Otoriphobia

5: The Descent of Yuuna Otori.

"..."

"..."

"..."

"Well, that was quicker than expected...! A speedy victory for the Blue Team... carried out by none other than today's MVP, Yuuna Otori! Congrats!"

"..."

Ricky's shout of approval echoed throughout the room, but not a soul responded.

The entire group was focused on one thing...

The bleeding corpse of Jirou Takeda, which left a red pool of gore splattered on the ice below him.

And there was Yuuna...

Kneeling beside him. His mouth was open, but he couldn't so much as speak a single word.

He'd been swept away by his anger and determination... and had ended up murdering Jirou.

"I... can't believe it."

Risa raised her hand to her face, wiping sweat from her forehead.

"Otori, you bastard... you really did it. You killed him..."

"H-Hey! Don't try to guilt-trip Yuuna..."

Rin shot Risa a cold glare from nearby.

"Your... your teammate was trying to murder him, so what choice did he have? We all saw what happened, right? You would have done exactly the same thing."

"Oh, now you're trying to justify murder... what kind of creep are you?"

Arisu hissed at Rin while holding back tears.

"I don't care how much of a douche Takeda was... it... it doesn't justify murder. Yuuna KILLED HIM."

Killed him.

Killed him.

Killed him.

The harsh words lashed out like a whip onto Yuuna's heart as he slowly cracked.

Raising his trembling hands to his head, he gripped onto his hair, slowly pulling it out.

"...I...I killed him."

"I murdered Jirou Takeda... I'm a murderer."

"You're not a fucking murderer, Yuuna!"

Hiroto barked at Yuuna with a harsh tone, but his eyes weren't on Yuuna- they were on Arisu.

"I don't care how scared or disgusted you are. The only words I want to hear out of your mouth are words of apology towards Yuuna! He's a human, god damn it, so stop treating him like some kind of monster!"

"You... You're defending him?!..."

Arisu looked taken aback and infuriated as tears began streaming down her face.

"You're defending a murderer... you're defending the guy who just gutted Takeda like some kind of fish! Are you saying that's a HUMAN thing to do?!"

"No, no... Tachibana is right."

Kishibe placed a hand on Arisu's shoulder, looking down at Takeda's corpse.