CHAPTER 3 · 3 · Ex friends

No words
There are no words for what I just saw.
None that make sense.
“Bravo! BRA-VO!”
Thump-thump-thump-thump-thump. Monokuma claps his paws so violently they make a muffled sound this time.
“Whenever I finish watching a new movie, I wonder how large its fandom will be.”
“Hmm… I guess it depends on how much room it leaves for discussion. I wouldn’t say that’s the case here…”
“Yeah. I’m even tempted to answer the fans’ most burning questions!”
“Ohoho! Like what?”
“They’re probably wondering “when did she get her new last name”, right? I’m sure someone has already written a meta post exploring the possibility that she got married at some point during her new life. But I have the answer, and it’s… she liked how it sounded. She picked a name at random, because she was anonymous and didn’t want to be too sus.”
“Interesting. See, the post I was thinking of writing was about her drug abuse. She kinda glossed over it, but I’d like to remind my followers that drug abuse is dangerous and could cause irreparable brain damage.”
“Like partial or complete memory loss.”
“Yeah. What a loser problem to have, right?”
“Absolutely. Only a loser would lose their memories.”
“It’s enough.”
“What? Who spoke?”
“Me.”
“This guy can talk?”
“Yes. His thing is that he doesn’t have feelings.”
“I have feelings. We all have feelings. That is why I need you to stop.”
“Stop what?”
“Oh, I think he means that we’re a little too chatty.”
“Oh man, are we? That’s so out of character.”
“Don’t worry, my child. I forgive you. After all, who wouldn’t feel a little bit hyper after watching such an action-packed movie?”
“I said stop. Is this the motive?”
Monokuma finally takes a break to tilt his head to the right.
“Well, of course it is. Don’t tell me you forgot!”
He stomps his… foot or whatever on the floor.
“The only reason I showed you this was to inform you that if you don’t kill someone in 3 DAYS, I will show everyone your story just like that! Get it now?”
“Yes. Can we leave?”
“…Oh, that. Yeah, sure. Actually, I guess we could…”
Monokuma looks next to him, but gets confused and turns around.
“God damn it, when did he leave? The little bastard!”
He runs out. If I’m seeing this right… Kumakuma is already gone.
Am I, though?
Am I seeing anything right?
“…Good.”
“What pricks…”
I can only vaguely look in Mina’s direction. I think she looks all around her.
“Is everyone alright? It’s okay to be upset.”
“Sure…”
“I’m… I’m fine.”
“Me too.”
I don’t know exactly what pushed me to respond. My voice comes out a little weird, but hearing it helps me snap out of shock somewhat.
“What about you… Keith..?”
I look in Chloe’s direction at first, then in the direction she’s looking, which would be Keith’s. He hasn’t moved since the last time I looked at him… Gripping the seat in front of him, he’s still staring at the screen.
He doesn’t reply immediately.
When he does, his voice sounds the same kind of weird mine did.
“What does this have to do with me?”
“…What do you mean by that?”
Once again, he leaves a couple seconds of silence before answering.
“Just don’t pay attention to me. Don’t even think about me. You won’t have to worry about it.”
…This time, as soon as he finishes talking, he turns around and rushes out of the room.
After a few steps, his body jerks weirdly – after which he limps somewhat, though in impressively large strides, in an attempt to walk fast.
Mina doesn’t seem to click immediately.
“Do you think I can let you say something like that and then leave?!”
She ends up yelling, though, before deciding to run after him.
Oscar follows her…
And for some godforsaken reason…
So do I.

I didn’t think anything as I ran. It’s only when we come to a sudden stop outside the main building that I realise I don’t know what was going through my head.
Keith ran to the side of the building and sat on the ground, against the wall.
“What do you want?”
His breath is short. It can’t possibly be due to this short run outside, can it?
Mina sits next to him, before sighing.
“…For you to be okay, what do you think?”
“That almost sounds like something you’d say if you were my friend.”
He brings his knees close to his face, wrapping his arms around them.
“Feel free to come up with theories in your own time.”
“Hm.”
I can’t trust Mina or Keith to say anything properly, can I..?
That’s what I immediately feel.
“What are you even doing?”
That’s what I ask.
Once again, he doesn’t respond immediately.
“…I don’t know.”
When he does, his voice is perfectly flat, muffled by his knees in front of his face.
Mina sighs once again.
“Yeah, that’s what I thought.”
“And? What now?”
I can feel my cheeks getting warm. I’m unsure who exactly I’m asking this to.
Who, or what.
“…Well, nothing.”
His voice stayed flat, but right as he finishes talking, he lets out a hiccup.
Then another one, that sounds more like a sob – and then he cries.
Again, Keith cries.
And I…
I feel bad for him.
“Yeah, me too.”
“Hm?”
I jumped, but I quickly realise that I’m an idiot. She was probably reacting to Keith’s crying… not reading my thoughts.
“This feels like too much, right?”
“…Yeah.”
At this point, someone grabs my hand. I turn to find that Ciel has also followed us.
They look at me, and we say nothing.
“As much as they made it look random… I can’t help but think that they’d planned this ahead of time. That they knew how overwhelming Andi’s story was.”
“How long ahead?”
Oscar stands not too far, his back turned to us.
“…It would certainly have had a different effect if she’d still been alive.”
…
Keith continues to cry, and we say nothing for a few minutes.
A few minutes of false silence… With Keith desperately trying to calm himself down expressing how we all feel.
When his sobs become fewer and farther between, he’s the one to break it.
“Well, now that you know that I’m just overwhelmed… and that’s it… what do you want from me?”
Mina looks at him for a few seconds.
“I was interested in what you thought.”
“About…”
She looks away, twirling one of her pigtails around her index finger.
“The very reason we’re overwhelmed is… that we’ve much to think about, isn’t it?”
He sniffles.
Realising that I’m going to listen to this conversation… I stretch my shoulders a little bit, moving my feet to stand in a more comfortable position.
Ciel looks at me, still silent, and we don’t let go of each other’s hands.
“Hm.”
“You feel the same, right? And since you knew Andi better than I did… I was wondering if you could help me understand some things.”
I can’t tell whether or not she’s acting out of character.
“Right away…”
She looks straight into their eyes.
“Maybe I’m a fast thinker. Either way, I know I’ll lose sleep over it.”
“Hmm…”
“Besides...”
She turns to Keith again.
“You actually want to talk about it, don’t you?”
He’s the one to look away this time.
“Somewhat. Maybe.”
He marks a pause – I don’t think I’ll get involved. I doubt Ciel wants to any more.
But we stay here…
“What do you want to know?”
“I already noticed that she displayed some signs of a mental disorder while she was with us… I know you did too.”
He doesn’t reply.
“But even after watching this video about her life… I still can’t tell what it was.”
“And? Do you think I know?”
He seems to be calming down.
“I know. Not even a therapist could necessarily tell only from external observations, but we had a look into her mind, and you’re a talented student in psychology. I know you have some insight.”
“Am I? Do I?”
“Yes.”
He sighs.
“Right.”
I feel like… I knew this to be Mina’s theory.
“It’s just an hypothesis, though. I’m just a student getting overly excited about his conclusions.”
“But they’re far from devoid of interest to someone who can’t even draw one.”
“I get it.”
He shakes his head.
“From what we saw… There are two potential diagnoses. She portrayed behaviours that could belong to some sort of dissociative disorder… but from watching… that… I would infer that she had a bipolar disorder.”
“So... Something different from what you thought when you were with her?”
He shakes his head.
“No. Those were already my two theories. With this new knowledge, though…”
This looks painful to say.
I’ll bet.
“I’m leaning more towards a bipolar disorder. She fits the bill quite well…”
He marks another pause.
“Is that all?”
“On top of that, there’s the impact of PTSD… Which explains a few of her behaviours…”
“…And that’s not even mentioning the potential brain damage following a drug overdose.”
“Correct...”
“So the fact that she had a trigger word… And I was told that she’d get nightmares at night.”
After sighing, he nods.
“And since that would be my specialty… I was already under the impression that she had sexual trauma.”
Ciel squeezes my hand a little harder.
“But I didn’t know what it was…”
“I guess you couldn’t exactly talk to her about it.”
“…As much as I felt awkward talking to her, I did try to swiftly inquire about her nightmares, potential fears, but she’d give me nothing at all.”
He swallows his spit loudly, starting to speak faster and faster.
“I thought about traumatic amnesia… But I couldn’t possibly have guessed… that.”
Mina nods before looking up at the sky.
The “sky”.
“I don’t think anyone could have. You’d have to be in a horrible place… to even consider doing something like this.”
“I know.”
He whispers to himself.
“I know.”
“You must have been confused.”
“About…”
“Despite her having obviously been sexually assaulted, she would share your room, and even your bed. That’s probably why you asked at all.”
“Gh…”
He shivers, though I don’t think it’s cold.
“I considered the possibility that she’d been assaulted by a woman… Or a member of her family… But I had no proof either way…”
“Why are we talking about this?”
“Hm?”
“It’s… It’s horrible… We can’t casually discuss these things…”
“But we can’t ignore them either. I think it’s better to get it out of the way immediately. Talk it through, as well.”
“How could you possibly talk through… what happened to her? What is there to talk through?”
“Maybe…”
I don’t know what possessed me to state my thoughts out loud.
“Some of us need more time to think it through.”
Mina flinches.
“But it’s not our case...”
“Still, we’re here, and…”
They sigh, letting go of my hand.
“Even though I know... you mean well… for the sake of being appropriate, at least...”
“I don’t know…”
She looks down at the grass underneath her.
“We’re the ones left alive. We’re the ones who had to see this, all at once.”
After hesitating for a few seconds, she looks up in Oscar’s direction.
He doesn’t turn around.
“Hey, Oscar…”
…
“I think it’s too much.”
She lowers her head.
This must have been it for her… An awkward silence ensues.
I wouldn’t know how to fix it.
I never know anything at all.
It lasts until Keith suddenly decides to slowly stand up.
“No matter what it is…” he says.
He swallows his spit.
“Clearly Andi is an interesting person…”
Taking a few steps to distance himself from us, he lets out yet another sigh.
“So I would love to talk about her, anytime.”
“R-really?”
When he looks at me, a shiver goes down my spine.
I don’t know why.
“Her memory lives on with us, doesn’t it?”
…
“…Either way, I, a sexologist, am the right person to talk to about sexual trauma. As a victim… but as a witness as well. I won’t let you play a game of “what mental illness did she have?” but I’ll talk about our respective feelings about what we saw.”
Again, I don’t know what to say.
“As a person, though… I also believe that we need time to grieve.”
He steps away farther, towards the dormitory.
“That’s why I’m saying, Mina and I can talk about it another time. On our own terms.”
“Yes, that’s… that’s perfectly fine.”
“And if you’re thinking about following me like you just did… After watching this…”
He’d been talking with his back turned to us, but looks at us one last time.
“After seeing how much this girl fought to be able to carry on, I’m not going to be a coward now.”
On these words, he leaves.
“…I knew I shouldn’t worry about him.”
“Huh?”
“Just a feeling. Anyway…”
She stands up too.
“I’m sure some of you may disagree, but I’m more worried about the living than the dead. For that reason, if anyone feels uncomfortable, or has nightmares, or anything… I’d rather you talk about it than keep it to yourself from fear of not being able to compare to her.”
…

...

…
We truly had nothing left to say. Ciel and I made our way to the dormitory while Oscar and Mina went back inside the building.
I’d worry about everyone who stayed inside, but what I just saw keeps replaying in my head, out of order, and I don’t understand anything that I think.
Images of Andi, images of things happening to her, her voice, her voice from when she was with us, her tears, her laugh…
Ciel tried to say something, but they couldn’t. We told each other good night and went inside our respective rooms.
As I lie down, I wonder…
“Why do I care so much?”
There’s no question that I do.
Somehow, I feel like I was manipulated…
But when did it start?

With too much to think about unrelated to my own self, I start to drowse away to sleep.
Half asleep, I accidentally overhear someone talking behind my door…
“It was never about Emily.”
…
“It was everyone else.”

“Pff… Good morning… Y’know. Riiiiise and shiiiine! Be your best self today! I know that’s not much, but still.”
This isn’t the first time that voice tries to wake me up.

DAILY LIFE

My head feels weirdly empty this morning.
Mandatory self-deprecating joke… … emptier than usual.
Honestly, I don’t even know what to feel. I’m a little worried that I’m this way.
Still, I’m rather eager to get up, shower and change. I didn’t even take my shoes off before falling asleep, which is a little gross, but I don’t… care?
When that’s said and done, I leave my bedroom and head to the dining room right away.

I didn’t run into anyone on my way there, and weirdly enough, the dining room is empty as well, though a diversity of breakfast items is laid out on the table.
That’s curious… I think, before hearing muffled voices coming from the kitchen.
Phew. I go there right away.
“I can’t believe you carry these around with you…”
“Well, they come in handy, don’t they?”
What I initially believe to be Jan softly holding Alice’s hand in his turns out to be him applying Band-Aids on her fingers.
“I’m just concerned about the little dinosaurs.”
“They’re to comfort little bab-”
Akiro, throwing away the remains of a broken plate, looks up and notices me, interrupting himself. His face immediately turns red.
“Uuuuh…”
“…Hi?”
I chuckle nervously. It looks like I walked right into a truly dramatic scene.
“Oooh, hi Neo. Be careful where you step, I made an oopsie.”
“There…”
Jan removes his hands, and she looks at her fingers.
I wouldn’t be too concerned about the dinosaurs if they weren’t black and white. What kind of children’s Band-Aids are black and white?
“Dropped a plate, I’m guessing…”
She nods.
“Yep… And I’m not usually clumsy, so I’m pretty upset about it.”
After looking at me, she looks at Jan again to show him a large smile.
“Thank yoooouuu, you’re my favourite nanny!”
“…Glad to hear it.”
Jan looks and sounds a little disabused, but he smiles as always.
“S-seriously though, why did you pick these up in the first place?”
“Force of habit… … I know a certain little girl who runs to me whenever she gets an owie.”
“I mean, I would too.”
Jan sighs amusedly.
“Why not?”
I don’t get it. Is he talking about a literal little girl, or joking about someone..?
“Hm-hm.”
“Ah, you mean… Uuh, that’s Adele’s sister, right? You’ve… mentioned her before.”
Well, not to me, but I’m thankful for the clarification.
If I remember well, Adele is Jan’s best friend “on the outside”, the Ultimate Hugger.
“Yeah, I assumed so. It was either her or you, anyway.”
“…Who’s the one with, with dinosaurs Band-Aids on her fingers right now?”
“Hehe!”
Alice sticks out her tongue at Akiro before turning to me.
I guess it’s back to feeling like I’m intruding…
“Anyway, it’s funny running into you again, Neo.”
“Ah..? Really?”
“Sure, I mean… I feel like we run into each other all the time.”
“What? I thought everyone… I thought you were always everywhere, all the time.”
“Oh, so it’s our fault!”
She laughs.
“It’s, it’s probably because we spend so much time with Jan he-here.”
“Hm-hm… By the way, he looks at me, don’t hesitate to grab something from the table…”
“Oh, right…”
When I looked, I mostly saw a bunch of viennoiseries, along with other typical breakfast items, like you’d see in a hotel.
“…Don’t tell me you actually made all those…”
He shakes his head.
“Not the pastries, no, I’m not a masochist. These were already available here, but I reheated and arranged them.”
“That was already plenty of work, though.”
“Not really. Anyway, I thought croissants, pain au chocolat and whatnot could do for the kind of filling breakfast that puts you in a better mood… the kind we may all need today…”
I had to train for months to learn a similarly good French accent, and here he goes…
“Chocolate alwa-always works...”
“It does!”
Before I can realise it, I start to chuckle.
“Do you agree?”
“No… I mean, yes, but I was just thinking…”
I take a good look at him.
No one asked him to prepare food for everyone every day, and yet he does it for no reward.
It’s almost unbelievable how good of a guy he is. Down to carrying around Band-Aids in case someone gets an owie… … But also…
I turn a glance towards Akiro.
“I was just thinking, you’re really making yourself indispensable, huh, Jan?”
“Ah?”
He reacts with genuine surprise, which surprises me.
“I guess so, huh?”
Alice sighs. Her tone suddenly changes to become more serious.
“I get why you’d say that, but…”
“Is there really a but?”
He turns his gaze away.
“It’s not really my intention. I’d be fine…”
Alice shakes her head.
“Sure, I’d also be fine if you got less spotlight… If it meant what happened yesterday didn’t have to happen.”
“But…”
“That wasn’t Jan’s fault, they… were aiming for me.”
“I know… I’m sorry.”
She sounds horribly worried, and I can’t help but share her feelings.
I grimace.
“I wish I’d been the one to react.”
“Really?”
Jan looks at her again, and somehow, he smiles…
“Think you can beat me to protecting this guy?”
“Shut up…”
Though he responds quickly and loudly, Akiro grabs Jan’s arm softly.
“You know I… don’t… pff…”
“You know what I’m gonna say.”
“Statistically blah blah blah blah!”
Unsurprisingly… Alice and Akiro are still pent up on this.
I feel bad thinking that Jan feels bad about it.
“You guys don’t realise…”
Ah, someone comes in from behind me.
“Hellooo…”
“Ah! Chloe!”
Alice gets completely distracted, walking up to her right away.
“What are you making that face for?”
“What..? My face..? Uhm, I guess I’m a little sad…”
“Oh no!”
She grabs Chloe in her arms and squeezes her tightly. Her face becomes bright red.
“Uuuuh—Aaah! Whyyy?! Alice!”
Alice backs up her head to look at her.
“See? You already look better.”
“I’m, I’m embarrassed!”
…I’m not sure I could explain what’s happening. In the meantime, Jan walked up to me. It looks like Akiro has freed his left arm.
“…Maybe I don’t want that much attention, but it’ll still make me very happy if everyone eats what I prepared.”
Ah… I can’t help but chuckle nervously again.
“Gotcha.”
If what Alice said is right, anyway, then I’m probably the one who should get off their back altogether.

I don’t know exactly what those three and Chloe are doing in the kitchen, but I went back to the dining room to eat my breakfast. They already laid everything out so we could get everything we need just from the table… Well, there’s no use worrying about why people do the things they do. That’s just how things are, and everything tells me that I just need to relax.
I grab a pain au chocolat. I was once yelled at by a French fan because I called it a “chocolate croissant”… Never again. Still, that doesn’t ruin its nice taste and consistency… it’s so warm, as well.
Because I’m so simple-minded, this helps to put me in a better mood.

When I hear someone walk in from behind me, I force myself to stay in place rather than turn around – I’m trying to eat a relaxing breakfast, and always checking for who’s there at any point in time is probably a little stressful. I say probably, because it’s just a habit of mine, but ever since I’ve been here, I’ve had to question everything about myself.
To be honest… Hearing those steps… Surrounds my soul with a comforting veil.
“…Boo.”
“I already heard you coming…”
“I know.”
Actually being next to her, though, my body feels stiff.
Lois places her hands on the back of the chair next to mine. When I look at her, she points to the items in the middle of the table with her chin.
“Can I sit here and have some of that?”
“Uuuh, yes, of course.”
Having her show up and eat breakfast at a random time feels unreal… a little too unreal.
“Who put it together?” she asks as she takes a seat.
“Uuhm, Jan, mainly. But no doubt Alice and Akiro participated.”
“Neat.”
I’d say she’s in a good mood, but I can’t tell exactly. Her movements are light, but her voice is flat. She places her head on her two hands.
“Hmm…”
I find myself taking a break in the middle of eating to pay attention to her.
“Is something wron… Oh uh, don’t know what to pick, maybe?”
Why am I running my mouth?
“Well, there are a lot of things I can’t eat…”
“Really? Why?”
Still looking at the food in front of us, she narrows her eyes.
“For reasons out of my control. I wish I knew whether or not it matters now…”
I don’t know what to think of that last line exactly, but… I’m assuming she has dietary restrictions. I’d gather from her vagueness that it’s something health related…
Hmm, I feel unhappy thinking about that.
Thankfully, though, she still looks calm, in a pleasant mood, even, and that’s more than enough.
“If there are a lot of things… did you tell Jan about them all? Since he usually provides your food…”
She nods.
“The list is quite long, so I didn’t want to at first, but Ben insisted that I tell him everything, and from the looks of it, Jan was careful about it.”
“That’s… actually… very nice.”
My voice gets a little faint. It’s awful how thinking about Benjamin elicits weird feelings now… when recently he was still just some normal guy I talked to. It’s hard to get a grasp on that kind of reality.
“Hm-hm.”
She leans forward and hesitantly picks out a cup. In the meantime, the others finally come out of the kitchen.
“So, can I or can’t I climb?”
“You can do whatever you want…”
“But is it offensive to the tree?”
Lois turns her attention to them.
“Oh, good morning.”
“Hm?”
Not being distracted by a conversation, Jan is the first to notice that she’s here. Akiro probably saw her too, but he doesn’t say anything… and Alice turns her attention to her after hearing him.
“Ah, hello!”
“Good morning...”
“H-hi.”
I don’t know if this is awkward or if I’m overanalysing it. Alice walks up to us.
“Eat anything you’d like, okay? I sacrificed my hand so you could have this opportunity!”
She spreads her fingers out in front of her face, apparently not all that embarrassed by the dinosaurs Band-Aids.
“Hmm… I see. Thank you.”
Backing up, Alice shows her a friendly smile.
“Ah, let me show you.”
At the same time, Jan slides himself behind the two girls and places his hands on the back of Lois’ chair.
...
No, I have nothing to say about that.
He leans forward to bring some items closer.
“This is mint tea. You should be able to eat this cereal and all the biscuits over here. Is that alright?”
She nods.
“Yep. Thank you!”
Wow, she sounds… unusually soft and enthusiastic. Of course, Jan echoes that back with his smile.
“Of course. By the way… Well, maybe I should let you eat your breakfast in peace first.”
Lois tilts her head to the side. Since she’s facing away from me, I can’t see her expression…
Oh, hey, maybe I should resume eating.
“Hmm? No, don’t worry, what do you need?”
Is it that she appreciated his help so much? Her tone is, again, more energetic and warmer than usual.
In the meantime, Alice has resumed whispering about trees.
“I’m telling you… As long as you don’t damage it…”
Chloe imitates her, even though they probably didn’t have to.
“Well, I was looking for some suggestions for vegetarian dishes.”
“Oh? Have I already made you run out of ideas?”
He shakes his head.
“Not really. I was just thinking of making something vegetarian for everyone today, so that’s a little different from putting something aside for you.”
“How come?”
She continues to sound interested.
“Akiro wanted to check how that’d go for him.”
“Oh, really?”
When she turns her head to look for Akiro, who is coincidentally standing on the other side of me, I can see her face, and… her eyes are sparkling.
I feel like I’m facing a completely different woman from the one I thought I knew.
“W-w-wait, you’re making it sound like I’m the one making you do that, but it’s entirely your own decision…”
“He’s the one looking out for you, right?”
Lois is now the embodiment of the double circumflex emoji.
Akiro was already blushing anyway.
“Y-yes, as always…”
“Besides, I wouldn’t be one to not recommend a vegetarian diet.”
“O-of course…”
She continues to smile, turning to Jan again.
“That being saaaiid… I don’t think I can be of much help… You know, since there’s a lot I don’t eat. I mostly just know of what I can eat, not of good dishes.”
“Ah, I see. Well, no worries.”
Jan straightens his back and places his index finger on his cheek, looking away to think.
“I’ll find something anyway, I just wanted to check whether there were different options…”
“I hear Indian food has a lot of vegetarian options.”
“Hey, that’s right. I just don’t know many of those recipes…”
“There are a couple recipe books in the library. Did you take a look at them?”
“Oh, really?”
She chuckles.
“Ah, guess not.”
“It’s about time we start to hang out in the library, anyway. Akiro’s just too shy to say he wants to go.”
“Hmm? That’s interesting.”
…
Though she says that, her tone changes drastically. Though polite and still pretty light compared to what I’m used to, it’s suddenly a lot flatter.
Alice obviously notices it.
“Whaaa- What kind of fucked up pretty boy privilege is that..?!”
Wait, is that—
“Even I noticed that,” Chloe whispers (loudly) next to her.
Lois ignores the both of them… Actually, Akiro and Jan do too.
“I… I’m just… I’m just saying that if we go there, th-then I’m not talking to you… for the next few hours… or days… or to anyone, really…”
“That’s dramatic.”
…
I said that out loud…
“It’s a sacrifice I’m willing to make if I can see you happy…”
“Now that was even more dramatic.”
…She made it sound the part, too.
“I’m really surprised you actually haven’t gone there yet.”
Lois turns her attention to Akiro again, and her voice gets gradually more enthusiastic… damn it!
“Y-yeah, I guess… T-time moves weirdly, honestly…”
From behind her, Jan claps his hands once.
“Well, we’re going now, right?”
“Sounds like it!”
Alice walks behind Chloe and lightly pushes her towards the table.
“I want to invite you to join us, but… You gotta eat first, okay? Then you can come see us!”
“O-okay, though I might just go find Isabella and Chris…”
“Whatever you prefer!”
Jan and Akiro start to make their way to the door, where they wait for her.
“I’ll trust Neo and Lois to take good care of you, then. See you guys later!”
Akiro and Jan glance at us with looks equivocal of their respective personalities before all three of them leave. Chloe sighs…
“Uhm… Well, I’m just gonna get my breakfast…”
She walks around the table to go sit in front of us.
“Yeah, me too.”
Her tone is flat again.
What a joke…
I stopped eating again at some point, so I’m left to resume again. Well, it does help.
The two girls pick something to eat too.
I guess they have nothing to tell to each other…
… I’m here too, though. If I want to talk, then… …
Ah, damn, looking at Chloe, now I remember something.
“Hey, Chloe…”
“Yes?”
She pours herself a cup of coffee. The strong smell makes the room feel even more like a breakfast room.
“Do you remember how I have pretty good hearing and, uh, it changes the way I hear stuff in the dorms? We talked about it… some time ago.”
It was during the first trial, that I remember. I don’t feel like bringing it up.
“Yes, I think…”
She looks slightly anxious, as she does when you ask her just about anything. For her sake, I should probably cut to the chase.
“Last night, I heard Isabella say something not far from my door.”
“Oh…”
It looks like she knows what I’m talking about.
“I guess I’m curious...”
Now that I think about it, though, I don’t have anything precise to ask Chloe. Actually… asking about a conversation I was not a part of is weird overall.
It’s just that I can’t unhear it…
She hesitates.
“Well, she was talking to me…”
“What was it?”
…Yep, definitely embarrassed that I brought it up now. Lois could say anything and it would still systematically slap me back to reality.
“Hmm…”
Chloe sighs again. She takes a sip out of her cup and lets a few seconds pass before she speaks up again.
“I guess… If you heard her… It would give you something to think about. Basically… She was upset because of that video…”
She hesitates to say more, but neither Lois or I find anything to say.
“Now that I think about it, it probably came off a little bit cold, but I was confused because… and I asked her… I thought she didn’t care about other people.”
“That’s glacial.”
Lois sounds surprised.
“…Yeah, you’re right. Well, anyway, we talked shortly, and she told me that that wasn’t true.”
“So she actually opened up to you?”
“Coming from you…”
Chloe nods, and actually smiles shyly.
“Yes… It looks like she likes me…”
(She made herself blush.)
“Uuuuh, not in that way, though..!”
“Honestly, that’d feel cold too…”
“Uhm, anyway, so yes, and uuh, what was I saying..? Right… So she actually cares about what we think, and that goes along with what she said about us understanding her…”
“But about… Emily…”
“Hmm, that...”
She tugs on her own cheek.
“I understand, so you’re curious about how she said it “wasn’t about Emily”, right?”
“Yes.”
“Hm.”
I feel weird about having involved Lois.
“But we talked about it some more, and… She really does care about Emily.”
Chloe grimaces.
Whatever I feel… I inhale deeply.
“Maybe we didn’t talk about it enough, but… She said that everything went wrong with everyone… up until Emily.”
She hesitates, takes a sip of her coffee, then continues.
“When Noah killed her… she thought it was so unfair that she completely lost trust in others.”
“So her attitude is really due to her fear of everyone else.”
“I… guess.”
“That… makes a lot of sense, honestly.”
“You’ve gained her trust, though.”
Chloe opens her mouth slightly, but doesn’t say anything.
“...She definitely has a type.”
“Huh? What… What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Nothing…”
“Hmm… Well, either way, it’s a good thing…”
“Yes.”
…
I thought they were going to say something else, but they don’t. We end up eating in silence for a few minutes.
Chloe answered my question… I can’t say I’m dissatisfied with it. Honestly, it silenced me in a good way.
When I finish my breakfast, I…
I rush into the kitchen to wash my dishes, then run back into the dining room, and…
“Well, I’ll see you again later!”
For some reason, I sort of run away.
“Ha...”
“I miss her.”
I don’t understand the weird thought that passes through my mind as I leave the room.

Where to now..?
I went outside, but frankly, I have no idea why I even left. I wouldn’t usually try to isolate myself.
…
I don’t know, I just have a lot of feelings. Still, I feel lonely now… Of course, I’d aim to hang out with Ciel, but they’re probably not up yet. From here, though, it’s just the dorms… That hill in front of me… Or the dome, I guess.
Last time I went there… When was that? I think I remember… Chloe, was it? She was crying…
God damn it, we’re always crying, and I know we’re not to blame for it.
Glancing in its direction, though, something about it looks… different. It won’t hurt to check it out.
I walk up to it, and quickly realise that… it’s filled to the brim with greenery.
“How..?” I whisper to myself.
There were already trees inside that I remember, but… nothing like this..!
I’m too curious not to walk in.
It’s almost overwhelming, though.
The trees have become huge and thick, and they’re… oddly… beautiful? Sure, I’ve enjoyed the sight of trees before, but this… this is special. This is objectively beautiful, in a way that… if I may describe it this way… fills me with life.
As for the individual rooms on either side of the main corridor, they’re also full to the brim with flowers of different types. Each surrounded with large leaves, they’re colourful and stunning. It feels as though each individual one of them has a personality of its own, like it could start walking and talking and I wouldn’t be surprised… because it’s so… alive.
I’m…
I…
I sit on the ground, and for some time, I let myself drown in the overwhelming beauty of nature.

…
… …
… … …

…Hm?
I was out of it for a while.
Lost in thought, maybe.
It actually feels like I’ve been sitting here for quite some time…
I don’t regret it, though. This is an amazingly pleasant place to be.
I stand up. Now that I think about it… This has to be Chloe’s work, doesn’t it? That girl…
Just like every Ultimate here, she’s impressive in an indescribable way.

Feeling relaxed, I make my way back to the main building. Inside the hall, I immediately encounter Ciel, walking out of the dining room.
“Oh boy, how much time did I actually spend blissfully sitting on my ass like that..?”
“Ah, here you are.”
Ciel smiles shyly. I’m able to smile back.
“Where were you?”
“Hmm…”
The door is closed, but I turn towards the entryway nonetheless.
“Did you see what Chloe did with that dome outside?”
“Oh uh, no, I haven’t been paying attention to it much, actually.”
“She… Well…”
I don’t know how to phrase it, but…
“She took SUCH good care of it… It’s lovely.”
“Oh.”
They sound a little bit surprised.
“Are you usually fond of nature?”
“Not at all!”
Well, maybe that’s going a little far. I don’t know anyone who actively dislikes nature.
“Huh. Then maybe I’ll have to take a look at this someday.”
I nod.
I’m ready to talk about something else, though…
“Anyway…”
I turn my attention back to them. They look tired.
“Are you doing okay?”
“Yeah. You don’t have to worry about me. You?”
“Uh, yeah.”
…I hesitate.
“I guess I’m still kinda... Overwhelmed.”
When you print too many words onto a single page, it just becomes a black piece of paper…
Even that metaphor I didn’t see coming.
“Honestly… Me too. Probably.”
They cross their arms.
“It’s just… what we saw… it’s probably real… it feels unescapable…”
…I sigh.
I know.
“I feel like… I feel safer trying to think, to talk about other things, but is that right..? Can I even do that..?”
I grimace.
The truth is, I don’t know.
...
What I do know, though… Is that we’re overwhelmed.
“The thing is, we have other things we can’t ignore.”
They stare at me. It doesn’t feel like they’re judging me, but rather, like they’re actually paying attention.
“Ah… yeah…”
It looks like they want to add something… but they’re interrupted by some sort of creaking noise.
I turn to look at the main door again – it’s being slowly pushed, and soon after that, a small blur runs in zigzags in our general direction.
“Huh?”
It bumps into me… She bumps into me.
She backs up and tries to resume her weird zigzag-y powerwalk towards the dining room.
“What..? Mina?”
When I call her out, she stops, hesitating, but continues to avoid looking at us.
“What’s…”
“Uhgh…”
Her shoulders are stiff. She clenches her fists and… lets out of a loud sniffle.
“What? What’s wrong?!”
Ciel sounds extremely distressed, and though this is happening very fast, I can say that I feel the same. I try to look at her face, but she stares at the floor. They try to walk towards her, but she backs away.
“N… Nothing. Leave me alone.”
She sniffles again and abruptly turns her back to us to resume her walking.

“What do we do?”
Am I supposed to know better than them?
“Let’s follow her,” is my first and only thought, and it’s what I say.
Bringing their fingers to their mouth, they look at me and retort:
“But she asked to be left alone…”
Their voice is a little shaky. It feels appropriate… This is sudden. The fact that it’s Mina… It jumbles up my thoughts!
Still, it feels obvious to me…
“Just yesterday, she went after Keith when he said something worrying…”
They open their mouth slightly but find nothing to answer back.
“If I understand anything about her, then that’s how she wants to be treated too.”
I might not have thought it clearly before, but this makes sense to me.
Ciel closes their mouth and nods before turning back to the dining room.
I follow them, of course.

There’s no one else inside the dining room. We enter just in time to see Mina hide underneath the table after grabbing something from on top of it.
There are fewer items than when I was here this morning, but breakfast is still laid out the same way it was.
“Hey, Mina.”
Ciel walks up to the table and kneels not far from where she sits. The truth is… They asked me, but I expect them to know better than me what to do in this type of situation.
She doesn’t respond, and they continue, making their voice softer:
“Let’s have a chat.”
“I’m not a little girl.”
…I don’t know what else to do than stand back.
“I know, but you’re still a teenage girl.”
“And?”
“Well, according to societal norms, as a teenage enby, I’m following the perfect etiquette of how to talk to you.”
…
I can’t see it, but I can feel her glare shooting right through them.
Ciel changes positions to sit on their butt.
“I’m giving you two choices.”
I don’t know if this is weird. I don’t know if this is going well. I don’t know if I should say something…
“We can talk about what’s wrong… OR… I can try to entertain you until you can’t take it anymore and beg me to go back to the first option.”
…
“Hm?”
Ciel waits a little bit, but Mina still doesn’t say anything – I don’t even hear her move at all.
They let out an exaggerated sigh.
“Oh, well.”
They move slightly back and dive their hands into their pocket, taking out… three sponge balls.
“You leave me no choice…”
“What? Where..?”
I know it’s Mina they’re trying to elicit a reaction from, but..!
“How long have you been carrying those around?!”
“What? Did you think I was some sort of fraud? Alright…”
They look at Mina, I assume, before starting to juggle.
At the same time, they start to lull stereotypical circus music.
……………………..
They only interrupt it to hype up their act.
“Have a look at that!”
(Circus music humming resumes.)
They juggle the three balls normally at first, sending them higher and higher, until two more balls magically appear from behind their shoulders.
I’m standing behind them and even I couldn’t tell where they came from.
“Lalilalalilalilala… Oh-ho! Lalilaaa…”
From this point on, they use their shoulders to juggle as well. Another ball appears on top of their nose, and they send it very high in the air…
“STOOO-O-OP!”
Suddenly, Mina jumps out of underneath the table and places her forearms on either side of their shoulders to interrupt the act.
“I’ll confess! I’ll tell you everything! Just stop, please!”
“Oho?”
She lets her head hang dejectedly in front of them. She doesn’t move her arms away, and I can see a croissant, untouched, in her right hand.
………………
“I’m not strong enough to withstand this kind of torture…”
“Time to fess up, then.”
They extend their right hand to the side and somehow, all the balls fall back into it.
………………………………
“What the… what?”
This was… aggravating.
Ciel turns to me and smiles.
“Reactions differ drastically depending on the age range.”
“…”
I’m just speechless.
“You’re right in the “this was aggravating” range. Mina’s in the “please for the love of God stop this” range.”
“… …”
“How am I the one who has to fess up after this..?”
… … …
At least Mina has stopped crying. She doesn’t sound particularly happy, though.
She sighs and lets herself fall back onto her butt, right in front of them.
“Aren’t clowns supposed to be fun?”
I can’t complain that they made her go from distressed to disabused… but did I have to take the hit along with her?
“This is fun for little children and patients with dementia. If I wanted to entertain you guys, I’d do something different…”
They put the balls back in their pockets. Is that the reason why they wear such large trousers?! They shrug, chuckling.
“But I discovered that you could deliberately use the wrong tricks for evil.”
“I’ll hazard a guess that it’s only so strong because of their Ultimate talent.”
“This is why people hate clowns.”
“No-no-no.”
They shake their index finger in front of their face.
“This is why people hate me.”
…They hesitate though.
“…And really bad clowns.”
“You’re so good… that you’ve even perfected being the worst…”
I’m in shock.
They raise their arm in the air.
“Yaaaay!”
“Alright…”
Mina sighs and looks dejectedly at the croissant in her hand.
“Can I confess before you find an excuse to put me through this again?”
“Sure!”
They look happy with themselves. I don’t know how to feel about it.
Look…
… … It worked… … …
“Are you hungry?”
As if to reassure us that their act is done, Ciel goes back to their initial soft voice.
I mean, I guess this is not about me, but I definitely feel involved now…
“Kinda. I guess.”
Still, she doesn’t take a bite out of it.
Ciel waits a little bit. As ridiculous as their method was, they obviously know what they’re doing, and I don’t – so I’m going to simply follow their lead for now, and wait when they wait.
After letting out a few more sighs, Mina starts to eat. She sighs yet again before speaking up.
“It’s whatever. I’m upset. We had an argument.”
“You had an argument? With whom?”
“Oscar.”
“Whaaat?!”
I reacted immediately—
Ugh! I feel like the clown here now!
“…Really? How bad was it?”
She grimaces.
“Uhm… I don’t think we’ll talk to each other again…”
“What?”
Ciel is obviously surprised too.
… At least I’m not alone.
“Pff…”
She rearranges her position, pushing her skirt closer to the floor, before tearing off a small tidbit of the croissant and putting it in her mouth. She chews with little enthusiasm before continuing…
“It’s complicated, but…”
She narrows her eyes, her eyebrows arching gravely.
“He was actually very mean…”
She shudders.
Somehow, it extends to me too.
“Mean…How?”
She sighs yet again…
“Just… Harsh. Don’t worry about it.”
Before continuing, she tears off another small bite of croissant, which she places into her mouth.
“There’s nothing you can do about it anyway.”
“But don’t you want to talk about it?”
“…You just want to know what happened.”
Touché.
As far as I’m concerned at least…
“Well… is that a bad thing?”
“Hm.”
Another bite.
“Whatever.”
She stands up…
“Am I allowed to sit on a chair normally? I’m tired of Neo towering over me like that in the distance.”
“Oh, uh, sorry..?”
“No, it’s not your fault.”
Fully aware that she doesn’t need our authorisation, she hops onto the nearest chair. Ciel stands up to sit in the chair next to her… And I figure I should do the same thing. I sit on the other side of her and turn my chair towards her.
“So?”
“…I know he meant well, but it turned sour.”
“Ah, so…”
Speak first, think second, after all, that’s what I’m good at, right?
“…I guess that’s why you’re particularly upset… The fact that you felt like he meant well, but he still hurt you, I mean. That’s complicated.”
“She probably didn’t need me to say that.”
“Yes... A lot of it is that.”
She stares at the table. After a couple seconds, she eats the last bite of her croissant.
“I thought it would help, but not really.”
“Hm?”
“Eating something...”
“Oh…”
“Anyway, it’s just… pff.”
She hides her face behind her hands.
“I already knew he was... passionate about protection, being a bodyguard, basically. But he was suddenly very aggressive about it… Well maybe not aggressive… Just… He suddenly decided to not leave me a choice.”
“A choice about what..?”
“…He decided that I should never be alone, even at night, that I should let him into my room.”
“That’s indelicate.”
“Yeah, right?”
She lets her hands fall back on top of the table.
“But objectively, I understand the suggestion… For safety’s sake, his suggestion was basically to keep an eye on me 24-7. That’s not that horrendous. It’s just… the fact that it wasn’t a suggestion. He wasn’t going to leave me a choice. So I got upset.”
“Yeah, of course.”
I can’t exactly tell if Ciel is simply being supportive, or if they feel the same way. I can’t let myself reach a conclusion yet…
I feel like Mina herself wouldn’t want me to immediately turn against Oscar.
“We argued, and that much would have been fine, but things got heated, and… he was pretty mean.”
She clenches her fists.
“He said… just… mean things about my height, or the way I behave too. Like, he was super cold. He went too far, it was unfair.”
“What could have caused that, though..?”
“He just... I think he was trying to be authoritarian. But… That’s not a way to do it…”
…Honestly, I don’t know what to say to that.
“Do you think this was a long time coming?”
She shakes her head violently.
“That’s the fucking issue!”
“L—”
Ciel interrupts themselves before they call a fellow teenager out for bad language.
She punches the table in frustration, luckily not at them.
“This came from nowhere! We usually had good communication… And he was already with me almost all the time, there was no reason to believe I wasn’t safe… It came from nowhere, and he took control of the conversation immediately, and then… and you know what? Well, I’m upset, and I don’t want to talk to him anymore!”
Man…
The Ultimate Clown nods, looking away slightly.
“Well, whatever happens, you’re allowed to take a break no matter what.”
“Yeah...”
I reacted because a break sounds fine to me, but… Mina not talking to Oscar anymore? That’s much too sudden. I can’t even comprehend it.
“Ugh!”
Frustration is clearly taking a hold of her. While she’s obviously having a terrible time… It still feels easier to see her like that than crying.
“I just… I never…”
She starts breathing faster, marking longer breaks in-between words.
“If you respect me as the Ultimate Detective, then… Then..!”
She clenches her teeth. I look at Ciel… They appear just as lost as I do.
“Then…”
As if to confirm that all my prayers are to go unanswered, more tears start to well up at the corners of her eyes.
“Oh...”
But as they do – she hits the table with her fists one more time.
“I’m not just… I’m… I’M A PERSON TOO!”
“Oof—”
Her voice resonates in my ears. After yelling out, she starts to cry for real.
“I’m tired of… I’m tired of being seen as lesser than… As incapable… I’m tired of… being used, being used just to…”
She interrupts herself to sniffle resonantly, when Ciel softly taps her on the shoulder.
“This is a lot, right?”
“Hm… Hmm…”
“Oscar hurt you, and now you feel vulnerable to all your problems.”
“Y-yes.”
She’s trying to calm down already, but it’s not working too well.
“Ah yes… In those moments, everything feels bigger than it actually is.”
“Hmpf… I’m… I’m tired.”
Ciel continues to stroke her shoulder reassuringly.
“We understand.”
She nods, and visibly makes an effort to swallow back her tears.
“O-okay... Can you…”
She sniffles. Looking at her like that… I’m suddenly reminded of how much she looks like a little girl. She looks so young.
She would be mad at me for thinking that, but it makes seeing her like this even more upsetting. Though it’s not just because she looks like a little girl crying… It’s also because deep in her eyes, and in the way she moves, the way she talks, every now and then, you notice glimpses that she’s an older teenager working hard.
It’s hard to tell, but… It’s there. And in that sense, it almost looks like she’s trapped in that body.
“Would you guys… Walk me to my room..? And if Oscar’s there… We’ll turn around… But if not… I’ll have a rest, right?”
Ciel nods immediately.
“Of course, if that’s what you need.”
She nods in turn.
“But if he is there, what do we…”
“We, we’ll see, I guess.”
I let out a sigh. She looks so mad – she’s incredibly expressive.
This is tough.
“Let’s… go, then.”
She stands up abruptly, and takes a few steps away from the table. Ciel and I exchange a glance. I nod to let them know that I’m okay with going along, and we both stand up at the same time.
She takes the lead to leave the room, and we follow her.

We walk out in silence, and only Mina’s regular sniffles break it.
As we make our way towards the dormitory, I notice Chloe, Isabella and Chris walking into the glass dome… But it doesn’t look like they saw us.
Without comment, we make it there. Thankfully…
No one is waiting for us.
Mina lets out another loud sniffle.
“Are you gonna be okay?”
“Y-yes.”
She crosses her arms, making her way towards her room.
She stares at the floor for a couple seconds before vaguely turning her head in our direction.
“Uhm… Thanks.”
Weirdly enough, the both of us don’t know what to answer. She shrugs, and walks into her room.
…
And we stay standing there in silence for a minute or two. It quickly becomes unbearable, and I turn to Ciel.
“What am I even supposed to think?”
They look at me and, grimacing, shrug.
“Dunno.”
“I’ve seen so many of us break down now… But her…”
“There’s no reason for her not to, I guess…”
“…Yeah.”
We both nod and stand in place awkwardly for about one more minute. Eventually, Ciel inhales deeply…
“What I was saying earlier… Maybe we should think about other things for now…”
“Right…”
Isn’t that easier said than done, though?
They gesture towards the door to the outside with their head.
“Follow me.”
“Oh… Okay.”
More than willing to let someone guide me, I follow their lead.

I don’t dare to say anything on our way out, or back inside the main building.
We walk up the stairs and stop on the third floor.
“Hey, Neo.”
“Yes?”
“What floor is this?”
“Uhm, the third, right..?”
“Hmm…”
Why are they making me hesitate? I think back to it… We walked up… two flights of stairs.
“Oh, uh, wait…”
“Right, that’s annoying, isn’t it?”
I forgot about this whole thing…
“Seriously…”
As diverse languages disappear and English replaces them, some sort of small linguistic war is going on about which standards to use – European or American? And when it comes to local habits, how much should one change for the sake of speaking “proper” English? I was raised using “1” to talk about what many other people call the “ground floor”, but in recent years, it’s become confusing whether or not we should change that habit or if American English should be the standard by all means.
“Wait a minute…”
While I was busy wondering how I could possibly convey that I don’t care and that it’s confusing for no reason, Ciel led me farther inside the… this floor’s hall.
“Did you make me think about something needlessly annoying on purpose..?”
They show a discrete smile.
“Maybe.”
…Is that in their contract too? It did work. For a second, my thoughts were less “what do I do about everyone breaking down” and more “I hate speaking”.
Let’s say we’re on the third floor for now.
“Okay, so… I figured that since Isabella doesn’t feel the need to guard this room anymore, maybe we could visit it for the first time.”
It takes me a few seconds to figure what they’re talking about.
“Oh!”
Then it clicks. Of course… The issue with Isabella “guarding” that Fashion room wasn’t just that Isabella wouldn’t move… It was also that I never got to look inside of it.
“Sure, let’s go.”
Ciel revived my curiosity… We both walk in.
Even though no one else is on this floor that I know, I can’t help but look behind me before I enter the room…
At the closed door facing it…
… But there’s nothing there, is there? So I’d rather not let it distract me.

I haven’t been inside of a store in so long.
That’s not something I’d have worried about, when there’s so much more happening… But entering this room, I’m reminded of it. Clothing racks are lined up one next to the other, looking exactly like some sort of thrift store where clothes are organised at random…
“Wow, that’s… A lot of different clothes.”
Ciel takes a few more steps inside. They’re right – the room is packed with different t-shirts, shirts, dresses, skirts, trousers, even hats and shoes, in an almost overwhelming manner.
At the back, I notice a desk covered with different fabrics and, on the very left of it, a sewing machine.
“That’s… I didn’t even realise there was such a room in here.”
“Yeah…”
They get closer to one of the clothing racks at random.
“With all those, we could probably all find different outfits to wear than the ones in our rooms…”
“That’s true…”
Hmm… I don’t have much of an issue with the outfit I was given. It’s simple and fashionable enough, and it goes well with my hair. I’d gather that some other people could be more uncomfortable with the—
“Ugh…”
“What’s wrong?”
“N… Nothing. Don’t worry.”
I’m doomed with having befriended a murderer.
Or two.
Or maybe… As it’ll turn out…
“Are you sure? You look worried.”
“Uuh, yep, sorry. Uh, I was saying…”
I try to put my thoughts back on track.
“Right. I was thinking… There are probably people who would have picked some stuff here, but now that Isabella made us forget about it…”
“Oh, right. The others might not even remember to check here.”
They pout somewhat, making it clear that they don’t fully know what to do with that. They quickly turn their attention back to the clothes, though, and take out a medium sleeve dark blue t-shirt.
“Look at this one. I could totally see Jan wearing it, for some reason.”
“Hmm…”
This type of blue would be more so my colour, wouldn’t it? Actually, it’s mostly the wide fit that makes me think of my outfit, though on this one, it’s mostly the sleeves that are wide. Besides, I can’t unsee Jan looking all cool with my t-shirt on…
In reality, this one is completely different, though. It has stripes a darker shade of blue and at one of the bottom corners, some sort of large steering-wheel pattern…
Anyhow.
“I don’t know, he’d look good in anything, wouldn’t he? But maybe this is a little bit edgy?”
“You think so?”
They turn the t-shirt towards them to get a better look at it.
“Hmm… Maybe? I think it’s the shape. It’s a little short. But with another t-shirt underneath it… I could totally see it!”
Pff. I chuckle.
“Alright… Maybe you should try suggesting it to him, then.”
They giggle in turn.
“No way, that’s too weird.”
They put it back and start looking through more of the different items of clothing.
I wonder if they’d look for something for themselves..? I don’t want to force the topic onto them, though.
“There’s this…”
They take out a very large, royal blue tracksuit with white stripes at the seams.
“I wonder if that’d fit Oscar…”
They put it back immediately, though.
“I don’t know if he’s on my good list anymore, though.”
“Hm.”
I don’t even want to delve into that right now.
I try to distract myself by walking farther into the room. I don’t know if I have all that much interest in looking through these random clothes… But I walk in-between them nonetheless, until eventually I notice a large box hidden on the left of the room, that I hadn’t seen behind the racks.
Ciel grabs my attention once more, though.
“Isn’t this dress insanely pretty?”
I turn around to take a look at it. It’s a form-fitting royal blue dress with black lace creating stripes throughout, and a black sheer bust.
It is a pretty nice looking dress. I nod.
“Why are you picking out so much blue stuff though? Is that your favourite colour?”
They frown.
“Blue? What do you mean?”
They turn the dress towards them to look at it and appear surprised.
“Huh… I guess there must have been some sort of weird reflection on it…”
Looking a little unsettled, they put it back on the rack.
What was that about..?
Whatever… I didn’t forget about that big box. I walk up to it and open it, to find…
“Eeeew! Oh… Wait… No.”
I thought it was human hair, but it’s actually a bunch of wigs on top of each other.
“What’d you find..?”
Ciel walks around a bunch of hangers to come closer to me.
“Just… wigs.”
I take one out. It’s a strawberry blonde wig with very poofy twintails.
“Oh. Huh. Well, that one’s pretty cool.”
“I… guess?”
I don’t really see the appeal of wigs. I put that one back and grab another one… It’s the exact same though, aside from its colour. This one is red.
“Are there any different ones..?”
They come closer and we start looking together. There are many versions of different colours, but… Not a single one with a different shape or texture.
“That’s… oddly specific to say the least.”
Something feels odd alright.
“Don’t you think you’ve seen a similar hairstyle somewhere before..?”
They nod nonchalantly.
“Oh yeah, that’s a popular hairstyle I’m pretty sure.”
“Ah? Uuuh… Okay, then…”
…Maybe it’s not as weird as I thought it was? Suddenly, though, they slap their own mouth with both their hands. Their eyes widen.
“Oh… Do you think Isabella’s hair is actually a wig?”
“What? No!”
So they noticed… But that’s not what I meant! Her twintails looks like regular bleached and dyed hair. They’re probably pretty high maintenance, now that I think about it…
“Yeah, I didn’t think so…”
“But… But why would there be a bunch of wigs that look almost exactly like her hair in there?”
“Uuuh…”
They think about it for a second before narrowing their eyes.
“It is a little weird…”
They cross their arms.
“Do you think it’d be a good idea to ask her about it?”
“Hmm… I don’t know.”
Meaning: no.
“Yeah…”
They shake their head.
“Well, frankly, I don’t know. Let’s keep it in mind, I guess.”
“Right.”
But what for..?
They don't seem eager to think about it. They grab another item of clothing at random.
They look surprised, and grab something else next to it, before shoving both in my face.
“Okay. This. On Chloe.”
…
I take a step back to take a better look. One item is a sheer white shirt with the cutest-shaped collar in the world, and the other one is a thick wool pastel purple cardigan with buttons in the shape of small white bear heads.
My heart flutters.
“St-stop, that’s too cute…”
They shake both in front of me.
“I need to convince her!”
“Why are you embarrassed about giving suggestions to Jan but not Chloe?!”
“I don’t care! Look at it! Think about Chloe!”
They bring the shirt and cardigan closer to them.
“Think about the children, Neo!”
…

[…]
So maybe we got a little carried away.

So maybe we got a little carried away.
I don’t know what it is about Chloe… But we found a few more outfits for her. Most of them are cute, some of them are what Ciel and I agree is cool—honestly, now that I think about it, I can imagine her looking pretty in about any outfit. Actually, I’ve been thinking about it for the last few minutes, and now that I realise it, everyone here could look beautiful in about any outfit.
I remember Alice saying something to that extent when we first met.
That is why I ended up picking some outfits for other people too. That being said, we somehow winded up being particularly passionate about the ones we picked for Chloe.
“Okay… I don’t think we’ll find anything better than that.”
Ciel steps away from the box, on which we laid out some of the clothes, and places their hands in their pockets.
I just hope they don’t start juggling again.
“What now?”
“Hmm…”
They pout.
“It’s fun to imagine convincing her or the others to wear those, but… I don’t really think it’ll work.”
“But we should try, right?”
“Whaat, seriously?”
“I mean, okay, I’m not all that serious about making Akiro wear that bomber jacket. But we should seriously try to get Chloe to wear one of those.”
I nod to myself.
“At least that first one, right? It’s too adorable, right?”
“Aaaah, I’d like to…”
They take their hands out of their pockets to cross their arms.
“It’s just… Not only is she straight-up gonna say no, for sure—but I’m also worried about Isabella…”
“Ah.”
I completely forgot about that. I even found cute tops for her.
I don’t think my two brain cells were cooperating on that case.
“Do you think she’ll be mad that we came here?”
“I have zero idea.”
They raise one of their arms to play with their hair.
“I can’t imagine having so much hair…”
“Honestly, since we had fun with these… You know? I wouldn’t want her to actually get mad and ruin it completely.”
“But we don’t KNOW that she will.”
“Sure...”
They look at me with narrow eyes… Like they think that I have something in mind.
Do I have something in mind?
Well, in truth…
“I have a plan. A small idea. At least.”
“Yeah, I could tell.”
“And I could tell that you could tell!”
“We could test the waters.”
“How?”
I clap my hands together.
… Thus realising how enthusiastic and serious I am about this idea.
“So, my idea is… Let’s ask someone who’d have a better idea than us how Isabella will react.”
“Hmm…”
“Chris!”
“But we might as well wait for a time when Chloe’s on her own…”
“Except…”
“Except?”
“Chloe herself would probably have no idea how Isabella will react.”
Saying it out loud, I feel even more like I’m right about that.
“Oh. Hm.”
They slide their hands back into their pockets.
“Well, you said it, not me. Either way, when do you think we could get a hold of Chris..?”
“Why not right now?”
They frown, which makes me worried that what I’m saying is too silly.
“I don’t know about you, but if I don’t do this right now I’ll lose interest.”
They fake being shocked.
“In this adorable ensemble? Seriously?”
Still, they shrug.
“Okay, I get it. I still don’t know how you’ll get a hold of her.”
“Well…”
If I’m lucky, the girls will still be inside the glass dome, right?
“I’ll try. You just… wait here, okay?”
“Huh?”
“Guard the clothes, and I’ll see what I can do!”
“Oh, uh, okay?”
… Rather than start to question myself, I rush out of the room.

I better not waste too much time, since I left Ciel on their own up there. I run downstairs, and when I try to go through the main door, I hear someone call out my name.
“Neo!”
I come to an abrupt stop and take a few steps back to look at Alice. She’s standing in the doorway to the dining room.
“Yes?”
“Jeez. Why are you running like that? Did something happen?”
Thankfully, she looks more so confused than worried.
“Oh! Uuuuh, no, it’s nothing at all actually.”
She tilts her head to the side.
“I have something to ask someone for uh, something I want to do.”
“Riiiiiiiiight.”
She shakes her head, rolling her eyes.
“Well, it’s almost lunchtime, so don’t start anything too important, okay?”
…Yes, mom.
She turns back into the dining room, and I resume my running.

Today’s my lucky day. When I approach the glass dome, I can clearly see Chloe, Isabella and Chris inside.
Chris is helping Chloe water some plants while Isabella looks at them, sat on one of the low walls.
I barge in a little more out of breath than I would have liked.
“Neo? What’s wrong?”
Today at the Improved Hope’s Peak Academy: Neo Worries a Bunch of Pretty Girls.
“N-nothing.”
I turn my attention to Chris.
“Hey, uh, Chris, can you come with me real quick?”
Her eyes widen.
“Why?”
“It’s for something, uh, fun, you’ll see. Oh and uh, you have to come on your own.”
I’m blowing this.
“On her own..? What is this about?”
Chloe looks and sounds utterly concerned. Chris, on the other hand, looks at me like I’m the dumbest motherfucker on this planet.
“You realise that I’m gonna say no, right?”
“Aww, whyyyy?”
I feel bad leaving Ciel alone for too long.
Chris puts down her watering can and straightens her back.
“Listen, just because I trusted that ONE shady guy—”
“You could just go with Chloe, you know.”
“With me..?”
“Hm? Well, no, that’s not what he said.”
Isabella turns her head to me in a quick movement, causing her twintails to slap her in the face, but she ignores them.
“But it’s probably me he’s trying to avoid. He just doesn’t want to say it.”
“What? No!”
…
I mean, actually…
…No, not at all! I’m actually trying to test the waters because I don’t want to exclude Isabella.
(Or for her to exclude us, I guess.)
“Then what is it about?”
“Ughhh… C’mon, we don’t have much time, it’s almost lunchtime and uuuh, it’s a surprise, okay?”
“You’re being weird.”
I don’t caaaaare!
“Pleeeeeeeeeaaase!”
“Why me?!”
“You’ll seeeeeeee!”
“If I were you, I wouldn’t go.”
Isabella turns her head away.
“Right!!! Don’t help at all!!!!!”
“Damn right. If I were me, I wouldn’t fucking go.”
“Oh, come on, Chris, Neo is a nice guy, isn’t he?”
…Thanks.
“I’m not sure you’re aware what those words imply.”
Chloe tilts her head slightly to the side, in a manner not too dissimilar to what Alice did a minute ago.
“Really..? What I mean is that… if he needs you for something, you should probably help him, right?”
Chris sighs.
“When you put it like that… but this is suspicious as fuck!”
I’m unfortunately aware of that.
“But if he killed you, we would obviously know it was him.”
“Jeez!”
We reacted in perfect harmony. The gardener tilts her head further.
“Well… I’m right, aren’t I?”
Isabella chuckles, and I can’t tell exactly what kind of laugh it is, as in—is she making fun of Chloe? Or does she find her funny in a friendly way? I don’t like that I can’t get it, and I wish she knew at least that.
“Sure, but I don’t want him to take on the habit of bringing me to shady places!”
“It’s not shady at all!”
If I’m still lucky, Chloe will have helped me convince Chris. I’m still trying not to waste too much time.
“I swear, it’s a surprise, but we need your opinion first.”
“Who’s “we”? And again, why me?”
She rolls her eyes, but I think there’s a chance that she’s a little less worried than she was right out the bat.
“Uuuh, Ciel and I. And you, becaaauuuse…”
Trying to think faster than usual is really not helping me.
“…You’re normaaaal..?”
“Norm- what the fuck is that supposed to mean?!”
She sighs loudly, but finally takes a step towards me. “Yes!!!”
“God damn it, let’s get this over with, but you better not waste my time.”
…She marks a pause before sticking her tongue out.
“Consider yourself lucky that I’m letting myself trust another stinky, stinky man.”
“Stinky..?”
“Right.”
“Uhm… But you actually like men, don’t you?”
“Shut up!!!”
Chris’ face becomes red. I wouldn’t exactly call that blushing.
“I’ll be right back!”
Saying that, she walks past me. Phew… I smile awkwardly at the two other girls before turning around to follow her out.

“Okay, where are we going?”
She tries to make her voice softer than before, but still sounds rather impatient.
I’m happy that my plan (if I can even call this that) is coming together.
“The th… sec… upstairs, in the main building. Actually, you’ll see why we want your opinion, I think.”
As I’m talking, I try to walk a little faster.
“Just, uuuh… Ciel’s on their own, so I don’t want to waste too much time.”
“Oh, Jesus, dude!”
She matches my speed and we go back inside, and then upstairs.
I expect her to ask some more questions, but she doesn’t, and I gather that she wants to get there first.

She follows me to the door to the Fashion room.
“Ah. I think I’m starting to get it.”
“Yeah…”
I walk in, when something hits me in the face.
“Ouch!”
It doesn’t hurt, but I’m surprised.
“Oh, sorry, I was just on my own, standing here on my own, juggling on my own, when I accidentally slipped and hit you in the face with a ball.”
“What..?”
“Dude. You aimed right for his face.”
Chris passes me and crouches to grab the sponge ball off the floor at my feet.
“Do you seriously carry these around at all times?”
“Yeah, force of habit.”
She hands it back to them.
…
Ouch?
Ciel looks at me and shakes their head.
“You don’t get to run off and leave me behind just like that, you prick.”
“S-sorry?”
I was worried too…
“I swear!”
“Alright, you two will fight in your own time. Care to explain why you brought me here now?”
“And you didn’t even explain it to her?”
“I was, I was rushing because I didn’t want you to stay alone for too long!”
“Hmpf!”
They pout.
It looks like for whatever reason, I’m forgiven.
“Aight.”
“Okay, so, it was Neo’s idea to bother you.”
“Oh, I’ll bet.”
…I can’t pretend that it’s not the case.
“We might have found the cutest outfits in the world for Chloe.”
“What?”
“Especially this one.”
They turn around to grab it among the other clothes we laid out – and knowing that Chris is already judging us hardcore, I feel a little silly having her see all of those.
They still look proud when they show it to her: along with the adorable collared shirt and lavender cardigan, we added a white pleated skirt and ruffled socks. We also found some purple flats, but they don’t pick them up.
“…Why?”
I suddenly realise that Chris may not have been the best person to pick to hype up about cute clothing.
“Look at it.”
They shake the outfit in her face.
“Think about Chloe wearing it.”
“Hm.”
Chris narrows her eyes, and for a few seconds, I assume that this is failing completely…
…But she eventually sighs.
“Okay, that’s fucking adorable. Still, why.”
“I actually found the shirt and cardigan at random, and then…”
They put it back in its original place delicately.
“Maybe we got a little carried away.”
“That’s what I was thinking.”
“Are all those supposed to be for Chloe?!”
“Ahhh, uuuh, no…”
Chris glances at all the different clothes we laid out around the room, looking seriously worried.
“No, these are for her…”
…Pointing to multiple ensembles, I still feel a little bit embarrassed.
“Yeah, and we picked other clothes we thought would be cool for others, but we were mostly just having fun with it.”
“But you’re serious about that one for Chloe.”
“…Yep.”
She crosses her arms.
“It is cute…”
“Basically, we need your opinion on whether it’s safe to run this by Chloe, when she’s so close to Isabella, when… you know.”
“Yeah, okay, I get it.”
She glances at the both of us, tapping her cheek with her right index finger.
“But you’re assuming Chloe would say yes anyway.”
“Not necessarily…”
“We’re okay with Chloe saying no, we just don’t want Isabella to get mad.”
“Hm-hm.”
She looks hesitant.
“You know, there’s a chance that she’ll bitch about it.”
She shrugs.
“But I don’t think it’ll be all that dramatic.”
“Well, we’d still feel bad about it.”
“But she has to be aware that she’s not keeping people from entering this room anymore.”
“Do you think she’s not upset about us using it, then?”
“I don’t know about that, but I think she’s not trying to complain about it anymore.”
“Hmm…”
I don’t know if that’s really helpful.
“You know…”
Chris raises her chin to stare at the ceiling, crossing her arms again. She’s the one to look slightly embarrassed now, but her reasons are probably completely different from ours.
“I don’t know… Maybe she’ll see it as well. Why you’d want Chloe to try this.”
“Honestly, you sound like you don’t really like Isabella yourself.”
“Hmm…”
She looks at Ciel, before turning her head to stare at some random clothing racks.
“No… It’s fine. If I were her, I’d hate me too.”
“What..?”
This feels painful, but she quickly shakes her head and changes the subject.
“Anyway, what are you gonna do? Bring it up at random?”
Why did she say that..? I mean, it makes me feel awkward. I remember that the reason Chris started to hang around Isabella was to protect Chloe...
I don’t know how I’m supposed to feel about that.
“I guess that’s the idea. There isn’t really another way to bring it up.”
“Good luck not looking like pervs.”
“Ah.”
“Ah.”
She caught us off guard.
“Did you seriously not think about that?”
“It’s… It’s not our fault she’s cute.”
“That’s the worst rhetoric I’ve ever heard!”
“Okay, you’re right about that.”
They gave up immediately.
“It’s not like it’s an inappropriate outfit or something…”
“I know, I’m just messing with ya.”
She stares into nothingness again.
“Sorta.”
“Sorta..?”
“Just kidding, I have no idea how she’d react. We haven’t been talking to each other for all that long, you know.”
“Oh, I… guess that’s true.”
“Either way, I wouldn’t worry so much about Isabella if I were you. What if she complains? She isn’t the boss of you.”
“When you put it like that…”
“Then that’s settled. Do what you want.”
She turns to me.
“Didn’t you say it was about to be lunchtime? Now our chef’s heart is one I don’t want to break. If we’re done here…”
“Men are trash, she says, all of them but one…”
“What, already?”
“Right, I ran into Alice and she told me that.”
“Did you tell her that she’d look cute with a white tunic with gold trimming?”
“…No, I did not… Tell her that.”
“Oddly specific. About that, did you come up with anything for me?”
“For you..? Oh, uh…”
I didn’t expect her to ask that at all. As a matter of fact…
“No, we didn’t, uuuh… Find something that looked your size.”
Oh God. I feel like a huge idiot.
“Sorry…”
“Aw, man.”
Thankfully, she doesn’t look offended—and honestly, she shouldn’t be. I’d sound even weirder if I said it out loud, but she has an amazing-looking body. I’d expect it to be hard to shop for clothes… And again, I won’t tell her, but I actually did think about it when I was looking. If she were just muscular, it’d be easier to make do, but she also has a rather large chest…
“You’re brave.”
“Huh, what?”
“You’re brave for staring at my torso right now.”
“…Hhhhh…”
I’M SORRY!
“Kick his ass!” Ciel blurts out enthusiastically.
“Nooo!”
“Not this time.”
What does she mean, not this time?!
“Alright. Well, anyway, it’s also that I didn’t expect you to care about that kind of thing. I mean clothes.”
“Ah, really?”
She turns her attention to them, but I’m still freaking out about what I just did.
“I mean, I don’t know that I care… I just like…”
She pokes her cheek with her finger again.
“Usually I’ll just dress in whatever’s comfortable, but I like to put together cute fits for when I go out, you know?”
“Oh, I see. That’s understandable.”
“Really?”
I wouldn’t have imagined Chris to—actually, maybe I should shut up.
“I guess you don’t have a vision for me like you do Chloe.”
“End me now…”
“Hey, that’s not true. You’re already pretty. I can only imagine how stunning you are in a fashionable outfit.”
“Heh, you’re better at this than Neo.”
I sigh.
“They are…”
Ciel smiles exaggeratedly.
“Well, I don’t know about Neo, but I like beautiful women…”
“Now you’re going too far.”
They are.
“Though I like to think I’m pretty in my prettiest dresses. At least I try to be.”
“You don’t have to try to be pretty…”
I’m not even trying to save myself. It’s true, and I find it weird that a good-looking woman like Chris wouldn’t know it.
“Thanks. Now stop before it becomes embarrassing.”
“So you like wearing dresses?”
“Yeah. They’re basically a shortcut to being pretty and comfortable. And since I do wear sports clothes most of the time, it feels nice to go the opposite way when I can, you know?”
“Yeah, I think I get it.”
She lets her arms fall to either side of her body.
“How about you, by the way? Would you dress in more feminine ways sometimes?”
“Ah…”
Ciel looks startled by this question.
“Lately, not really, no.”
“Oh, okay.”
She turns to me instead.
“Should I ask you?”
“No.”
I’d feel and look ridiculous. I’ll pass.
“Aight.”
She chuckles.
“Honestly, I wouldn’t have worn whatever you offered me anyway. You know… Since it’s a habit I have when I go out and have a nice time. I don’t feel that way right now.”
“Ah...”
“I’ll dress pretty again when we’re out of here.”
“Well…”
Ciel smiles nervously.
“I’m definitely looking forward to it.”
“Yeah, I’m looking forward to be out of here too.”
“Not what I meant, but that too.”
“Anyway, enough talking about me, I’m heading out.”
She illustrates it by walking past me and towards the door.
“I guess we’ll—”
“Oh, uh…”
Right as she passes through it, she suddenly turns around.
“Sorry to interrupt you. I just meant to say… Since it ended up being less shady than I thought, I’m actually glad that you thought about asking me.”
“Ah? Really?”
This surprises me, and somehow immediately reassures me.
“Yeah, you know… Sometimes I feel like…”
She grimaces.
“I chose the wrong person to become close to when we arrived here…”
She lets out a short, hesitant, sigh.
“So then I question my attitude… I’m worried about being lonely… But it’s a little bit irrational, I guess.”
She shakes her head.
“Sorr—”
“Chris, you don’t have to worry about it.”
“Ah..?”
“Yeah…”
Ciel and I exchange a glance, but they’re braver than me in that they’re going through the effort of actually thinking about it.
“First of all… you’re not alone. Second of all…”
They look at the ceiling, and hesitate for a few seconds, before setting their eyes on Chris again and smiling.
“We need you to raise the amount of “fucks” per second in this place.”
…
What?
“You really are a clown, aren’t you?”
Chris’ expression relaxes.
“Thanks!”
“Alright… Thank you.”
She turns around again.
“Go ahead and try to get Chloe to wear that fit. It’s a good pick.”
On these words, she finally leaves for good.
“Uuuurgh…”
I don’t know why, but I let out a long and awkward sigh of relief.
“What’s wrong?”
I turn to look at Ciel. They appear simply curious.
“Uuugh… I was just… super awkward…”
They laugh.
“Oh, well, that’s okay.”
I guess it has to be.
“Maybe we should head downstairs? Before Alice gets mad at you.”
“Oh, anything but that!”
It doesn’t take much more to convince me. I head right through the door, and Ciel follows me.

We walk downstairs and quickly reach the dining room.
Inside, we find Akiro, Keith and… Lois.
I start to feel tense again.
Both Keith and Lois look at us in silence… and Akiro doesn’t even look in our direction. He’s reading a book.
“That’s…”
Ciel brings their face close to my ear and whispers.
“It feels like there are so little of us…”
I can only sigh.
I know…
…
But it’s not that bad, right? I’m guessing Alice and Jan are in the kitchen, and then there are the three girls, and then Mina… and Oscar.
Never mind. This is giving me a headache.
“Hello… you guys.”
In the meantime, Ciel walks closer to the table.
I can only guess that this is not their dream team.
“What are all of you doing? I didn’t know if I was supposed to be worried.”
I’ll hazard a guess that she didn’t mean to sound harsh, but she still very much does.
She’s sitting on her own, not too far from the two guys. Keith is sitting next to Akiro, but neither of them pay much attention to the other.
“Just looking at some stuff. I think Chris and the other girls will be there soon.”
“Some stuff.”
When I look at Keith, he looks in the other direction. Akiro, on the other hand, doesn’t even realise that I’m here.
I look at the book he’s holding… It’s called “Newwell City”.
“Oh my God!”
This elicits feelings I didn’t remember I had.
I walk right by Ciel and slap my hands on the table in front of Akiro.
“I know this book!”
He doesn’t react immediately… it takes him a few seconds, before he nervously slaps the book shut and looks at me.
“Ah, uh, w-what?”
“This is the sequel to Endearing, right?”
“Oh…”
He blushes, as always, delicately putting the book down, staring at me.
“Yes… B-but technically this is the first book, and Endearing is the prequel…”
“I know, but they decided to publish the movies in chronological order.”
“Y-yes… But I didn’t see the, the movie yet, because I, I meant to read the books, so…”
“Well, I know about it from the movie… I was the voice actor for Charles in the English dub, you know.”
“S-s-seriously?”
His cheeks become even redder.
“That’s, that’s so cool!”
He picks the book up again.
“Charles is ac-actually a character in this one too, y-you know?”
“I know! I actually recently signed a contract to…”
…
Ah… Well… I guess I was going to, but now…
Now, it feels like a faraway memory.
“To…”
I hesitate, and I can see in Akiro’s eyes that he picks up on that… and no, that’s not fine! I’m passionate about my work. There’s nothing negative about my work. All I want to do is to be hyped about it, so I can’t let myself worry about whatever time I’m spending in this dumb place. My work remains the same.
“I signed the contract to voice him in the next movie too!”
I pick my enthusiasm up again, and Akiro looks relieved. His cheeks have turned a lighter pink.
“That’s… that’s amazing, honestly, I can’t even believe it.”
“Seriously?”
I chuckle. Coming from the Ultimate Writer, this is an odd reaction. This is more like one I would expect from someone who isn’t an Ultimate.
I don’t mind, though. I feel positively hyped to be sharing this with Akiro.
“So? Is he your favourite character?”
“Hehe… I don’t know if he’s my, my favourite, but I like him a lot so far.”
From the first movie, Charles is a very odd character. I haven’t read the script yet, but I heard that a lot happens to him in Newwell City.
Someone even warned me to not let one specific scene cloud my judgement, but I have no idea what they were talking about. From the way Akiro talks about him, I’m guessing he hasn’t gotten to something like that yet.
“I guess I’ll have t-to watch the movies when I’m d-done reading the books.”
“Are you the kind of person who doesn’t watch the movie because you read the book?”
While we were chatting, everyone must have been listening. I glance at Ciel, who looks amused, then at Lois…
When she sees me looking at her, she looks away, but she was staring at me with a mix of confusion and reproach.
“N… No, not really, but… I don’t, I don’t watch movies very often, I guess.”
What’s up with her?
Did I do something wrong?
“Why?”
Now I’m the one to stare at her as she avoids my gaze. The emotions her eyes conveyed were so weird, but strong…
“It’s, it’s just… I don’t like watching movies on uh… on my own. I feel lonely…”
“Why don’t you watch them wi— oh, right, uhm.”
“Ah!”
I didn’t hear Alice coming, but I might have overreacted. She looks at me weirdly, but at least that is normal…
“What movies are you guys talking about?”
“The adaptation of this book and its prequel.”
Ciel points to Newwell City, laying down on the table again.
“Y-yes, Neo said…”
“Oh, that’s right!”
Alice claps her hands together.
“That’s the sequel to that movie, “Endearing”, right? Your name was on the poster!”
“Oh, did you, did you see it?”
I don’t know why I stuttered.
“No, I don’t watch a lot of movies, but you know what? They were going to rerun it in the theatre near where I live, I was thinking of going to see it.”
She taps Akiro’s shoulder.
“Guess we’ll have to go together, then!”
“Ah…”
He blushes again.
“R-really?”
“Yeah!”
She grabs the book.
“In the meantime, no books on the table when we’re eating!”
“Wh- Hey!”
“Jeez.”
Keith finally reacts to something. His face looks neutral, but he sighs.
“You’ll get it back after lunch.”
“L-l-like hell…”
Alice backs away, holding the book at arm’s length, and Akiro stands up to take it back, clearly taller than her…
I’m distracted by the noise of the door opening behind me.
I turn to see Chris, Chloe and Isabella walking in. Almost right behind them, Oscar walks in too.
That’s when I realise… she’s not here.

“Looks like we’re not late after all.”
“Hmm…”
Chris pushes Chloe along towards the table, and Isabella follows them in silence.
I can’t stop looking at Oscar…
He takes a few steps towards the centre of the room and looks around.
He and Mina had a simple fight, right? It’s not that big of a deal. Mina has every right to be upset, but it stops there—at “being upset”.
…In reality, it’s not Mina’s reaction I’m worried about. Oscar is expressionless, and I don’t know what to do of him.
And then, the fact that she’s…
“Where’s Mina?”
“Ha..!”
Keith..? Keith is the one to bring it up? That’s… Yeah, it surprises me.
The Ultimate Bodyguard turns his head to look at him.
“I don’t know.”
“…What?”
“Wait… you don’t?”
Alice stops mid-teasing Akiro, and he snatches the book back out of her hand.
“No, I don’t.”
I look at Ciel, and we exchange a glance. They shudder noticeably before taking a step towards Oscar.
“You haven’t seen her since your fight, right?”
“Yes.”
“You… had a fight?”
Keith stands up abruptly, his chair making a horrible sound as it slides against the floor.
“Wait, don’t worry…”
Without looking at him, Ciel makes a vague gesture in his direction.
I press my hand against my forehead. If even Keith is worried… maybe we should have let everyone know…
“She’s probably in her room. We brought her there this morning.”
“Is she too upset to eat with us..?”
It looks like everyone’s started to pay attention to this. Everyone – when I take a look around, I see Jan in the doorway to the kitchen, listening in as well. Keith hasn’t sat back down. Isabella… looks like she’s surveilling the situation.
“Maybe..?”
“Or she’s avoiding Oscar. Simple enough.”
“If that’s the case, I don’t mind bringing her a lunchbox for today.”
“But… You’re already busy…”
I look at Akiro and Alice, and then their gazes lead me to look at Jan. He shrugs with a rather shy smile.
“I don’t mind.”
“You know… You could let someone else do it…”
He immediately shakes his head.
“Ah..!”
I think she got it.
Lois was the one to mention this to me, if I recall correctly. Jan won’t take the risk of letting someone tamper with his food again.
“Waste of time.”
“Hm?”
Not knowing how to read Keith’s tone makes me gasp weirdly. He looks… he sounds… angry? Annoyed? Worried? Which is it?
I’m not even sure I want to hear him, but I can’t ignore him either.
“I’ll go check on her and ask her what she wants. It’s not that complicated.”
Huh.
“Oh. That’s… an option.”
“Sure is.”
He walks around the table and towards the exit.
It’s weird—
Not just the fact that he’s offering to help. Looking at him, I feel like something’s missing.
“…Thanks.”
Jan turns back inside the kitchen, and Keith leaves.
“Are you fine with that?”
Ciel looks at Oscar with cold eyes.
He glances vaguely towards the door before nodding, still without expression.
“Yes. Mina likes him.”
“What? Seriously?”
… … Keith?
But Oscar ignores me, and walks past us and towards the table.
“Why?!”
“Nice guys finish last. ”
…
“How did you embody the pensive emoji in real life?!”
“Jeez…”
Alice sighs heavily, snatching Newwell City out of Akiro’s hands again while he’s not paying attention.
“Hey!”
“Can’t you guys just get along for a minute?”
“A-Aliiiiiice!”
Holding the book away from him, she pretends to ignore him.
“I don’t want not to.”
Oscar sits down. In the meantime, Akiro tries to yank the book out of Alice’s hand, but she’s got a good grip on it.
“Grr…”
“You could at least apologise to her.”
Ciel walks closer to Oscar. I follow their lead.
“Apologise for what?”
…He’s too intimidating for me to be even comfortable forming an opinion about his attitude, but Ciel continues.
“You clearly hurt her feelings.”
He stares at them blankly.
“But she knows what I meant.”
“How... How is that an excuse for insulting her?!”
“You insulted her? Seriously?”
Alice loosens her grip on the book, allowing Akiro to yank it out a little too violently.
He loses his balance and falls back onto his chair. He looks at the book cover for a couple seconds before turning his attention back to us.
It looks like we’re forming a small group of them two, Ciel and I, Oscar, and Lois, who seems to be paying attention despite not having said anything in a while.
The other girls are talking among themselves.
I wonder if Keith will take long…
“I did not mean to.”
“So you did!”
She sounds horrified.
Maybe… I should feel the same?
After all, we owe so much to Mina.
“...But she knows I did not mean to.”
“That’s absolutely no reason for her to tolerate being verbally abused!”
Ciel is similarly upset…
Seeing Oscar’s (lack of?) reaction, I think I’m starting to feel it too.
“Hm.”
Finally, the Ultimate Bodyguard lowers his gaze somewhat.
“It’s good that she defends herself.”
“What is THAT supposed to mean?”
“I don’t want to have hurt her feelings but I still think I am right.”
“Huh?”
“Uhm… They argued about how to ensure her protection at first, he didn’t just start insulting her at random.”
“Oh.”
…Yeah, I thought it was better to clarify that as well.
“I think she is being reckless. But now that she doesn’t want me, I can’t be her bodyguard.”
“Y-you could still keep an eye out for her, if tha- if that’s what you want…”
“Sounds a little creepy.”
“Ah…”
“Thanks for the intervention.”
“I… Sure, I appreciate you respecting her wishes. But that doesn’t change the fact that you need to take accountability for hurting her.”
…
Oscar raises his eyes to stare at Ciel. He doesn’t say anything—and the silence weighs like a brick on all of our shoulders, despite the other conversation going in the background. I look at his eyes, then theirs, and it is plain to see that Ciel is refusing to advert their gaze, but that still, they’re shaken…
Could Oscar be actively trying to intimidate them? It’s definitely worki… Wait, no. It’s just the way he looks, isn’t it?
Surely this has only lasted a few seconds… But not only does it feel like more, but (Nin)Jan also found the time to come out of the kitchen and slide himself in-between Akiro and Alice. He shoots us a worried look, one that says, “I don’t know if I can or should say something right now.” That’s right, he thought it so loud I could hear it.
“…”
Finally, Oscar opens his mouth to talk.
“I think you are presumptuous.”
“Wh-What?”
“Uhm…”
“Alright, that’s enough. You’re scaring Jan!”
“That’s uhm, not… …Well, most importantly, is everything alright?”
“Yes.”
“…Yes.”
Ciel finally looks away – in my direction, but not towards me. They look slightly frustrated, but I don’t think they have anything else they want to say. It just doesn’t look this way.
“Don’t worry about it…” Akiro whispers, almost.
“Are you done in the kitchen?”
“Hm-hm.”
He nods, looking around at all of us, before smiling a much more relaxed smile.
Nice.
…Damn.
“Everything’s ready, but we’re waiting for Keith, right?”
“Do we have to?”
“You’ve been listening since when?”
Or, alternatively, you and Keith don’t NOT get along, right..?
“Of course we do…”
He says that in a calm, neutral tone, and his smile makes everything feel so light.
“But it smells so nice.”
It makes Chris smile too.
Chloe, sitting next to her, pokes her head from behind her shoulder.
“What did you make today, Jan?”
“Well… I followed a specific recipe… It’s called a “split pea yellow dal”.”
“Oh, so you took my advice.”
“Yes, and thank you.”
“Is it spicy?”
Lois moves on to the next question immediately, but not without a look of uttermost appreciation and wonder directed at Jan.
(And then there’s the way she looks at me.)
“Half and half. I made two separate versions.”
“Huh.”
“Tha-that’s why I said, I said he was already… busy… en-enough.”
“No one made him, though.”
“A-And?”
“Hm? And? What?”
“And… That’s no reason not to respect his time, right?”
“Aaaaah. Oooooooh. That’s what you mean. Okay!”
“Wow, Chloe got it.”
“That’s proof that it was a weird train of thought.”
“That’s… so mean.”
Oh, Ciel is back with us, and with a chuckle.
…I haven’t said anything in a while either, but… There’s something reassuring… Something warm about the light-hearted conversation we’re having, poking fun at each other, making Ciel react with amused surprise…
Even with someone like Oscar sitting silently amidst us.
Even with, I guess, Isab—…
The sound of the door being pushed startles me.
“Ah, welcome back.”
“Thanks.”
Keith walks up to the table, looking much more relaxed than when he left.
Almost… too relaxed.
“Mina was in her room. I talked to her.”
He looks at Oscar, who… looks away. Huh. I didn’t expect he would even react.
“And?”
“Jan.”
“Yes?”
“She said she would very much like you to bring her some grub, but only once we’re all done.”
“Gotcha.”
Jan looks satisfied with this request.
“…There’s more, though.”
“What? Just get to it.”
Keith sighs.
“Yes ma’am. Sorry ma’am. She’s not too happy about just asking something from you for free, so she’s promising something in exchange.”
“Oh, uh… What?”
He shrugs:
“She said you don’t have to come, but if you do, she’ll give you something interesting.”
“Huh. I mean, I’ll go either way…”
“But if Mina has something to show you… it has to be interesting, right?”
I finally butted in – because it has to, right? Jan looks surprised but also, I feel, a little underwhelmed. As in… If it were me, I’d be too curious to contain myself. What does she want to show him?
“Yes, I assume.”
“Not too curious?”
Jan chuckles, and backs away from the chair he was leaning against.
“The regular amount. I guess we’ll pay her a visit after we eat.”
“About that…”
“What now?”
Keith crosses his arms, looking slightly to the side.
“She did say that she would rather you come alone. If you don’t, she won’t be able to give you anything. So if you’re curious…”
“Ah!” “W… Wait, what?”
Jan reacts with normal surprise – but Akiro almost chokes on his own words.
“Huh… Then, what are you gonna do?”
Jan blinks a few times.
“If she’d rather I come alone, then…”
“No way!”
Akiro stands up abruptly, slamming one hand and his book against the table, with his face turned to Jan. The latter pinches his lips tightly together and looks at him silently…
“You’re not gonna do it, right?”
“She said she’d rather… And if she has something she wants to tell me…”
The redhead shakes his head with a look of genuine concern.
“Someone tells you to meet them alone… and you’re just going to go blindly?”
“That’s what I was saying!”
Hahahaha… Don’t look at me like that…
Jan lets out a nervous chuckle.
“It’s just Mina…”
“She is rather small.”
“And very smart! Jan!”
“…”
“…”
“…What’s going on?”
“It’s Mina, don’t you trust her?”
“…Right. So, here’s the deal. I’ll go alone instead of you and we’ll see if that satis—”
“Absolutely not!”
Huh, that was sudden.
“Why? Do you think I can’t do it? Do you not trust me?”
“Huh?”
Jan’s expression changes to one that is hard to describe. He clenches his fists.
“How can you… say that?”
His voice shakes.
“Hey, guys…”
…That’s—Yes, what is going on?
Akiro shortly glances at Chris, and takes a step closer to Jan. He’s red in the face, but I can’t tell if it is due to anger or… blushing.
Because his tone suddenly becomes a lot softer.
“…Because I know it’s wrong, do you get it?”
Jan shakes his head.
“Do you think it’s fair for you to say “absolutely not” to me going alone, but refuse to listen when I ask you not to go?”
Jan pauses, before shaking his head again.
“… ...But what you’re saying is still unfair.”
“…Okay. I went too far. I was just arguing.”
“Hey ho.”
“…Hm?”
Akiro blushes even stronger when he turns his head to Keith.
“If I may… Mina said she wanted it to be Jan specifically, so your proposition wouldn’t work anyway.”
“F-F-Fine.”
“And she said nothing about walking up to her door together. She’d just have to talk to him for a sec. I don’t see the harm in that.”
“What if she gives him something weird to eat? You know he can’t stop himself from putting weird stuff in his mouth,” Alice says, butting in with a false shy demeanour.
“…No comment.”
Jan clears his throat. It looks like… the pressure he felt has been alieved.
“B-But still.”
“You said she’s smart. She wouldn’t have let me announce any part of her plan so publicly.”
…I have to say… That I would simply assume Mina could do no harm, period.
But listening to Akiro argue, it’s impossible to ignore his pure, unaltered worry. That’s what makes this hurt the most.
Still, he looks about to be convinced.
“And if anything, Jan is probably a foil. She did something to discretely cause my slow death, and will use her meeting with Jan as proof that she didn’t do anything. Works in more ways than one, when you think about it.”
“Cool story, but I don’t think she did that.”
“She did not do that.”
Ciel glares at Oscar – they didn’t expect him to intervene by this point, I’ll bet. But they also probably don’t want him to agree with them.
“Fiiiiinee…”
“Yeah, if it’s just Keith, it’s fine!”
I’d be almost tempted to defend him, but he set himself up for that one.
Meanwhile, Akiro has turned his full attention to Jan… again.
“…Three minutes and forty-seven seconds and then I bust the door open.”
Jan sighs. He looks at his face from the bottom up, and opens his mouth a few seconds before answering…
“…Three minutes and fifty seconds.”
“Fine.”
“Why..?”
“Just ignore it.”
Oh, Isabella couldn’t stop herself this time around.
“Deal.”
“Gee… Are you calmed down now?”
“Yes m-mom.”
“Hey now.”
Keith lets out an audible sigh.
“Sorry, I guess I sort of caused that.”
“I wouldn’t say so…”
Ciel glances at him, then the Boys.
“…But you know that for everyone’s sake, you two have to make up for good, right?”
“Wh-why would it be for your sake…”
Though he says that, Akiro turns to Jan yet again.
“Do… Do you forgive me? Let’s say I owe you something. As an apology.”
“Hmm…”
Jan pouts, and extends his hands at waist level to stare at his nails for a few seconds.
“…I want… $1000.”
“...Okay. Fine.”
“What? You don’t have that kind of money.”
“That was quick…”
…Jan looks already amused.
“Well… I’ll have to find it somehow.”
“I was joking. You don’t owe me anything.”
“Too late, I’m already thinking about all the crimes I’m gonna have to commit.”
“Nuh-uh. No crime.”
Akiro looks at Alice–he’s tense, but the way he’s joking does show his relief.
“How, how else…”
Jan places himself behind him and pushes him lightly at the shoulders.
“If Alice says no crime, it’s no crime. Come help me set the table.” （づ￣▽￣）づ
“Y-Yes…”
Is anyone else seeing this shit?
“So if Alice says crime, it’s yes crime?”
“I said no crime!!!”
“I hope the food isn’t cold…”
“Jesus Christ, Chloe.”
“What?”
Pushing Akiro inside the kitchen, Jan turns around and flashes his most classic smile.
“No, it was way too hot to serve. This was all part of my plan.”
“Like hell it was.”
And in they go.
…
We all look at each other. Except Isabella… and Oscar… I guess, but even Lois and Keith.
“Hot take,”
“Oh of course.”
“Mina DEFINITELY knows what it sounds like to request to meet someone alone.”
“Unlike some other people.”
“Argh!!!”
“That’s why I’m curious.”
“What?”
Keith shrugs.
“I offered to do it, but she wanted Jan. I know I’m untrustworthy… But I still wonder.”
“I wouldn’t say you’re untrustworthy.”
“Whatever.”
At this point, Akiro walks back in with a pile of plates and a healthy blush on his face.

He sets the table with help from a little bit of everyone – and Jan brings two large pots of yellow dal (effortlessly may I add) (sigh…).
There isn’t much to say from that point… Quick as it was, whatever happened is water under the bridge now.
“You can eat from this one, okay?”
“Yes! Thank you!”
…
Well, we’re all sat down and ready to eat now. I chose the spicy dal, of course, and I can’t say I’m not amused by this British guy’s repeated warnings that it is “very spicy”…
… …
“Hey, this is actually very nice!”
“Pff, did you have any reason to believe it wouldn’t be?”
I guess he must have cooked spicy foods before. Some people truly have it all, huh…

Once again, I forgot about everything else as I ate the delicious food Jan made for us all.
It’s so… Relieving.
I can’t imagine… Dealing with this place without… Without him.
Huh.
“So, did you like it?”
Not that I feel fully comfortable with that, but Oscar and Lois have already left the room. For whatever reason, Keith has as well. We all helped to clean the table, and the most of us are sitting in small groups… Digesting, I guess.
I’m of course not the person Jan is talking to.
“D... Did I like the incredibly delicious meal that you cooked and everyone enjoyed because it was so masterfully prepared?”
“Hmhm.”
“I bet he hated it.”
“You know what I’m asking.”
“You don’t have to worry so much… about my specific needs…”
“Yes I do. About everyone’s specific needs.”
“Yes, see, that’s exactly what you don’t have to do.”
“(I love Akiro,)” Ciel suddenly whispers in my ear.
“That sounds like it came from a real place…”
They giggle for a little too long.
I think I get it, though. Akiro’s funny, in a bit of a weird way. I can’t stop thinking about that time we washed the dishes together, and he didn’t speak at all at first, before asking abrupt questions and leaving it at that. He’s odd, in a way. When I hear him talk and be emotional, part of me feels privileged to be able to see these parts of him.
Though they’re messy.
“…I’m gonna prepare a lunchbox for Mina.”
“...Okay.”
“I’ll be right back.”
…Next to Jan…
“Hey.”
Ciel elbows me in the arm, interrupting my train of thought. They whisper something to me once again.
“(Should we talk to Chloe?)”
“Oh! Right!”
I forgot to whisper.
Chloe, Chris and Isabella are sitting diagonally across from us, one seat away from Akiro and Alice. As I turn to them, Chris shoots us a knowing look. I can’t really read her expression, though.
“Uuuuh, Chloe, we have something to ask you.”
“Wh-what? Me?”
“(She panics immediately.)”
“What are you whispering about?”
“Hey, be nice to me.”
“Uhm, yeah, Chloe… We just happened to think about something uh, fun.”
I hear Alice whisper something to Akiro and can imagine her face without having to look.
“(I don’t even think he did anything wrong but he sounds shady as shit…)”
Some of us don’t have it all, chief…
“Okay..?”
“It’s uh, specifically for you, by the way.”
“Spit it ooouuuuuttt!!!!!”
“Yes, yes, okay so, would you like to uh, dress-up?”
“…Sorry, what?”
“She would not like to dress-up.”
“Well, not like at a, costume party kinda thing. That’s just work.”
“(For him, sure it is.)”
My eyes meet with Alice’s and she smiles exaggeratedly.
“…No, it’s uh, okay, so. We happened to wander into the Fashion room, upstairs…”
…I glance at Isabella. She’s sitting the farthest from us, with her arms crossed… And she doesn’t even look at us.
That’s… That means it’s fine, right?
“Oh, wow.”
I notice Chloe’s gaze move quickly from me to Isabella, back to me, as well.
“And we think pastels… like, a pastel purple… would look nice on you.”
I didn’t think she could furrow her brow any more than she already was, but here we are.
“We found clothes that would look perfect on you and we want you to wear them.”
“Are you gonna pay her?”
“Huh?”
Just one phrase, one look; Neo and Ciel, Destabilised.
“You know modeling’s a job, right? Yes… you know that.”
“Uuuh, that’s not what we’re asking…”
“It’s more light-hearted than that, we want to share it with her…”
“I, I think I understand what you mean by that, but…”
“You should come look at it! They’re just, cute clothes…”
“Hmm… I don’t…”
“We really think they’d look good on you!”
“Yes! You’re very cute, so…”
“Y-You can’t force her to go along.”
“Huh?”
We both turn our attention to Akiro. He had been staying out of this, but he now leans forward to look at Chloe, then back at us, with a bothered expression.
“Y-Y-You can’t force her to wear so-some clothes you found if she, she’s not comfortable.”
“Damn right!”
Alice is having so much fun.
“What? No-no-no, we’re not trying to force her..!”
They turn to Chloe again, waving their hands in the air hectically. Ah, was Chloe blushing this hard the entire time..?
“We’re just trying to convince you… But you can still say no, we just want to share something for fun!”
“T-True.”
“O-Okay…”
Chloe seems a little startled. She tries to hide her blush with her hands, and looks in every direction before continuing:
“No, it’s… fine, actually. I’ll… think about it, so please just don’t rush me.”
“Of course!”
“Yeah!”
“Children.”
…No, I’m an adult… …
“S-Sorry if I overblew it again...”
“No, it’s okay!”
“What’s up with you?”
What’s up with Chloe? I guess… She does look even more flustered than before.
“I’m actually… I’m just glad that you still care about me, a little bit…”
“Huuuuh?—Ack!”
This time, he actually chokes on his own words. He coughs for a good second…
…And because whatever timing this is is his new talent, Jan just happens to come back with Mina’s lunchbox now.
“What’s going on this time?”
“Yeah, what did you do to Chloe?!”
“Ooh.”
“What do you mean “ooh”?!”
“Aaah, nothing really, it’s just…”
I think Akiro’s blush is a brand new colour.
…Can he actually still not breathe?
“Since we stopped talking… You know.”
“Tha-that’s not… That’s because… It’s j… It’s just… …”
“No, no, it’s okay, don’t worry!”
“Hhhhhhhhhhh….”
“Can someone explain whatever the fuck is going on?”
“Seconded.”
“Well, I guess Akiro and Chloe were kinda friends at first…”
“Y- hhhhhhhhhhhhhh….”
Chloe’s blush looks healthier at least.
“I did… He really wanted to talk to you guys, so I did encourage him to…”
“Wait, what? That’s what?”
“So since he liked you better… He didn’t really talk to me again, but I’m glad that he… That you stood up for me anyway, you know? It’s flattering, I’d say.”
“Nooooooooooooo…”
“Plot twist, he still likes you.”
“Hahaha...”
“No, I’m serious.”
With a calm smile, he sets the lunchbox down on the table and leans his arm against Alice’s chair.
“He keeps talking about you.”
“Uuuh…”
“I have… talked to Jan…”
“Oh?”
“I don’t know if you noticed, but Akiro is a little shy sometimes…”
“I don’t know if you noticed…”
“Sometimes…”
“Gh…”
“…Jokes aside, he did notice that you went a little while without talking. And he feels responsible for it. But he’s too scared to talk to you about it and break the ice.”
“Here’s that explanation we asked for.”
“You shoulda told him to do it!”
“I did!”
“I’m just, I’m just no good…”
“Nuh-uh.”
“…I j… I just… Keep thinking you… You’re probably m-mad at me and y-you don’t like me any-anymore, so that’s… A little upsetting...”
“What? Of course not… You’re the one who stopped talking to me, but I…”
“Well you weren’t talking to him either.”
“But..!”
“Hm.”
Akiro lowers his head dramatically.
“I’m sorry, I’m really… really scared about that kind of si-situation…”
“So… It was a misunderstanding?”
“…Y-Yes… B-But I still did… get carried away.”
“That’s okay. I’d love to still be your friend.”
“… … M-Me too.”
“Yus!”
“Why are you the one celebrating?”
Akiro sighs.
“I, I do have a lot in my hands with Alice and Jan…”
“And what’s that supposed to mean?”
“…B-But if possible, I, I appreciate your friendship, so… please let-let’s maintain it… even… even after this…”
“Oh!”
Chloe nods enthusiastically.
“…I like your way of thinking.”
“…”
Akiro lets out a long “pheeeeeeeeeeww.”
Well, I had no idea about this… I guess I just didn’t pay attention. I recall Chloe and Akiro talking to each other… But… Ugh, it keeps coming back to that time I spent in my room.
“Hey, if that means all of us hanging out together sometimes, I don’t mind. Especially Jan. I keep wanting to ask him if everything’s alright.”
“Hm? What?”
“...Yeah. With what happened recently. And all the work you do for us for no reason. Are you all good?”
“…Haha. Yes, of course I’m all good.”
He chuckles a second time. Jeez… When he says it like that… It makes Chris look dumb for even asking that question. It doesn’t matter how, but he really is all good. Hearing him say it, it doesn’t even feel right to have even doubted it for a second.
“Oh! Yes, of course.”
For whatever reason, Jan slaps his hand on his mouth.
“And Chloe is adorable, so I’ll adopt her any day. Anyway, that Tupperware’s stressing me out…”
“…Right, we should get that done.”
Jan lets out a sigh and grabs the lunchbox off the table.
In an odd way, he looks perfectly fine–perfectly prepared, maybe? I guess Mina will find him in a good mood.
I hope she’s doing alright as well.
…Yeah, she probably is.
“So I’m taking Akiro and Alice, correct?”
“Y-Yes.”
Akiro glances at Chloe hesitatingly, and blushes (as always) before turning his attention back to Jan.
“Th-Then, when… Then we’ll chat and all.”
“Y-Yes.”
“Yay!”
Alice stands up a lot more enthusiastically, and I watch the three of them leave the room.
…I wonder what’s up with Mina. Really.
I can’t stop thinking about her now, and I don’t know what to say…
…
Isabella breaks our collective silence.
“Well, that was a death flag and a half.”
She smiles.