'What should I do? Should I tell him or not?' I thought about that for a moment as Luca silently awaited my response. After a minute or so I finally decided and said the first thing that came to mind.

"Well how about we both share our motive video's contents? That way it's fair for the both of us." I suggested to him. I was confident he would agree since the two of us have grown quite fondly of each other out of most everyone here. But I saw Luca's body tense up and how rigged he became. Being an actor you have to recognize the subtle cues you are given to perform perfectly for the best results for a scene, whether it's from a backstage hand, the director, or an actor with a tiny gesture only another actor would pick up on. It also helps out with understanding people and I already understood what Luca was gonna say.

"Look Kai I'm gonna be honest and just say that I can't do that. I'm... just not ready to say who was in my motive video. Please don't take it the wrong way. It's just..." Luca paused as he looked away shamefully.

I should be mad that he doesn't want to share his secret when he outright asked about mine. But I couldn't help but let a small grin appear at the corner of my lips. "No you don't need to explain. I'm sure whoever it is must be very important that you wish to protect them during your time here. I feel the same. But I also want to trust those around me. So in that case my most important person is Terry Bobinski who I'm sure you know is the only agent and bodyguard I've had for my entire career." I told him. I saw the stunned expression on him as soon as I told him about my motive video and how he was captured right under my nose and how I could have helped him if I had only turned around.

I stepped forward and looked into his seafoam eyes. He stared right back as we had a silent exchange before I broke the air with my words. "There you have it. You now know who it is that I'm going to be fighting to save and who you could use against me. I'm gonna go now but remember I am trusting you not to take advantage of me. It'll be on your head if anything happens to me so be careful with what you do and if I do end up dead by your hands then I'll be sure to make sure I drag you down to hell with me. Even if I'm already there. I'll catch you later Luca." I waved to him as I walked away.

I looked back to him once and saw his face. He looked conflicted with what just transpired between us and I was glad I left him feeling that way. I showed him I have the utmost trust in him now that I've put my life quite literally in his hands and yet he couldn't do the same with me. It hurt. To be so willing to share my secret and yet he couldn't bring himself to do the same. I don't want to say it but the last thing I want is to reconsider who is a friend and who isn't.

I wanted to get that off my mind so I wandered the school to look for something to do. I soon found myself in rec room with a few of the others already gathered there. Brenda, Mikayla, and Sienna were all there playing a round of pool. Well Mikayla and Brenda were. Sienna was just watching from the sidelines, cheering Mikayla on. From the looks of it Mikayla was about to win with her taking aim at the last solid colored ball which was the the number eight. She aligned the white ball and jabbed it making it bounce at a perfect angle off two of the walls and slammed the eight ball into the hole, sealing her victory.

"Oh yeah!" Mikayla shouted throwing a fist up victoriously.

Brenda laughed as she looked over to her in amazement. "Holy crap! How did you manage that shot?" She asked.

"Simple geometry." She said with a voice that somewhat sounded like a Japanese man.

"Yay! Way to go Big Sis!" Sienna cheered happily.

I smiled at them before making my way to the love couch in the room. I sat down and grabbed a Time magazine and began reading. I could tell it was outdated by a few weeks as it was taking about the new Hope's Peak on the cover. I was reading into an article I happened to find about me when I heard my name.

"Kai! Wanna go a round?" Mikayla called over.

I looked up from the magazine and smiled. "Thanks but I'll pass."

"You sure? I've played Brenda three times now and I haven't had a challenge since I won all three times." Mikayla inquired.

"Hey!" Brenda growled.

It was a moment before I shrugged. "Sure but I doubt I'll be much of a challenge either." I set the magazine down and made my way over.

Brenda quickly ran up to me and shoved her stick into my hands and chest so hard it made me recoil back a bit. She leaned in very close to my ear and whispered, "Now she likes to go for angles a lot. Try to mess with her openings if you have the opportunity."

I chuckled a bit at her but nodded my understanding as Mikayla set the game back up, aligning all the balls in their starting positions.

"While we play how about we talk? I wanna get to know you guys better!" Mikayla offered.

"Sure. It'll make the game less quiet." I agreed as Mikayla gestured for me to take the first turn which I did. I shot the white ball forward and it smashed into the others scattering them around. Somehow I managed to knock the number 12 ball into the back corner of the pool table. Mikayla stepped forward and took aim at the number five ball that would easily be hit into a hole directly in front of it.

"So who will start off?" Mikayla asked as she took the shot and easily sunk the ball in.

Brenda raised her hand. "Oh! Oh! Oh! Kai, I've always wanted to ask you a couple of things!"

"Go for it." I told her as I looked around for a shot I could take.

While we continued playing I took time to answer as many questions as Brenda asked, which was a lot!

I answered a lot of things I had already told Luca before and more. Such as what it was like when I became very popular in the radar, what my favorite things about the job were, and how it was working with very specific celebrities.

Brenda was jotting down my answers on a notepad with a pen like a journalist would as she stared at me intently. "So Kai what I wanna know next is...?"

But I didn't give her the time to finish as I looked over to her as I took a shot but missed. "Brenda please. I appreciate that you want to get to know me so well but I also want to know more about you guys too."

She blinked as she slammed the notepad shut. "Alright then. Ask me a question. In fact ask all of us one question at a time and make things more interesting."

Mikayla was lining up her shot as I began thinking about my question for her. I quickly came up with hers as Mikayla slammed the white ball into her number seven ball and bounced it off the wall and sunk it into the back corner of the table. She only had three more of her solid colored balls left before the number eight while I had five.

"So you've told me a lot about your collections in general but not really how you got into it. Care to tell us?" I asked as I began looking for an opening around some of Mikayla's balls.

Brenda looked up lightly tapping her index finger against her bottom lip. 'Was that question really that difficult to answer?' I couldn't help but wonder as she stayed like that for almost a minute. Not even exaggerating.

"Well I can't quite remember if this was it or not but I think it was when I was in second grade. Honestly I always loved collecting things for as long as I can remember but I think my true passion started back then. I recall finding a rock during recess and it looked like it was diamond or something but me being so young I wasn't able to tell what it was. But regardless I showed it off to my friends during class. They were so impressed by it and I liked the feeling of being recognized and at the center of attention. Soon I found myself finding more unique looking rocks and began showing them off. Pretty soon showing off rocks then evolved into trading cards, then eventually I began collecting more items when I saw a popularity in them spike up."

I nodded silently as I lined up a shot, took it, and sank a ball in. "So basically you started off as an attention hog?"

She blushed as she rubbed her arm. "Kinda. I believe that's how it started but then my perspective on it changed. I did it because I liked the attention it brought me, then I found out how much fun I had when making collections, but then I discovered something even more amazing than I thought. I learned how my collections brought people together."

I looked up to her with a raise of my eyebrow. "How do your collections bring people together?"

Brenda looked a bit dumbfounded as Mikayla began looking for a shot to take since I put her in a tough situation where the white ball was basically surrounded by my striped balls. "Well you do have to show off your collections to be the Ultimate Collector. When my collections got too big to store in my room, my family surprised me with a giant shed my father hired some construction workers to build that would store all my collections. Once I got my current collections inside and continued building them up I invited friends over to see them. They begged me to let them bring families and friends over to see them and they brought their friends and families and so on and so forth."

"Soon my backyard was crowded with complete strangers when word got around about my collections. I watched everyone as they came in to view what I gathered for my completed collections and I soon noticed something. My collections was making people happy. Not in the sense that they were happy to see my dedication to my collections and having a sense of awe when they see them but another way. They were meeting people with similar hobbies and making new friends with complete strangers that viewed the same collections as others were. I saw countless people walking out, talking about their favorite book series, video games, and other subjects surrounding a collection I had on display. I saw this was like a museum except my collection of art was more wide ranged and drew more people in for personal reasons. I discovered that collecting made people congregate, happy, and make easy friends. That's why I love my collections more than anything and why I still drive myself to make them perfect!" She finished.

"Wow that's astounding." I said to her. Mikayla cleared her throat loudly which made me look at her to see she had already taken her turn since she had one ball less than before. I began prepping up for my turn as I saw a perfect opening for me to take. "So which collection would you say is very popular?"

"Well there are a lot but one of the more shocking ones would have to be my collection of human parts I keep in jars." Brenda said calmly.

My eyes shot wide open as I looked at her in disbelief. "WHAT?" I screamed as I felt my hand slip and I accidentally hit the white ball making it spin out and somehow hit Mikayla's final ball into a hole. I couldn't believe what I just did as I dropped my head. "Dang it."

Mikayla and Sienna began laughing at me like crazy while Brenda, who didn't realize my mishap at the moment, also chuckled at my reaction. "Fake human parts." She emphasized. "Used them for Halloween decorations one year and my house was the most popular house on the street."

"Well glad you said that earlier!" I stated sarcastically as Mikayla easily lined up her final shot and easily won the game because of my slip up. Brenda blinked when she saw me lose. "Wait what just happened? Weren't you suppose to win Kai?" She asked bewildered.

We all laughed again as I shook Mikayla's hand congratulating her. We all decided we'd go sit down for a while after the game. I sat down on the love couch, a longer couch to my left that formed an L with the love couch was where Mikayla and Sienna opted to sit, while Brenda plopped down on one of the big bean bag chairs resting on the ground in front of us.

"So now I know a little more about Brenda..." I paused as I looked over my remaining choices and smiled at Sienna before continuing. "...so I'd like to learn more about you Sienna." The girl seemed to freeze up a bit as she hid herself from me by scooting closer to Mikayla.

Mikayla quickly turned to her and held onto her shoulders. "Remember what we practiced Sienna. If you want to talk to other people then just pretend it's someone you're comfortable with talking too." She said to her in a hush tone to most likely help her calm down.

Sienna nodded as she closed her eyes. She soon began breathing like a monk during meditation. I soon saw a smile appear on her face as she whispered something intangible for me to hear. Mikayla sighed out happily and looked to me with a nod, confirming for me to continue.

I nodded back as I had begun to think about possible topics Sienna could talk about. One came to mind. "Tell me about your performances. Any particular ones that really stood out for you?" I asked her.

Keeping her eyes closed Sienna nodded silently before speaking up. "I remember my performance back in Tokyo a couple years ago. It was grand. So many people were there and I was so terrified going on but soon Mommy thought of a way that I could perform without being scared something I had never tried in an actual competition. She told me to close my eyes for my entire performance."

I blinked in shock. "Really? She suggested that? Isn't that dangerous for figure skaters?" I questioned with concern in my voice. But she simply nodded as she continued. "Absolutely. Seeing when you're gonna land after jumping is critical but if you memorize the size of the ice rink and the timing of the moves with the muscle's reaction time with take off and landing then doing a performance while basically blinded is no trouble. At least it works for me."

"It's because of that performance that got me recognized by Hope's Peak and how I gained the title "The Blind Ice Dancer". But I was never blind despite my eyes staying closed because I could always see Mommy's face and her loving smile. That's the only reason I perform perfectly everytime I dance. Because I know no matter what Mommy will always love me."

I smiled sweetly at her. "That's really amazing. What about your dad?" I asked but suddenly her eyes flashed open and her body began lightly shaking as if a chill just ran down her spine. Suddenly Mikayla held her close. "I think Sienna is done talking. My turn!" She cheerfully hollered out.

Somehow I feel like I went to a sensitive topic and Mikayla was making sure it wasn't brought up. Now I felt bad but obviously I would save the apology for later.

"Okay then. So Mikayla how is it that you came to be a veterinarian? Like how'd you get your start?" I asked her.

She slightly smiled as she looked up. She seemed to be lost in thoughts all alone for a moment before she spoke. "My family actually went on a camping vacation in the woods far from town in Minnesota. We were having a fun two weeks together but I remember one night waking up and having to go to the bathroom. I snuck out of the tent and went into the fifth-wheel to use the bathroom but when I was heading back to the tent I heard a distant cry. My curiosity got the better of my nine year old mind and I ventured into the forest."

I had a feeling things were going to get real very soon so I sat myself up and looked at her kinda nervously. She continued. "Eventually I found what I heard after quite a while of walking. It was a lone wolf caught in a trap. The poor thing was hurt and I could tell he had given up on fighting since it made little movement. He looked over at me and I saw he was quite old too."

"How could you tell what age and sex he was?" I interrupted her by asking the question. "My mom had been teaching me a lot about determining things about animals such as age and gender. I was able to see his belly and privates to see that he was male. Also with how big and yet frail he seemed he looked about 13 years old which is the normal lifetime feral wolves can reach. Anyways I gently approached him the way I was taught and at first the wolf growled at me but was too weak to actually do anything. I made my way to him as fast as I could and soon I got to the trap and somehow pried it open. The wolf immediately ran off and I soon found myself looking around in shock. I didn't remember where I came from and as a result ended up lost."

I gasped audibly but Mikayla only chuckled hearing it. "That's not even the worse part. After wandering aimlessly I soon happen to come across an entire wolf pack and the way they were snarling and circling me I knew they wanted food and that I was going to be the main course. I tried to run but they quickly caught me and began biting at me. I honestly thought I would die but then out of nowhere the same wolf I had helped attacked my attackers. The pack backed off a bit and the pack leader and my wolf just stared each other down. I later realized that my wolf was left behind by the pack and he was probably a lone wolf for quite some time. Soon they began fighting but the pack leader was much younger and too strong for my wolf. I quickly grabbed a thick branch off the ground and began swinging. Somehow between the wolf and me swinging that branch we actually chased the pack off."

"But I was bleeding pretty badly from the bite marks I got from the pack. I torn parts of my shirt to use as bandages and I was even able to wrap one around the wolf's leg and neck where he was hurt. It was so late and I was so tired I went to lie down and rest. That's when the wolf came up and cuddled close to me keeping me warm that night. I woke up the next morning to hear distant voices crying out my name. My family had been searching all night when my big brother, Andrew, and little sister, Ashley, found I was missing. They found me lying there with my wolf on top of me. At first they thought he killed me but when they saw me stirring they knew it didn't hurt me since I didn't seem scared. They brought me and the wolf back and got me to the hospital while my mom took the wolf to be treated at her animal clinic. I told them all what happened to me and at first it was unbelievable. But because of the heroic actions me and the wolf took to protect each other, my family allowed me to keep the wolf as a pet. I was the only one to take care of him because that's what I asked. I treated him, fed him, and played with him. I even got to name him and I called him Ulmar simply becauseI liked the name and it seemed fitting. I couldn't take him outside the house unfortunately. The neighbors always tried to file a case or do something that would put him out in the wild where he should be but my family always fought back. It didn't last long though. I had Ulmar for two years before he died of old age. But because of the time I spent with him that gave me the motivation to really help my mom out in her clinic and soon enough I was working full time along her side." Mikayla finished her story leaving me gaping at her.

"Wow. That's just... wow." I muttered in disbelief.

"I know. I was actually called out by quite a few people that I was just making it up. I would prove them wrong by showing them photos on my phone but as we know Monokuma took all our phones away." Mikayla lightly chuckled.

"No it's not that I don't believe you. It's just that story is so unbelievable in the sense of how amazing it is. You saved a wolf from a hunter's trap, get attacked by his old pack, then get saved by him, fight off the pack and survived the cold night on top of that? It's astounding!" I told her.

She smiled kindly as I saw a faint blush come across her cheeks. "Thanks."

Brenda looked between me and Mikayla as we silently stared at each other and suddenly shouted out to break the silence. "Okay! I don't know about you all but all this chatting has gotten me hungry! I am starving! Anyone else?"

Sienna held her stomach. "I'm kinda feeling hungry."

Mikayla smiled at Sienna. "Sure. Let's all get some lunch." Brenda's sudden outburst still had caught me off guard but I nodded in agreement since I was actually feeling pretty hungry myself.

We all made our way to the cafeteria and made ourselves lunch. A few of the others were there as well as we sat down, ate, and talked a little bit more. I soon separated from the girls and began making my way out when I felt stuffed like turkey stuffing.

Soon I found myself walking outside the cafeteria when I saw Paul approaching me. I groaned as I tried to quickly walk by but he stepped in front of me and blocked me from going past him. "Can you move?" I sighed.

"Not until we speak with you. Alone." Paul's voice was dark and threatening. He was basically saying he wasn't giving me a choice but I wasn't going to give in. "Look I want to spend time with my friends. Not with heartless people like you and Melinda."

"That's actually what we wish to speak to you about. Besides I know you'll come with me." Paul told me.

I scoffed at him. "Oh? And why's that?"

"Because I have information on you that I could leak to the media right now that I know you want to keep secret." My eyes widened at him in shock before they narrowed in disgust. He then continued. "And if forcing you by a mental state somehow doesn't work I do have another way to force you. Physically."

Suddenly I felt a knife get placed on top of my throat and an arm hook under my left arm, holding it back as I felt someone pull me back against them. But I knew it was Melinda. She's the only person here who we know would have any weapons on them at all times. I looked at Paul and could only smile. "I'm calling out your bluff. I know you won't kill me. You're little alliance is to ensure you guys don't take part in the killings. So your threat isn't going to work."

He cocked his head with a look of intrigue on it before responding. "True. I won't let her kill you. But that doesn't mean she can't inflict enough pain that would also keep you alive now would she?" I heard Melinda giggle as she raised the knife to my cheek and gently prodded the tip against it. I sighed in defeat knowing I was beat no matter what I said or tried. Paul saw this loss in my expression and chuckled. "Invasion of your privacy and a personal enforcer is so much fun. Now come to the library."

I forced myself free from Melinda's grasp as I began walking forward with Paul in front and Melinda behind. We eventually made our way to the library and entered. There I saw it wasn't just us. It was their entire little group that Paul forged at the class trial as Ollie and Marcel were sitting down at one of the square tables. "Sit." He ordered me like I was another one of his lap dogs but having no real agency right now I took a seat next to Ollie. She lightly waved at me with a smile despite seeing my displeased face. 'Can this girl really not take a hint?' I thought angrily.

Paul and Melinda took their seats to the left of me as Paul set his laptop down in front of him. He peered over at me as he slowly opened his laptop. He must be flaunting the fact that he has total control of the situation right now.

"Now let's get down to business." Paul opened but suddenly Marcel popped out of his seat to shout, "To defeat... the Huns!"

Marcel then opened his eyes to see all of us blankly staring at him as he slowly sat back down, completely embarrassed.

Paul continued after a silent moment to further make Marcel uncomfortable as punishment for his outburst most likely. "Anyways we are here to discuss things with our new friend Kai."

I glared at him. "New friend? Since when have we been friends?"

"Since now. Or at least you have the opportunity to do so as long as you provide the correct answer we're hoping to get from you." Paul replied. I looked at him confused. "What do you mean?"

Melinda smiled. "Basically we want you to join us."

I felt multiple emotions welling up in me at that second. Anger, shock, disbelief to name a few. "Like hell I would join you guys!"

"You haven't even heard our proposition." Paul blankly stated. I shot my sharp gaze at Sharpe. "I don't care. You could promise me the world and I wouldn't do it!"

Suddenly I felt a hand touch my wrist and I looked to my right to see Ollie. Her silver eyes were kindly asking me to calm down. I quickly glanced over at Melinda to see her smiling with her knife out as she thumbed the edge of it. I lightly growled before taking my seat and staying silent. Ollie looked thankful that I complied as did Paul but not Melinda who groaned as she sheathed her knife.

"Now then as I was saying. Yes we do want you to join us. I can already see so much potential with you. You single-handedly solved the first class trial and found out Evelyn was the blackened." He started but I was quick to interrupt him. "I didn't solve it myself. Everyone contributed especially people like Mikayla and Luca."

"True but you were the one who basically ran the show. Which is only fair since the Ultimate Actor would be the one in the spotlight to outshine the rest. Even people like me and Melinda were not able to do the things you did despite out superior talents." I was glaring daggers at him as Paul continued. "You connected the clues and solved each question, mystery, and lie that was brought up. You are ultimately the reason we survived the class trial and I can assure you that the five of us can survive this whole killing game. If we all stick together and stay away from the rest of them we will win."

I looked at him. "What do you mean stay away from them?"

"Simple we have as little interactions with them as possible. They'll all eventually kill each other off. Monokuma will find a way to push one of us over the edge but we'll stay strong and they'll break under all that pressure he puts on them. With you acting as our detective we'll easily survive every class trial that they put us in. So with that being said we trust you will make the right and smart choice. If for what ever reason you decide not to help us I can assure you things will be very difficult for you since you'll have no one to trust when the next murder happens."

Things were heavy in the air as he let that sink into me. My hands tightly gripped my knees as I was looking down at my lap. "You're wrong." I muttered.

He blinked. "Excuse me?"

"I said you're wrong." I looked up with a determined face. "I'll always have others I can trust. Not because of a cult pact that was formed by a shady hacker and a cold-blooded hunter but because of the friendships I'm making! I'll always have friends to back me up! I had Luca and Mikayla helping me. I had Jayden and Helen and even Evelyn looking out for me and everyone!"

"You do realize Evelyn killed those two for her own purpose and we all would have died because of her, right?" Paul questioned me rudely.

"Yeah she did but only because not only was Monokuma pushing her we all pushed her past her breaking point. And it doesn't matter if your in a group that promises you'll not kill to survive this messed up game, everyone has a breaking point and if Monokuma gets at it even you guys are capable of killing someone just like Evelyn was." I pushed myself out of my seat and stood up. "If I joined this group I'd only be isolating myself from the potential friends I have here and yet still be just as vulnerable to killing someone else as if I wasn't a part of it. Not to mention I feel like I'd be just your mascot with you running the show like a director. Or more like the hacker that you are, playing cheap and underhanded tricks to get what you want."

I turned and began walking away making my answer all too clear. I heard a reverberating sound vibrate quietly as I looked back and saw Melinda had unsheathed her knife again and was making a move at me. I would have panicked and booked it had Paul not grabbed her wrist, stopping her. He silently shook his head informing her to just let me go. He closed his laptop as he began making his way out. He bumped me when I didn't move out of his way as Melinda quickly followed like a mindless bitch to her master.

Marcel was next to leave giving me a worried look as he walked out. Soon I was walking again but was stopped by a voice behind me. "Do you really think that?" Ollie asked me. "Do you really think we're not safe in our group?"

I sighed as I looked back. "Honestly no. Everyone can be tricked or deceived. No one is safe not even from a menace like Monokuma no matter the numbers. Helen tried to rally us together but even when it was basically sixteen to one he found a weakness in one link that broke the chain. Your chain of four has a weak link in it somewhere. It'll only be a matter of time before Monokuma exposes it and breaks it." With that said I left Ollie alone in the library and made my way back to my dorm.

I was almost there before Luca's door opened. I desperately tried to find a way to hide from him but there was nowhere to hide and it was all happening too fast. Luca stepped out of his room and we made eye contact immediately. We stared at each other, frozen statues not able to move, breathe, think, or act as the awkward silence was easily felt tenfold.

I soon saw him blink rapidly as he looked away in shame. He quickly closed his door behind him, locked it up, and hurried away without looking back. I let out a breath of annoyance as I quickly unlocked my dorm and went in. I quickly collapsed on my bed and just laid there.

Hours seem to go by and they very well must have because the next thing I knew was the nighttime announcement playing. I spent the entire afternoon locked up in my room but it would be understandable if someone was in my shoes. Despite it now being 10 PM I wasn't tired. Or at least I didn't feel like I was but I closed my eyes regardless of whether or not I was sleepy and soon lulled myself to sleep with a soft tune playing in the back of my head.

There we are! I am so sorry it took so long to get this chapter out but I had most of it written out but then I lost it all immediately. I was so devastated about it that I lost the motivation to rewrite it all but I pushed myself to do so little by little. Also work has been eating up so much of my time as well as the stress of said job. As the saying goes being an adult is all work and no fun! Anyways I hope you liked the chapter and let me know what you thought and what you hope to see next! Any characters you want to see Kai interact with next? Let me know via reviews! And as always see you next time for another spotless day! Or will it? Puhuhuhu~