𝚑𝚘𝚠 𝚝𝚘 𝚍𝚒𝚎.

◇junior high◇

"did you get enough love, my little dove?"

"um, kanna, could it be that you didn't use the laptop to hack... but rather, you solved the password for the laptop itself?" nao asked. "...yes." kanna answered. "when did you solve the password?" sara thought for a moment. "it was before the trading phase began." ...what?  "hold on a sec! don'tcha think that sounds funny, sara?!" she hesitated. "..does it?"

"i mean, sou shared the laptop wit' us so he could learn the password, didn't he?! but accordin, to you... you peeked inside before sharing the laptop with everybody!? so there was no reason to join forces..!?" kanna frowned, shaking her head. "that's wrong! sou wanted an opportunity to reconcile with everyone!" keiji shook his head back. "kanna... sorry to say, but there was another reason." sara's eyes widened. "to look in the sara folder on the laptop..!"

"yep, that's gotta be it. the sara folder had a seperate password, which was the name of sara's mother." sou remained quiet. "y-you gotta be kiddin'! sou! you accepted my deal without sayin' nothin' about this!?" ..deal? sou laughed. "what of it?" you could've sworn you heard q-taro growl. "why, you!!" sara cut him off. "hold on a second! what deal is this?!" again, the teal haired man laughed. "don't sweat it. it's just between us."

"i don't think so. i thought it was strange from the get-go... but it seems there was a deal going on behind the sharing of the laptop. i'll have you tell us everything about this suspicious deal." q-taro pulled his hat down. "i...went to sou an' asked him to share the laptop." sou nodded, smiling. "i was surprised. q-taro said he would give me his tokens in exchange."

"the two talked to eachother, separated by sou's bedroom door... kanna heard it too... sou said 'that's not a bad deal' and ge also said 'maybe we'll reconcile' so kanna got really happy..." q-taro seemsd desperate to defend himself. "i mean... i had a responsibility y'know. when the token gathering sub game started... i originally gathered more tokens than anybody to survive. even the laptop i'd manage to get my hands on... i handed it over in exchange for sou's tokens... i was possessed by the need for tokens back then, y'hear?! there's no way he coulda blackmailed me of somethin'!"

"wait a second, i thought f/n had the most tokens?" nao questioned. q-taro's eyes widened, realizing he had messed up. you rolled your eyes. just great... "ah, then, perhaps q-taro and f/n are in some sort of kahoots?" sou was quick to blame you. shaking your head, you sighed. "nothing like that. q-taro wanted to escape by himself, i stopped him, he gave his tokens to me. that's it. no use talking about it." sara cut in, agreeing. "right, that doesn't matter now! q-taro, was there really no opportunity for blackmail?! we acquired a certain video... footage from the first floor's security cameras."

"i-i didn't know there was such a thing!" the artist exclaimed. "it was all clearly pictured. q-taro placing the role cards... and sou seeing him do it.. if this isn't blackmail material, what is?!" she had a point. "no way...! q-taro was the one who placed the cards?!" gin reached for your hand again. "muscle gorilla... was a traitor, meow..!?" keiji crossed his arms. "why'd you do a thing like that? where did you get the cards, q-taro?" he stayed quiet. "please, say something... q-taro!"

"security cameras... what d'ya mean? we shoulda searched every inch of the first floor. did anybody find any security cameras?" sara seemed dumbfounded. "i mean...! w-whether we discovered any cameras isn't what's important here! you were caught on camera.. that's the only proof we need!"
q-taro huffed. "must be a puppet show. if ya think about it, we've been gettin' tricked left an' right. a fake reko, a fake mishima ai... the kidnappers can move around fakes of us whenever and however they like."

"you mean...!" sara trailed off. "looks like you got tricked, sara. script by the kidnappers, actors, our fakes! you fell for a fake movie put on by dolls! i dunno what you guys saw... but it was all a trap, i tell ya. learn yer lesson." you shook your head, realizing something. "wait, q-taro. what was your first trial? you never told us." he paused. "i... couldn't tell ya... cause.. my partner died..! y'hear? and it was my fault!" he feigned distress. "oh... right. i thought your first trial was to bring the box?" his eyes widened, he hesitated.