Kotoko was sitting in her cell, thinking over her verdict. Kotoko had been voted guilty for trial 2, which caused her to go through a spiral. Guilty...? She couldn't understand, she had done nothing wrong, she was both an ally and defender of the weak! How could someone who strives for the end of all evils be deemed unforgivable...?
Es.
Es.
Es.
This was their doing, and they didn't even know what they were doing! They were a child. How come a child who doesn't even know what justice means to them be in control whether she was forgivable or not? Kotoko lowly grunted to herself in frustration. Kotoko knew of the other prisoner's verdicts, it'd be unsafe for her to leave her cell since all the previous guilty prisoners were now deemed innocent.
She then heard a knock on her cell door.
Turning her head, she looked over her shoulder at the door, the knock lasted for only a second. When the person on the other side knocked again, Kotoko struggled to get up from her new restraints, making her way toward the door.
Outside the door, Kotoko could see through a small window that Shiina Mahiru was standing there. A girl Kotoko had beaten up and nearly killed in a previous trial. Kotoko looked down at Mahiru, curiously. Mahiru was still healing, but her arm didn't need a cast anymore.
Kotoko shouted through the door, "what do you need?" Mahiru giggled eerily, her voice somewhat echoing in Kotoko's head? Mahiru smiled at her gently, "I wanted to speak with you!" She still had that cheerful tone in her voice, which slightly annoyed Kotoko, thinking Mahiru was attempting to rub off the fact Kotoko beat her for being guilty, but now the tables have turned.
"No."
She left her door.
The next day, Kotoko stayed locked in her room, and again, she heard a knock on her cell door. Opening it slightly to find a baked good. It looked like a box of macaroons. There was also a note inside, she picked up the note, inspecting it's contents. In the note, it read "From Mahiru, rest well!" Kotoko threw out the macaroons.
For the next several days, Kotoko was going down a spiral of insanity. It felt like that anyways, was this house the guilty prisoners from trial one felt? Hopelessness and despair? Kotoko never once pondered how they felt to be unforgiven, since they were guilty. Though, she had no clue what that meant for her, if Es voted her guilty then... Was she really in the wrong?
No, she wasn't. Es was merely a child who was given more power than her, they just didn't understand what they were doing. Deep down, she still had the anxious feeling of it being her fault though.
Voices.
She could hear voices.
Voices discussing her crimes, discussing her as a whole.
They sounded like Es, however Kotoko knew for a fact it wasn't Es speaking. So whose voices were these? Kotoko remembers Yuno mentioned it, and that she once caught Fuuta muttering to himself about them.
...Was Kotoko going insane?
Another knock, she heard the voice of Mahiru again. "Kotoko?" Kotoko didn't respond or moved an inch. Despite this, her cell door unlocked, which startled her. Her cell was locked, so how could Mahiru slip inside without an issue? She struggled to stand tall before Mahiru approached. Kotoko asked sternly, "what are you doing here?" Mahiru thought for a moment before chuckling to herself, again her voice echoing within Kotoko's ears.
"I came to see you, silly!"
She cheerfully skipped toward Kotoko, who was struggling to move from her restraints. Kotoko found it strange, Mahiru was nearly killed, traumatized half to death... So why was she approaching Kotoko so casually? It clearly wasn't with pure intentions, despite how weak Mahiru was to Kotoko's beatings, Kotoko wouldn't let her guard down. Kotoko grunted to herself, before questioning, "why?" Mahiru placed a finger to her own chin, pondering for a moment before smiled eerily.
