to sigh.
“Okay, then… You have to promise that we’re on good terms.”
“What’s with that childish sh- I mean, hum… … No, I really have no idea what to reply.”
I know this is all my fault but now he’s making me feel awkward… I don’t know what to say either, so I just look at him.
“... You sure?”
He stares back, looking confused, but lets out another sigh and gets up. He clears his throat and then…
Suddenly spins around to point at me and exclaim:
“How preposterous that you should think your words reach me! I listen to no one but myself and say what you may; you will need to do much more if you hope to catch my attention.”
…
Faced with my lack of reaction, he sighs again.
“I’m just trying, man.”
“Oh, uuuh, it’s alright.”
Even though I have no idea why he does that…
“Besides, you’re the one being weird right now. At least I’m constant. Oh, by the way, last time I did something like this Lois called me a “chubyobyo” or something, do you know what that means?”
Why the hell would I know that..?
“I have no idea… Why didn’t you just ask her?”
He doesn’t answer right away.
“…Scary.”
“Valid.”

Anyway, a few more sighs later, I left the library.
I’m… Sorry. Yes, I am. I didn’t mean to make Ben uncomfortable, but if I’d said that, it’d have made the situation even weirder. I really just wanted to check on him, and I was nervous, so I didn’t have anything to say to him. I guess I should be satisfied, because he looks fine, and like he doesn’t know anything… Whatever it is he’d have to know, but I tell myself I’ll try to be nicer to him in the future, and hopefully he’ll forget this awkward interaction.
What’s the use of telling myself I’ll be nice with someone next time if I just never do it? Ugghh, I’m so annoyed with myself… Again!
As I rush towards the dining room, hoping I’ll find Akiro again, I think about how much I want to get out of there just so I can go back to my regular life in which I don’t suck at everything.
My disappointment in myself doesn’t keep me from finding my way towards the place I just came from, and when I enter, I’m surprised to run into not only Alice and Akiro, but also… Andi and Keith.

“Oh! Any luck finding Ben?”
Alice and Akiro had been chatting when she turns around to look at me coming in.
“Ahh…  Yes! I found him right away. He was in the library.”
“G-good place to hang out… I, I guess.”
What’s good is that Akiro’s still here. I wasn’t very willing to spend the entire day searching for people… On my own.
Glancing at the other duo, I take a sit in front of him. While Keith looks at me without a word, looking upset as always, Andi’s… resting her face directly on the table, unmoving.
I can’t help but look at the guy.
“Is she, uuh… Doing alright?”
“Dunno. Spent about an hour bugging me last night then suddenly fell asleep like a baby. Been a nightmare since this morning.”
“I’m fiiiiine…” she mumbles, before yawning, without moving an inch.
Keith turns his head away.
“I’d shrug if it weren’t so painful.”
“Oof.”
Picture a faint and timid “oof” that I can only assume came right from the heart.
“Just tired…” she mumbles again.
“What got you so tired all of a sudden? You were doing fine yesterday, weren’t you?”
She yawns once again.
“It’s just so tiring…”
She vaguely moves her hands around.
“This whole “being me” thing.”
His arms crossed, Keith glances at her, I assume fighting the urge to say “mood” or something of the sort.
“Aww, but that doesn’t really sound like you.”
I was just about to say the same thing! … Except I wasn’t sure. With Andi, you never know.
… I think.
“Yeah..?” she says, her face still against the table, “I’m not depressed though, I just have… A lot… Of feelings.”
Okay, mood.
“Doesn’t sound right…” she mumbles again. “I don’t know, I just get extra tired after a day of thinking a lot.”
“I-it’s okay, I think, I think we all… understand that.”
“Just say “mood” and be over with it, honestly-”
“Niiice…” she whispers this time, sounding as if she’s falling asleep.
Assuming this interaction’s over, I can’t help but take a glance at Keith, who’s still in the same position, looking at her. I can’t read his expression… In any case, I’m surprised to see him here, when the last time I saw him he’d been paralyzed in bed.
I don’t really know how I feel about Keith, but still… This makes me a little bit happy.
He seems to catch my gaze.
“To be completely clear, I’d be doing the same thing if she weren’t. I just don’t want to look like I agree with her on something or some shit.”
I raise an eyebrow in reply. “That’s, uh… Surprisingly honest?”
“Yeah, right. By the way, why’d you guys sleep together anyway? Are you an item now?”
“Alice-”
“Wh-”
Visibly upset, Keith suddenly breathes in before he grimaces, having obviously hurt himself with this sudden movement.
“H- You-”
“Nope.”
Oh, so she wasn’t asleep.
Keith tries to cough, but struggles, visibly in pain. Now that… That’s a little sad.
“… Ahem, I didn’t mean to elicit such a reaction.” Alice says looking slightly away, apparently a bit confused.
Is she really unaware of how annoyed Keith is with Andi?
Regulating his breathing, Keith manages to let out a long sigh.
“Hate to validate something she’d say, but yeah. No. It’s just that Oscar would shit a brick if I spent a minute on my own, and she decided she would be the one not to leave me the fuck alone.”
“Oh wow, this is the most rudely I’ve heard anyone talk about Oscar here yet, impressive.”
It is pretty impressive, actually. Oscar could probably crush Keith’s bones a second time if he wanted to… Not that uh, I think he would.
Keith just sort of groans.
“That’s a g-good idea, though… I mean, t-to stay in groups… of-of at least two.”
“It’s not like anyone else would like to stay with me, though,” he replies, slowly and carefully bringing his upper body towards the table to rest his chin on his hand.
And… He’s probably right. Not just because of his attitude, but because he isolated himself like I did… Everyone’s nice, but I’m so lucky to have Ciel. The fact that they’re willing to hang out with me still… It’s motivating.
This is why no one answers immediately, until Alice shakes her head.
“Shouldn’t you be thankful for Andi, then?”
Keith’s only reply is to turn his head away. Andi, on the other hand…
“Hehe…”
She finally takes her face off the table and sits up, stretching with a smile. Oh, man, she does have pretty mean dark circles…
She turns her head to look at Keith, even though he keeps looking away.
“This is how you become addicted.”
“Shut the fuck up.”
“Hehe.”
“There’s no way she really thinks that’s funny…” Alice mumbles to herself.

I take a glance at Akiro, this time, scared that he’ll run away before I can talk to him. He’s just sitting there, holding his own hands on the table, glancing everywhere around him.
Andi yawns, this time looking at us.
“I just stopped being upset about it.”
“That’s… good on you, I guess.”
He’s definitely looking for an exit. I need to start a conversation with him before an entire debate over why Andi cares about Keith starts up.
“Hate to change the conversation,” which is a lie, “but how come it’s just the two of you, Akiro, Alice? If anyone here’s an item, it’s you guys and Jan.”
Yeah! You go, me! That’s such a good conversation starter. Last time Jan separated himself from them, Alice got upset, so surely they have something to say about it.
“An, uh… An item?”
Guess whose cheeks suddenly became red.
“He’s just in the kitchen…”
“The three of us?”
“Yeah, as in the three of us are friends! So, as I was saying…”
Oh, I definitely meant a romantic item, but I was just messing with you.
“Jan’s cleaning the dishes and the kitchen, and he asked us to stay nearby but not to come in and bring in more dirt. He’ll probably be done soon, though.”
“So you guys are dirty, huh?”
“I-I kinda just assumed he… Wanted to be alone for, for a while.”
“Genius.”
“Oh? I thought he was being paranoid and wanted to learn the kitchen’s setup by hea… You know what, that’s a bit dark, so I’ll take your version.”
“I just didn’t want to force you to participate in a chore I’d set myself up to do…”
“Aaaaah!”
“Aaaaah!”
The two of us jump in surprise. Where the heck did he come from? I mean, yes, the kitchen, I know, but when?!
“… What?”
“How did you… When did you…”
“Ninjan.”
“What?”
“Nin-ja-n.”
I have never seen Akiro say anything with so much confidence. Actually, I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone come up with such a silly nickname with so much confidence.
“You sound like you’d already come up with that one…”
“Did that a while ago!”
Jan smiles.
“I’ll take it I have a reputation of sneaking up on people.”
“Yeah… That or suddenly disappearing, to be honest.”
“I won’t do it anymore,” he says, taking a seat next to me to face Alice.
So I guess it’s the three of them again. Keith and Andi are still here, but Keith is pretending not to see us while Andi looks as if she’s about to fall asleep and faceplant against the table… again.
“What brings you here again?” he asks me.
“Oh, well, uuh… Right! I just had a chat with Benjamin and he reminded me that there’s something I’d like to ask Akiro, actually.”
I turn my head to look at him. He looks flustered, probably because I suddenly mentioned him.
“O-oh?”
“And here I thought you just missed us so much.”
“I’m sure he secretly did.”
“… Am I being bullied?”
I chuckle.
“Anyway, we found a book.”
“Hm-hm… S-sounds like my general area of exper-expertise.”
“Yeah, that’s what I thought… Well, it was a bit weird, because it was in the church for some reason. I read a few pages and it was so good I wouldn’t have been able to stop reading if Ciel hadn’t forced me to snap out of it! So, uh, I’d like to know if you know the author.”
“S-sounds legit… I assume you mean… Y-you already have th-their name but don’t, didn’t know them, ri-right?”
“Yes, that’s it! Her name’s Emily Louis, ever heard of her?”
Akiro’s eyes widen and he inhales deeply.
“She-she’s a super famous author! Do they have h-her books? Which one was it?”
“Hoho!”
Wow..! He sure seems enthusiastic about her! So I guess that’s an obvious yes.
“Oh, uuh… Children of Discord, I believe!”
“Oooh, this, this one’s so good, y-you should definitely continue to read it.”
“I guess I should!”
This is silly, but Akiro being so enthusiastic is making me enthusiastic as well. Plus, the book did seem very good right from the start.
“Emily… What did you say her name was?”
“Emily Louis… She’s a writer, don’t you r… know her?”
“Oh… Oh. Right.”
“Uh, yeah… We wondered if maybe this writer wasn’t chosen just to mess with us because of her name. But in case she wasn’t… Wouldn’t you happen to know why her book would be on the altar?”
“Wh-who, me? I mean, I-I wasn’t the one who put it here, so… I don’t know… Unless… Unless it’s… Hmm… N-no…”
He starts to stare at the table, flustered once again.
“No, I don’t think… I don’t think I know.”
“Oh, well, that’s alright. I just wanted to check just in case… As a writer you happened to know more about this one and whether she was special.”
“She’s, she’s special I guess… Well… I ho-hope she’s doing alright.”
“Like, you know her personally?”
“No, I, uh… I just wondered…”
He laughs nervously.
“I, uh, n-nevermind. You know, I, uuuh… I just really like what she, what she writes.”
“What genre does she write?”
“M-mostly murder-mystery… But I think she touches on everything, like she wrote a few romance novels as well, and I read a, uhm… a play she wrote, too.”
“Who knows if those are the instigator’s favourite genres,” Jan replies, crossing his arms.
“Hmm… That would make sense. What are your favourite genres then, Akiro? I mean, as someone who’s most likely not the instigator…”
“Most likely, she says.”
He shakes his head.
“Uuuh… U-usually I like poetry, b-but in terms of novels I… I was into fantastic novels for a while… But I’d say most im-importantly thrillers…”
“Hmmm… I like to read horror the most, I’d say.”
“O-oh, that’s good too! I mean, everything can be good…”
“Even…” she yawns, “romance?”
I jump a little. I’d forgotten she wasn’t sleeping…
“S-sure…”
“Pfft-”
“Wh-what about it?!”
Red are his cheeks again.
“Nothing…”
See, when Jan smiles like that, I think he could either be genuinely having a pleasant time or be making fun of his interlocutor. There is sincerely no way to tell.
In this case, it might just be both..?
“Th-they’re not my favourite genre but when they’re well written, they’re… I mean it’s just… Oh, screw you!”
He pouts, crosses his arms and looks slightly to the side.
“What a buuuullyyyy~”
“I’m happy to have participated in this.”
Jan chuckles and leans towards Akiro.
“That was just a reflex… Come on, come on, I know you’d know much better than I do. I’m the ignoramus here.”
The latter glances at him, still pouting.
“I’m gonna have you read the three best romance novels I know and analyse them each in an essay, then write a dissertation about romance as a genre.”
“Oh, please, no…”
“... Next time.”
Akiro closes his eyes and raises his chin indignantly.
“Guess I’ll have to be on my best behaviour.”
He straightens his back a little to sit himself properly and rest his chin on his hand, looking either satisfied with this interaction or relieved not to have any homework yet.
Hehe… I get why Ciel hung out with them a bunch. It’s nice to see people acting so friendly and silly when everything else’s so stressful.
“Let it be known that I DEMAND to read these essays and potentially participate in publishing them.”
I chuckle. I’d say Alice is the best at it… And I think she always works hard to make everyone feel good.
It’s just the impression I get.
… Hey, sounds like someone’s walking in. Light steps…
“Good morning, fellow clowns.”
I gasp and turn around. It’s Ciel!
Everyone says “hi” or “hey” except Keith.
“Hey, this clown made you breakfast. If you’d like to eat it, at least.”
“Oooh, that’s so cool…” they yawn, because there might as well be two of them, “I might grab a bite, is it something in the kitchen?”
“Hm-hm, everything’s on the counter.”
“Nice. Thank you!”
They look at me and smile, then turn around to head inside the kitchen. They look a little bit tired, but that’s to be expected… I thought they’d wake up much later than that. I wonder if they made an effort on purpose..?
Oh well, I guess I’ll stay here for the time being, and we might hang together some more after their breakfast.

“So, uhm… How are you here?”
Ciel came back with a bowl of cereal and a cup of tea, and sat to my left, which would be just a seat away from facing Andi. Their interlocutor however is Keith, at least if he cares enough to reply.
“Who, me?”
“…Yes. Last time I saw you, you couldn’t get up… At all.”
Instead of replying, Keith only stares at them as they eat their cereal. Crunch, crunch… What a pleasant conversation. Alice, Akiro and Jan started chatting about something else on my right – something about landscapes, I think – while I asked Ciel about their night, not that they had anything interesting to tell me. Now it’s just Keith, Ciel, silence and Andi staring at me with a satisfied smile for some reason.
“I’m not sure that’s true,” he finally answers.
“Like what? My memory’s failing me all of a sudden?”
No… No, I don’t think it is. I remember the same thing.
Andi chuckles… for some reason.
“No, I’m pretty sure I could stand up, it’s just that it would’ve been too painful. Plus, Noah told me not to, but he’s not here anymore.”
“…Wait, what? Noah advised you not to get up but just because he’s…”
Ciel mumbles something, struggling to end their sentence, only to finally give up on it.
“Yeah, well, it’s not that I think he was wrong. According to him, I should probably stay immobilized until I can get to a hospital, else I’ll just injure myself further. That’s what Chris told me, at least.”
“So you’re just… fine with injuring yourself more, now?”
I think that’d be very in-character, but still… While part of me would like to avoid fighting with Keith, something tells me I won’t be able to allow myself to let him think this way.
“Not really...” he answers loudly, but he immediately lowers his voice, “I’d much rather not be hurt at all, see.”
“Then what?” I think, but he continues.
“It’s just that if I’m going to stay in my room I’ll be stuck with her all the time…” he points towards Andi with his left thumb, “and think what you may, I just need to see some other faces.”
“That’s…”
“Woooow, that could have been a lot more rude, good job!”
“Fuck off.”
“Hm-hm.”
“Well you know what, how about you make yourself useful? If you have any further questioning, please ask my assistant, ‘cause I’m tired of this shit.”
“I’m not your assistant, you dick.”
… She replies with a smile.
Ciel and I glance at each other as they take a sip of their tea – coming from them, I can’t tell if they meant it to be symbolical or not. In any case, I wonder… What kind of dynamic are these two supposed to have?
“Then what the fuck are you supposed to be?”
“Oh, you know, my own person.”
“Sometimes I wonder who that’s supposed to be.”
He crosses his arms and turns his back away slightly, just enough to still be facing the table but look away from Andi.
“So what you’re getting at is that you don’t want to stay in your room all day.”
Keith sighs heavily… twice.
“Weirdly, yeah.”
“Jokes aside, I wouldn’t want to stay alone with him all day either. Next up he just MIGHT start to call me his assistant or something.”
“Yeah, that’d be unfortunate.”
I feel like this is one of these instances in which everyone needs to chill, except me.
Andi giggles… twice. What’s happening?
“You know, Keith’s mean, but he lets me sleep in his bed, and he gets scared for me when I have nightmares, so I like to see him like a small scared animal or sumthin.”
“Ugh…”
Ever so carefully, Keith slowly brings his upper body towards the table, now the one to rest his face right against it.
“Uuuuuuugggh!” he goes again, with more conviction this time.
This only makes Andi laugh harder.
“See, this was all a part of my plan,” she says, suddenly slamming her own head against the table again.
She then yawns.
“And now we’re in sync.”
Keith mumbles something eerily similar to “fuck you”.
Ciel and I share another glance. They’re still eating their cereal. Our two potential interlocutors are pretending to be asleep. Alice, Jan and Akiro are leaving the premises. This is bad.

I should probably find something to-
“Hey, Andi.”
“Hm—!”
“Where? When? What?!”
I was convinced I’d seen the three of them walk towards the door, but Jan is now standing behind Ciel—and now that I look, Akiro and Alice are waiting in the entrance.
“Ninjan!”
“Shut uuuuuup—”
“I just walked… quickly…”
“What’s the matter?”
While Ciel choked on his cereal and I loudly expressed my surprise, Andi simply turned her head to the side, having now brought her arms underneath her forehead to support it.
Jan sighs in what sounds to be relief – something tells me my reaction surprised him more than he’d surprised me. Oops.
“There’s none…”
When I consider it, Jan isn’t all that silent… If memory serves me right, I could hear his steps. I think it’s as he says, and he walks rather fast, giving me no time to register what I’m hearing. It’s not that bad, but I’m used to being able to tell when someone’s walking towards me… And I guess he does have a tendency to show up when you’d least expect it, too.
“I almost forgot to give you these, is all. I visited Emily’s room and I found something I assume was meant for you.”
“For me?”
She doesn’t move, but her tone reveals that her curiosity was piqued. Interestingly, Keith, who didn’t want to be seen doing the same thing as her at the same time, turned his head in a similar manner to look towards the Ultimate Pianist.
The latter reaches for his back pocket, from which he takes out a small plastic bag filled with… what are these? Pills?
He practically slaps it down in front of Andi.
“Oops—I mean, I don’t know why she made these, but I thought you might like them.”
“Oh my God!”
She straightens her back and grabs the small plastic bag to immediately empty it inside her hands. I reflexively bring my head a little closer to look, and finally understand what they are…
Three guitar picks. The undersides were white, but the other sides seem to have been painted by hand.
“Oh man…”
Andi excitedly scatters them on her palm to see them individually. One of them is a red to black gradient, another one is a red-coloured eye with white eyelashes represented on a black background, and the other one is a black snake… or wait, I think it’s a dragon, on top of which the letters “A N D I” are spelled out.
“This is so kind… Oh man…”
She chuckles, sounding a bit choked up and I… I get it. If Emily truly drew these just for Andi, then I’m feeling a bit choked up too.
“…The part where your name is written on one of them makes me feel like she made them for you.”
“She totally did!”
“The-the gradient style reminds me o-of the drawing she made me… S-so I definitely think she painted them by, by herself,” Akiro says from the back of the room.
Andi chuckles one more time, putting the three guitar picks back inside the small bag.
“I, uh, I think I’m gonna cry. So before I do, thanks Jan… Hehe.”
She sniffles. I think she’s already started crying.
“It’s really cool that you brought these to me. You’re a cool guy.”
“Oh, uh, thanks.”
He scratches the back of his neck, looking a bit unsure at first, but he suddenly shakes his head and smiles.
“I’m glad it made you happy.”
He turns around to join his two friends. Akiro and him leave, while Alice stares at us for a few more seconds.
“He was scared you’d be mad at him, for some reason…”
She shrugs with a sorry smile, then leaves in turn.
I turn my attention towards Andi again, a little bleary eyed. She wipes off a tear with her wrist.
“Huuuh, this really got me for some reason.”
There’s another sniffle, but this time, it comes from my right.
“I’m literally just here, trying to eat my breakfast…” Ciel mumbles.
Keith, in the meantime, stayed silent, staring at the bag emotionlessly. He extends his arm to point at one of the picks inside.
“I like this one. She tried to draw your tattoo,” he says in a monotonous voice.
“Yeah, it… It means a lot…”
She laughs and cries at the same time, and she seems very nervous, which I guess is enhanced by her obvious exhaustion, but that’s not what I retain.
“Your tattoo? I didn’t know you had one.”
I’m not questioning how Keith could know about a secret tattoo, but this would mean that Emily knew too.
“Oh come on dude, it’s not that hard to… to see…”
Ciel cries into their cup of tea.
“Right here, silly.”
Sniffling, Andi turns her upper body around and lowers the right strap of her undershirt to reveal her shoulder blade.
She reveals that I’m probably blind as well, as there is quite obviously a black tattoo of a dragon behind her shoulder. The bottom half of it is hidden by her t-shirt, but I can see a Japanese-style dragon swirled almost like a snake, some scales of which reveal the letters “N D I”, similarly to Emily’s drawing except hers was a lot less detailed for obvious reasons. I’m guessing the first letter of her name is in the lower half.
“I’d never noticed… It said your name.”
I hadn’t even noticed there was a tattoo at all, so I feel kind of dumb which, somehow and thankfully, makes me forget how choked up I was. I guess I’m not very observant.
Andi puts the light-blue strap back into place and turns around to face Ciel and I again.
“But Emily did, hehe.”
Her nose and the area around her eyes turned a bit red, and she’s obviously trying to hold herself together, but she looks happy nonetheless.
“That’s a bit weird.”
“Hm?”
“Having your own name tattooed on yourself. That’s odd.”
“Why?”
Keith seems to question what’s wrong with what he’s saying before he replies.
“No one does that.”
He’s kind of right… I was trying to check if Andi felt like he was being insensible, but she seems fine.
“I guess that’s true… You’d usually tattoo the name of a lover, or someone you lost.”
“Oh boy, don’t make me question whether I lost myself at some point or sumthin...”
“Eurgh…”
“Uuuh…”
That’s not what I meant at all!
“Well, hopefully that’s not the reason why, so why did you get this tattoo?”

She freezes.

…Completely. Her breathing regulates as if she hadn’t been trying not to cry this whole time, and she just stares at me blankly for a minute.
“Hm?” is all she has to say, after a while.
This time, I exchange one of these glances with both Ciel and Keith.
“Hum, why did you get your tattoo? Was it a long time ago, maybe..?”
“Oh. Hoho. Haha !”
Andi laughs, then stretches her arms slowly, leaning back into her chair, the small bag dangling from one of her hands.
“Yeah, that’s it. It was such a while ago, I think I forgot my reasoning for it.”
“Weirdo.”
Apparently unsatisfied with this answer, Keith turns his head back towards the table.
And yeah… It’s a bit weird, to say the least. But can I say I’m surprised?
“Sounds like you alright...”
“It totally does!”
She laughs again, a little maniacally, before she suddenly gets up.
“Well, I’m feeling all pumped up now! It’s probably all that love and friendliness. I don’t think there’s a guitar here, but I might be able to find some strings lying around and make a tribute or something!”
The bag still dangling from one of them, she puts her two hands on her hips and pauses, a proud look on her face. I’m too overwhelmed to react.
“Yeah, that’s such a good idea. Okay then, byyyyee!”
She storms off.
…
…
And comes back.
“Oops, I think I forgot something!”
She runs towards Keith to tug on his sleeve.
“Come with me, now. It’s either me or a very angry, very big guy.”
“Ugghhh...”
Keith brings his head slightly upwards to sigh.
“Sure… I’ll take the maniac.”
Ever so slowly, he gets up. As he does, my own back starts to hurt. The way he moves makes me fear that his vertebrae are going to fall all over the place in any moment.
Yet they don’t, and measuring every step, holding Andi by the arm, he starts to walk away.
“See y’all !”
“Hm-hm.”
“S-see you…”
Keith stares the two of us down one last time, looking eternally unsatisfied, before they manage to leave.
…
“Well, that was… a lot.”
“I… I still kind of feel like crying about the Emily thing.”
“Oh… right.”
They’re pretending to drink milk that’s long gone from their bowl, still choked up. I’d… kinda forgotten about that. Andi’s reaction to my question was so weird… But seeing the decision she suddenly took, I wonder if she wasn’t just thinking about what she was going to do instead of paying attention to our conversation. That would explain it.
“She acted a bit weird, but I think she really took it to heart.”
“Yeah, that’s Andi for you.”
They put down their bowl and let out a loooong sigh.
“In any case… I’ll clean that up, then let’s go somewhere else.”

So that’s what we did.
As soon as Ciel was done, we decided to leave the dining room, even though we didn’t know what we were going to do.
“So... What now?” I ask, stopping in the middle of the hallway.
“I ask myself that question every morning.”
At some point while they were doing their dishes, Ciel calmed down.
“Ugh… Of course. But what’s the answer?”
“I wish I knew,” they reply, shaking their head, “but jokes aside, there really isn’t much we can do until either someone comes to save us, or Monokuma forces us to do something.”
“Yeah… Else I wouldn’t even have to ask that question to begin with.”
I certainly don’t wish for the latter…
I shrug, and try to think of at least somewhere nice to hang out, when my train of thought is suddenly interrupted by a loud “BANG!”
“Wh-where was that?!”
“I think it came from here!”
I point at the gym and run towards its entrance without thinking. It’s only as I open the door that I realize the sight I could potentially find behind it, once again, but it’s already too late.
…
And there’s nothing there.
Not that Chris counts for nothing… But she’s on her own, and looks perfectly fine.
“What happened?” asks Ciel, bending over to walk underneath my arm, still up and holding the door.
“Something happened?”
Chris catches a basketball and runs towards us.
“There was a loud “bang”…”
“Oh.”
She launches the ball down and starts to dribble calmly, staying stationary.
“I messed up a shot, so the ball ended up hitting the door pretty hard. Sorry.”
“Damn.”
“Phew…”
I shake my head. I’d gotten all tensed up, all of a sudden… But now that I know what it was, it should have been obvious.
“I didn’t think someone would be playing here on their own.”
“Well… Wanna join?”
“What? Uh, oh, no, sorry, I really don’t feel in shape right now.”
“You?” She turns to Ciel.
“Hum… Nope.”
“Figured.”
She shrugs, grabbing the ball with her two hands again.
“Thanks for asking though… You’re looking better today, Chris.”
“Yeah… Yeah, I guess.”
She turns around and launches the ball towards what looks to be a large basket filled with other different balls. It’s rather far away, but she makes it.
“I wasn’t gonna stay sad, you know.”
“I… I guess?”
“Wow, you make it sound easy...”
“Ugh… I mean, I’m still upset of course, but what am I gonna do? Cry about it?”
“Yes?”
“… All things considered, that’s something I could do. But I’m not gonna.”
“Well… You don’t have to if you don’t feel like it.”
“But… But how can you not feel like it? It’s not that I want to see you cry, but…”
“Yeah, that’d be fucking weird.”
She grins, and readjusts her ponytail.
“I’m mostly angry… But not all the time. And even if I were, I’d have to control myself for you guys’ sakes.”
“That’s… polite.”
Ciel leans against the wall. Seeing them get comfortable reminds me that I’m still holding the door open, so I finally remove my arm and let it close on its own.
“Yeah, I have a dirty mouth but I still care about the people around me. Crazy, right?”
“I know you do.”
“Wouldn’t that be frustrating, though?”
Chris doesn’t strike me as someone who can handle a lot of frustration.
“No? I’d say thinking about why I’m upset over and over is a lot more frustrating. Man, I just want to keep living my life, you know?”
“Aah… You’re right…”
“You shouldn’t worry that much, Neo. You’re being worse than me!”
“What… What does that mean?”
I chuckle. They’re right, if someone usually worries about other people’s feelings too much, it’s them.
“Then again, if I really need to vent off my frustrations, I could just take up kickboxing or something.”
“Yeah, make those arms even stronger.”
“Would that be why you were playing basketball right now?”
“Hm? Oh, no, I was just kinda bored. Though when I think about it…”
She places her knuckle in front of her chin.
“I guess I wanted to get in some alone time to start the day off.”
“Uuuh… Sorry to be intruding, then?”
“Ah, but now’s fine, I was actually feeling a bit lonely.”
“Oh.”
“I guess I would’ve expected the Ultimate Gymnast to be doing… you know… gymnastics.”
“Where’s your clown outfit?”
“Yeah, well, I’d rather someone walks in on me failing a free throw than landing a yurchenko.”
“Bless you.”
“Fuck you.”
“Thank you!”
“What?”
“In all seriousness, I just kinda felt like playing basket right now.”
“That’s a pretty legitimate reason to be playing basket.”
I have no idea where this conversation is going but well, sure. It does sounds like a legitimate reason.
“I know, right?”
She stretches her back.
“Well… Did you guys get breakfast already?”
The two of us nod.
“Aw, man. I wasn’t very hungry when I woke up but I should probably grab something now. Plus I’m thirsty.”
“We could go back to the kitchen with you, if you want.”
I nod. It wouldn’t kill us, even though the dining room feels more and more like a circus every time I go.
Which should be… Fine… Considering Ciel’s talent… I guess…………
“Nah, don’t worry about it... I don’t plan on taking too long. Would you be okay hanging out there while I-”

“GOOOOOOD MORNING EVERYONE!”

“Ah, yes. Pure, unaltered anger.”
I’ll probably develop some cardiac disease when I’m older. I jumped back and hit the wall, surprised by Monokuma’s loud interruption… Over the speakers, this time again.
“Actually, y’all can have a terrible morning, I don’t care.”
“He’s clearly contributing to that.”
“Anyway, I want you bunch in the gym by noon. Attendance is mandatory. I have soooooo many exciting things to tell you. At least two.”
Yay.
“See ya next hour!”
It cuts, and I sigh loudly without thinking.
“My thoughts exactly.”
“Ugggh… I didn’t miss him at all.”
“What does he want this time..?”
“I hope he’s just doing this to annoy us. I don’t want to talk about another tragedy… So soon…”
“Grr... You tell me.”
Chris shakes her head violently.
“But even if he does, this time I’ll be ready.”
A chill passes through my shoulders. What does she mean exactly? Whatever it is, she sounded… Convinced.
I wonder what she wants to do.
“Well, anyway. I was going to ask you if you minded staying here while I grabbed a bite, but I guess you don’t really have a choice.”
“Sure. Now that we’re here, might as well stay in place…”
“That would… make the most sense.”
“I don’t know when the others will be coming, but I’ll be seeing you soon, then.”
She waves without looking, and leaves.
Ciel walks towards the benches, and I have nothing better to do than to follow. I guess we’ll be waiting for Chris… Then Monokuma.

“Do you think he’s going to give another incentive to kill?” Ciel asks as soon as I sit next to them.
Oh boy… I don’t feel suited to answer that question. I try to avoid thinking about the “Killing Game” as a whole… At least I think I do.
“I don’t know… It could be anything.”
“I wonder… Since he didn’t tell us about the new rooms in person, I’m guessing this isn’t all that random.”
Ugh, they’re right…
“Then again, I’m guessing he wants to have fun with us… So it could just be something like... Introducing the weird white bear from the trial.”
The weird white… Oh, for the love of God—I’d completely forgotten about this thing!
“I hope not!”
Ciel laughs nervously.
“So you’d even rather he gives us a new motive than see that thing again?”
“That’s, uuh…”
Lowkey right.
Ciel continues nonetheless.
“In any case, we still have a full hour to kill, and we’d probably only build up more anxiety if we kept theorizing... Don’t you think?”
“Ah, you’re right.”
Again—they’re a fast thinker.
“I wonder when everyone else will show up…” I add, looking around, trying to imagine the gym filled with my new friends once again.
But it hurts a little, because all I can see is Noah standing next to Chris, and Emily running around, trying to chat with everyone. In my mind, Noah’s not a killer… And Emily never had to worry about her body being found.
My heart aches…
“Neo?”
“Hm?”
“You weren’t listening, were you?”
“Oh, uh… No, sorry, I spaced out.”
“I was just saying some will probably show up early, but some may wait until the last minute.”
“Who do you think would do what?”
“Hmm… Andi would show up at the last minute.”
I nod. If someone were to do that among us, it would be her.
“But she’s going to be accompanied by Keith, so who knows. I wonder what the Ultimate Trio will do.”
“The Ultimate… What now?”
“You know, Alice, Akiro, Jan. They’re always together, and they’re wholesome as fuck, so that’s their title now.”
Under what jurisdiction, exactly?
But oh, well… It sounds good to me.
“Eeeh… I’m guessing they’ll show up early.”
“Yeah, the three of them would probably do that.”
“What about, say… Chloe? I don’t run into her much, so I have no idea.”
“Oh… Could be either of the two. She could be the type to show up early because she’s so nervous, or at the last minute because she was overwhelmed.”
“Hmm…”
So I guess that’s the way they see her.
“Now, Oscar and Mina… I have no idea.”
“Oh, last minute.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, Mina will come up with some excuse and make it sound like… You know that quote? The Queen is never late, everyone else is simply early.”
Ciel giggles.
“Oooh, she’d totally say that if she knew about it.”
“Who’s left, then… Benjamin?”
“Last minute.”
I chuckle this time.
“That was quick.”
“There’s NO way this guy’ll show up early. Now who’s next… Well, Chris should be back soon. All that leaves is two, uhm… temperamental ladies.”
“Well, that’s a way to put it.”
I cross my arms. This means Lois and Isabella.
“Lois will probably show up at the last minute.”
“Yeah… Might even use that “Queen is never late” quote.”
“Pff…”
“I’m worried about Isabella… What if she decides not to come?”
“But… She can’t.”
“Yeah…”
They scratch the back of their right ear.
“That’s the problem.”
“Ugh… We’ll send someone.”
This reminds me of that time… Noah and Chris had to show up at the last moment.
“Someone like Oscar.”
“Oh, so she won’t have a choice then.”
“Yeah.”
I laugh nervously. That’s assuming she’d be easy to find… And it’d mean we’d be better off if Oscar showed up early after all.
“Well, I guess checking whether our theory was right will be an okay way to pass the time, then.”
“…Yeah.”
It might take a while, though.
A few seconds pass, during which the both of us stare at the door, not knowing what else to do.
“... Neo?”
“Yes?”
“If Monokuma does give us a new incentive… We won’t, we won’t do anything, right?”
I gasp.
“What?! Of course we won’t!”
“Hm-hm…”
“What… What are you thinking?”
“Nothing! I just don’t know what you are thinking.”
…
I’m speechless. What do they mean? Did I do something wrong? Was my attitude weird? I definitely haven’t… Been thinking anything drastic. At all..!
“Aaah, I’m sorry, that’s not… That’s not what I meant.”
“Then... W-what then..?”
“It’s just... I don’t really know, Neo…  I thought no one wanted to kill last time, but then Noah did.”
“But… We didn’t know Noah very well…”
They sigh.
“I guess we didn’t after all, but it didn’t feel that way. You’re right, though… We knew his attitude, but not his story.”
“Yeah, since he wasn’t able to speak…”
“What? No, I don’t think that’s why.”
“Huh?”
“Even if he could speak, which he… could, actually, he would never have told us that he was a killer on the run.”
“O-oh…”
So that’s what he was… Somehow it didn’t, and still doesn’t click.
“But not just that. He would never have told us his dad abused him either, probably not at least.”
“I-is that something he…”
Oh, maybe he did… He mentioned his “Papa” as if it were something special, but I might have blocked out the rest. If there’s something like that… It would explain Monokuma adding his dad’s book to the library.
“But what does that mean to us? I mean… In the present?”
“Well... I don’t know anything about your life, Neo. And you don’t know anything about mine.”
…
I turn my head and stare at the door again.
I don’t have anything really interesting to tell Ciel about my life… Nothing important comes to mind when I think about it. I could probably tell them about my job as a voice actor… But I know that isn’t what they mean. I could still be hiding something, whether I want to or not, and this something could have an impact on the way I view a motive or other. I might even be unaware of it myself.
There might even be things someone else trusts me to keep to myself.
“I guess the more we chat, the more we’ll learn about each other, though…”
“Hm-hm.”
I blindly trust Ciel… And I will continue to. Something about them strikes me as “honest”. I feel like if they had something to hide, I’d still know, somehow.
Neither of us says anything else, until the door finally opens.
“Look who I found panicking in front of the door!”
Chris walks in, pushing Chloe in front of her.
“See..? Well, she was our wild card.”
“Hey, you said it could be either extreme, so you still turned out to be right.”
“H-hi, uhm… What are you talking about?”
The two girls reach our bench and stand in front of us.
“Nothing..! Say, how are you feeling today, Chloe?”
“Oh, uhm… A little better,” she replies, turning her eyes to the floor.
“Really? I’ve known you with more pep.”
“That’s right, well… I’m still a bit shaken.”
“We all are, girl.”
“Of course...”
Chris is munching on a croissant – I guess today’s pastries were popular.
“I can’t say I’m eager to see Monokuma again, but I’d like this to be over soon.”
“Ugh, yeah… Why give us a full hour to wait? That’s just torture.”
“I assume he does it on purpose…”
“Yeah, probably.”
We’re silent for a minute again. This is a little awkward, but neither of us really wants to be there…
“By the way did anyone uh, see the kitchen?”
“What, this morning? I think we all did.”
“Do you want to talk about the knives?”
“Wait, what?”
“The knives? What was up with the knives?”
“Well, you know. They’re gone.”
…
The knives are gone. Is that true? I didn’t notice they were missing, but then again, I didn’t notice Andi had a tattoo…
“It looks like whoever took them only left the round tip knives, so I assumed they decided to take them away because of what… you know, what happened.”
“But… I’m pretty sure they were there this morning…”
“That’s what I thought too!”
“How’s that possible? Ciel, didn’t you see that big, black box on top of the fridge?”
“Oh, yeah, I saw something like that when I got the milk… Is it new?”
“I don’t think I saw it before. I took it down, and it was locked. Did someone say they were going to put the knives in there?”
We all shake our heads – I look towards Chloe, who catches my gaze and shrugs.
“No one said anything about it, and I didn’t even notice it.”
Chris frowns.
“That’s weird,” she starts, but she’s interrupted by the sound of the door slamming against the wall.
“Raise your voice if you think you’re the one who missed me the moooost!”
Andi walks in, dragging a disgruntled Keith by the arm.
We all fall silent, and she stops a few metres in, smiling widely.
“Well, that kinda stuff works a lot better when I’m talking to my fans.”
“Let me go sit…” Keith mumbles, ignoring her failed attempt.
“Oh, aight.”
Still supporting him, she leads him towards us, and he slowly, silently sits next Ciel, trying exaggeratedly hard to keep his upper body straight.
He looks away, and Chris turns her attention to Andi, now standing next to her.
“I’d heard the Ultimate Guitarist playing on the radio, but I didn’t know you’d be the kind of person behind her music.”
“For real? I don’t play on radio shows all that often. I think you need to hear me in person.”
“Sounds wild.”
“Anyway, we lost,” Ciel whispers in my ear.
“Hm?”
“I said she would show up last…”
“Hey, what are y’all whispering about?”
“N-nothing!”
“That is… fishy.”
“Yeah, come on Ciel, you’re making us look weird—”
“What? Why does it have to be me?” they whine.
I’m not trying to hide anything!
“We’re just playing a game…”
“Why’s there plaster on the handle? Did someone try to embed the door into the wall again?”
“A-again?”
This time, I’m interrupted by the Ultimate Trio coming in.
“See, we were right this time, weren’t we?”
“Hell yeah.”
“What are you going on about?”
The trio having walked in and closed the door, it looks like Akiro and Jan are inspecting the new dent in the wall while Alice is glaring at us.
“Ugghh… We were just trying to bet on who’s going to come in and when.”
“… Why?”
“Uh, you know, for fun?”
“That’s silly.”
“So when did you bet I’d come in?”
“Last.”
Cold. I mean, it wasn’t a competition, but “last” still sounds harsh.
“Whaaat? I’m always on time!”
I take another glance at Keith. He sighs, staring at the floor, holding himself up with his two hands by either side of him on the bench.
He probably doesn’t want to talk to anyone.
Not that I have much time to wonder about it - as my train of thought is interrupted when someone slams the door open again.
“Aaah!”
I turn to look towards the entrance—it looks like Alice pulled Akiro out of the way just in time so he wouldn’t be annihilated by the door… Having been violently opened by Oscar.
“What the hell?”
“Sorry, sorry—”
Curiously, Mina, walking right behind him, is the one to say sorry. The bodyguard, who’d stopped in the entryway, ignoring Alice, looks in our direction and suddenly walks towards us.
Gulp.
“Uh-oh.”
“We’re done for.”
Ciel sounds like they have accepted their fate—but is now really the time to make any type of comment?!
When he soon reaches us, I simply stop breathing. He’s expressionless as ever, but I think he almost killed Akiro.
“Andi.”
“Oh, so it’s just her.”
I sigh in relief.
Not that I… Wish anything bad on Andi…
“Y-yeees?”
“Ah, the nervous smile of someone who doesn’t want to die,” Ciel whispers.
“Why is Keith here?”
“Well… Because Monokuma told us to come here.”
“You did not carry him.”
“Uhm… I uuuh…”
I take yet another glance towards Keith – he’s looking in Oscar’s direction, but his eyes are empty.
“I think you brought him outside without the permission.”
I only now notice a grimacing Mina, standing behind Oscar. Oh, so even she fears for Andi’s life.
“Uuuuuh… Well, whose permission?”
“Mine.”
“You… You’re not our dad or something, though.”
Oh-oh. She’s trying to stand up for herself now.
“I can carry Keith.”
“And?”
“He must not move. He must not put himself in more danger.”
“But..!”
She turns to look at Keith, but realizes that he won’t contribute, so she turns back towards Oscar, clenching her fists.
“You can’t force ME to stay locked in some bedroom for days! If I left and left him alone, he would go out on his own and totally hurt himself and be in danger!”
Her teeth clenched as well, she looks up at Oscar, only making it clearer how much taller, and bigger, he is.
He doesn’t move, staring at her, expressionless, which is… So much more intimidating than any show of strength.
“It is your responsibility to protect him and for it you must stay still inside the room.”
“No, it’s not! If you… If you want to force him to stay in bed, then have fun, but I’m not… I don’t claim to have this authority on him, and I don’t want to have it!”
Keith’s mouth is now slightly open, but otherwise, he hasn’t moved at all.
Chris, Chloe, Ciel and I are looking at Andi and Oscar in turn, speechless. Expressionless as he is, his body language is telling of his anger.
“It is not authority to protect the weak.”
“You’re so weird…”
She shuts her eyes forcefully.
“It’s not your decision to take…”
“Sometimes to protect someone you must be forceful. I am protecting Mina. You need…”
“SHUT UUUUUPP!”
Exceptionally, Oscar’s eyes widen. When did Isabella come in? Her yelling interrupted him, and yet standing a few metres away, not too far from the door, she couldn't possibly have been adressing him.
Everyone turns their heads to look towards her. She is facing Alice, breathing heavily.
What could possibly have happened between the two..?
“No, I won’t shut up! I’m being perfectly respectful in telling you that you need to be ratio-”
“I said. SHUT. UP.”
“N-”
But Alice doesn’t have time to reply. Punctuating her order, Isabella took a step backwards, and she violently launches her arm forwards—

SLAP!

Spoiler:

She slaps… No, Jan suddenly steps in and intercepts her arm.
I… What?
“S… Seriously..?”
Alice doesn’t move, her mouth slightly opened – shocked. Isabella waves her arm around, trying to break off Jan’s grip, but he hangs on tightly.
“Let me GOOOO!”
No one else moves. Except for Jan and Isabella, everyone became torpefied.
“Let… Go…”
She breathes heavily, furious – but he doesn’t back down.
“I won’t.”
His voice is both shaky and firm, and his grip only tightens, and somehow, this convinces Isabella to stop moving around.
“Why?” she asks…
“Why”, she asks.