Entertaining a Small Thought

3rd Arc Part 12: Asking and Returning Favors

"This sucks..." I mumbled as I laid on my bed while staring blankly at the ceiling.

I went back to my room after what happened in the dining hall, but I couldn't stop thinking about it. Of course I couldn't. I essentially broke my relationship with one of the people I trusted most in this entire game. Kaito. What I said probably hurt him...but he hurt me too! We're friends, and he even calls me one of his sidekicks! How come he can't trust me with this? Why can't any of them trust me with this?

I sighed again as I got up from my bed. I can't keep moping around. I need to keep at it. There's always something to do, after all. What Rantaro said... I have to check the boiler room myself. Now that I think about it, the greenery in that room is also a lot better compared to when we first got here. I haven't even checked to see if that 'twins b' message actually exists.

Well, not that I really have to, what with Foresight and all, but I should still go and see if the message has changed, like with the 'horse a' message.

So I got up and walked out of the dormitories, not running into anyone as I made my way to the boiler room once again. Once inside, I immediately started looking around for the message. While the greenery had been cleaned up a bit compared to day one, the boiler room still had a lot of plants covering the walls and floors. Guess this place isn't exactly a main priority for the cubs compared to the rest of the school.

I searched around for a bit before finally finding the message behind some plants on the wall. 'Twins b'. Nothing's changed with it. So this message doesn't have another hidden meaning behind it like 'horse a' then? Or is this implying something else? This message is still really hidden compared to 'horse a', which Gonta found easily.

No one aside from Rantaro and I know about this, at least as far as I know. Since this is so hidden, I guess it makes sense that there isn't any need for there to be any more meaning to it. But what does that mean for 'horse a', its partner message?

Hmm... I'll have to keep an eye on both messages, it seems.

"I figured you would check this place out after I brought it up this morning. It's strange, isn't it? How it hasn't changed like the other message?" I turned around to see Rantaro entering the boiler room, his expression still calm and collected somehow.

"Of course I would come. We're the only ones who know this even exists, so when you implied that there might have been a change here, I had to see for myself." I told him as I looked back at the message. "Still, the fact that it hasn't changed makes me wonder about a lot of things."

"Agreed. It's certainly suspicious. What are these messages even for?" Rantaro questioned as he moved next to me to look at the writing on the wall as well.

I couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at that as I turned to him. He was still acting like he always does, which was throwing me off after what had just happened.

"Why are you acting so...friendly and calm around me?" I eventually asked him.

"Hm? Aren't we friends? Even if I don't fully agree with some of your actions or what you want to do, that doesn't mean I don't trust you anymore or that we're not friends now." His words made my eyes widen with surprise. He then turned to me and gave me an apologetic look. "When I came here this morning, I was surprised by the tunnel being blocked. I thought you were trying to make us accept that we would have to live here forever, but I should've known that you wouldn't do something like this without a good reason. You're one of the smart people here, and you've always had good intentions. I shouldn't have doubted you."

"I... Thank you. For telling me that, I mean." I responded, before sighing. "At least I know one person outside the council trusts me still."

"Oh, I don't know about that. They might not agree with what you're doing, but they still trust you. To an extent at least." Rantaro told me. I frowned at that, not fully believing his words.