CHAPTER 2 · 4 · Cause

I simply have to glance at Oscar again, expecting him to get on the move, but I’m surprised to find that he doesn’t move at all. The same as everyone else, he simply stares in Jan and Isabella’s direction.

“Why?” she asked.
Why won’t Jan let go of her, she asks? The answer is so simple, and yet I am dumbfounded. For a second, he doesn’t answer either.
Until he does.
“Why would you hit her?”
His voice had been slightly shaky before, but it seems he found it within himself to calm down—completely it would seem, as his question sounds sincere, not in the least facetious.
But if he doesn’t know… Who does? He was standing right behind Alice the entire time, wasn’t he? Whatever she said to anger Isabella, he must have heard it…
Because she would never do this without a proper reason, right?
“Because I’m mad.”
As if to mirror his attitude, she straightens her back and lifts her chin to face him properly, her voice lower, but her tone cold. Yet he doesn’t let go of her arm.
“That’s not enough.”
“Not enough? Is my pain not enough? Do you have any idea what I’m going through?!”
“How does that relate to Alice?”
“She mocks me!”
Alice takes a step backwards, but doesn’t come up with anything.
“How so?”
“For any of you…”
She lowers her head and stares at the floor, talking louder.
“For any of you to think they can tell me what to do… How to act… How to feel… Is to mock me.”
…
“It would be disrespectful for me to tell you how to feel.”
“Yeah?”
She raises her head again, her shoulders still sunken lower than the height at which Jan is holding her arm.
“And I can’t force you to agree with me either, but because of what I feel I can’t let you hit Alice.”
Rather than reply, Isabella stares at him in the eye.
“… And I can ask that you listen when I state my opinion… Which is that no matter how much pain you’re in, how mad you feel, how unfair life is to you... You can’t justify hurting others. Just because you are suffering, doesn’t mean people around you should feel the same.”
Unmoving, she doesn’t speak up immediately.
“What do you know about pain?” she asks, and her tone may seem unchanged, but to me it sounds as though something within her has calmed down.
“Not much, thankfully… But just like everyone here, I’m afraid to learn exactly how you feel from one moment to the other.”
“Ah, I see.”
She redresses her position.
“If that’s so, so long as the Killing Game continues, I won’t have to act on my anger, because more of you will understand why I feel the way I do.”
“Jeez, that’s gruesome…” Ciel whispers.
Oh, that’s right, I forgot—I’m not all alone in the world, watching some movie unfold.
I’m one of those she’s thinking about.
Jan has nothing to reply to that.
“Let go of me. I won’t hit her after all.”
Surprisingly, he immediately obeys.
“Thank you,” she says calmly, readjusting her sleeve. “I wish you could understand me, so that’s the only way.”
“I’d say we don’t need to understand you to respect you…”
“We’ll see about that, Jan.”
She turns around, crossing her arms, to walk towards an empty bench.
“Huh.”
Yeah, exactly. Huh. What the hell is that supposed to mean? I turn my head to glance at Ciel, and no surprise here, they’re grimacing just like I am.
“Huh...”

“I think I need to be alone for a moment.”

Alice certainly wasn’t as loud as the two previous people who’d been talking, but the gym still being entirely silent, her voice drew my attention to the same spot again.
It would seem that Akiro walked to her, but she takes a step away.
“Please.”
She inhales deeply, then runs out the door, rapidly opening and closing it so as not to let space for anyone to follow her.
Akiro looks at Jan, pointing at the door.
“But we can’t…”
“Let’s give her a minute or two, then we’ll get her if we need to.”
He sighs and turns his back to the entrance, crossing his arms.
“If you say so…”
He looks unsure, glancing at the door and Jan in turn, but ends up walking up to right next to him, whispering something.
…And as Oscar's voice echoes right next to me, I figure this scene is over. Isabella sits on her own, and when I turn to look, Oscar is walking towards my left… Where Andi is now sitting next to Keith.
“Considering it, please accept my apology.”
He stops in front of her. When did she move? It must have been when everyone was looking at Isabella and Jan… I wonder if she wanted to run away from her own confrontation.
“Really?” she asks, rather shyly.
“I have too let my feelings get the best of me. I should not give you orders. By doing it, I have instilled fear inside of you.”
“Uhm… Okay.”
“And you too,” he says, gesturing towards Keith with his head.
“Hm?”
“I made you feel like you should protect Andi from me, so you made her move to your side when I was not looking.”
“Wait, that’s what happened?”
“Uuuh… Nooo…”
“Ahem… Liar… Ahem…”
“The fuck? How long have you been here?!”
“The whole time, jacka- I mean, the whole time. Period.”
“I ain’t gonna slap you or something…”
Most likely refusing to let himself get distracted by the two girls, Oscar continues.
“Please know that I am overwhelmed because I want to protect everybody, but I don’t want to be mad at you.”
“Yeah, well, don’t make shit up.”
He crosses his arms, pouting slightly.
“What a child…”
“Kinda cute, though.”
Hey, if Ciel starts to ship Keith with Andi, they don’t get to say anything about my Jaliki… Alija… my polyamorous ship!
“I don’t.”
“Yeah, well, you have to be aware that you’re just that scary, man…”
She lets out a nervous chuckle. She knows better than anyone that Keith is lying.
“Okay.”
“Oh. That was easy, I guess.”
“In exchange please continue to communicate honestly with me. If you are going to leave the room anyway please let me be aware.”
“Yeah, I’m gonna get out anyway.”
“Okay.”
“So uh, what, it’s fine now?”
“It is not my preference but it is easier for me to protect you if I don’t think you are somewhere you are not.”
“Uuuh… Okaaay.”
“Well, while you’re at it, you should probably apologize to Akiro as well.”
“Why?”
“You almost mangled him with the door when you slammed it open. You’d have two “me” on your hands if Alice hadn’t snatched him out of the way,” he says with some… sort… of… grin.
Oscar turns to look towards the entrance once again.
“No doorstop?”
“Doorstop or nah, he woulda gotten squashed anway.”
“Oops.”
““Oops.” Haha.”
It didn’t seem like Oscar was going to walk up to Akiro anyway, but he is entirely kept from going when suddenly, someone calls to him.
“Oscar? Can I ask you something?”
Discrete as she is always… I wouldn’t say I forgot Chloe was there, but I didn’t expect her to say anything in this situation.
“Yes?”
“I’m sorry if it sounds brutal… But were you going to hit Andi?”
I can’t keep myself from gasping.
…
Was he?
“No.”
“Oh…”
She seems to wait for something else, but justifying himself anymore would probably be unlike Oscar.
“I see. Thank you.”
Playing with her hair, she takes a few steps backing away… Only to come back and sit next to me.
“Why did you ask that..?” I have to ask in turn.
“I’m just trying to understand the situation…”
“You mean, Oscar’s fight with Andi?”
Ciel leans their upper body forward to look at Chloe.
“Not just that… It was interrupted by what Isabella did, and then he apologized. But if someone did something wrong and should apologize, it’s her, not him.”
Taking a glance around, it would seem that the others have taken up different conversations, leaving Ciel, Chloe and I to ours.
“Uhm… Well, obviously Isabella’s in the wrong. Aaand… Oscar took that as an opportunity to reconsider his own attitude, I guess.”
“But he wasn’t going to hit her.”
“He wasn’t, but now he knows we can think he might!” I turn my head to Ciel, “right?”
“Yeah, right. He said he didn’t mean to scare anyone.”
“Oh, so because of what Isabella did, he had to be more careful about what we might think.”
“Yes..! Uh, I guess.”
“It sort of makes sense.”
“Just sort of?”
“It probably makes a lot of sense… I just think… I’m overwhelmed as well.”
“Oh, that totally makes sense.”
“Duh. I’m not even sure I get what the hell happened all at once.”
“I’m guessing… That’s what happens when so many different people are in the same place.”
“Hmm… Maybe.”
“Really? But we all got along when we ate together.”
“Aw… That’s true…”
Then what conclusion should we… Ah, my right ear tickles at the sound of someone opening the door. Guessing it’s Alice coming back, I take a look at the entrance…
But it’s just Ben.
No, no, don’t worry, I’ll admit that it’s not his fault I’m disappointed.
“Heeey, can anyone confirm to me that we missed something big? I have a bet to win.”
We?
“I never agreed to take the bet.”
Flipping her hair, walking through the door Benjamin is holding open for her, a cool voice like she knows she’s being watched, Lois follows him in.
Without looking, I try to poke at Ciel’s shoulder, but I think that’s their arm.
“What’s the quote again? The queen late blahblahblah…”
“You’re the one who came up with that quote!”
“Huh-huh.”
“You did not,” Isabella tells Ben, feigning indifference.
“Uuuuh, I’m p-pretty sure they did…”
“Oh wow, if Akiro ever “uuuuh”-d me like that, I’d probably cry,” Ciel comments.
“Well great, now I feel like I lost at something even though I never said I’d participate.”
“Good,” Chris whispers.
“So who do I have to ask for the tea without making everyone uncomfortable?”
Akiro gestures towards himself.
“Sweet.”
Ben walks towards him, and Lois follows without a comment. At the same time, someone gets up a few seats away from me.
“Okay, I’m sorry but I am NOT missing this opportunity to hear Akiro go on a fucking rant.”
That being said, she runs towards the newly formed group consisting of Akiro, Jan, Benjamin and Lois.
“What? Hey, I want to witness that too!”
Two hands grab my shoulders from either side, keeping me from getting up.
“No.”
“Nope.”
“Whyyy?”
“He’ll never rant if everyone comes to listen…”
Aw, man, that’s true. I guess the Akirant is that type of rare treasure.
“Plus Andi is already rude enough as it is…”
Who said I was polite?
Oh wait, me. I said that. I’m a good boy.
“Bummer.”
I only get to watch Ben and Lois’ reactions as he whispers… Jan doesn’t really react or say anything. Benjamin has his eyes wide open, and Lois frowns… Looking attentive, I’d say.
Oh, Andi’s smiling like an idiot, but I’m choosing to ignore her out of jealousy.

“Anyway, if that stupid bear decides to show up on time, he should be there in a minute,” Chris says, approaching us.
And all of a sudden, my stomach twists. No matter how much our conversations can relieve the stress and confusion off whatever just happened, Monokuma’s arrival and his control over our situation is inevitable… And whatever he has to tell us will only add on to everything we have to process already.

Ciel and Chloe let their hands slide off my shoulders in perfect sync… It’s actually rather impressive.
“Then what ?” she asks.
“Don’t ask me.”
“Don’t you know what you’ll do if he announces a new motive?”
“Hm…”
“Well, do you?”
This must be the second time ever I can’t really control my voice or intonation. I can tell that this came off a lot more aggressive than I intended it to.
“Obviously, I don’t.”
She lowers her head.
“I never know anything.”
“Aw… Well, if it can make you feel any better, I never know anything either.”
“That’s not true, Ciel… You know a lot of things.”
“I know that I don’t know shit. Socrates. Or Plato. Who knows.”
“Oh, you know that’s not how the quote went, Chris.”
Chloe shrugs and looks up at her interlocutor, forcing a smile.
“How do you know?”
“Aaaargh, you’re gonna give me a headache!”
I can already tell!
“I think I’d even rather go through the actual topic at hand.”
“Hm? Oh yeah, what I’ll do if Monokuma announces a new motive, right?”
“R-right…”
“Well… I’ve had many things to think about, so I can’t say I really settled…”
She crosses her arms.
“But I think I’ll make it a point to talk to everyone, about their relation to the motive, to the others, how they feel… make sure no one gets too scared or mad or sumthin’.”
“Oh, that’s good!”
“Yeah, I…. Figured you’d think that.”
“But… You’re not sure? You sounded like you were ready to fight… or something, just an hour ago…”
What she said was “this time I’ll be ready”, if I recall.
“Well, I know for sure I’m not gonna stay put, is what I mean!”
“But… If you’re doing that, then what should we…”
“WATCH OUT!”
“Huh? Again?”

We’re always interrupting each other, but not in a regular, friendly way. There’s always something big happening. If it’s anything like Chloe said, then maybe we shouldn’t all be inside the same room at the same time. First Oscar barged in to berate Andi, then Isabella tried to hit Alice, and now Ben’s screaming, so what?
For me to think that, time stops for a second. I turn my head ever so slowly, getting to watch the scene in slow motion.
Benjamin takes a step towards Akiro and, jumping on him, pushes him out of the way.

“H-Ha?!”

Jan’s eyes widen just in time for me to see them before he turns to look at the two people he’d been silently turning his back to, and he instinctively reaches to catch Akiro’s sleeve.
Why is that?
Facing in my direction, Andi and Lois remain. The first looks aghast, completely unmoving... and the latter looks to the left, then the right, and as Akiro almost falls over under Ben’s weight, she looks up and frowns.
That is when breaking the slow motion, she brings her chin downwards to stare me right in the eyes.

“Aaah!”
Time passes normally again, and I violently slap my mouth with my hand.
Suddenly, Benjamin’s tightly holding Akiro in his arms, and the two of them and Jan have backed a few steps…
and a loud THUD echoes through the gym.

“Wh-what are you d-d-doing?!”

Right in front of Lois, a white mass now sits on the floor…
“Kumakuma.”

“What the hell—are you guys okay?!”
Everything happened much faster than it felt. Having only just processed what happened, Ciel jumps up and runs to the middle of the gym, where no one has moved yet. Chris, Oscar and Mina follow them, and Keith, Chloe and I remain seated, speechless.
“Shit…”
Jan lets go of Akiro’s sleeve, looking at the white bear, motionless on the floor.
At the same time, Benjamin also lets go of Akiro, but continues to look at him, grimacing like he’s in pain.
“Why… Why…”
“Hey..!”
The small group reached them, and Ciel grabs Ben by the sleeve.
“I could tell something was going to fall over Akiro… And this time, I managed to do something about it.”
He turns his head to look at Kumakuma, and visibly tries to say something, but immediately shuts his mouth.
“But why..?”
Akiro looks around him like something else’s going to attack him, and I think he’s trembling.
“Why did you do that?”
Jan points to the bear… but it says nothing.
“I can feel the bear wants to kill you.”
“Akiro? What the fuck?”
“Because he hates him, duh.”
“Ha.. !”
Monokuma appeared right behind Lois.
“You.. !”
“Now everyone move your asses over there, ‘cause it’s time for a new motive.”

No choice, then… The two bears are too violent for me not to get up and walk towards them, and the rest of the group.
“T-take my hand…” I hear from behind me – then by the sound of their steps, I can tell that Chloe and Keith are following me.

“Is everyone there? Just tell me. I don’t care enough to count you.”
“No…”
“Shh!”
Having reached the middle of the gym, I place myself behind Oscar, Mina and Chris.
“Huh. “Huh” again.” Rarely does Jan sound so frustrated, but he doesn’t actually say anything.
“Hm? Would you like to hide something from me, Mr. Lyons? Or to tell me something that is untrue?”
“Shut up!”
Akiro takes a step to the right to stand next to his friend, rather than next to his saviour. Ben silently stares Monokuma down.
“Upupu… Uuupupuu… Mr. Lyons knows when to shut it better than I do. A-ny-ways…”
He spins around.
“What’s her name? Where is she? You know, the trekker girl.”
“I’ll go get her.”
“No, let me do it.”
“Hmm?”
He spins around to face us again – with Andi and Lois to each side of him, looking down to stare at him.
“But it’s her responsibility to show up on time.”
“She left by my fault, so I could go get her if you’d like.”
Isabella gets up from her bench and takes a few steps forwards, nothing but disdain written on her face.
“What? No!”
“Whazzat? You think I care about your teenage drama? BWAHAHA!”
Monokuma claps his stupid little paws.
“Alrighty! To the count of three, if Alice isn’t there, it’s execution time!”
“Fuck that!”
“And a one…”
Both Chris and Oscar suddenly begin running towards the door – but as the first reaches it, it abruptly opens.
“And a two… Aw.”
“Aliiice!”
Well, she doesn’t slam the door open or anything, but Alice barges in rather suddenly.
“I hope I’m not la…”
Oscar completely stopped midway, and doesn’t move, and Chris takes a step forward to grab Alice and hug her.
“Oof..!”
“You dumb bitch…”
“Wh-what?”
“Well, whatever. I didn’t really want to kill her anyway. See, she could be useful in the future, just like any other Ultimate.”
Jan sighs loudly. He’s probably relieved Alice made it here in time—hell, what am I thinking? So am I! It’s just… Again, it just happened so fast. Chris and Oscar immediately started gunning it for the door, but I feel like… I didn’t have the time to fully process it, but as soon as Monokuma started to count, I assumed it was too late for her.
And for that reason, my heart feels heavy inside my chest.
“That’s just unreasonable!”
“Hm?”
“If that’s the case, why would you let your… plush bear hurt Akiro?! That, that doesn’t make sense…”
“Upupu… I guess that’s right.”
Monokuma inhales deeply, then jumps forward exaggeratedly high to land right in front of Kumakuma… which must have been less than half a metre away.
“Talking of Kumakuma, I’m not the one who’s going to announce the motive.”
As he says that, the white bear, still sat on the floor, instantly starts to turn its head to look at each of us in turn.
“Eugh… What a creepy piece of crap…”
“It moves…” Oscar mumbles.
He hadn’t moved, but comes back to stand next to me. Chris led Alice next to Andi…
Well, I sort of feel safer near the Ultimate Bodyguard.
“Is that thing going to say it?”
Ah, right, shouldn’t Ciel come here too? It looks like they’re still holding Ben by the sleeve.
“That’s right! I’m very proud to say he has found the voice he likes! This means that not only Kumakuma will announce the motive, he will introduce himself as well.”
Monokuma grabs the thing’s… “chin” to stare it right in the eyes.
“Isn’t that right?”
“Right.”
“No!”
Ignoring Isabella’s despaired reaction, the small white bear jumps up to stand on its two… uh, paws.
It turns around to face my direction, and points forwards.
“I would toootally love it if you could all stand right there and face me! If you dooon’t, I’m soooooo likely to get mad.”
“Huh?!”
Not only does the bear borrow Emily’s voice, but her speech pattern and intonation as well. It’s like… It’s like Emily’s talking to us. And out of everyone here, I, the Ultimate Voice Actor, should be the least shocked.
But I am.
“You… You can’t do that!”
“Agreed! Change your voice this instant!”
Mina, who’d been mostly silent today, takes a step forward, but Oscar grabs her by the shoulder and forces her to stand in front of him.
“Hey!”
“Please don’t lack respect for our lost friend.”
“Okay, but like… I don’t care! And if you don’t do what I say, I’ll kill you for reals, sooooo…”
The white bear displays no emotions, but its voice does.
Emily’s emotions.
I’m going to throw up.
“Aaah..! Please, I don’t want to hear this anymore!”
“Girls, let’s… let’s do what it says.”
Looking sick, but probably not as much as I do, Andi gets around Monokuma and Kumakuma to reach our side.
Without a word, Lois does the same.
“This can’t be real…”
“I want to do something about it..!”
“Upupu… Then why don’t you do as he says? We’ll waste less time listening to him this way.”
“Thanks for the advice, jackass…”
She sighs and, dejectedly, changes sides as well. Alice follows her, but walks past her to get in between Akiro and Jan – the first of which immediately grabs her hand tightly.
“N-nooo..! You have to do something about it..!”
Ah, the despair in Isabella’s voice… The tears that fail to come out… I’m feeling so, so sick.
“But Bellaaaaa~”
Exceptionally, the white bear turns its head to stare at her.
“I really want you to come watch me, you know?”
“Don’t… Don’t look at me!”
“Isabella, just do as it says..! It, it’ll be over soon, I promise…”
No. No, it won’t. This’ll last forever. There is no way I can get through this…
But Isabella lets out a sob and rushes behind us all, and Kumakuma follows her movement with its automated head.
“Ah, that’s so cool, because I was really worried you guys wouldn’t accept me the way I am. You know… I spent so much time questioning who I wanted to be…”
“There’s no reason for you to want to be Emily.”
“Hmm… But you know, I thought you guys would pay more attention to me if I borrowed the last victim’s voice.”
“Yeah, that’s for fucking sure!
“Aaaah, see? I knew I’d turn out to be right! This mean you guys will listen to my introduction, right? Right?”
“Make it short.”
Shut up… I want this to stop…
“Oooh, Kumakuma’s so glad you want to listen to him!”
“Stop it… Please…”
“Sooo, like I was saying, my name is Kumakuma! We already met the other day, at the trial thingy, when I imitated Piano guy’s voice to insult you guys. That was so funny, right?”
No one responds.
“It totally was! Anyways, I’m this Killing’s Game actual mascot, because it’s totes time for Monokuma to retire. Like, do you guys have ANY idea how long he’s been around?”
“Aaaah… So, so long…”
“So yeah! I’m the headmaster now! And like, Monokuma just created me, but he didn’t know what voice to create for me, because his was created so long ago and like, what does he know about mascots, am I right? So I know how to speak, but I only know how to imitate other people’s voice.”
“… No, please, just, just imitate my voice. Not hers.”
I don’t know why or how this came out. My brain didn’t have time to process it… One of these things, again. However I managed to talk, I just want to get out of this nightmare… However I can.
“Whaaat? But that’d be so BORING! Like, why would I imitate the voice… of the Voice Actor guy… Oh, oh, how about you imitate the Fashionista girl too, so we can… Or, or, can you do the killer’s voice? It’s a bit complicated for a robot like me, but we could do something awesome!”
“W-what? No!”
No, no, no—the world really starts to spin this time around. Someone grabs me by the shoulder before I can fall. I think it’s Oscar.
“Aww, that’s a total shame. You suck. Anywaaays…”
The bear… giggles. It giggles!
“MY Papa wants me to announce something to you… This motive thingy. Oh yeah, he’ll be guiding me for now, but next chapter, I’ll replace him for reals.”
“There are no chapters…”
“Upupu, what do you know? Anyway, I thought you kids would miss me if I left so soon, so worry not, for your favourite bear mascot always lies within the shadows!”
“It’s not like I have a real personality or whatever, so I don’t care.”
“Ooh, but poor child, that’s what makes you so special. Folks love a bland protagonist!”
“Th-this thing isn’t, isn’t the p-p-protagonist…”
“Whatcha say? I couldn’t hear with all that stupid stuttering of yours.”
“Ha…”
“Shut it and get to the point already!”
“Man, I guess you guys just don’t want to spend any time with me. Whatever, I’ll say it then… Haaa…”
It giggles again.
“I’ll help you guys start an entirely new life! And I don’t just mean the kinda new life I’m giving the Fashionista girl by using her voice even now.”
“A new life..?”
“Ah, I see you’re interested!”
“N-no!”
“It doesn’t matter to me, though. Sooo… It’s so simple, you’ll see! If one of you guys kills, and then wins the class trial, I’ll offer him an entirely new life. Like, you’ll start from the beginning again!”
“H-huh?”
“You’ll get a new identity, a new home, a new job, and you’ll never have to be worried about, you know, the murder. But you won’t have to be worried about your previous life either! You can do whatever you want, people don’t even have to know about your secret talent. Oh yeah, I said secret, because now it’s a secret! I mean, if you killed and got away with it.”
“Do you really think that’s enough to get any of us to kill someone?!”
“Hmm…”
The bear turns its head to look at Monokuma.
“Wasn’t that motive mostly meant for that Soldier guy? Like, he was a wanted criminal you know.”
“Yeah, well, who would think a trained killer couldn’t get through one chapter without going for a crime of passion or whatever?”
“Ugh…”
“But these soldiers, they’re all such idiots. Who would lead their life only to kill and hurt others? Oh wait… Upupu.”
“Hihi…”
Stop… I want to pretend Emily and Noah don’t exist, they never existed. N-not me… Them. I want this to stop…
Without thinking about it, I grab Oscar’s arm and hug it, tightly shutting my eyes.
“What I mean is I had that possibility in mind anyway. Don’t worry, little one… Upupu. For this offer is one many would dream of.”
“Oooh, that’s good then!”
I figure it turns its head back towards us, but I don’t know for sure, because I’m not looking anymore.
“So yeah, that’s it! Kill whoever you want, then you’ll just have to win the trial and there.. ! No worries ever again! No one will find you or know it’s you, we’ll make sure of that. New face, new life, all of that. How’s that sound?”
No one responds.
“Don’t by shyyy… Oh yeah, and take your time if you’d like, I don’t care. But you know, someone might take me up on that offer before you do if you don’t act quick, soooo… You know.”
“Right, and surely you won’t end up introducing a time limit to force us to either kill or die this time.”
“What now? No, I swear. This is my practice chapter, so if you take your time, it’ll be easier for me… B-but, I don’t mean that you should or anything! Like, seriously, just do what you feel like, but be serious about it, because you don’t want the others to catch you all easily like they did the Fashionista’s killer.”
“Okay, that’s enough! That’s all the motive, right? So you can shut the fuck up now.”
“Aww… I guess so… But I thought you missed your friend…”
“Yes, and we hate you! If you want to be anything like Emily, be nice and respect our wish to not hear your stupid impression.”
“Aw, that’s not funny at all. Well theeen…”
It marks a pause.
“That’s it, I guess. Goodbyyyyye!”
As I can hear its voice fade away, I guess that it jumped and disappeared, and instantly open my eyes.
Right. It’s gone.
“Is it better?”
I lift my chin to meet Oscar’s eyes. Oh. Right. I’m holding his arm right now.
“Uuuh, yes, yes!” I say, hurriedly letting go and taking a step backwards.
“Good.”
All of a sudden, it’s like all my dizziness fades away. I guess that’s how it feels when someone you hate more than anything in the world leaves the room.
“So… That was the motive? It feels so unreal…”
“Yeah, like, we just have to not listen, right?”
“S-since there’s no time limit… W-we could just, you know, ignore it…”
“Yeah, I know that’s what I’m gonna do.”
“Well, just in case, do you have a feeling someone might be feeling murderous, Oscar?”
“…No.”
That being said, he turns around to look behind him.
“Not even you, I think.”
He looks at Isabella.
Oh, right, poor Isabella! She’s the one who…
“Hmm…”
Now that I get to think about it… Should I really worry about her? If anything, she’s been acting rather antagonistic since Emily’s death…
“You’re right…”
Ah, right.
Hearing her voice brings me back down to earth. Her worst crime was to unfairly try to slap someone. If I’m silly enough to try and see Noah in a positive light, there’s no way I can allow myself to hate Isabella – and right now, I can feel her pain.
Resonating inside me.
“I don’t wish for anyone to die… And no matter the motive, I will never find the strength to…”
She punctuates her line with a loud sob, but doesn’t cry. I figure she must be fresh out of tears.
“I believe it. Now, you don’t want to kill.”
She sobs again – twice.
“Surely you must understand… my pain…”
“Yes, of course.”
I impulsively take a step towards her.
“What Kumakuma did is really heavy, so you probably need time to process it… Right?”
“So… You-you’re gonna pick her side?”
“Huh?”
Without paying attention to Isabella’s reaction, I turn back around right away to face Akiro. Clenching Alice’s hand, he looks… Frustrated.
Is it with me?
“C-come on Akiro, this isn’t about picking sides.”
His cheeks become red, as they often do.
“E-even though she’s in pain, you can’t just… Forgive her i-immediately…”
“I’m not..!”
Forgive? Did I forgive her? I guess I did, but… Is that bad?
I take a glance at her – since the middle of Kumakuma’s speech, she’s been kneeling to the floor, hunched over, and she still hasn’t moved, visibly breathing with difficulty.
“It’s not up to you or Neo to forgive her.”
“A-Ah?”
Akiro is easily destabilized by Mina’s interjection, not that he seemed overly confident to begin with.
“You’re entitled to your opinion, but neither of you have any moral obligation towards the situation... It’s up to Alice to forgive her or not.”
“R-right.”
“B-b-but, as Alice’s friends, we can’t just… Just…”
“But what if Neo thinks of himself as Isabella’s friend?”
Ha..! Why would Keith talk about me?
I turn my head to the left, and find that he’s still struggling to stand up, almost leaning over Chloe, who looks uncomfortable but doesn’t complain. Well, both look uncomfortable, and it looks like Keith is lightly shaking… But he continues.
“If that’s the case, just like you feel entitled to defend Alice, he probably feels entitled to support her, especially in face of confusion…”
“Oh…”
“Is that what led me to think I should try to help her even though…”
“Hmm…”
… I think of everyone here as my friends, don’t I? Everyone…
Keith suddenly turns his head away.
“But you don’t have to listen to me, I guess.”
Akiro sighs.
“Okay… I’m s-s-sorry.”
He lowers his chin, vaguely looking at the floor, his eyebrows arched in such a way that he looks so, so sad.
“I-It’s okay, you don’t have to make that face!”
I laugh nervously. This isn’t funny, but he looks sincerely sad, and I… I forgive him, and Isabella, and everyone for that matter—we’re all in so much pain, and some of us have to be so scared…
I turn around to look at Isabella.
“I… I don’t really know what to think, but I do understand what you’re going through right now..!”
At least I feel like I do.
She shakes her head, but doesn’t say anything.
“Don’t you think you might… Maybe need some time alone, Isabella?”
“Maybe…” she whispers.
“Ah, in that case, I’ll be leaving as well.”
Lois gladly – not that she’s smiling or anything, but she doesn’t hesitate is what I mean – starts to head towards the entrance, but someone rushes in front of her and places their hand on the door to keep it shut.
“No, hold on—please wait.”
Jan stayed silent throughout Kumakuma’s speech, didn’t he..? He didn’t even say anything about Alice, or Isabella. Knowing that he doesn’t like to impose, this wasn’t too surprising, but this right now is.
“What?”
“Before anyone leaves…”
He raises his voice, most likely to make sure everyone pays attention to him.
“I would like to make some sort of announcement. I know the timing is a little awkward, but… Please listen to me for an instant.”
“R-really?”
Taking a glance around, it seems that everyone is looking in his direction. He effectively caught our attention.
“Give me a break…”
“Whatever. Go on.”
“None of these responses are very friendly, but I don’t know what to say…”
“Alright, I’ll make it quick, I’m very sorry. First of all, I still plan on making some food for everyone, so don’t hesitate to come by the kitchen within the hour if you’re hungry, but that’s not what this is about.”
He clears his throat. I guess it must be lunchtime… I don’t feel very hungry,  but I wouldn’t mind going back to the dining room now, if there’s promise that someone will hang out with me.
Yeah, I feel pretty lonely right now, for some reason…
That being said, Jan takes a deep breath, then smiles lightly. Oh, it’s that smile. Something about it screams “I’m just polite”, but still, somehow, it makes me feel comfortable… If that makes sense.
“I’m guessing some of you noticed that big black case on top of the fridge… Well, that’s where the knives will be from now on.”
… Oh! That’s what Chris was talking about! So Jan… When he claimed to be cleaning the kitchen, that’s what he was doing.
“All the knives?”
He shakes his head.
“Only the kitchen knives. I know this may seem like an odd and useless decision, however, I believe that if anything were to happen… And I mean anything, the knowledge that the kitchen knives were sealed in might come in handy.  I’m sorry if it seems confusing, but the knowledge that they couldn’t possibly have been used, so long as it’s shared with everyone here, should aid our reasoning.”
“If someone uses a blade, it will not come from the kitchen.”
“Correct. It also makes blades less readily available if someone were to try to harm someone else in the spur of the moment.”
“Huh, that’s some interesting reasoning.”
“So, is the case locked forever?”
Jan nods and reaches for his pocket. He takes out a very small key.
“This is the only key. As proof, you will notice that there are other similar cases in the storage room, each with only one key. I’ll allow you to search me and my room if you’d like.”
“I’ll take that the knowledge that only you are supposed to have the key will also help us if anything happens.”
“Well, see… Someone could still steal the key if I were to keep it. That is why I’ve decided…”
He eyes the key inside his hand, then glances over everyone.
“Ahem, I swear I’ll be done then. This is enough attention for about… a week.”
I guess everyone needs attention, but I’m not surprised Jan feels like he’s had enough today… Not that I’m sure what he’s getting at.
“The reason I want everyone to be there… Is that I want everyone to witness that I got rid of the key. This way, we’ll all share the same knowledge, and even just knowing that might help us eventually.”
“What are you gonna do with it?”
“… I’ll swallow it.”
“What.”
“Whaaaa-?”
“Bold.”
“That’s a little dangerous.”
Benjamin grimaces. He hasn’t said a word in a while either, but for the psychic to say something in this instance, I feel like maybe we should stop Jan.
“I made sure to pick the case with the smallest key, so it should be alright. This is the most efficient way to guarantee the key’s gone.”
“UuuuUUUh, if, if Ben says you shouldn’t, I think, I think…”
“Y-yeah!”
“…It’s fine. Seriously, I don’t want you to worry about it. Just watch me get rid of the key forever, to ensure the case can’t be opened normally.”
I take another glance at Ben – still grimacing. Oh-oh.
But ignoring our reticence, Jan places the key on his tongue… and swallows it.

… I hold my breath.
“Eugh..!”

He gags.
“Jaaan!”
Akiro lets go of Alice’s hand to run towards his friend, but she follows him immediately.
Jan coughs again, and again, hitting his own chest, and my heart… kind of… stops beating.
“Spit it out!”
“Y-yes, get it out, it’s okay..!”
He coughs again… Then breathes in… Coughs again… Then stops.
“…Well, that was a bit painful, but it went through.”
“You idiot!”
Akiro slaps him behind the head. Ouch.
But my heart starts beating again.
I sigh. It was just a false alarm…
“Why… Just why…”
Alice facepalms and shakes her head.
“I can’t help but feel a little bit attacked.”
“Seriously, what kind of bullshi- why didn’t you tell m- aaaaaah, I hate you so much!”
Holding him by the shoulders, he shakes him as he talks, then turns around and crosses his arms.
“Bakabakabakabakabakabaka…”
…I don’t know what that means, but I guess that now that this is done, we can all breathe again.
“I think I understand your reasoning, but still, you don’t have to put yourself in danger for our safety… or something…”
“That being said, that was an efficient way to ensure we don’t forget what you did with it.”
Lois was the person closest to Jan, but not one to try and run to his rescue.
“Th-thanks.”
Jan’s voice is a little hoarse, and he places his hand in front of his mouth, obviously trying not to cough.
“… I didn’t mean to worry anyone, but it’s fine now. No one can access the kitchen knives anymore, that is all I would like you to know.”
“Well, thanks for your input. I’ll know to keep that clue in mind.”
“I’m gonna cry…”
“Don’t…”
“I’ll never forgive you if you made Akiro cry, you know.”
“… Well, that’s understandable.”
That being said, he takes a few steps to the side, leaving an opening to access the door.
“Like I said, you can mostly forget about me now.”
“Sure won’t.”
Lois walks out, and as she does, I hear Isabella getting up behind me, ready to do the same.
“Well, what am I supposed to do now?”
Benjamin shrugs, and simultaneously sighs. He looks at Lois as she leaves, but doesn’t follow her.
“Oscar, let’s chat in private. We’ll get some food afterwards.”
“Roger.”
“Bro, don’t take orders from a midget…”
Ignoring Andi, the two head towards the exist, walking by Jan, Akiro and Alice.
Her two hands joined, Alice seems to be praying. Probably for Jan’s sake. I don’t know if she really is religious, though…
“Well, what are you gonna do?” Ciel asks Ben.
“Scream into a pillow?”
“Ah. Why not…”
I walk towards the two, hoping at least one of them will stay with me rather than vent their frustrations on their own.
Andi abruptly runs out on her own. Chloe offers to accompany Keith to his room or the dining room. After a few comments, Alice dragging a seething Akiro, the Ultimate Trio take their leave as well. Chris mumbles something to herself, and leaves on her own too. This only leaves us, with Ciel still holding Ben by the sleeve.
“…Worried?”
“I, uh…”
It seems they hadn’t noticed they were still hanging on to him until now, as they suddenly let go.
“You just… saved Akiro’s life, I guess.”
“Yeah. He’ll probably thank me at some later time when he’s calmed down.”
“Do you see it?”
“Well, I feel like it’s a likely outcome.”
Right. I can’t say I forgot about it, but that was already at the back of my mind. Kumakuma’s entrance was… literaly an attempted murder. This is much worse than him impersonating Emily, but… Somehow, that hit harder.
I sigh.
“Are you okay, Neo?”
“Yeah… I feel like I might get a fever from everything going through my head all at once, though.”
“I get it… I’m having a hard time sorting everything out too.”
“I’m mostly worried.”
“Why?”
“Well, I know what a trained intuition is like… So I know it’s not all that accurate. I don’t have that much reason to believe Oscar’s claim… About no one wanting to kill.”
“Ugh...”
That’s too dark, even coming from someone who’s usually demotivated.
“Hm… Well, obviously, it’s just a feeling… Plus he insisted he meant “now”, so it might change when everyone processes… everything.”
“Everything? Do you think today’s events… May have an impact on someone’s decision..?”
“Don’t… Make me say that… It’s just that everything feels unstable, you know.”
“Yeah, that’s it.”
Benjamin nods, staring into emptiness.
“Well, whatever. I’ll do the screaming into a pillow thingy, then go back to work.”
“Back to work?”
“Yeah. I’m learning some pretty interesting things from the library.”
He marks a pause, then smirks.
“And as this story’s protagonist...”
He spins around and imitates an evil laugh.
“I will discover the mastermind through their motives and methods, and put an end to the killings on my own!”
…
No response from either of us.
“You’re not the protagonist.” I think.
“Well, I might ask for your help if it makes things easier. I’d rather not waste too much time though, so… See ya.”
He spins around again, this time taking his leave.