𝚑𝚘𝚠 𝚝𝚘 𝚍𝚒𝚎.

◇there's a deal◇

"your pain is eased but you'll never be free."

"let's check it out!" reko pushed open the door to sou's room, ready to fight. inside was you, sitting in a chair, bored, waiting for sou to wake up. "huh? f/n? the hell're you doing here?" you blinked, realizing how suspicious this must appear. "i came to find sou and he was passed out in his room. i'm waiting for him to wake up." eyes fell onto the wooden block sitting on the bed. "..and why is he knocked out?" keiji raised an eyebrow at you. "i told you, i found him like this." you shrugged, staring at your no-longer bandaged hands. thank god.

"...you do realize how incriminating this looks, right?" you shrugged at the detective's question. "do you really think i'd attack someone and then just sit around waiting for them to wake up? that would be foolish, keiji." the group of people in front of you exchanged glances, occasionally whispering. suddenly, sou began to wake up, making noises of struggle. "oww man... i feel awful..." kanna seemed worried. "what in the world happened?" sou looked around at all the people in his room. "eh..? t-that's what i wanna know.. where is this place? when did i get here.?"

"cram it, you bastard! like hell anyone's gonna worry about you now! what're you plotting?! tell me!" reko was as angry as ever. "wha-?! hold on!" he seemed confused. "now, now. violence isn't the answer, reko." reko clicked her tongue, trying to block out keiji. "w-what is it? you're so mean suddenly.." you could see sara clench her fists. "sou... you broke the monitor, didn't you?" monitor? broke? you hadn't been in the monitor room, you had woken up, went to check on sou, and been sitting here ever since. if sou was the one to break it, it was probably his own monitor. "m-moniter? you mean the laptop? look, i wouldn't break it just cause i couldn't figure out the password.."

"shut the hell up! that laptop shit was before the main game!" you stayed quiet, eyes shifting between sou and the rest of the group. "that's right! the main game! before the main game i need to.. i need to check the data on the laptop.. but the password, umm.." your eyes narrowed, realizing what he was doing. "the main game's long since ended." keiji informed. "why don't you guys let me talk to sou?" you tried to rush them out, but to no avail. "w-what do you mean, keiji?! over..? all of it..? w-.. who died..? who isn't here? nao?!"

"h-hey.. don't tell me your memory is.." sou ignored q-taro. "or else.. was it kai? it can't be.. joe?! miss sara, that can't be it! joe.. joe died?! why?!" in the heat of the moment, you stood up, standing in front of the group. "i said i would handle it." they all just stared at you for a while. "no.. let.. kanna handle it." kanna spoke up. "absolutely not. kanna, go with reko. i'll handle it." the young girl shook her head. "b-but... please, please just let kanna-" cutting her off, your voice involuntarily raised. "i said leave!" your outburst seemingly caught the group off guard. "..sorry, i'm sorry. kanna, please just trust me on this one, okay? i know you're a strong girl but this isn't your responsibility."

the girl looked towards sou, before looking back at you. "..okay.." keiji nodded. "..guess we should go do some attractions." after a bit of convincing and a bit of rebuttals, you managed to get everyone out. closing and locking the door, you turned back to sou. "m-miss f/n, i just.. can't believe it.. joe, he.."

"cut the shit, sou."

"w-what?" you walked back to sit down. "you and i both know this is bullshit. tell you what, if you stop with this act then i won't hit you over the head with that block of wood." his worried persona ever-so-slightly faultered. "miss f/n, what do you think all the other's would think if they heard you threatening me?" you crossed your arms, leaning back. "they'd probably tell me to go through with it." he smiled. "so, you're the one who knocked me out, then?" you shook your head. "nope. but i know who did. and if you want to know, you'll stop with the bullshit."

"not sure what you're talking about, miss f/n." you sighed, shrugging. "you do know you aren't the only one here, right?" he blinked at you, confused. "sara, keiji, reko, all of them. they're victims too. but somehow, you've put inside your head that they're all your enemies so now you get to play some bad-guy villain, and you think that you can't be blamed for it because you're in this horrible situation. you're so desperate to protect yourself that you'll let others die. i know that somewhere inside of you there's a heart. even if it's three times too small like the grinch, it's there. i want to see you, sou." he stayed quiet for a while.

"how long have you been practicing that awful speech?" he finally spoke. you smiled. "since q-taro knocked you out." sou narrowed his eyes at you. "and i'm supposed to believe that it was him?" shrugging, you handed him the block of wood. "well, if i had to estimate, this block only weighs about.... maybe three pounds? i'm assuming the very back of your head hurts, right? that's where it was hit? you'd need a pretty good amount of force to knock someone out that way, especially with something that doesn't weigh much. the only other person with the right amount of strength for that would probably be keiji, and he's not careless enough for that."

sou quietly hummed, what you said had made sense. "speaking of which, how's your head feeling?" he adjusted his beanie. "how sweet of you to pretend to care." you shot him a look. "no need to give me that attitude. i am genuinely curious about your well-being." he just scoffed at you. "i'm sure if you weren't trying to keep up your good girl persona you'd rip my head off. you're just as selfish as everyone else here." this time, you scoffed. "including you?" he didn't answer, just furrowing his eyebrows. you sighed. "i'm not your enemy, sou." your voice was quiet, quieter than you meant for it to be. "i'm trying to help you."

"i don't want your help." his voice was almost as quiet as yours. "but you need it." he glared at you. "see? this is what i meant by selfish. your ego is so big that you think you can just fix everything, don't you?" your heart beat grew faster, adrenaline pumping through out your body. every one of your bones told you to hit him, but you couldn't bring yourself to. "..i'm sorry, sou. i don't think you're a bad person. please, don't prove me wrong." his glare ever so slightly softened, just for a second.

"i know you don't believe me, but i don't want you to get hurt. i hope we get out of here together, sou."

"we are more often frightened than hurt; and we suffer more from imagination than from reality"  -lucius seneca