I felt my body cease all functions as every eye was either trained on Paul or Damian. I was one staring at Damian as he had a horrified look now on his face.

Suddenly someone began laughing exuberantly. Now all of us quickly turned our attention to the one holding her sides as she wiped at the corner of her eye. "Okay, now that was a good one. You're trying to tell me that this hopeless flirt is the one who's been messing with us for the mastermind? I'm sorry but that's just too funny," Shana commented.

Paul deadpanned for a moment as he stared blankly at her. Shana let out a huff of a chuckle. "Wait… you're actually serious? What the fuck is your problem!? You can't just go and make accusations out of the blue like that!"

"Normally I wouldn't but I know for a fact it is him. See I got insight… from Kai," Paul said as now everyone's gaze was on me.

Damian looked absolutely heartbroken at me. "What…?"

I frantically shook my head at him. "Nononono! I swear I didn't say anything!"

"Well, actually I heard it from Ollie who overheard the conversation he and Damian had but that came from the conversation Ollie and Kai had that Melinda overheard. So in technicality, I heard from Melinda, who heard it from Ollie, who heard it from Kai, who heard it from Damian himself," Paul corrected himself.

Damian's face went pale as he stumbled back and fell. "No… this can't be happening, man."

Tommy stepped forward and growled out, "This is not happening! I refuse to believe Damian was the one working with the mastermind!"

"Oh but I think he is. And I have a very interesting hypothesis that points to him." Paul replied, casually tapping his finger against his cheek.

Willie huffed at him. "And what in tarnation do you think will make us believe anything you tell us?"

"Just sit back and listen. I believe what l'm about to reveal will leave you lot breathless," Paul told us as he brought out his laptop as a projector light shined from his laptop. The light began shining a projection from his screen in the air like something out of a sci-fi movie. Then in the projection, visual aids popped up with faces of all of us plus Marcel who looked like Paul took a complimentary design twist by having his tongue hang out with drool as his eyes were looking in opposite directions. Seems he's still a bit salty from Marcel's betrayal.

"How… are you doing that?" Luca asked, confused.

"My laptop is high tech. It has a wide variety of useful features that make other laptops pail in comparison. This nifty projector that doesn't need a screen or any surface for that matter. A high-speed router installed inside as well as an ethernet cable for physical connection along with an infrared scanner for wireless connectivity. Unfortunately, the router was dismantled by Monokuma and he's made sure if I try to fix it he would know and punish me accordingly," Paul explained.

With that said, he turned our attention to his projection. "Now then let's review the case of Mikayla one more time. As you may recall, Monokuma informed us that Marcel had written that note for someone to help him carry out the murder and that accomplice did indeed do something to help. However, we can rule out Monokuma as he can't interfere with our daily lives directly as per the rules he's personally put in play. But that doesn't mean he can't pass the information along to his helper in hiding. The most reasonable answer is that the traitor was the one who helped Marcel carry out his murder which means one of us here is the traitor. Now then, the next question is what did the traitor do to help Marcel? If you think about it the answer is fairly obvious. I'll bet you can see it, Kai."

"Me?" I asked in surprise.

"Think back to the freak light show Marcel gave us and how he did it. Once you do that the answer will be crystal." Paul informed me.

I began thinking back to the incident as I began speaking about what I was imagining. "So Marcel took Damian's Bluetooth piece that connected his DJ equipment to the auditorium lights and sound system. When the lights started going berserk, Damian was trying to stop it but nothing was working."

"But did he do everything?" Paul questioned me.

I looked at him. "Huh?"

"Say you had a toaster sparking up and if you didn't do something to stop it, it would explode. How do you stop it?" Paul asked, trivially.

"Well, the only thing you can do is unplug it to stop it from sparking up and overheating," I answered.

Paul nodded. "Exactly. Marcel could control the lights and sound but he couldn't stop it all. The music was what made the lights flash faster, not the intensity Marcel was racking up on the board," He began moving our faces around in the projection. "The only one controlling the music and the power had to be on stage so Melinda, Shana, and Willie are safe since they were all gone at that point. This also includes Marcel since he was in the dressing room and he was the blackened who needed the traitor's help in the first place. Then there was me sitting in the rest area while Kai, Ollie, Luca, and Tommy were out on the dance floor and nowhere near the power source. That leaves only one possibility. Damian. The only one at the power source the entire time and the only one who should have been able to turn off his equipment before it was too late for Mikayla. He is the accomplice in Mikayla's murder and the traitor in this whole killing game." Paul finished by putting on a little confetti show with Damian's face and flashing text reading, "The traitor is revealed" before the full projection was shut off and he closed his laptop. "Any questions?"

Dead silence rose up like a phoenix from the ashes as Willie stepped up. "As a matter of fact, I do," He then turned his gaze to Damian before asking, "Why'd ya do it? Why would ya help Marcel kill Mikayla? Why would you assist Monokuma? Why did you betray us?"

Damian fell to his knees in tears as he whimpered out. "But… I didn't. Please. I know his argument is very compelling but I swear I'm not the accomplice or the traitor."

"Then I think we should know this deal you have with Monokuma," Ollie demanded.

"I…" Damian looked around at us as we bore different expressions from worried to suspicion. "I-I can't. It hurts too much to talk about."

"Yet you don't seem to have a problem talking about it with Monokuma? I'm sorry but that doesn't help me believe you're telling the truth," Ollie told him with a tone of disappointment.

"I don't know how he knew about it but he did! I only talked to him because he brought it up first!" Damian defended himself before looking at me. "Kai, I told you I tried to turn it all off and I swear I don't know how but my equipment would not respond no matter what I did. You believe me… right?"

I felt everyone's eyes now fixated on me as they waited for my response. I sighed out and knelt down in front of him, my hand resting on his shoulder. "Do you swear on your life you're telling the truth?" Damian nodded as he sniffled from how much he had cried. I then nodded to him. "When you told me this during the investigation I felt your words were real and that's the case here. Even if Paul's case points to only you, I believe you."

Damian smiled at me before he suddenly lunged at me and hugged me tightly, catching me by surprise. "Bless you, Kai Brugger! Bless you!" I blushed as he held onto me with no indication of when he would release me.

Tommy walked over to us. "I recall when you said you wouldn't survive yesterday. That felt too real for me. I believe you have a legitimate reason for making a deal with Monokuma. I trust you too."

Luca soon approached too. "I have to agree with them."

Willie sighed. "I dunno. I ain't fully convinced yet. Sorry, partner."

"Well if Tommy thinks he's good and you don't, then I know which route I'm going," Shana said to Willie before walking over to us.

Paul sneered at us. "You're dolts if you are seriously buying this act of his! Remember that Marcel threw us all in a loop with that act of his! Damian could be doing the same thing!"

"But Marcel had that persona for most of his life. I don't think Damian is doing that as well," I argued.

"Everyone who has killed has put up an act! This scenario of cornering the traitor is no different than from when the blackened was cornered!" Melinda shouted at us.

"But there is something different. Even with Damian being "cornered" by that theory of Paul's, he still has conviction in his voice to fight back against what is supposed to pin him. That's why Damian is trustworthy in my eyes. There may be something bigger we're just missing involving the accomplice helping Marcel."

"There is no other possibility! You all investigated the entire crime scene yet you didn't find anything past what you already found!" Melinda shouted out in anger.

"Well, either way, we still have to live with Damian, traitor, or not. Unless one of you four would rather kill him now and then die as the blackened." I offered which got Damian scared but soon saw the other four didn't look too thrilled at the thought. "Then you'll just have to deal with it until we find more concrete evidence that points Damian as the traitor."

"And due to Monokuma's new rule we all have to participate in the club's activities and I'm not gonna switch everyone around just because Damian is being treated like a criminal. So, Paul, you and Damian are gonna work in your section of the garden! Now!" Luca demanded him.

Paul growled out as he grabbed his tools and stomped away into his quadrant of the garden. Damian soon stood up with our help as he sighed out.

"You gonna be okay?" Tommy asked him.

Damian slightly nodded. "I think so. I'll just tune them out with my headphones if need be. I… I really appreciate that you guys still have faith in me."

Tommy rubbed his shoulder. "That's what friends need to do. To show support no matter what."

Me, Shana, and Luca all nodded in agreement as Damian smiled at us before he began walking to his section.

Luca then looked to the rest of us. "Willie, Kai, and I got the second section, Tommy and Melinda get the third spot, and Shana and Ollie have the final area." We broke up into our respective teams and began our hard work to freshen up our sections of the botanical garden. We gave the plants fresh manure, trimmed the hedges down, picked the weeds we found growing, and tended to all the rare wildlife growing there.

As we did so I found myself moving closer to Luca as I was spreading the manure around the trees. "Hey, Luca?"

"Wassup?" He asked back.

"Well, I was kinda wondering that we don't get to really talk about each other. I would like to know more about you," I told him.

Luca smiled. "Sure thing. What would you like to know?"

"We spoke about your pain tolerance as the Ultimate Traceur but not the hobby itself. So I'm curious what got you into parkour in the first place," I confessed.

Luca looked thoughtful. "Well, I guess it all started when a new television show was being advertised. At first, I didn't think anything about it especially since my parents would say things like only people on steroids would enjoy that kind of show. But then I came across an episode by accident but soon I was entranced by American Ninja Warrior."

"Oh! I know that show! That's the insanely tough obstacle course show where only the most dedicated people train their bodies to attempt the challenge they put out. I was actually asked if I would like to make a guest host appearance but Terry and I agreed that was a little out of my grasp so we had to decline." I told him.

"That's awesome." He replied.

"So then that show influenced you to start parkour?" I asked.

"The thing is that show has more than just traceurs who participate. Lots of the participants are free climbers, athletes, retired officers, bodybuilders, and more. But the thing is for me there was one contestant that stuck out to me. She was in the army for years before she suffered an almost crippling injury that relieved her of duty. It took time for her to move again and she lost a lot of her strength as a result. But not long after she recovered, she found a group of traceurs that helped her regain her strength and stamina. The story of her time doing parkour was inspiring. I still can recall her words. After her injury, she was scared of doing anything physical because she was worried she could end up crippled in the hospital if her injury were to break again. Yet her time with her new team taught her so much. She said if you are able to overcome your fear for injuries then you will be able to adapt to a large enormous variety of challenges and scenarios. That's what our bodies are made to do! Another reason for learning parkour is that it provides you with the ultimate workout that improves your strength, balance, and flexibility."

Luca stopped working as he was now focused on the conversation as he continued, "Parkour will make you stronger, faster, fitter, and more agile than you ever thought possible. It'll give you increased coordination, functional movement skills, and problem-solving tools that will cross over into every other aspect of your life. I was starstruck by her words and found myself cheering for her to win. I watched the entire season and by the end, she actually won that season! After watching her go through so much and rise to such a challenge, I knew I wanted to be like her. That's when I started a parkour group with some close buddies of mine. We began training every day with hours upon hours vanishing to help improve our bodies to overcome anything that the world tried to throw in our way."

Luca said he was starstruck by the woman yet now I was awestruck as he finished speaking. "That's mind-blowing that she was able to regain the confidence to do something so physically challenging and have all her hard work pay off."

"I love her story and I hope to one day match her skill," Luca agreed.

I giggled. "I wouldn't be surprised if you already have, Ultimate Traceur."

Luca looked away as shadows cast above his eyes. "Yeah right. I doubt I can outmatch her level with where I'm at right now. Compared to her, I'm painfully average."

I swore I heard some disdain in his voice. I began thinking, 'He keeps putting down his talent and his skills when comparing himself to others. He doesn't seem to have much confidence in himself but why?'

Just before I could ask again, Willie jumped in and startled both of us. "You two better not slack off! This here land ain't gonna tend to itself! Git back to it and spread that cow chip before I do your jobs for ya because ya know I can."

I smiled and giggled to Luca and he returned it as we went back to work. After about an hour of working, everyone was done. We all gathered together as Luca smiled at everyone. "Great work guys! The garden is looking even more beautiful than before!"

Most everyone clapped and cheered as we exchanged high fives with each other. Of course, Melinda and Paul remained unmoving and didn't give any camaraderie to us but we ignored it. We soon quieted back down so Luca could speak.

"Now then I think that will do it for today. Will anyone like to volunteer for cleanup duty and get the tools and supplies put away in the tool shed?" Luca asked.

"I will," I offered but I realized Melinda said it at the exact same time, making me kinda regret offering.

"Thank you, Kai and Melinda. We'll leave this to you," Luca said to us before turning to the others and said, "I'll gather you all again when we have our next club activity. With that said, everyone else is free to go and enjoy the rest of your day." With that, they all began to leave the botanical garden, leaving me and the Ultimate Huntress alone.

I sighed out as I began making my way over to clean up the tools. Melinda chuckled as she began carrying a bunch of leftover mulch and manure.

I looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "What?"

"Oh, nothing. I just find this all amusing. The way Monokuma is forcing us to interact like this. It's bizarre," Melinda commented.

I shrugged as I began to haul a bunch of small shovels and a canister of weed killer back to the shed. "Yeah well, I don't exactly see Monokuma as being a bear with a lot of tact. He's crude and horrible. Heh. Maybe you two have a lot more in common."

"Cute," Melinda's voice sounded from behind me as she obviously didn't care for my comment. "I'll have you know life isn't always perfect for me."

I blinked at her. "And mine isn't? I may be a successful celebrity but that doesn't mean I live a fulfilling life. I wanted to find more people like Manako to have in my life. People who would want to be around me simply to be normal. Not for publicity or anything to better my image or someone else's. With Manako, I get this sense of normalcy. Like I don't have to wear a mask that will please others. I can be…"

"Free?" Melinda asked.

It caught me off guard but I nodded to her. "Yeah. Exactly."

"Well, I know how it feels too. See as much as I love my family, being the constant center of their attention makes things dull," Melinda began as she looked up thoughtfully. "My father has me pegged as the favorite child due to me matching and even outranking him in hunting prowess. That leaves my siblings with much less attention and admiration which definitely created some bad vibes between us. I wanted to feel like I didn't need their attention so I could have some much needed alone time with no one but me and Pablo."

"Pablo?" I asked her, puzzled.

She then swung her rifle around to her front side with the strap diagonally across her torso as she cocked it. "My perfect rifle, of course."

"I almost thought you said Paul for a second," I admitted before I thought of something. "Wait a minute. You didn't name it after Paul with a name that vaguely resembles his name, did you?"

Melinda suddenly seemed to blush and she sneered at me. "D-Don't be ridiculous! I always had it named Pablo! It's just a coincidence that I named it a name that's similar to my master's name!"

"Uh-huh," I sighed out, unconvinced. "Wait… master!?"

"That's what he prefers me to call him," Melinda told me.

'I regret asking that now,' I groaned out in my mind as she then continued talking about her earlier topic.

"Anyway, I was trying to think of ways to get my family to leave me alone and give me the time of day away from them but then the more annoying of younger sisters started prodding at me while I was cleaning Pablo out. She just wouldn't leave me alone and I was getting irritated. So the next thing I knew was I found myself screaming at her to get the fuck out of my room before suddenly my gun went off. A hole was blasted into the roof as a piece fell and smashed into her head." Melinda informed me.

I gasped in horror. "My God! Was she okay?"

"Oh yeah, besides nearly breaking her skull open like an egg she was fine," Melinda shrugged.

I deadpanned. "That doesn't exactly sound fine to me."

"Yeah well, my old man wasn't too thrilled about it as he was furiously lecturing me for like an hour. He knew I always kept my gun loaded but yet he went on and on about safety and not being reckless around my siblings. Yet ironically enough, me nearly killing my sister on accident was enough for her to become the center of attention and me not wanting to be seen by anyone. I got what I wanted in the end and finally felt free of their whispers and comments on how much expectations they have expressed of me. Well sure, I was grounded and stuck in my bedroom for two weeks but it was nice not being dotted on for what feels like forever and ever."

I tilted my head from side to side a bit. "Well, that last bit I can understand at least. Even though we're in hell right now, it's been kinda liberating for me as well; being trapped in here with people who act so casually around me. Given if the current circumstances were different, I think I would like this place a lot."

Melinda groaned out as she stretched up and back before exhaling a breath of relaxation. "Well, we're done here. That means we go back to our regularly scheduled social distancing. Trap ya later." With that, Melinda walked off which left me alone. I put away the last few tools in my hands and closed the tool shed door before making my way out.

As soon as I stepped out in the hallway, I realized most of the day had passed by. I quickly made my way down to the cafeteria and got myself some dinner and just before the nighttime announcement too. Afterward, I made my way to my room and swiftly collapsed in bed. The weight from all my hard work today evaporated out of me as the bed's silk lining dragged me into a sleep I very much needed.

Day 16

I woke up the next day feeling groggy but not nearly as bad as the last few days. I made my way to breakfast to see most everyone was still sitting split apart with Paul and his twosome, Willie by himself, and the rest of us. But soon Luca stood up and smiled.

"Alright guys, I'm planning a fun recreational activity for us tomorrow in the botanical garden. Be sure to be there after breakfast," Luca announced before we went on with eating our current breakfast.

After we were done, everyone wandered off and I was in the hallway in the commons area when I saw Ollie sneak away and run to catch up with Luca. Once again that stabbing in my stomach returned when I witnessed that. 'I'm okay that Ollie doesn't feel that way so why am I still feeling this way?' I thought to myself angrily.

My thoughts were interrupted as I heard someone cry out and fall onto me, knocking me forward but I managed to catch myself before I fell face-first on the ground. I looked back and saw Tommy, however, did not stop himself from crashing onto the ground as he looked up and I saw the bridge on his glasses was bent, making his glasses look crooked before they suddenly split apart.

"You okay, Tommy?" I asked him as I reached down to help him up.

He nodded. "Surprisingly yeah. I have to say that was not the worse luck I've experienced. Besides…" Tommy paused as he pulled out another pair of glasses from an upper vest pocket. "I've always got an extra pair on hand." He blew off some dust on the glasses before he put them on and put his broken pair in his pocket.

I smiled before my eyes spotted his clothes and I visibly shook. I saw Tommy tilt his head in confusion before I found the words to speak. "I don't think your glasses breaking in half was the bad luck you experienced!"

Tommy looked down at his body to see blood on his pants, from the knees, and go all the way down to his shoes. Tommy screamed in horror as he could just stare at himself. "Why am I covered in blood!?"

I then looked behind him and saw a skid mark of blood. "Hold on a moment," I spoke up as I walked past him to the blood on the ground. The blood was streaked from the end further away from Tommy headed towards where he now stood. "I don't think this is your blood. I think you just slipped in it."

"Then if it's not me then… who's is it?" Tommy asked me ominously.

I soon noticed there were chunks in the blood and soon recognized them. "It's eggs."

"Eggs?" Tommy repeated.

I nodded. "Yeah. From breakfast this morning. It looks like some lost more than their lunch this morning. Or breakfast."

"Isn't that a bad thing?" Tommy questioned me.

"Only if a lot of blood was vomited but from the size of what the puddle originally was, I don't think they lost much. But still, I'm concerned that someone threw up blood." I told him.

"Well, maybe we should go check on the others. Make sure everyone is okay," Tommy suggested.

I was quick to agree as we first made a quick detour to Tommy's room so he could get clean pants on before we made our rounds to the seven other survivors but none of them admitted to the blood being theirs. After we left Paul and Melinda in the computer lab we headed over to the club room and sat down.

"Well, that didn't help us. Everyone claims they didn't throw up and everyone had eggs today so we can't narrow the list down on who it could have been," I groaned out.

"Maybe it was just Monokuma trying to mess with us?" Tommy offered as a suggestion.

"Maybe…" I sighed out but I just couldn't shake it off. I have been messed with by Monokuma before but he's usually more direct about it. Something felt off about it and I hated how dread was now gnawing at my mind.

"Let's not worry about it right now. What I'm most curious about now is this," Tommy then pulled out a wavy looking rock and his magnifying glass as he began observing it. He hummed to himself and slowly nodded. "Hmmm… Hesperonychus elizabethae coprolite… yes that must be it!"

"Can I see?" I asked him which he smiled and handed the rock to me. "So what did say this was?"

"Well, hesperonychus elizabethae are a dinosaur that was originally discovered in Alberta, Canada which are basically housecat-sized velociraptors. I can determine this from the way that coprolite's structural pattern from the annular markings and those little bones and such that were undigested," Tommy explained.

"Wait… then you're telling me that what I'm currently holding is…" I couldn't finish my sentence so Tommy casually finished it with, "Fossilized poop? Yes, yes you are."

"EWW! DISGUSTING!" I screamed out as I dropped it on the table and it bounced over to Tommy who quickly grabbed it.

"Be careful! It's still fragile!" Tommy shouted at me. "Besides it's just a fossil."

"But it's still poop! That's gross!" I yakked out.

Tommy smiled and rolled his eyes at me. "Maybe to you but to me, it's a fascinating history lesson about what the dinosaur was like. It was a carnivore thanks to the bones I can see and its size can be figured out thanks to the size of the coprolite. Even ancient dung can teach us so much about the past. It's beyond fascinating."

"I guess but I'd rather not touch something that came out of the posterior of any animal, alive or extinct," I shivered after saying that.

Tommy laughed out loud before replying, "I understand. But still being a paleontologist is the most fun ever! I don't believe there's anything else more fun than solving the mysteries and uncovering the clues behind these fossils of animals and plants over 10,000 years old."

"Sounds like paleontologists are kind of like detectives. That's really cool. But with everything already discovered, aren't you gonna run out of fossils to discover?" I asked him.

"Oh heavens no! Over 99% of every plant and animal that have ever existed on Earth are extinct, so people in my field will never run out of fossils and species to study!" Tommy was quick to answer.

"Really? That's incredible," I confessed.

"There's so much one can learn from fossils. Did you know there are two main types of fossils that we study?" Tommy inquired me. I just shook my head before he continued, "They are body fossils and trace fossils. Body fossils are what you would mainly see inside a museum with dinosaur skeletons and plants. However trace fossils are very fascinating because they preserve plant and animal activities like their footprints, which give us insight into how big they were and how they walked or ran, and burrows, which showed us the holes and tunnels these animals would dig and bore through the ground."

"Wow. I had no idea fossils could be so eye-opening like that. There's so much to talk about no matter what kind of fossil it is. Hell, you can even make a million-year-old poop intriguing!" I laughed out, prompting Tommy to laugh along with me.

Tommy then told me he had more research to do with all the fossils he had brought along with him so he headed back to his room to get back to work, leaving me alone in the club room.

Soon I got up and made my way out to the third floor and almost passed the little theatre room. To my surprise, I found Shana in there. She was in a seat in the front row as if she was waiting for something or someone. I went in and approached her. "What are you doing here, Shana?" I asked her.

She looked at me and smiled. "Perfect! I knew you'd be drawn here!"

"You knew… wait what are you saying?" I asked her, confused.

"You're an actor! You can't resist the call of the stage for long. So go on up! Entertain me, Mr. Celebrity!" Shana stated, sounding like a British man with a not so convincing accent.

"Well, uh okay but what do you want me to perform?" I requested of her.

Shana looked thoughtful before calling out, "That romantic poem from your movie. You know, the one with the girls admiring the young poet you portrayed as."

"Ah, "The Lover's Calling". That's not a bad one. Ahem," I cleared my throat as I lowered my head, beginning to get myself into the correct mindset. Soon my head shot up with a lust-filled gaze which made Shana gasp out in surprise.

"When your time comes, say my name. Moan it. Chant it. Whisper it. You need only utter it, and I will lose myself in our passion. Lust shall make you her vessel and engulf thy soul in a flame's roar, grace thou with ferocity amidst loving light. Rejoice, beloved, rejoice in abandon as the spell of Aphrodite consumes us 'til we are one. I am thou. Thou art I. Now and forever…"

I did some exaggerated hand gestures with confident movements from my hips and head to carry out the small monologue before ending it with a bow like my character did in the movie.

I looked up to see Shana blushing and breathing heavily. "Damn, Kai. You know how to... enthrall us girls. Hell, I'll bet there are guys out there who'd get hot and bothered by your performance."

I found myself blushing now. "T-Thanks, I guess. So um… was there a reason you wanted me to perform that scene?"

"Well no, not really. I just really like that scene," Shana paused for a moment before she daintily placed her hand in the middle of her chest and carried on, "Actually, there may be one reason. To remind me why I'm here."

"What do you mean?" I probed her, now sitting on the edge of the stage.

"Do you remember our first day and when we spoke for the first time? About my discovery when I first went mining in my father's work?" Shana asked me.

"Yeah, I do. You teased me about a discovery that made your father not upset with you going into the mines without his permission." I recalled.

"Well, here's what it was," Shana then pulled a radiant gemstone about the size of a half-dollar coin that was tied in a brown, leather string in a macrame style from inside her jumpsuit where it hung around her neck. The gemstone was a deep, sensual red but I noticed when she moved it, there was a white light that seemed to shimmer and glide across the smooth surface of the gem that resembled to me as a cloud. I was in awe and Shana giggled at me.

"I know. It's beyond comprehension, isn't it?" She needled at me.

"What is it? I asked back.

Shana began explaining, "A special corundum gemstone that I discovered growing deep beneath the mines where my father's workers dared not to venture into. But that worked in my favor as I was the first to discover it and make it my own. I gave it the most fitting name I could come up with."

"The Shana Ruby?" I joked but Shana's fiery glare made me clear my throat in uncomfortableness.

"Aphrodezeite," She answered before pressing on, "After the Greek Goddess of Love, Aphrodite. As I'm sure you know already, she was supposedly born from foam in the sea and as you probably saw there's a special lighting effect on the surface that makes it look like the gemstone is being covered and uncovered by a blanket of foam."

"Oh, I get it now. That cool light trick is what helped you name it," I said.

She nodded before continuing, "Yep. What you're seeing is called asterism. The cause of this rare and remarkable optical effect is perfectly oriented rutile crystal inclusions within the gem. There are only a few gem types in the world that are known to exhibit such a phenomenon, including star sapphire, star garnet, star moonstone, and certain varieties of quartz gemstones. Notice how most of the gems I listed off had "star" in the name? Well, that's because normally the asterism effect only creates a look of a four to six-lined star on the gemstone's surface but Aphrodezeite is the first one to have that effect cover the full surface."

"Because Aphrodezeite is usually opaque it will always be in a cabochon cut, which means it's polished but not faceted, in order to maximize its asterism. As a variety of corundum, it is just as hard and durable as other corundum gemstones which is the second hardest mineral, right after the diamond," Shana finished her explanation.

"Whoa. I'm amazed at how much I'm learning today! First fossils, now gemstones! This has been sensational!" I cheered out with a bolstering laugh.

Shana grinned. "Well, I'm glad you are seriously enjoying yourself right now. So few ever do when I start talking about this stuff."

"So then that Aphrodezeite around your neck is…" I inquired her.

Which she was quick to respond, "It's the first piece of Aphrodezeite that I showed to my father and he rewarded me with it by giving it to me as a cabochon cut gem before he started mining more up and selling the rest of it. My dad makes around $700 per carat."

"My God! It's that valuable?" I questioned her in shock.

She smiled and nodded. "Yeah, honestly… if I didn't find it when I did…"

"What?" I asked.

"It's nothing. Don't worry about it," Shana looked a bit saddened as she tucked the Aphrodezeite back into her jumpsuit and out of sight before looking up to me. "Now I want to ask you something. I heard a rumor years ago that there was a poem your character reads in "The Lover's Calling" that you originally wrote. Is that true?"

"Yeah, actually it is true. I'm surprised that people heard that," I confessed.

"Why does that surprise you, Kai?" Shana pressed me.

I followed up by responding, "Well, because I thought people wouldn't like it so I didn't take credit for the poem I wrote for it."

"What poem was yours?" Shana sought my answer.

"How about I just show you?" I offered which she quickly nodded her approval to do so.

I quickly got off the edge of the stage and backed up to center stage as I once again breathed in and lowered my head as my mind began to cloud with emotion as my head now slowly lifted up with a single tear streaking down my cheek.

I feel the grief weigh down on my heart

I didn't know it would feel like this since we were apart

The pain I now carry will haunt my pathetic life

But wishing that I don't have to deal with this eerie strife

I was ambushed and limp, on the verge of my deserved death

But you willingly took that fatal blow and are now taking your final breaths

Soon it's just us, all alone on these dusky, dark roads

And I watch you slip out of existence, as the world around us slowed

Your sunset eyes, which first captured my heart, meets with my sea-soaked view

Then a smile of forgiveness and love appears like a shining moon anew

I am perched over your trembling body, feeling nothing but hate

The anger is for myself because it was not justified that you earned this fate

I gave up on you though you never went into a rage

But now you will rest forever in a place of endless age

And so I'll sing my song of sorrow

And pray to see your peaceful face tomorrow

My movements this time were methodical and slow to express how much the poem expressed the character's remorse and regret and how his world was now dark and cold being alone as I ended looking to the back of the stage and up to the heavens with an outstretched hand, trying to reach the character's departed love.

Soon I heard clapping behind me as I smiled but then Shana's applause grew too loud to be just one person as I whipped around to look back and see all the others were now gathered in the back of the room. They must have been spying from outside the door or I was just so in character that I didn't notice them come in. Either way, the others clapped and cheered loudly as I heard Luca start catcalling to me before Ollie, Shana, and Damian all joined in while Willie, Tommy, Melinda, and Paul continued to silently applaud me.

I blushed up and nervously rubbed one of my heated ears before I heard Shana holler out, "That was beautiful, Kai! I can't believe you didn't take credit for that poem! I loved it!"

"You should have, Kai. The world deserves to know you wrote that piece. What is it called?" Ollie asked me.

It took me a second but I felt a smile creep onto my face as I looked back to everyone and answered, "Song of Sorrow."

"I think that was your most heavenly performance ever!" Luca cheered out.

Paul soon spoke up. "I must admit… I did find that work of yours… enveloping."

Damian smiled with tears in his eyes. "Nothing can spoil this moment."

*Ding Dong Bing Bong*

As if Damian was asking for trouble, his voice suddenly popped over the intercoms. "Don't be so sure about that! It is now officially nighttime! However, I want you all to know one thing. You best enjoy your club activity tomorrow because I've selected Miss O'Conner to be the motive guinea pig!"

After the announcement, silence slammed into all of us and would have knocked us down had we not been so rooted by the sudden dread of despair now lingering in our minds.

Ollie looked to Shana. "Isn't that your last name?"

Shana gulped as she looked back. "He's making me choose the next motive? Oh, God…"

Tommy held onto her tightly as he began walking her away and to her room most likely. Soon the others began dispersing before Melinda stopped and looked at Damian who hadn't left yet and said to him, "Great timing of words there, traitor."

She briskly turned away from him and laughed as she left me, Damian, and Luca in there. I quickly hopped down from the stage and rushed to Damian.

"Damian, don't listen to her. She doesn't know what she's talking about. Monokuma just saw an opportunity to use that against you since half of us are suspicious of you being the traitor," I tried to comfort him but it seemed my words weren't reaching him as he stared blankly at the ground.

Luca approached and hugged Damian who slowly and lightly hugged back as Luca made a gesture for me to come return the gesture. I swiftly stepped forward and hugged Damian from behind, feeling his strong chest as my hands rested there and my head laid against his back and soon felt him breathe out a big sigh.

Soon we released Damian of his sandwiched hug as the three of us went back down to the dormitory hallway and back into our rooms for the night. At least for this time, Monokuma gave us a heads up as to when he would give us our next motive to kill and I knew that would be a decision he would regret as I forced myself to go to sleep with only one thought in my mind. "Monokuma can't get the jump on us so now we can prepare for the motive tomorrow and crush Monokuma's plans!"

Fun fact: Song of Sorrow is an original poem I wrote all the way back in my senior year in high school for my first assignment in my creative writing class. It wasn't as big or polished at first since I had to share a past piece I worked on so I had to write it on the fly but due to me working on the literary magazine for the school as part of the creative writing class, I had time to expand upon it and submit it to the magazine. Anyway, the new participant of the motive selection will be Shana. What mot9ve will she be forced to choose? Who knows for sure so until then be filled with despair until that time comes! Puhuhuhu~