VIII (Aoi Kurashiki x Reader)

XXII

Whoops :) in my defense I have school on Tuesday's so I thought today was Monday...

Muffled. Why was everything muffled? Slowly, she removed her hands from over her ears and looked at the people surrounding her. Junpei stared down at Ace, his eyes sharp enough to cut glass.

"Snake wasn't the only child in your experiment nine years ago. After all, it was impossible for you to recognize the three others." (Y/N) looked to Santa, or rather, Aoi.

"Welcome back."

"You killed every one of your business partners. Kubota, the Ninth Man. Then Nijisaki who you thought was Snake, and lastly, Matsushido in the captain's quarters. But why... Why did you kill Matsushido?"

Ace slowly reached into his pocket. "Because of this..." He pulled out a folded piece of paper and handed it to Junpei who read it aloud...

'Number One, There are two ways you might survive this ordeal. The first is to win the Nonary Game.
The second is for you to confess your sins of nine years past. I have prepared a camera in the captain's quarters. The images captured by the camera will be streamed through a satellite and distributed around the world. Simply look into the camera and repent. Once you've confessed everything, I will release you from this ship. To make your confession more credible, I have left you a witness in the captain's quarters. Perhaps he will confess with you. The decision is yours. Do as you please. -Zero'

"When I woke up on D Deck, I found that in my pocket." Ace started after Junpei had read the letter aloud. "That was why I chose door one when we voted. If I went through there, I knew I could get to the captain's quarters."

Junpei looked dumbfounded, as did everyone else. "You meant to kill him from the beginning, then? Matsushido, I mean."

"I only knew he was the 'witness' after I reached the captain's quarters. I asked him... and he answered. He seemed groggy. Perhaps he'd only just awoken from sedation. I suppose Nijisaki was in much the same state. He seemed confused and disoriented."

(Y/N) could barely manage to piece the puzzle together. Snake, Santa, and herself had been victim to Ace's experiment nine years ago. And now, he'd killed his partners in crime just so he wouldn't have to confess. And all of this... all of this because of his prosopagnosia.

Santa... No, Aoi... had masterminded this. The entirety of the Second Nonary Game he'd been pulling the strings.

"Yes, I intended to kill him from the beginning, even though I didn't know who he was. I proceeded to the captain's quarters to remove this so-called 'witness'." Ace had confessed everything. His energy had left him with the truth, forcing him onto his knees. Although he had confessed, his sins were not forgiven.

(Y/N) felt repulsed by the pathetic man on the floor. She darted towards him, seizing him by his collar. "You piece of shit! You caused so much death, and pain!"

Junpei pulled her away. "Vi..."

"Let me go! Can't you see what he's done?!"

"He was being manipulated," Junpei whispered and handed (Y/N) over to Seven to restrain her. She struggled against him but eventually fell limp. It was all too much.

"Everywhere I went, everything was already prepared. The RED's in the large hospital room were all dismantled. Nijisaki was dressed like Snake. There was an axe in the captain's quarters, waiting for me to kill Matsushido. He was delirious from anesthetics so he couldn't fight back, as was Nijisaki. In retrospect, it was quite obvious... I'm ashamed of myself. It was Zero's trap and I fell for it. Hook, line, and sinker."

"By manipulating Ace, Zero was able to kill three people and keep the blood off his own hands. All of this was revenge for what happened nine years ago. Isn't that right... Santa?" Junpei turned to the silver-haired man.