Assassin Skills Required - Round Two

1st K!ll - Restart

My second playthrough.

I emptily get off the boat, everyone repeating the same things from the first time I was here.

"Think they'll let us work on our tans?" Nakamura says with a bag over her shoulder.

"That would be so fun!" Kurahashi smiles. "I wonder what kinds of animals live here."

"That's not why we're really here." Sugino states blandly.

Why is it happening again?

"Oh, come on! Let the ladies have some fun!" Okajima yells, tearing off his shirt. "Come on, ladies, let's get some sun!"

"Can it, Okajima!" Kayano shouts back, hitting him with her bag.

How many times?

"Nagisa." Karma says calmly into my ear. I turn to face him.

I can tell he doesn't know what's going on, but he knows something is.

"203." I face the hotel, the same hotel with the grand hall and a "Y" shaped staircase in the main area. "Meet me there."

Karma grins. "Is that even your room?"

I stare at him intensely. "If it is?"

He narrows his eyes. "You already had my attention."

-----

I stiffly sit on the bed.

"You should try relaxing a bit and lie back." Karma offers, leading by example.

I sigh, lying back on the bed and staring at the ceiling.

But why me?

"You know, I thought you'd be more talkative." Karma says, an annoyed tone in his voice.

"Just give me a second." I snap back.

He's surprised by my curt response, but doesn't say anything. I go over the details in my head. The transference of green eyes makes me wonder if Gerit will be the creator this time, accounting for the differences, like the contract.

Why didn't he tell anyone?

I put together some things. He aimed to get to the creator, and hated him the second he laid eyes on him. Gerit clearly cared for the person the creator was, but he didn't act like he knew Gerit. My face falls. It was like the creator woke up from a dream only to die at the end.

'If he wanted the creator dead, which he said no. And if there was someone else he wanted dead. ... He said yes.' Stag had figured out.

I wish he was here to bounce ideas off of.

I realize how Gerit killed people so easily and sit up.

"They don't actually die." I say out loud, thinking about Kataoka.

Karma sits up too, raising his knee and resting his arm on it, remaining quiet. I look into his eyes and know he understands how serious this is for me.

"You really don't remember?" I ask again.

He searches his mind for something and looks back at me. "Are you having second thoughts? About the contest?"

Even though he asks that, it's not really what's on his mind. All the confidence is gone, only his calculating gaze left behind. Knowing to trust my instincts instead of questioning them, he's on high alert, for which I'm thankful.

"Nagisa." He says seriously. "What am I missing?"

I open my mouth to explain, second guessing if I should. "What if I can't tell you?"