Tsumugi made her way out of her hideout and through the dimly lit school, walking towards the exit. Her eyes flicked side to side constantly, wary of others discovering she snuck out at night. Thankfully, she made it out of the school unseen.

She stepped out into the courtyard, the brisk night air biting against her exposed skin. She shivered a bit, but then looked upwards.

The campus was barren, the green grass blending into the dark sky. And the stars up there, shining in the night, brighter than the whitest moon. It caused Tsumugi to gape her mouth in awe. It took her breath away.

Naturally, that's why she decided to make the stars like that. More beautiful nighttime scenery caused more students to venture out at night, which indirectly caused more murders. At least, that was her logic before this game... Come to think of it, there was another reason, too... One that was just as questionable, but less relevant...

She began to wonder... Would she and Rantaro actually escape? Would their plan work? Would they survive to see the real night sky, and not just some fake dome designed to keep them in here?

A light sigh escaped her mouth, her eyes twinkling like the artificial stars above her. She longed for that to be true, for it to be easy.

But nothing was ever easy. It was far simpler to just ignore the problem for as long as possible. The stress of achieving perfection... Sometimes it was too much to bear...

Tsumugi needed to act quickly to save them, to guarantee their future together, but every second that ticked closer to that moment made her increasingly nervous and anxious. She at least had the night, but she wasn't looking forward to tomorrow morning at all...

Tsumugi lost herself in those stars, only realizing it after a few minutes. Shaking her head quickly, she stiffened her face. She needed to get in her dorm room, and fast. Lest someone else see that she was out at night. That could be bad.

Hurriedly, the girl walked towards the dorms, her strides as large as she could manage. She reached the door, and grabbed the handle, the metal cold to the touch. Yet, a voice sounded from behind her before she could open it.

"Hey, Tsumugi, what're you doin' out this late?"

Instantly, she froze. Fear overtook her, and her stomach felt like it overturned. She stood there motionless for a few seconds, even forgetting to breath, in the vain hope that the person behind her would just forget about what they saw.

But they wouldn't. Not with the Mastermind still afoot. Simply ignoring them here would lead to more questions, and it'd only cast more suspicion on her.

Of course. Of course her worst fears would manifest now... She had one simple thing to do... And she couldn't even do that without something going wrong... Maybe their plan wasn't going to work out after all...

She began breathing heavily. Despite her current temperament, there still was a chance, as silly as that sounded. But she had to handle this calmly.

Tsumugi turned around, to see Kaito Momota laying there, on the grass next to the dormitories. His arms were behind his head, his jacket draped over the nearest bench.

The girl gave him a fake smile, trying her best to look casual.

"Oh, Kaito... I-I was simply taking a walk, that's all."

The boy squinted his eyes at her, yet he didn't move from his position.

"You sure you aren't the Mastermind? You could've snuck into the hideout."

Tsumugi's eyes widened. She yelled at herself to remain calm, but she had to look away in order to regain her composure.

"No, I'm not the Mastermind. I... I just like walking at night. It sure is nice outside tonight, and quiet, too. P-perfect for a walk..."

Kaito stared at the girl for a few seconds, and surprisingly, the suspecting look dissipated from his face, a friendly smile replacing it.

"Yeah, this night sky is somethin' else, huh?"

Tsumugi took a step towards the boy. As long as he wasn't suspicious of her, it wouldn't hurt to spend at least a little time with him... Right?..

"Yeah... What are you doing out here by yourself, Kaito?"

Kaito grinned widely, shrugging at the girl. His eyes sparkled like the stars above.

"Training, just like I said I would! There's somethin' about that starry night sky that makes a man wanna buckle down and do fifty sit ups!"

Tsumugi shot the boy a glance as she continued walking towards him.

"Um, you don't look like you're training."

Kaito, albeit seeming startled for a second, maintained his composure by averting his eyes.

"Well, I already did all of 'em... Anyways, I was gonna bring Maki Roll along with me, but she wouldn't come. I knocked on her door like ten times and all she ever said was 'Go away'."

Tsumugi chuckled a bit.

"Maki Roll?"

"Yeah, Maki Harukawa. Y'know? The quiet girl in red? She looked like she could use some training, so I thought I'd invite her. It does get a bit lonely training by myself..."

Tsumugi nodded, but before she could turn away, Kaito spoke again.

"Hey Tsumugi, you wanna train with me?"

Training... Tsumugi hadn't done extensive physical activity in forever... She always played the same character in these Killing Games... The Ultimate Cosplayer... She had no need for this before...

Tsumugi looked away, trying to cover the fact that she didn't want to do this, that she wanted to leave as soon as she could.

"I dunno... I better get some sleep"

Yet Kaito waved his left arm at the girl, ushering her down to the ground with him.

"Come on, I think you need it."

Tsumugi gaped at the boy. Did he just...

"A-Are you insulting me? Are you saying that I'm out of shape?"

At this point, Kaito pulled his other hand out from under his head and waved them at the girl defensively, his eyes wide at the accusation.

"Oh no! It's not like that! Just come over here, you'll see."

Tsumugi scowled a bit. As much as she did want to just turn around and leave, there was something captivating about the way Kaito offered to help her... And making alliances never hurt anyone...

The girl sighed quietly and knelt down, taking her place next to Kaito. She shook her head. Why'd she have to make her characters so damn charming...

"Ok, but only for a little bit."

Kaito beamed as he saw Tsumugi approach him, his smile lighting up his face.

"Great! Sit down next to me, just like I'm doing."

Tsumugi laid on the ground next to the boy, her legs propped up in a similar manner.

"Ok, what now?"

"Now do fifty sit ups!"

Tsumugi's eyes widened. As much as she hated to admit it, she was out of shape. Did the boy seriously expect her to do that many on her first try?

"Um, Kaito, that's a lot for plain old me. I haven't done sit ups in months."

Kaito continued to grin, maintaining his nonchalant composure.

"Well, that's fine, just do as many as you can."

"Ok..."

Tsumugi felt a pang of relief at the boy's statement. She laid there for a few seconds, and then focused her eyes and took a deep breath, prompting her to begin. She curled her body upwards, and then back down again.

Ok, that's one, she thought. Just forty-nine more.

As Tsumugi continued to do sit ups, Kaito laid there, staring up at the sky again. He began monologuing to himself.

"Just imagine someday, we'll be out there... We'll break through that sky, we'll escape from this earth, and venture out into the unknown, into the depths of space. What waits for us out there? No one knows. But that doesn't stop me from wanting to go. I know for sure that whatever's out there will be amazing."

The girl wasn't sure if she should acknowledge him or not. She just kept training, getting increasingly exhausted by the second.

After about twenty sit ups, Tsumugi had to take a break. She breathed heavily for a few seconds, then managed to squeeze in a few more, but at that point she felt she was done. Sweat beaded down her face, her abs burned like fire, and all she wanted to do was curl up into a ball and lay there. Not once in any of her Killing Games did she get this tired...

She eyed the water fountain about ten meters away... Of course, she'd have to stand up to use it...

Tsumugi managed to say a few words to Kaito, taking deep breaths between them.

"Kaito... I... I don't think... I can do any more..."

He didn't even turn towards her to respond, seemingly not noticing her exhaustion.

"Sure you can, all you gotta do is keep tryin'. I believe in you."

Tsumugi faced the boy, who looked at her in response. Her eyes changed into staunch blue gems, and a strand of her hair drooped over her face.

She couldn't do it. She couldn't do any more sit ups. This was the extent of her abilities. She'd say anything to get out of this, to get out of enduring this hardship of exercise any longer. It was too painful, too difficult for her. She'd rather just give up now.

Her words were more harsh, begging that Kaito would have mercy.

"Kaito, I haven't exercised this hard in months, please, I can't-"

He interrupted her with calm yet determined words, almost as if he'd been expecting this all along.

"Hey, Tsumugi, don't go sayin' those things. If you keep telling yourself you can't, then you never can."

Tsumugi's eyes widened, and a wave of revelation struck her. She paused for a second, understanding the implications of his statement.

She didn't realize it before, but this was exactly the same feeling she had earlier, when she was staring at the stars. When she told herself that all she wanted to do was sleep and ignore reality's difficult problems.

Come to think of it... Maybe that's why she went into show business. Maybe it was soothing to her not to have to make decisions, to have someone else tell her exactly what to do at every waking moment. Because it was by far easier than making mistakes.

Kaito continued to speak as Tsumugi laid there, motionless.

"When you're down, and you want to give up, just tell yourself that you can do this. You can do anything you put your mind to. I know that you can, but you have to be the one to tell yourself."

Tsumugi nodded slowly, growing more resolved by the second. She got back into position, and prepared to do more sit ups.

Yes. I can do this, she thought. I need to do this.

She spoke the words Kaito mentioned, and a sense of security overtook her.

"I can do this."

Kaito chuckled, and waved a hand at her.

"Come on, I can barely hear you."

Tsumugi sighed, but acquiesced. She hadn't yelled in a long time, but if it'd supposedly boost her confidence, then she may as well. She opened her mouth, and screamed the words again.

"I can do this!"

She now understood why Kaito yelled so much. There was an empowering feeling behind it, behind yelling your lungs out and not having others around to judge you. It made her even more determined then she was before.

"That's better! Now go finish those sit ups."

Tsumugi continued doing sit ups, pushing through her tiredness and exhaustion.

She could do it. She could rescue Rantaro, she could leave this Killing Game with him. She wouldn't fail - no, she couldn't fail. Because she could do it.

These thoughts continued to motivate Tsumugi as she trained, moving even quicker than she was before.

Just imagine someday, we'll be out there... We'll break through that sky, we'll escape from this earth, and venture out into the unknown...

What waits for us out there? No one knows. But that doesn't stop me from wanting to go. I know for sure that whatever's out there will be amazing.

I will escape with Rantaro. And we will be happy. No matter what. Because I can do this.

Tsumugi finished her fiftieth sit up, and collapsed to the ground, exhausted, yet satisfied. Her chest rose and fell in long spurts as she gasped for breath. She turned back towards Kaito, giving him a friendly smile, expressing her gratitude.

His grin was wider than before, and on his face was the same satisfaction.

"I knew you could do it, Mugi. I think that's enough for today. I'm gettin' pretty tired."

"Yeah... Me too..."

The boy practically jumped off the ground, standing up in a matter of seconds, with the vigor of someone fully rested. He wiped the grass blades off his shirt quickly, then held a hand out to Tsumugi to help her up.

She took his hand and pulled on it to stand up herself, nodding to Kaito in acknowledgement. He gave her a thumbs up and a wink in response.

"Keep your head up. We'll find the Mastermind and get out of here before you know it."

"You're right. We will."

Kaito jogged over to the bench to retrieve his jacket while Tsumugi started walking back to the dormitories. The two waved to each other as Kaito ran into the building before her.

"Night, Mugi!"

"Night..."

Tsumugi felt extremely tired, but it felt different than before. She felt strangely contented and empowered after Kaito's training, but was physically exhausted - completely opposite of what she was feeling previously. She'd wanted to lay in bed and bottle up her fears instead of facing them head-on - but that was all in the past now. She knew she would succeed - and telling herself that was the first step to actually doing so.

Tsumugi paused at the door of the dormitory again, and gripped the handle. It's coldness was the least of her concerns at this point. But before she thrust the door open, she looked upwards at the stars one last time.

The second reason I made the stars shine so brightly in this Ultimate Academy... Was because of Kaito himself... They'd serve as a motivating force for his character, one who wanted to travel into space as the Ultimate Astronaut... And one who secretly had a terminal illness, which would limit the amount of time he had to achieve that goal... But who knew both him and those stars would end up motivating me instead...

Tsumugi chucked to herself, playfully nodding her head. Just because all of this was made up didn't make the experience any less real to her.

Rantaro was right all along. Fiction can change reality.