Just One More Time

5 - One More, then It's Over

Sitting in the dining hall, Shuichi sighed as the heavy atmosphere loomed over the group. "I'm going to practice my magic," Yumeno mumbled before she left the room.

"Tenko will help!" Chabashira rushed out of the room after the red-haired magician.

"Angie's going to paint! Please don't disturb me for a few hours!" Yonaga cheered, seeming to float as she left.

"I'm going to train, want to join me Shuichi?" Kaito asked, squeezing his boyfriend's hand.

"Uh, I would but I'm still really tired... I might take a shower," Shuichi muttered.

"That's fine, what about you Harukawa?" Kaito asked the assassin. The woman had begun hanging around the two lately, joining them for their nightly workout sessions.

"Fine," she sighed.

"Great!" Kaito cheered with a grin. Shuichi gave Kaito one last kiss before leaving the dining hall, listening to the taps of his shoes against the pavement as he entered his dorm. Whipping out his Monopad, Shuichi watched as Asano's face popped onto the screen.

"What can I do for ya Saihara?" Asano grinned.

"I just need you to confirm. Am I doing the right thing? Like, am I on the right path to fix this error?" Shuichi asked, desperation seeping through his tone.

"Yep! If you win as the mastermind then you'll win the entire game and, as a result, your error will be patched up!" Asano grinned, too eager for Shuichi's liking.

"Is there anything else I should be doing? You know, as the mastermind?" Shuichi asked.

"Don't get caught, that's your only job. Ideally, you'd be creating despair and all that jazz but it's too risky since I don't have faith in you to stay undercover. Now that the only person who had become suspicious of you is gone, you should be fine though. That little relationship is helping you more than I'd thought," Asano giggled.

"Who was suspicious?" Shuichi wondered aloud.

"Ouma. You shouldn't have made his character so smart but at least you killed him," Asano shrugged.

"I didn't- Anyway, can you tell me where Motherkuma is? Where's the lair?" Shuichi demanded to know. The accusation of murdering his classmates sat uncomfortably with Shuichi but he ignored it, knowing it was true.

"Hmm, I think it'd be more fun for you to search for it! Imagine as if you're trying to find your home whilst blackout drunk," Asano laughed. Shuichi grimaced at the analogy, unable to understand how that could be funny. Hanging up on the woman, Shuichi sighed and stared at the wall. Maybe I should just walk around and hopefully come across the lair? It's not in the bathrooms, I already checked there so it has to be hidden in plain sight.

Briefly wetting his hair and half-heartedly drying it, Shuichi ensured he could pretend he showered before he left his dorm and locked the door behind him. "Ah, hello Saihara!" Turning, Shuichi smiled and waved at Amami as the greenette approached. "I didn't expect to run into you."

"Neither, what are you up to?" Shuichi asked to be polite despite wanting the conversation to end immediately.

"I'm going to explore for a bit, want to join?" Amami requested with a friendly grin.

"Sure, thanks for including me," Shuichi replied.

"If you don't mind me asking, why aren't you hanging out with Momota?"

"I feel like we need to focus on the killing game a bit more than we have been..." Shuichi sighed, staring at the ground. Remember, this is the one person you can't fuck up around, the audience can alter his decisions and thoughts. "I'm torn though, I just want to enjoy the relationship but this killing game is getting more dangerous with each murder..." Plus, he could help me find the mastermind's lair. If he discovers my identity, I'll just kill him. No, shut up Shuichi, you can't always resort to murder!