When Azalea returned to her room she immediately threw herself on her bed. She had managed to be stable enough during the trial to be helpful and solve the latest incident, but now that it was done and she returned to her room, she finally was at liberty of crying and mourning. She didn't wail or gnash her teeth, her mourning was subdued. With a languid movement, she took out her cardigan and tossed it aside, feeling constricted by it. The card that came with Chrysanthe's bouquet of azaleas fell from the pocket.
Don't worry about me. I'll be okay.
-Chrysanthe
"Yeah, right, you liar" Azalea mumbled, putting the card on the table beside her bed. So much for being okay. What frustrated Azalea the most was that Chrysanthe's death could have been easily avoided. All she'd have needed to do was not touch the roses. Fate had played a dirty trick, making her sister grab the roses because Runihura's untimely death startled her. The thought made Azalea scowl a little. Untimely? Was that a way to think about the death of another human being, someone who had treated Azalea and Chrysanthe well? She felt disgusted with herself, thinking of Runihura as less important than Chrysanthe, but...but she couldn't stop thinking like that.
Azalea turned on her bed, facing the wall. Just thinking about deaths drained her of any will to do anything. She wasn't crying, she just felt like not doing anything. Her thoughts wandered to all the years she spent with Chrysanthe. The times she helped Chrysanthe with her homework, the flowers Chrysanthe liked to give everyone in the family during the holidays, the time Azalea broke up with her first boyfriend and spent the night crying on Chrysanthe's shoulder...she missed her. Azalea knew she'd miss Chrysanthe for the rest of her life. Azalea buried her face in her pillow, whimpering. The tears had finally arrived.
She didn't know how long she spent crying on her pillow. At some point her eyes started hurting, so she looked up, putting her chin on the wet fabric of the pillowcase, staring forward without really seeing anything. Now what? What did she have to do now? Want it or not, she was still kidnapped and in middle of a killing game. Even though she didn't plan to kill anyone, she was aware it was possible for her to be a victim. She was more aware of that now, more than ever.
Well, whatever she could do, she didn't want to do anything today. All she wanted was to stay in her cottage, staring at the ceiling, doing nothing. Just...be alone for a while.
Because the universe couldn't let her have a moment of peace, someone knocked at the door right at that moment. Azalea glanced at the clock on the wall, it was 2:00 PM, around three hours since the trial had ended. After putting her cardigan back on and trying to make herself way less awful than she felt, she went to the door and opened it, looking outside.
It was Vittoria and Elaine. Vittoria was carrying a small basket, while Elaine had plates and bottle of something. Vittoria smiled apologetically. "You missed lunch, Lady Azalea. How are you feeling?"
"...take a guess" Azalea said.
"I told you she'd be feeling awful" Elaine said to Vittoria, looking uncomfortable. Vittoria nodded, as if she had expected such reply from the beginning.
"Lady Azalea, I know you are in turmoil and therefore you are not in the best emotional state, but you can not starve yourself. Here we brought you your lunch"
"I'd like to be alone"
"Vittoria..." Elaine's voice hinted she wanted to leave, but Vittoria shook her head, holding the door with her hand so Azalea wouldn't close it.
"I apologize, but we insist. It is for your own good" she sounded kinder "I understand how you feel. I may have lost an uncle, but when I found out he was dead...I felt like I had lost a piece of myself. I wanted to sit in a hole and do nothing...just let the world spin and forget about everything" Azalea didn't reply, she just looked to the floor, so Vittoria continued "But someone came to help me. He is my best friend; he saw I was in grief. He was less forceful than I am being here, but I think the end result will be the same"
"What are you trying to do?" Azalea inquired quietly.
"I want to show you you are not alone"
Something about that resonated in Azalea. She looked up, glancing at Elaine. The writer pretended to adjust her glasses, hiding her face behind her hand. "I haven't lost anyone close to me, but you're my friend and therefore you deserve my support. I want to help you too"
"Do you understand? Please, allow us to keep you company"
Azalea bit her lip, rocking the door back and forth without making an effort to close it. For a moment she considered telling them to scram, to leave her alone to grieve, but there was something nice about knowing her friends were willing to hold her back. Chrysanthe wouldn't be able to anymore, but maybe she wouldn't be as lonely as she thought she'd be. Wordlessly, Azalea fully opened the door and went to her bed, sitting on the mattress. She didn't look at the girls while they entered, sitting on the floor.
"How're you feeling?" Elaine asked the usual question again, hoping for a different answer. Azalea hesitated but she answered.
"Awful. I'm having a hard time...I almost can't believe Chrys won't be around anymore. I already miss her"
Vittoria took out the food they had brought. "How about you tell us a tale of your childhood? Let is remember Lady Chrysanthe as you knew her, not as we found her"
Azalea thought for a moment. There was a moment that came to mind. It hadn't seemed as significant back then, but now...it was obvious to her it helped shape Chrysanthe into the person she had been in the present. "Chrys always liked plants, but she wasn't very good when she started. You know how in grade school you had to grow peas in a cup? She couldn't get the peas to grow. She was so frustrated she threw a tantrum" Azalea smiled wistfully "She spent one hour yelling at the peas to stop messing around and start growing already"
"It's weird to hear a gardener that'd study at Hope's Peak had trouble with peas" Elaine commented.
"Nobody was born being perfect. That was just her beginnings" Vittoria said, pouring a lot of rice in Azalea's plate.
"She started researching everything she could about growing small plants. She went out, managed to buy some mulch, took the plant onto the sunlight and shade with dedication...I don't think she had been so invested in something as she was in those peas" Azalea closed her eyes, remembering those times. Pangs of sorrow filled her, but at the same time she felt kind of happy, talking about Chrysanthe "When it was time to take the peas, a couple months later, hers were the only peas that had grown and blossomed"
"She must have been very proud of herself"
"She was. I can't imagine Chrys not being a gardener" Azalea ate some of her lunch, feeling a bit drained. She felt a bit better, but it wasn't like she was cheered up yet. The three girls ate lunch in silence for a while, until Elaine broke the silence.
"I don't know what I'd do if Matthew died. I don't remember why he decided to be an engineer, but there's something I remember"
"Now that I think about it...are you the older or the younger sibling?"
"I'm the younger one. So, I have a couple books published, but I almost gave up at the beginning. I had sent my first book to a few agents, but all of them rejected it. Matthew was the only one who knew about my book, so he once asked me how it was going. I told him it had been rejected. He was so upset he took my book and promised me he'd find a good agent for me"
"So he did find one" Vittoria said.
"He did find one! It took him a long while, but he found an agent willing to give this a try. Long story short, it's thanks to him I'm a successful writer" Elaine's face lit up, she sounded genuinely fond of her brother "I owe him a lot"
"Do you have a sibling, Vittoria?" Azalea asked. She shook her head.
"No, I am an only child. I did not have someone to support me – besides my uncle, that is. But the generational gap was there, I was grateful to him but there were matters I felt I could not talk with him. Then one day I was accused of murder"
"Did you kill someone?"
"I did not. It was a false charge. A very brave attorney cleared my name – but most people continued believing I had committed that murder, and that I had gotten away because of my status and power as the second in charge in a global criminal organization. No matter how much I tried to say I had not done it, nobody believed me" she frowned "That is why I left DeeEy and ran away, I left my uncle behind"
"That's the uncle who died, right?"
"That is correct" she stared deep into her rice "...I did not even have the chance to apologize..."
Not wanting the mood to return to the grim mood from before, Azalea hurried to say what she wanted to say from a while ago. "Elaine, Vittoria...thank you. For coming here. I..." she managed to smile a bit "I'm feeling better now"
"We will support you all the way. Have my sincere condolences, but do not let your grief tie you down" Vittoria advised.
Elaine extended a hand. "Give me your hand. Let's go outside all together"
"I can walk by myself, Elaine" Azalea said, but squeezed Elaine's hand and stood up with her help. Vittoria patted their shoulders, opening the door.
"Let us go and see everyone. Surely they will be overjoyed to see you—"
The relatively cheerful atmosphere was shattered when Monobear's voice echoed everywhere. Azalea froze, shuddering a bit, and listened. "Um, I know it's sudden, but you all must come to the plaza immediately. We have to talk" he didn't give any further instructions. The girls looked at each other, confused.
"What the...what does he want now?" Elaine sounded like she'd have preferred to eat glass than listen to another word from Monobear.
"Not even five hours have passed since the trial!" Azalea exclaimed.
"Yet we can not defy Monobear. We will have to listen and find out what he wants. I am sorry this is your welcome, Lady Azalea"
"It's not your fault, don't worry" Azalea sighed, passing her hands over her face "That bear is why we can't have nice things...someday I'm going to tear his head off, seriously"
"Get in line, half of us already called dibs" Elaine descended the stairs of the porch, leading the small group towards the plaza. Monobear was already waiting, sitting on the base of the statues, staring into the distance as if he was deep in thought. Azalea could feel the other Hostages' stares. Did they really expect her to stay locked in her cottage forever? It was true she didn't want to get out...
...they were right to think that could happen.
Once everyone was gathered in front of the statues, Monobear stood up, crossing his arms and looking at them with what seemed like...uncertainty. "Geez, look lively, everyone! You look like someone killed your family and your puppy at the same time!"
"Can't we get this over with?" Azalea demanded tiredly. Monobear sighed theatrically, all his energy vanishing.
"Aaaaw...look at that...I'm so hated I better go eat worms...and here I was being all thoughtful"
"When he says that I get chills..." Dalia murmured, hugging herself. Having heard her, Monobear tilted his head.
"Oh? You don't trust little ol' me? Okay, I get it, we started with the wrong foot, what with the whole killing game thing. That's why I'm going to help you end this all! And before you ask that, I'll tell you exactly how: by speeding this game even more!"
"Even more?!" Lucien made a face of disgust.
"Exactly! I know it has been just four hours since the last trial ended, but it's time for a new motive! And the theme this time is...answers. Don't you all have something you'd like to know? Something you have wanted to find out for a long time?
What if I told you we can give you the answers you're seeking?"
"You're lying. You can't prove anything" Matthew said, glaring at the bear.
"Oh, we can prove it. We can give you all the evidence you want. In fact, to make it even sweeter...we'll give you the answers without asking for a murder first!" Wait...what?
"You can not be serious" Vittoria murmured.
"I'm beary serious, Delacroix-san, beary serious. Of course, this won't be free...once I tell you what you want to know, you must kill someone in less than two hours...or else we will erase your memories again. We'll make you forget what you found out.
So...in other words: if you want to keep the knowledge you gained, you must kill someone!"
"You have to be kidding...there's no knowledge that could be worth killing one of us" Thioro crossed his arms "Hell, there'd be no way to know if whatever you have to say is true"
"I told you we can prove whatever we answer! Geez, you sure are very stupid, for a detective!" the bear seemed frustrated, Azalea wasn't sure if he was pretending that or if he truly was angry now "Whatever! I said my piece. You all know what to do, I'll be at my office, so just hurry up so we can end this game soon!" with that, he threw a small capsule onto the ground, filling the area surrounding the statues with smoke.
"He's gone!" Matthew gasped. Kouma turned him a bit to the right.
"No, he's over there" she pointed at where Monobear was waddling away. "Who does that bear think he's fooling? You'd have to be—you'd have to be stupid to fall for this motive"
"Then someone will fall for it. You can't underestimate human stupidity, especially when it's about finding answers" Elaine said.
"Do you believe someone will try to take the motive?" Vittoria raised an eyebrow.
"That's what I think. Do you know what's the worst part? That you'd have to be very gullible to believe a word of what Monobear will say. He says he can prove it, but this is a virtual world: he'd be able to produce literally anything he wants" she emphasized the last few words for everyone "Don't believe anything he says!"
"I agree with Elaine on that one. There's no reason to even approach him" Lucien said.
Pleased, Elaine's demeanor seemed to soften, she continued to the next topic of discussion she could think. "There's also the matter of Monobear starting to worry and wanting us to hurry up. What could be happening outside in the real world?"
"There's a chance law enforcement agents are close to catching them" Thioro theorized "Any criminal would try to escape, but they can't just leave us trapped in this virtual world. They haven't obtained yet what they want"
"It's not like we can find out anytime soon" Azalea said, her voice dry and blunt. Monobear giving a motive had soured her mood. So much for leaving my cottage to talk with people. Not many seemed to be in mood of talking, anyway. Most of the Hostages left in pairs to spread throughout the resort. Thioro was one of the few that didn't have anyone to spend time with. Were people distrustful of him after everything that happened during the third trial? He just shook his head, sighing, and left in direction of the cottages, probably intending to stay in his room. Sigrun was another person everyone had left alone.
It was a bit strange to see Sigrun alone. Before being revealed as the SHSL Enforcer, she had been accepted by everyone, but now it seemed people were avoiding her. Sigrun took out her violin, tensing the strings and looking like she didn't mind being left alone, but behind her glasses Azalea noted there was a deep feeling of loneliness in Sigrun's eyes. Azalea didn't notice she was approaching until she stood beside Sigrun. "Sigrun...?"
Sigrun's fingers curled a bit, she didn't look at Azalea. "How are you feeling, Azalea? I'm sorry about what happened to your sister" she sounded...sincere.
"Has someone been giving you a hard time?"
Something about Azalea's tone pissed Sigrun off. She took out the bow for her violin, tapping Azalea on the front of the head with it. "Shut up!" she glared, her eyes burning with repressed rage behind her glasses "I bet you're secretly glad about what happened. 'Oh, that's splendid! A dangerous person was revealed in front of everyone. Now we don't have to worry about her killing all of us!'"
"Joanna, I didn't—"
"My name is Sigrun, Azalea. You already used it once, use it all the time now" her mouth formed a thin line "May as well get used to hearing my real name, since everybody knows it now"
"I'm not happy about anything, Sigrun. I mean it, if there's someone bothering you about this, I could try to see what's wrong and...well..." She'd do something. Most likely talk and try to convince them to leave Sigrun alone. Sigrun calmed down a bit, intertwining her fingers and holding them in front of her chest.
"Thanks, but I think that won't change anything. I was there during the trial, Azalea. I saw how half of the people here tried to blame the murders on me with almost no evidence. Clearly just knowing what I'm capable of turned many of you against me"
"That's just because arrows were used. You're still our friend"
"I'd like to believe that" she closed her eyes "I was rather glad I had been given a title different to the one Hope's Peak had assigned me. I don't know why an old alias was used instead of my real name, but I accepted that. Perhaps it'd have been better if I had revealed from the beginning my true talent and what it entailed? It's too late to change that, though" she opened her eyes "I'll be frank with you, Azalea. I have no intention of getting out of here at the cost of all of your lives. I have no qualms about hurting people and committing murder, but I don't kill people indiscriminately, much less...those who I consider friends. Or considered. Friendship is a two-way street"
There was an awkward silence for a moment. It was hard to know what was the right thing to say to Sigrun, who was clearly hurting and suspicious of everyone. Still...she had to try, to at least give Sigrun a show of support. That was why Azalea extended a hand. "I still consider you a friend. You can be sure you still have a friend here, even if it's just me"
Sigrun's mouth opened a bit, she looked at a loss of what to say, but after a moment she took off her gloves and grasped Azalea's hand with both hands – with bare hands. "Azalea, you...this is the first time I feel motivated by something you said. Thank you. Thank you very much"
"…that was a bit rude, Sigrun"
The corners of Sigrun's mouth twitched upwards. "I didn't mean to insult you, Miss Motivator. It's just that I don't want to be feared, so…I'm glad you don't fear me. Thanks" Soothed, the enforcer walked away, with a bounce in her step. Azalea couldn't help but smile at Sigrun's newfound cheerfulness. She can be violent and have killed people before, but…I think she's a good person. Could someone be a good person yet having caused as much mayhem as Sigrun has?
Azalea wanted to believe Sigrun could. Looking up to the sky, the motivator sighed, feeling content despite the death of her sister. Vittoria and Elaine were right…she couldn't stay cooped in her cottage. There'd be time later to give Chrysanthe a proper sendoff. Right now, everyone else needed her. For their sake – and her own sake as well – she had to stay strong. "This is what Chrys would have wanted, right?" she said to nobody, looking at the blue sky.
There were a couple things to do. She had to check if there was a new building available – the largest building. There was only one building unopened, so it was to be expected that'd be available now. Besides, she also needed to check onto the others, talk with them a bit.
Monobear's motive was completely unimportant for her, so she knew she'd resist the temptation of approaching him, of asking a question. Even if there was something she wanted to ask, she would never kill someone to keep those memories. It was unfortunate the same couldn't be said about everyone…the problem was knowing which ones would yield to temptation.
Let's see…who should I talk with?