And so, we say goodbye to the strong fireman, and then Hibiki wants to do a private vocal performance for Owen.

Fireman To The End

"Four in a row, four in a row. Yet another answer has been reached correctly!" Monocrow said. "The one who killed Hajime Makunouchi, was indeed Shinji Kasai!"

"Big bro...big bro..." Yuki cried.

"However, for the first time since the killing game began. The voting WASN'T unanimous!" He glared at one of us. "Yuki Maeda chose the wrong answer! Mr. Maeda, you better be careful the next time you vote wrongly. Just be grateful that everyone else answered correctly!"

"Yuki...you didn't have to do that." Shinji said.

"I'm sorry, Big Bro..." He sniffed. "...I just couldn't do it, no matter how right they were, I could never vote for you."

"Now that we know, it's time for the other question." Kokoro said. "Mikado, why did you mention Shinji being a Void member to us?"

"Is it not obvious, he's the last one." Mikado answered. "And to be honest, despite his fireman strength, he's mentally the weakest out of all of us."

"WHAT DID YOU SAY?!" Yuki yelled.

He smirked. "I'm saying that Mr. Kasai is the weakest member of Void."

"YOU TAKE THAT BACK! BIG BRO ISN'T WEAK!"

"No, Yuki...he's right." Shinji sighed. "I became a member of Void, just like Emma, Yuri and Iroha. All four of us were approached by Mikado, and we had a goal. To make sure Void's plans would work out, even at the cost of our lives. But then along the way, I met all you guys and got to know you all well."

"Shin..." Setsuka said.

"I didn't forget being a Void member, I always knew that I was the last one. But because I'm mentally weak, that didn't matter to me. So I was able to get close to you all and become a good friend, someone who wants to protect others, no matter how difficult things get for all of us. So that if something happens, at least I can say that I did what I could to protect you all."

"But then, why kill Hajime?" Yoruko asked.

"Because he was the only friend who was crazy enough as me to agree to the plan. What Owen said in his statement wasn't far off. Hajime prepared the stuff to trigger the explosion and went inside the passageway to listen in to the meeting. But that was when I turned up, because before we did that, Hajime and I made a deal, that whoever wins the boiler room fight between us, gets to carry out the rest of the plan and that's what I did."

"Big bro...this may be stupid, but why didn't you ask me?" Yuki asked.

"There's no way I would put you in danger, Yuki. You have too much to live for!" He sighed. "Though to be honest, Hajime only agreed to help me, as long as I agreed to his two conditions. Those conditions were the motivation I needed to carry out the plan and in the end, become the culprit."

"And what were those two conditions?" I asked.

"The first was that I make sure you guys reached the correct answer, cause I knew that in the end, Owen would find a way through and solve the case. As for the second..." His smiled faded away and pocketed his hands before his face turned into a maddening expression. "...is that I would agree...to kill Mikado!"

Suddenly, he pulled out a handgun and his eyes turned into dark red, confirming has stance as the last Void member.

My eyes opened wide. "What the?!"

Kokoro gasped. "He has a gun?"

"Where did he get that from?!" Hibiki asked in shock.

Mikado sighed. "You stole that from our secret room, didn't you. I am truly disappointed in you."

"Big bro?! What are you doing?!" Yuki exclaimed.

"Finishing what I started!" Shinji answered aggressively. "I don't give a crap if I'm a Void member, I'm going to protect you all!"

"Hold on a second! I will not have the rules be violated in this court room!" Monocrow intervened.

"Mr. Monocrow...be silent!" Mikado responded as his appearance went dark. "This has nothing to do with you!"

He shivered. "Eeeekkkk!"

'Well that was unexpected, Monocrow just got silenced...so much for being the teacher in all of this.'

"Now, Mr. Kasai, please put that gun down." Mikado said. "If you shoot me, there'll be no turning back!"

"To hell with you and to hell with Void!" Shinji raised the gun at him. "I should've done this ages ago!"

"Wait, Shinji, don't shoot him!" Emma pleaded. "Have you forgotten where you are right now?!"

"No Big Bro, don't do it!" Yuki exclaimed. "You'll get punished!"

"I'm already gonna die, Yuki." Shinji replied. "But I'll be happy if I get to take this bastard with me!"

"NO, DON'T SHOOT ME WITH THAT GUN!" Mikado yelled. "I'M TOO CLEVER TO DIE!"

"SO LONG, ASSHOLE, SEE YOU IN HELL!"

*BANG*

Suddenly, a bang was heard, but what we saw wasn't what we expected. The gun Shinji was holding...exploded, and his right hand was blown off...

Shinji's eyes were wide open and his right arm began bleeding. "Argh...ngh...gh!"

"AHHHHHHHH!" Yoruko screamed.

"EEEEEEEEEEKK!" Hibiki yelled in fright.

"BIG BRO!" Yuki shouted as his face went purple.

"Wh-what...my...my...hand..." Shinji said as he shivered.

Setsuka and Kokoro both stared at the scene in horror.

"The...the gun...exploded?!" Emma asked in shock.

"Oh dear, Mr. Kasai, did I not warn you." Mikado sighed before he gave us a far creepier look. "I told you not to use that gun!"

"Big...Bro..." Yuki shivered.

"Sorry, Yuki...ngh...gh...I messed this up..." Shinji said as he held his bleeding right arm. "But, at least I did my best...in trying to delay...Mikado's goal!"

"Mikado's goal?" Kokoro asked.

"What is this goal?" Setsuka asked. "We keep hearing it, but we never get answer."

"IT'S YUKI!" Shinji answered. "Yuki is Mikado's true goal!"

Yuki gasped. "What?!"

"Ugh, and now you've given the game away." Mikado sighed. "Oh well, I suppose there's no point in lying about this now. Mr. Meada is our main interest. For you see, he is the key to help accomplish our Void's true goal. I would explain more, but it's getting quite late, so perhaps another time."

'Yuki is the key to Void's true goal? But why him...what could be so important about him?'

"Anyways, Mr. Monocrow, you may continue with your usual routine." Mikado said. "The time to begin the final phase of the plan will be coming up soon."

"Very well...brace yourselves, for I have prepared a very special punishment for the ultimate firefighter." Monocrow said.

"Listen here, you bastard." Shinji snarled at Mikado. "You will...never...get your...hands...on Yuki!"

"Really now, we shall see about that." Mikado responded before his mask side went red. "At least you will never find out, once your soul is rotting away in the depths of despair!"

"You...assume too much...no one's on your side...not anymore!"

"Blah, blah, blah...do you ever shut up?" He sighed. "Perhaps it was a matter of time before you started going against me. Well, not that it should matter to you any longer, because the rules of this game are still absolute. I will not say, so long Mr. Kasai, because I have no forgiveness for your pitiful stunt."

"You...son of...a...freaking bitch!"

"Big bro...please don't go!" Yuki cried. "Please...don't let Mikado take me!"

"It's alright...as long as you...stay with them...you will be safe...always." He sighed weakly. "It's over for me...I'll never forget our times together..."

"Let's give this everything we've got." Monocrow said. "IT'S PUNISHMENT TIIIIIIIME!"

"Father...my brothers...I'll see you soon..."

GAME OVER!

SHINJI KASAI HAS BEEN FOUND GUILTY!

TIME FOR THE PUNISHMENT!

Shinji is dragged away and strapped onto a firetruck's engine. Monocrow who is dressed up as a firefighter receives an emergency call and goes to the scene of the fire. During the journey, Kasai's skin ends up getting oiled and shiny. The fire truck quickly runs to the scene of the fire at a level that violates the town's speed limit. A child monocrow is screaming in the fired building, and on the outside, a monocrow that appears to be a parent is rolling its feet.

HELLFIRE EMERGENCY

The fire truck then arrives, but not to put out the fire, it crashes into the house instead and Shinji is drowned inside a huge fire as the engine blows up. Both he and the child monocrow inside end up getting burnt alive, and then to add insult to injury, the boiler inside the house explodes and the home becomes an inferno. Then, Monocrow returns with a helicopter that is carrying a giant bucket, the bucket tips over and gallons of water is poured out, drowning the house and putting out the fire. All that's left is the charred remains of the house, and a singed body that laid next to the remains of the firetruck.

"Hmmm, not the finest execution, but an execution nonetheless." Monocrow said.

The girls had nothing to say, I had nothing to say...now only half of us remained, how many more have to die for his goal's sake?

"Big bro..." Yuki cried as his eyes were wide open and in tears.

"Fufufu, looks like Mr. Kasai's death has advanced the plans ahead of time." Mikado said. "It won't be long before our true goal is accomplished!"

Shinji was a Void member, but even so, he tried his best to protect us, even if it did cost him his life in the end.

"Now then, as for you, Ms. Magorobi."

"Ah" Emma gasped as she looked frightened.

"It was a good thing I heard your answer before the explosion occurred. But I'm afraid that now that the plan has gotten this far, I regret to inform you of your notice."

"My notice?"

His appearance darkened again. "As of now...you can no longer call yourself a member of Void. WE! ARE! THROUGH!"

Emma gasped.

"If you are so desperate that you want to tell everyone else, I won't stop you." His masked side got angry again. "But I will NOT allow Mr. Rogers the satisfaction of stopping my plans for Mr. Maeda! No matter what you or anyone else dares to do in trying to stop me, I will be victorious in the end!"

"Is that a fact?" I responded.

"Hm?"

"Whatever you have in mind for Yuki, I won't let it happen! You think you still have the power over all of us? Since you've chosen to let Emma go from Void, that means you're all alone. We have the numbers and we'll use those numbers to protect Yuki, and you can't try to kill us! Cause if you do, you'll become the blackened and that will ruin your plan, won't it?"

Mikado sighed. "Well, obviously...but as the mastermind, I have plenty of ways to keep thinning the numbers, Void or not Void."

"Yeah, keep telling yourself that."

"Now then, since the trial is over and another one is gone, we should go back to...hm?"

Just then, we saw Yuki slowly walk up to Mikado with a grim expression, as if all of his emotions were washed away.

"Y-Yuki?" Hibiki asked.

"Step back, Owen." He replied, toneless. "You don't need to die trying...this is my fight alone."

Mikado gasped.

I blinked. "What?!"

"We'll meet again...Mikado Sannoji." Yuki said before leaving the trial room.

"What was that?" Yoruko asked. "Just now...what happened to him?"

Kokoro looked down. "I fear that we may be heading for a bigger disaster, than even I could've predicted."

"My friends..." Mikado said quietly as he smirked. "...I believe it has begun. Yes! It's beginning! I must make final preparations!"

He then vanished from the trial room.

"What was that all about?" Setsuka asked. "Ki-ki was like a completely different person."

Hibiki shivered. "I'm scared..."

"Let's group up together and leave the trial room." Emma said. "I think we're all in need of rest."

"That may be for the best." Monocrow agreed. "And as for what Mikado said. Regardless of who he wants to kill, I'm still in charge of the field trip."

Yoruko sighed. "That's reassuring."

The girls and I walked into the elevator, Yuki was still showing the same expression. The loss of Shinji must've really shook him to the core. We were back on the first floor of the cruise. Yuki went straight to his room and the girls and me were left wondering what we could do to keep him safe from Mikado.

"Everyone, I know the situation looks grim." I said. "But starting tomorrow, shall we take turns in making sure Yuki stays safe?"

"That might work a for a while." Kokoro replied. "But we won't be able to rely on that forever."

"I know, but we can't let Mikado get to him."

"By the way, Emma." Yoruko said. "Are you sure of your decision?"

"I already told Mikado, so when it's tomorrow, I'll give you the details of Void's goal." Emma answered. "I've held this back for far too long, the truth can't be delayed any longer."

"Alright, we'll make sure to be ready to hear it all." I replied.

The girls went into thier rooms, except for Setsuka and Hibiki.

"Hey, can you come with me to my room?" Hibiki asked. "I wanna share something special to you."

"Atta girl." Setsuka smirked. "You go, Biki!"

She blushed. "Suka..."

"But joking aside, me and the others don't mind." Setsuka smiled. "Don't stay up too late, okay?"

Setsuka hugged her and then hugged me before going into her room. Hibiki held my hand and we went into her room, hers had a few lyrics sheets, lots of idol star posters and a view microphone stands. This was definitely the room of a vocalist. There was also a framed photo of her and Kanade. We sat down on her bed together.

"So Owen...remember what we talked about earlier?" She asked.

"You mean about our future in music?" I responded.

"Yeah, I've been singing this song since yesterday. I want to hear what you think of it, will you listen?"

I nodded. "I'd love to..."

Hibiki got up and went to her microphone stand and turned on a CD player that was next to her and some music started playing and she started singing.

Dreams to dream
In the dark of the night
When the world goes wrong
I can still make it right
I can see so far in my dreams
I'll follow my dreams
Until they come true

Come with me
You will see what I mean
There's a world inside
No one else ever sees
You will go so far in my dreams
Somewhere in my dreams
Your dreams will come true

There is a star
Waiting to guide us
Shining inside us
When we close our eyes

Don't let go
If you stay close to me
In my dreams tonight
You will see what I see
Dreams to dream
As near as can be
Inside you and me
They always come true

The song ended and I could see Hibiki blushing as she looked at me. I stood up and held my hands out to her, she took them and looking up at me, we put our arms around each other and in that moment, we pressed our lips together. As we kissed, she jumped onto me and wrapped her legs around my waist. I slowly walked to her bed and sat down on it. We pulled away from the kiss and both of us were blushing madly.

"Sorry for jumping on you." Hibiki said. "But...I love you, Owen! I love you so much!"

"I love you too, Hibiki...I'll make sure to always love you." I replied. "I wonder what Kanade would say if she knew."

"Yeah, she would be really happy, if she knew I found an awesome boyfriend."

"Awesome, huh? I guess I really am."

"Say...can you...sleep with me tonight?"

I nodded. "Absolutely...we'll keep each other safe tonight."

"Thanks..."

We kissed again and taking off my shoes and indoor coat, I got into bed and looked away as Hibiki changed into her nightwear and joined in with me. We kissed once more and snuggled up together, waiting to sleep, because we knew that from tomorrow, things were going to change...drastically.

Meanwhile, in an unknown location...

"The fifth and final island is in sight...the next phase of the plan is now complete!"

"I am all alone, but I do not fear the end."

"But if I wish to truly succeed, I must now get rid of the newest and greatest threat of all."

"Mr. Owen Rogers...your time will come soon!"

"Once you are gone, they will scatter and embrace the deaths of despair!"

"And then...we will be able to see him once more!"

"Isn't that right, Master Utsuro?!"

"HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!"

*END OF FOURTH ARC*

Students remaining: 8

Void members: Mikado, Emma(Removed), Yuri(Deceased), Iroha(Deceased), Shinji(Deceased)

Obtained Item: Fireman's Jacket

Yeah, I'm sorry if it's on the short side, but I wanted to save a lot of the explanation for the next few chapters.

Next time! Emma goes into detail of what Void's true goal is, before they explore the fifth and final island.