Koutarou'd told Chieko that he was going to bed early, after the day they'd just had to deal with, and he'd meant it. Really, he had. But he'd soon discovered that he was far too wired to sleep, that the sounds and images of Yukizome, strapped to the chair and being….he shuddered just to think of it, not wanting to give those actions words, even in his own mind. So he'd got up, got dressed again, and left his room again, wandering aimlessly for moments until somehow, he ended up in the empty kitchen.

And now I am here, making a sandwich. Why a sandwich, I don't even know.

Blankly, he stared at the ingredients he'd spread out on the counter, holding the two slices of bread in his hand. Monobear means it, doesn't he? What he did to Yukizome-sensei, he'll do it to Mum too. Or Chieko? Both of them? But Chieko's here with me, so he must mean Mum….no, you idiot. Of course he meant Mum, he even said 'those important people who I videoed for you'…what do I do? I need to get out of here…

On autopilot, he toasted the bread, found a plate, set about making his sandwich, silently bemoaning the bind he found himself in. I'm tired, so tired. He wanted to get out of here, take Chieko with him too, but the only way out was to leave her and he had no choice if he wanted to save Mum. There's no choice….

"Oh, hey, I didn't realise you were in here too!"

"Huh?"

Koutarou looked up in surprise to see a grinning Hibiki, still in her day clothes. Hibiki Kazama, huh? His mind started to make connections, buzzing with all the possibilities. Hibiki didn't bother waiting for a response before launching straight into telling him about plans for a midnight feast with most of the girls. He muttered generic responses to show that he was listening, but in truth, he wasn't. Instead, he was waiting. Waiting for the perfect time.

Two minutes. Two minutes is all I need.

Eventually, still prattling, Hibiki went into a different section of the kitchen, and tiptoed to open the higher-up cupboards and examine their contents, turning her back to him. And there it was.

Slipping off his shoes so he wouldn't make a noise as he went over, he then took off his belt, careful to not make any noises while doing so. Then, holding the belt as the noose it would soon become, he advanced. Hibiki stopped talking and started to hum a tune that he vaguely recognised as being the theme tune to a comedy anime, but still continued to look through the cupboards.

Now. It has to be now. I need this to be over.

Then, before he could change his mind, he struck.

He had caught her as she fell, so that she didn't make too much noise as she hit the ground, but he hadn't given too much care to how she'd ended up when he put her down, instead going back to the abandoned sandwich, finishing it up and clearing up after himself while in a bubble.

But as with all bubbles, this one eventually broke when he remembered to put his shoes back on.

What've I done? Plate in hand, Koutarou walked over and looked down at Hibiki, sprawled out on the ground, her eyes wide open and bulging. What've I done? What've I done, what've I done? He bent down carefully, and then closed her eyes, so that they were not at least looking at him, as if asking why it had to be her.

And why did it have to be her, indeed? The simple reason-because he cared little for her. Okay, so he had nothing against her, as such, and he knew she and Chieko had become fairly good friends. And he had nothing against her brother, either. But….that didn't mean she meant anything to him.

What've I done?

There were others, who didn't mean much to him either. But either they had seemed too difficult to take down, or the moment to get them alone had not presented itself. So in the end, it had to be her. And now, he was here with the end result-a death that even he knew was not deserved.

What've I done?

Straightening, he looked down at her one last time, and then scanned the area. The scene was clean, there was no blood to clean up. The only traces of death on her-well, they were generic enough that they couldn't be traced to him.

I know what I have done.

Wiping tears away roughly from his eyes, he looked down at himself, and then put the sandwich plate down on the closest counter and in a few broad strokes, dusted himself down so that the few strands of Hibiki's hair that had caught onto his clothes fell away and on the ground. Untraceable to him.

I know what I have done, and I need to follow through.

Somewhat unsurprisingly, afterwards, he ended up going to where Chieko was, with some of the other girls-specifically, Wakana, Noriko and Erica. He'd known that she'd be with them anyway, not least because of some of Hibiki's final words. And he'd liked the idea of her being surrounded by all of them, as that would keep her safe in a way he could not.

But watching them now, a little part of him felt resentful, disappointed. He just wanted to be with her, to hold her. A strange feeling, that, one he hadn't even considered he'd ever feel, not until after the previous trial and he had been haunted with the possibility of what would have happened if it had been her while she had just been shaken by it all and they had both needed a way to forget. And now, he needed to forget again, but how could he do that? How did one word something like that, when there had been little words during the first and last time?

"Koutarou? I thought you were going to sleep?" Noticing him after a moment, Chieko tilted her head in curiosity and something clenched inside of him, painfully.

And I don't deserve comfort, anyway.

"I tried. But I couldn't." He gave a small shrug and gestured to his plate. "I opted for food instead."

"Oh, okay. Wanna sit with us for a bit? At least until Night Time starts?" Chieko asked. Koutarou shrugged again, having to actually put effort in trying to seem languid.

"Sure."

"Ah, you can sit here, I'll budge up a little!" Wakana exclaimed, doing so almost immediately. Koutarou inclined his head briefly in her direction, and then sat down and started to eat his sandwich, staying silent as the girls resumed their chatter from wherever it had stopped when he'd walked into the room. And he watched Chieko, watched the smiles and laughter that he knew so well from so many years of being her friend and next-door-neighbour.

Stay alive with me? It was all she had asked of him that time, afterwards, her eyes full of an emotion he could not name but could still identify as being in him too. He had said yes without hesitating. He had promised, without thinking, because he had assumed he did not need to think. But look what where he was now. He'd broken it-he'd had to, there was no choice, but here he was now, the shards of the promise digging into his very soul as punishment. He definitely did not deserve comfort. And he didn't deserve to even be here now, sitting with her, watching her.

But at the same time, he knew that however this ended, this would be the last time he'd ever see her happy. And that much at least, he needed to let himself see.

Because I know what I've done, and I need to follow through with it.

"Hey, Ueda-kun, did you see Kazama-Chan by any chance?" Noriko asked him suddenly. "She's hunting up our food-oh, yeah, we're having a midnight feast too as well as a sleepover thing, and you know how the kitchen's closed during Night Time and all and blah, blah, blah….but yeah, she might have wandered in while you were making your sandwich, so I just wondered."

"No, I didn't." Simple, keep it simple, don't make it more complicated or you'll trip over.

"Oh, okay. " Noriko shrugged off the question, and it was all Koutarou could do to not just sigh in relief. The first lie of the many he'd need to tell, and it had worked.

Thankfully.

Oh, but, Chieko, I'm sorry. I'm sorry.


Koutarou's killer moments chapter was one of the ones people were most interested in seeing when I first put forward the idea for this chapter type, and now here it is! I hope it lives up to expectation :)
As a side note, with three of the five of these chapters now up, have you figured out the order I've been putting them in? It's not really that complicated, but I'm interested to see if it's been noticed or not.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the chapter, and as always, please leave feedback.