Reticent | Nakahara Chūya; AU [✔]

t h i r t e e n |

Nakajima Atsushi was way too innocent to be considered the killer responsible for the past five deaths that had happened. Everyone didn't know if the death of Montgomery was done on purpose or if it was accidental, but at that point in time, the deaths were so consecutive that they didn't know who to trust anymore.

It was quiet once again; with the blabbermouth Montgomery and Tanizaki Naomi eliminated from the scene, Sakagami was stuck being the only girl standing. That said, the remaining superiors were quite happy with that fact, although it wasn't the time to celebrate about it.

There were only seven of them left. Seven innocents against one killer, and even the killer being outnumbered, he was effortlessly winning the battle even without having to do anything but do stealthy eliminations in the dark.

The jack-in-the-box music chant played once the redhead was dead for good. They've noticed this pattern for quite a while, and Dazai -- the owner of the house -- was wondering where the music comes from all the time.

"I seriously don't remember putting a sound system in my house," Dazai spoke confusingly, not really caring much about the latest death. "Where is that music coming from? I don't have a jack-in-a-box, either."

Nakajima threw the knife away from his grasp, his delicate hands stained with Montgomery's blood. He started to shake in extreme swivet, looking at the others in a manner that he wanted to tell them that he didn't kill her, but instead she killed herself.

"I-It's not what you think," the silver head begged them to believe in him. "I-I was just trying to get t-the knife!"

Sakagami, being Montgomery's number one hater, just let it slip away. Unlike the others, she was the only one who was happier now that the manager is out of their sight. A satisfied "Don't dwell on it, Atsushi." came up from her pinkish lips, trying not to send mixed signals towards the others.

"Well, seven is a lucky number, right?" Dazai tried to enlighten the mood, pretending not to feel too bad about Montgomery. There were only four superiors and three honors left, and all of them really didn't care much about her.

In fact, nobody wanted her around anymore, considering how obnoxious she was, and how she's trying to make Izumi Kyouka -- Nakajima's current girlfriend -- the third party, when the truth is that Montgomery IS the third party.

"So much for putting the blame on me," Akutagawa sent mocking glares at Kunikida. "When he's the one hiding a knife in his pocket all this time."

"Can you prove that theory correct?" Kunikida retorted, reverting back to his cool-headed self. From that very moment he realized what it felt like being put the blame upon without having concrete evidence.

A sudden outbreak of violent coughs echoed around the hallway which made everyone turn their heads to face where the sound was coming from. Nakahara was coughing rather violently, like something was stuck in his throat or something.

"Chuuya, you okay?" Sakagami asked in concern. Nakahara gestured that he was okay, although his blue orbs saw something else, giving the impersonation that he wasn't fine.

"O-Ori--" Nakahara gagged; he wanted to say something but his throat was just too itchy for him to proceed. Moments later, the others have noticed what he was trying to say to the goddess, therefore Dazai stealing the credit.

"Uhm, Ori," Dazai started, not sure how he would construct the sentence. They were all men in that room now -- with Sakagami being the only female left -- and they weren't sure how to say it without offending her. "You're... uhm... bleeding?"

There was only one thing possible if anyone tells her that she's 'bleeding'. The situation may have made her panic a bit because of all the killings going on, but upon touching her butt on the surface of her gray skirt, there she felt something quite lukewarm. Not for too long, Sakagami felt something trickle down her thighs to her legs.

With no hesitation, she made the run to find the ladies' restroom, not caring that she may be picked on by the killer if she wandered alone or run herself to a dead end. Safety and alert was her first priority at that moment, but having six men to see you make a mess was rather too embarrassing for her to handle.

The rest of them followed her, not wanting to have the goddess be at the next list of the killer. While she did her thing inside, the six of them heavily guarded the restroom door.

Such royalty treatment that she was being given.

Having to wait for Sakagami to finish cleaning herself, the rest of them discussed how were they going to catch the killer. Now that they were having a shortage in hands, they've decided to stick together instead of splitting as individuals since that would make all of them vulnerable.

The door behind them creaked, making all of them turn around in their fighting stance. A confused Sakagami looked at them, tilting her head on the side. "What?"

They've forgotten that she was there, but they'll never know if the killer had been hiding in there and already killed the goddess. All of them sighed in relief all at the same time as they saw that it was just her.

"Osamu, I fret to tell you that I've used a whole tissue roll." Sakagami looked down, still feeling embarrassed from the fact that they've seen her getting the first blood of the month.

"It's alright," Dazai assured her. "Are you okay now?"

"Yeah, I guess so," she lied. She had to improvise something to catch all those nasty red stuff to prevent making the same mess again. Layering toilet paper was her solution, but it felt uncomfortable. "Although I couldn't do anything about this stain in my ass."

Knowing that blood stains were a big deal for the opposite gender, Nakahara had the initiative to offer his black coat to her. "Here, use this to cover that up."

"Thank you." Sakagami accepted the long, silky fabric. They would expect her to wear it like Nakahara normally would, but she tried wrapped it around her waist, using the sleeves to secure it. Its length is only perfect for his short height, and having it wrapped around her made her seem like she's wearing a high-low dress -- even with the five-inched heels that she was wearing.

In the end, she was forced to wear it normally; it looked cool having it wrapped but it would be a hassle to run away from the killer if they ever have to run for their lives.

∞

Chuuya heard the front gate open from all the way to the attic. He looked at the time on his wristwatch and saw that it was already 2:30 in the afternoon. It flew pass his mind that Orianna's History professor was suspended and therefore making them leave school earlier than usual.

He put all the items back and got down from the compartment, going straight to the bathroom so that it would seem like he did nothing and he's just taking a bath.

Orianna went to her room to put her school bag down next to her computer. From there she can hear the water running from the other side of her bedroom wall, indicating that her father was just in the bathroom.

An extended due date means that she can rest a bit from working on her research; she doesn't have to worry about submission date being Monday, but she isn't supposed to procrastinate for too long, either.

While having to do some retouches with her physical appearance, she hit her table mirror by accident, making various sounds of different object shaking or being moved. However, a picture frame fell off the edge, luckily her fast instincts made her catch it in time.

It was picture of her infant self being carried in the arms of her unfamiliar mother. She was never able to see her in person -- in a sense that she would remember -- since she knew that her mother died. Chuuya was honest enough to tell her that she committed suicide, although never really knew the reason behind that course of action.

And that hit her. Maybe that's the reason why dad chooses to drown himself in liquor; so that he may forget about his wife's death?

Or... is there another reason behind that?