Author's Note: It's my birthday today! So I'm posting the last few pre-written chapters I have for this story. Enjoy!
The next area that we headed to was the area I immediately thought was weird when I first woke up. We walked up and found ourselves on the second floor in front of the dragon statue. I wasn't the only one to think the dragon statue was immediately suspicious, as Kaede, Kokichi, Ryoma, Miu, Gonta, Kiyo, Maki, and Angie were here as well. Kaede noticed someone was coming and smiled at us, however, when she averted her gaze away from me when I looked at her. "Ah! Shuichi! Rin! You two wanted to check this place out too?" Kaede asked, more so to Shuichi than me.
"I mean, this statue was one of the first things I saw here. Anyone could tell it's suspicious." I said as I looked at the out of place dragon. "I wonder what it's hiding. Maybe we'll get the rest of the second floor unlocked after we use the item."
"Well, I'll put in the gem." Shuichi said as he inserted the dragon's empty eye socket. As soon as he did, the statue shook and fell apart, along with the wall behind it.
"The wall has collapsed!" Kiyo exclaimed.
"Whoa, that's so cool! We can get past this wall now! Alright then, chaaaaarge!" Kokichi said enthusiastically as he rushed ahead into the new area.
"W-Wait! Charging in is dangerous!" Gonta exclaimed as he ran after the tiny leader of evil.
"We should go ahead as well." I said.
"Wait...do you...feel that?" Kaede asked.
"What's wrong?" Ryoma asked.
"The air here feels...weird. Kinda like the library." Kaede said as she shivered a bit.
"The air…?" I questioned. I took a few steps into the new area and felt what Kaede was talking about. "The air feels...old. Stagnant. How long has this area been sealed up?" I asked out loud.
"That's a good question. If this place was made for us, then why would this place feel so...decrepit and have weeds and grass overgrown everywhere." Shuichi asked.
"We'll probably have to figure that out ourselves." Maki sighed as she continued forth.
"Atua says that we'll probably find the answer if we keep exploring the academy!" Angie said as she put her hands together in a prayer.
"Not like we don't have much of a choice." Ryoma sighed.
"Let's check out the new area then." I said as we each began to explore the rest of the second floor. As soon as we entered the newly opened area, a door that had a fancy, elegant design caught my eye. "Is this an Ultimate Research Lab?"
"What a nice design." Kaede said. "Well, let's go inside and see who this lab is for!" Kaede grabbed the door handle and-.
Click...Click…
"Huh?" Kaede wasn't able to open the door. "It's locked?"
"But why? No other research lab has been locked. I didn't think they had locks." Shuichi said as he examined the door. As soon as he said that, Monokuma popped up.
"Oh that research lab is closed because its owner is dead!" Monokuma explained with an evil grin.
"...Dead?" I asked.
"Per the rules, if a student dies before their Ultimate research lab is opened, then that lab will remain closed." Monokuma clarified.
"That's the first time I'm hearing this!" Shuichi and I said at the same time.
"That's cuz this is the first time I've mentioned it." Monokuma giggled.
"...It does state in the rules that Monokuma is free to just make things up as he goes…" Kaede sighs as she places her hand on her forehead.
"Well, since this has happened much sooner than expected, I suppose I can add it to the rules for you all to remember." At that, all of our Monopads vibrated with a notification noise. I took mine out and saw the new rule.
Rule 15. If a research lab is found but the owner is already dead, the lab will be permanently locked. Labs that are already open before their owner dies will stay open.
"If the labs stay locked if the owner is dead, then I imagine we won't be able to pick the lock, huh?" I asked.
"Pick the lock?" Shuichi asked.
"Nope. Sorry, but once these labs are locked, they're locked forever! Too bad for you!" Monokuma said as he left.
"That was really random. Isn't lock picking really hard to do?" Kaede asked.
"You forget that one of us knows how to pick locks. I was forced to remember that fact earlier today." I groaned.
"A-Ah! That's right!" Shuichi exclaimed. "Kokichi can pick locks!"
"Hahaha! That's right, Shumai!" Kokichi said as he skipped towards us. "As a supreme leader of evil, locking picking is easy for me! I'm glad my loyal servant remembered that."
"You did throw an example at me this morning…" I sighed. "I guess we were wrong to assume that all the labs don't have locks." I sighed. "Maybe Monokuma will add locks if necessary. I wonder if we could ask him to install locks in other labs. I doubt it, since we would only want that to limit killings."
"Speaking of the lock, Monokuma said it was because this lab's owner was dead. If that's the case, then…" Shuichi began to say.
"This lab has to be-was Kirumi's. The design sort of matches the elegance of a maid." I said softly.
"Rin…" Kaede said softly. She seemed to want to say something, but I spoke before she could.
"It's...It's fine. At least it's not Tsumugi's. I don't think I could look at her lab at the moment. It would be too...confusing for me." I asked.
"Well, this was fun, talking to you all and stuff, but Imma bounce now." Kokichi said. "There's a lot that's been unlocked, and I want to check it all!" Kokichi then ran off to who knows where.
"He's certainly energetic today…" Kaede sighed with a tired look.
"We should get going too. Kokichi isn't wrong in saying how there's a lot more to check out." I said. Shuichi and Kaede nod in agreement and the 3 of us continue down the hall. Eventually, we got to an open area that had stairs heading up to the 3rd floor, another research lab that had butterflies on the door, and a giant red treasure chest.
"There are stairs to the 3rd floor already?" Kaede asked while looking at the stairs, which had the diguesting color of bright pink with yellow poke-a-dots designs like the previous one had.
"And this lab is probably Gonta's." Shuichi said as he looked at the door.
"Before we go inside, we should check what's in this." I said as I moved towards a large chest, one that looks like it's one of those mimics in those bullshit games. "Well, I'm opening it up. If it explodes and kills me, tell my story." I jokingly said.
"Please don't joke about that. I'm sure it's safe." Kaede told me with a concerned look.
"Yeah yeah, I know. I'm just getting video game trap vibes from this thing." I said as I slowly opened the chest. "The hell?" Contrary to popular belief, this treasure chest did not contain a pirate's prized treasure or some healing potion or some equipment like a typical RPG. Instead, it was a flashlight. One that looked terribly familiar. "...Oh no…" Isn't this...the same flashlight that they used to give everyone their first memory?
"Is that...a flashlight?" Shuichi asked as I picked it up from the chest. "That can't just be a normal flashlight, right?"
"Should we turn it on?" Kaede asked.
"I…" What should I say here? There's a chance they'll remember something, or maybe this will remove memories, or maybe it's just a trap and it's a motive to kill. It could even give us fake memories for all I know. Either way, I'd really rather not turn it on. "How about...I just keep it on my person for now and we don't worry about turning it on until we...learn more about it, yeah?" I suggest.
"Sure. You're probably the best person to hold onto it." Kaede said with a smile.
"Well, let's go inside Gonta's lab." I said as I moved towards the door. Both Kaede and Shuichi looked at each other and then at me with a nervous glance. "...Let me guess: the prospect of the Ultimate Entomologist's lab isn't very appealing to you, is it? Do bugs make you uneasy?" They both slowly nod, looking around to make sure Gonta isn't watching. "I can't blame you. Not the biggest fan of bugs myself. But hey, maybe it's a bunch of butterflies and nice looking bugs. That would be nice." I said, trying to convince not just them, but myself that this lab won't completely freak me out. I just pray that there aren't any bees in there. God I can't stand bees.
"Welp, time to bite the bullet" I said as I proudly entered the door and-Oh god it's so much worse than I thought… "Oooooh…" I stared in awe and a little fear at the sheer magnitude of the lab's collection of bugs. The walls were completely covered with different types of insect specimens. The room was designed like a forest with trees all around, though I couldn't tell if they were real or not. Near the entrance was a simple table made of a tree stump and a flat wooden table top. Resting on the table were many books about insests, as you would expect. On one of the walls were multiple rows of bug cages, filled with both live insects of the entire arthropod family and even larva and eggs. Kaede and Shuichi hesitantly entered and they both had similar reactions of uncomfortable nervousness. Fortunately, they didn't say any of their problems with the room, since mountain man Gonta was already here enjoying the lab to its fullest.
"A-Amazing! This paradise!" Gonta cheered with some of the most enthusiasm I've seen from him, which was already a lot.
"Y-Yeah big guy! It's...great…!" I managed to say. Honestly, I do think the lab is incredibly thorough and I would love to do a deep dive into the knowledge this lab has to offer with Gonta, since so far I've found out that I tend to enjoy learning about new things, no matter how random, but the fact that anyone could just go in here and let all of these thousands upon thousands of bugs loose is more than enough to make me incredibly jittery being inside here. The last thing I need is to be trapped in this room for an extended period of time while all the bugs are loose. If I was in that horrible situation, I'd probably call it hell.
"Gonta wonder how many bugs there are." Gonta pondered as he explored the lab. "Gonta so excited he get his own special room! Who make this room anyway? Gonta need to say thank you."
"Ah, um… I suppose it was Monokuma and the Monokubs." Shuichi said, still shifting uncomfortably as he made sure to say as far away as he could from the bug cages, Kaede hiding slightly behind him as he did.
"What!? No way… Monokuma?" Gonta exclaimed with a terrified look. "But…no person who likes bug can be bad person. Gonta sad…"
"Don't think to hard about it Gonta. Who knows? Maybe someone other than Monokuma made this place for us." I suggest.
"Really? You really think so?" Kaede asked.
"It's possible. Maybe Monokuma hijacked this place during construction or something. Would explain why the academy is in the state that it's in. I don't have much to really even suggest that theory though. I guess that's a bad habit of mine, making and throwing out baseless assumptions and theories." I sighed while rubbing my hand through my hair.
"N-No! Don't apologize. That just proves that you're thinking of all the possibilities." Kaede said, trying to reassure me.
"Right… Thanks." I said.
"I have to wonder why this place is storing so many insects though." Shuichi said. "There are even a lot of eggs in the cages that are refrigerated."
"Refrigerated? Will the bugs be ok, Gonta?" Kaede asked.
"Don't worry! Eggs probably hatch if Gonta take good care of them!" Gonta said happily.
"Hatch, huh? If that happens, I guess this place will finally have bugs flying around outside." I chuckle.
"Releasing the bugs outside...that reminds me of that one Bible story." Shuichi said.
"Bible story? Do you mean Noah's Arc?" Kaede asked.
"That's when Noah, chosen by God, made an enormous arc to transport his family and 2 of every animal kind during the great flood that essentially destroyed the world because of the people's sin. The boat was a literal arc that brought them to a 'new world'." I said.
"Yeah… but maybe that's too dramatic to compare to our situation." Shuichi said.
"It's certainly an interesting comparison." I laugh a bit. Gofer Project. I immediately stopped laughing. Foresight again? But what does 'Gofer Project' mean? It triggered when we talked about Noah's Arc. A connection? I thought for a bit and widened my eyes when I remembered something. The arc in the story was made of Gopher wood. So there is a connection to the name of this supposed project. But what? Is it similar to the story? But wouldn't that mean we're on an arc and are the last remaining humans alive? I sincerely doubt that. After all, of the 17 of us, we're all mainly Japanese. Angie is an islander from the pacific, and some people here might have mixed heritage, but still, why would Humanity's last survivors be almost all Japanese Asians? It sounds more like a bad Japanese drama or game than reality.
And Tsumugi was talking about a 'everyone' that seemed to be watching. Whether that's some group of other people that also kidnapped us, or some other group of people watching, it suggests that there are other people besides us. Probably a whole lot of people too. I think Rantaro or someone, maybe Keebo, mentioned this, but having 16 Ultimates and maybe a 17th if I really am an Ultimate, which seems highly likely now after the Tsumugi incident, you would think there would be an uproar if we were missing. If we still haven't been found after this amount of time, the very large group of people, one with a massive amount of funds, had to have hidden us extremely well. But then what is this Gofer Project? What could it mean for us? Is it even related to us? If anything, it could be just some movie that I'm remembering. My Foresight hasn't been wrong before, but there's a chance that this could just be some small memory or something. Right?
"Rin, are you ok?" Kaede asked me, pulling me out of my daze.
"Huh?"
"You were staring off into space. You seemed to be deep in thought." Shuichi said.
"O-Oh. Don't worry about it." I said. Actually, I wonder…? "Actually, mind if I ask you 3 something?"
"Sure. What do you need?" Kaede asked.
"Have any of you heard of something called the Gofer Project?" I asked.
"Gofer Project? No, I don't believe so." Shuichi said.
"Me neither." Kaede also said.
"Gonta not hear of project either." Gonta said.
"Is that so? Don't worry about it then." I said. "It's...a movie that I just remembered. It was about Noah's Arc, so I was curious if you all have heard of it." I lied.
"You remembered something? That's great!" Kaede said happily. "Maybe you'll remember other stuff too!"
"M-Maybe…" I chuckled nervously.
"You know...you kind of sounded a bit like Rantaro." Shuichi said nervously.
"Like Rantaro?"
"You weren't here for this, but after the time limit was announced, Rantaro asked most of us if we remembered something called the Ultimate Hunt."
"Oh right. Rantaro did end up asking me about that."
"Really? Well, do you remember it?" Shuichi asked. Ah crap. How do I go about this? Well, I suppose it couldn't hurt to tell them.
"I...guess I remember some parts of it." I said hesitantly.
"Really? What is it?" Kaede asked.
"No clue really. I just remember the Monokubs saying something about it when I woke up." I explained. "Surprisingly, both me and Rantaro don't seem to know a lot about it. He seemed to only know the name like me."
"Is that so…" Shuichi pondered out loud.
"Anyway, we should move on. We have an entire new floor to explore." I said as I walked towards the exit. "Goodbye Gonta! Maybe we can hang out later."
"Gonta would like that! Gonta stay here to look after bug friends. Let Gonta know if friends need Gonta's help." Gonta said as he waved us goodbye. With that, the three of us left the entomologist's lab and headed up the stairs.
"I don't want to be rude to Gonta, but I don't think I'll be coming back to his lab anytime soon." Kaede sighed.
"I can understand that." I replied with a small smile. "Bugs tend to make most people uncomfortable, especially when there are that many."
"Aren't you bothered by the bugs too?" Shuichi asked.
"Well, yeah. But it doesn't stop me from wanting to know more about Gonta's talent. Besides, they're all in their cages right now. As soon as they all come out, you won't see me near that lab. Especially if there are bees involved." I shivered at the thought. "I can't stand bees…"
"Hahaha, for a second, I didn't think you were fazed by that sort of thing." Kaede chuckled.
"Oh laugh it up. We're heading to the 3rd floor, right? Let's get going already." I said as I rushed up the stairs, Kaede and Shuichi following behind me. The 3rd floor didn't look too different from the other floors. The only main difference was that this floor wasn't overgrown with plants. It was cleaner because of that. And the first thing to enter our view on this new floor was a lab. On who's door has a tennis racket and tennis balls on it.
"That has to be Ryoma's lab, right?" Kaede asked.
"Yeah. Not sure he'll like it though." I said sadly. "We'll check it out anyway." I opened the door to see an entire tennis court inside. The room had multiple tennis balls scattered around. There were even machines for launching the balls and a machine that was holding multiple rackets that was spinning around, hitting the balls effortlessly.
"This looks incredible!" Shuichi gasped upon seeing the large court in the lab. We then noticed how Ryoma and Miu were in the lab. "You must be pretty happy having an entire court here, right Ryoma?"
"Hmph, I don't care. I have nothing to do with tennis anymore." Ryoma said sadly and emptyly as he turned to the side, but I could notice him stealing a couple of longing glances at the court.
"Ryoma...are you really not going to play tennis anymore?" I asked.
"Tennis? Who the hell plays a hoity-toity sport like tennis?" Miu asked, interrupting our nice chat. Great… She's going to talk too… Ryoma didn't react to the comment, standing there calm and collected as he usually does. "Ohhhh, that's right. I totally forgot. You're a tennis player, aren'tcha?"
"Miu, that's rude! Try to be a little understanding." Kaede said while puffing her cheeks angrily.
"It's fine. Don't concern yourself with that. It was a long time ago." Ryoma sighed.
"So when you killed a mafia with your badass tennis skills, was that a long time ago too!?" Miu asked, clearly knowing no limits in her tactlessness.
"H-Hey! Come on, Miu…" Shuichi tried to say.
"What? It really happened, yeah?" Miu asked.
"Yeah...it's true. Thanks to that...even if I escape from here, I'll just go straight to a different prison. Hmph...so it'd be meaningless for someone like me to play tennis now…" I tighten my fist in anger as I turn to Miu.
"Look Miu, even if you're curious, there are better ways to ask." I stated. "The way you came off was rude, not to mention Ryoma doesn't like to bring it up."
"What's your problem? Oh wait, you killed people too, right? Is that why you're so sensitive to this?" Upon hearing Miu's words I froze. That was the one thing I didn't want to talk about more than anything else. I could already feel my chest tightening and my breathing becoming a bit more ragged. The nightmarish images of corpses start crawling back into my mind. The one bludgeoned to death. The one torn to shreds. The one trapped underwater. The one eaten by wolves. The one whose eyes were gouged out. The one who fell. The one who was poisoned. The one burned alive. Those images keep crawling into my mind...their dark presence overwhelming me. Just when I thought I had pushed them far enough into the temporary corner called 'distraction', they came crawling back sooner than I liked.
"MIU!" Kaede yelled at the inventor.
"Eeeek! Wh-What!?"
"There are some things you just don't say. Ever." Ryoma stated with a death glare.
"Rin, are you ok?" Shuichi asked me, noticing how I've become a bit more wobbly while standing.
"I-I...I'm fine…" I stutter a bit. "I just...really don't want to even start that topic and what it could mean." Shuichi nodded and helped me steady my stance. I look up to see Kaede and Ryoma still lecturing Miu, the latter of whom is now cowering in shame from the lecture. "H-Hey...guys. You can lay off Miu now. It's fine…"
"Are you sure Rin? She said something horrible. I can't imagine who you might feel after hearing that." Kaede said.
"It's fine. Let's get back to investigating the lab." Kaede hesitated for a bit, but nodded as we went back to looking for any possible clues. It was at that point a metal door in the back. "What's this? It looks much different compared to the lab."
"It's probably a shower room." Ryoma answered.
"A shower room! Why don't you boys go in and give each other a good scrubdown!? You're already the perfect height, Ryoma! You'll be lined up juuuuust right when you turn around to face Rin and Shuichi!" Miu exclaimed with a loud cackle. Shuichi and Kaede looked shocked at her lewd and vulgar statement, but Ryoma and I just gave her dark death glares, ones that only people like us could show. "I-I was just kidding… I-I thought you'd laugh…" Miu stammered as she noticed the glares of pure anger from us. I sighed as I began to open the door.
"Might as well check if it really is a shower room. Maybe there's something in-." I stopped dead in my tracks as I peered into the room. It was a shower room, but the design of the room just proved how twisted Monokuma's tastes were. It was like a second research lab inside Ryoma's. One that, in a sad twisted way, fits just as well as the Ultimate Tennis Pro's lab. This shower room...one could call it the Ultimate Prisoner's lab. It was a dark and moldy cement color and design. The shower stalls were metal bars similar to prisons. There were even handcuffs and striped prison uniforms hanging on the wall. I shook violently at the sight. Not just because of how horrible this was for Ryoma, but because it resonated with something with me.
A dark, wet, cold room. Completely alone. Shivering in the dark. Not like it matters anymore. No one believes me. No one wants to help me. I'm alone. Truly alone. I can only cry. My future...the life I knew...my goals and talent...are no longer worth anything.
"!" I slammed the door shut and clutched my arms as I quickly stumbled backwards. I...remembered? That wasn't Foresight or a vision. I...don't know what that was… I never want to experience it again.
"Rin?" Kaede looked at me with concern.
"...It's a shower room." I managed to say. "If you want to look, go ahead. But I'm never going in there again. I would suggest Ryoma do the same."
"Huh? Why?" Ryoma asked.
"...Monokuma is twisted." I hissed. "To put that in here. Absolutely despicable." I walked out of the lab and just walked down the hall. I had to move around, and I definitely had to get out of that lab. Just being near that room made me feel like I was going to pass out, or throw up, or both. I make my way further down the area and find a large open area with nothing really there aside from some benches and a large pixelated door. I took a seat on one of the benches and took a deep breath.
"Ah, Rin. It is good to see you." I look up and see Kiyo and Angie walking towards me. Kiyo gestures to the pixelated door with a smirk that I could see even under his mask. "That door seems most suspicious. It is designed like a gate that has a lock on it. Didn't the Magic Key we were given have a pixelated look as well?"
"O-Oh yeah. That's right." I pulled out the key. It definitely matched the door.
"Let me see!" Angie grabbed the key from my hand and inserted it into the gate. The pixels fell apart after the key was inserted, revealing another staircase. "Nyahaha! It seems we have access to the 4th floor now!"
"Kehehe… I wonder what awaits us there." Kiyo chuckled to himself as he and Angie examined the stairs.
"You two should head upstairs. I'll join you soon. I think there's one more thing that I have to check out here." I said as I looked down a section of this area. At the end of this short hall was a red door with a lab sign above it. Another research lab.
"Very well, though I don't believe you'll be able to get much out of that lab. The owner is...particular to guests it would seem." Kiyo said as he ascended the stairs.
"Bye-onara! Be sure to come up soon!" Angie said as she also raced up the stairs. I stood up and stretched a bit. I feel a bit better after sitting down. As I stood, Kaede and Shuichi came into the resting area and saw me.
"Ah! Rin. Are you ok? You seemed really freaked out." Shuichi asked as he and Kaede walked towards me.
"Yeah. I'm fine. I just...got really nauseated after I saw that room." I told them.
"That shower room...was really something else, huh?" Kaede said.
"You guys took a look?"
"Yeah. Only me and Kaede took a look. It was like a prison." Shuichi shook his head at the thought of the room. "I understand why you wouldn't want Ryoma to see that, but why did it upset you so much?" Shuichi asked.
"I...don't really know. I just felt…ill looking at it. No biggie." I said, trying to switch topics. "Anyway, that Magic key opened up the way to the 4th floor."
"We have access to the 4th floor now?" Kaede asked with a shocked look.
"Interesting. We still have one more lab to look at though." Shuichi said as he turned the red door.
"Yeah. No idea who the owner of this lab is though. Let's take a look." I said as I got closer to the door. I reached out to the doorknob, but-.
"...I did not give you permission to enter." Maki came out of the door before I could open it. She exited, making sure not to open the door enough to let any of us see inside.
"Maki? Is this your lab?" I asked.
"The Ultimate Child Caregiver's lab. I never would have guessed with the door." Kaede chuckled.
"You're right. This is my lab. Goodbye." Maki swiftly replied.
"Wait, can we look inside for a bit?" Shuichi asked.
"No."
"What? But...there's no rule against people going into each other's labs…"
"I don't care about the rules. I'm not letting anyone inside." Maki's not going to let anyone inside? Then that means…
"Heeeeeyyy! What's going on? You guys aren't in the middle of a tiff now, are you?" Kokichi popped out of nowhere with a smile.
"Great… Thanks to you lot, that annoying brat has showed up." Maki groaned.
"Yeah, Rin! An annoying brat has shown up thanks to you! Apologize to Maki!" Kokichi smirked while poking me in the sides.
"Y-Yeah…" I gave a forced laugh. Anyway, back to my thoughts. Maki's lab… she told everyone that she's the Ultimate Child Caregiver, but my Foresight and context clues show that she's lying about that. Most likely, she's the Ultimate Assassin, like my Foresight said. The blood red door would fit with that talent. The reason she would want to hide the contents of her lab shows that this is the Ultimate Assassin's lab, meaning god knows how many weapons and such are in there. It would be a dead giveaway that Maki was lying about her talent. Well, not a dead giveaway. Rantaro hasn't told anyone he's the Ultimate Adventure, and I still haven't gotten a clue as to what my Ultimate talent might be, if I have one like I think. But Maki hasn't been good about evading suspicion. As I think this, I see proof of someone being suspicious of Maki in action.
"So, what's up? You don't want anyone to enter your lab, Maki?" Kokichi questioned. "That's weird. I wonder what reason you would have for that." Kokichi definitely is suspicious of Maki. I remember he said that he can tell when someone is lying most of the time, so he probably knew Maki lied about her talent. She wasn't exactly subtle with me.
"Like I care what you think. No one's entering. That's final." Maki said sternly.
"...Alright then." I sighed while scratching my neck. "Doesn't really matter anyway if we look inside or not."
"It doesn't?" Kaede asked.
"Maki already looked from the look of things. She hasn't said anything about finding any clues about escaping or the killing game, so there isn't really a reason to enter other than our own curiosity." I explained.
"Th-That's true, but…" Shuichi trailed off.
"Let's just ignore it for now." I said. I leaned over to Maki and whispered to her. "Maki, I'll see if I can get Miu to make a lock for your lab so no one but you can enter. It'd be better that way so no one can take what's inside and reveal your secret, yeah?" Maki's eyes widened at that. She started to glare at me with a dark expression. "Look, I trust you. I already said that before. You're not a danger to us, so I trust you. I hope you'll trust me in exchange." I moved back from her and sighed. "Alright gang. Let's head up to the 4th floor. Kiyo and Angie are expecting us."
"You're just going to leave?" Kaede asked.
"There's no point in trying to convince Maki to let us explore right now. She has a right to privacy as well, so I don't really want to bug her anymore. We have a lot more to explore anyway."
"R-Right…" Shuichi hesitantly said. The two of them started following me up to the next floor. Kokichi stayed behind, pestering Maki about her lab. I feel bad for her, but we've got to explore the next area. So up the stairs we went
