Otoriphobia

8: Hiroto's Checkmate.

...

As Leafy's head fell off of her shoulders and onto the floor with a sickening thunk...

The entire room... seemed to falter.

The entire world... seemed to slow down.

Risa stared over at Leafy's headless body which crumpled upon the ground beside the head, dropping her katana as she froze in place.

Korekiyo, still laying on the ground, opened his mouth to say something, but even he couldn't manage to speak in a time like this.

Rin and Yuuna turned their heads, staring at Hiroto who stood holding the knife, watching the blood drip from the blade as their expressions of despair were warped into expressions of horror.

Tomoko hugged herself as tears streamed down her face, trembling with an all-encompassing fear and too terrified to even so much as move.

Arisu covered her mouth with her hands, tears coming to her eyes as she began shaking nervously, with Kishibe's confident expression melting into a disappointed frown upon seeing his plan shatter into tiny fragments.

And Hiroto stood there, in the midst of it all...

Holding his bloody knife, and waiting with bated breath for what happened next.

"...Hiroto..."

"..."

"That was..."

"..."

"SO FUCKING AMAZING! WOOOOOHOOO! HIP HIP, HOORAY! DID YOU SEE THE WAY HER HEAD WENT FLYING OFF HER SHOULDERS? THE WAY HER REMAINS JUST FELL DOWN WITH A SPLAT?! HIROTO, THAT WAS AN AMAZING JOB! BRAVO, HIROTO! BRAVO!"

"..."

Hiroto slowly lowered his arm, dropping the knife upon the ground.

The clattering of the murder weapon upon the floor was the only sound in the entire room.

"H..."

"Hiroto..."

Yuuna whispered.

...

...

...

The few hours that had passed felt like endless years.

After returning their outfits to Ricky's closet, the participants had piled their evening meals onto their plates and began eating at their team-separated tables.

At the Blue Team's table, Yuuna awkwardly poked with his fork at the mashed potatoes on his plate as Korekiyo, Rin, and Tomoko ate their food in silence, glancing up at Hiroto once in every few seconds.

Meanwhile, Hiroto...

Hadn't even touched his dinner. He stared down at his plate with lifeless eyes, and had stayed unmoving like that since the beginning of the meal.

"..."

"We... we're going to need to make some changes."

Rin finally managed to speak up, sounding extremely hesitant, but firm at the same time.

"..."

Everybody except Hiroto turned to look at Rin, awaiting whatever she planned to say next.

"...Our... original plan was to keep Yuuna protected, wasn't it?"