DAY ONE ; 11:56 P.M.
Makoto Naegi was worried about Owari.
It was nearing midnight, and both Naegi and Owari had offered to keep watch and listen for the danger zones. After a bit of deliberation, they had decided that it would be best for Hinata's leg and the group as a whole if they just stayed in one place for the time being, so the group had found the house with the most bedrooms and camped out there.
Owari hadn't spoken much since Nekomaru's death had been announced. She'd sat and stared at her gun and, frankly, it was making Naegi nervous.
There were a few minutes of silence, and then the announcements began.
"So, our deaths. First dead was our favorite Imposter, Boy Number Nine. Next up, Girl Number Thirteen, Hiyoko Saionji. I thought she would last longer, but I guess if you're distracted by the katana you won't see the gun. And, last, Girl Number Two, Sayaka Maizono. If I'm being honest, I'm disappointed. I'm adding five danger zones this time.
"First, I'm wiping out the residential district. As of 12:30, zones H8 and I8 will be danger zones. Get out of there and start being entertaining. Then, at 2:00, we'll get rid of G9. At 4:00, I6 will be a danger zone, and at 5:00… We'll do F… no, E6. E6 at 5:00, not F6. That's all."
Naegi, after finishing writing down danger zones and times, jumped to his feet. "We have to wake everyone up," he said, voice shaking a little. "We have to… we have to get them all out of here."
"And then go on as a group and invite everyone to go along, all friends and no fighting," Owari said, voice so quiet Naegi could barely hear her. She stood up abruptly. "I'm leaving. The old man wouldn't want me sitting on my ass doing nothing. I've got to go fight."
"He- he wouldn't want you to kill people!"
She gave him a grin, all teeth with her eyes closed. "Who says I'm fighting our classmates?"
Naegi watched her leave, eyes wide and mouth gaping, before snapping out of it. He needed to wake them up so that they could move out. So that they wouldn't be killed.
He scrambled up the stairs, nearly falling and having to crawl at one point, and then burst into the first room, which housed Ibuki and Sonia. "W-wake up!" Naegi said. Ibuki jumped and shrieked immediately.
"Makoto-chan! Ibuki has sensitive ears!"
"This is going to be a danger zone in half an hour," Naegi said. Ibuki stared at him, then shrieked again. Sonia fully woke up at this. "This is going to be a danger z-"
"I heard," Sonia said. She slid out of bed, grabbed her bag, and headed for the door of the bedroom. "Is Owari-san waking up Hinata-san?"
"N-no, she ran off-" Naegi broke off. Sonia nodded gravely and turned to Ibuki.
"Mioda-san, you will have to help Naegi-san carry him," she said. Ibuki nodded and threw her bag over her shoulder, and Naegi followed her to Hinata's room. He was already awake, trying and failing to get out of bed. Naegi put on speed and put an arm around his waist to help him out. The thought of dying by danger zone was a lot scarier than any other death, somehow – maybe it was because there wasn't even a chance of getting out of it. With people, with his friends… he thought that he could talk them out of it. He thought so.
But maybe that was just his overwhelming trust in people.
Maybe it would be worse if someone he cared about killed him. If Maizono…
But, no, she was dead now. Kirigiri, then. It would probably hurt if Kirigiri killed him, but at least it wasn't so cold and impersonal as being killed by stumbling into a danger zone.
Sonia took the lead as they left, keeping her crossbow ready, and Naegi tried not to think about danger zones anymore. He would focus on holding Hinata up and going as fast as he possibly could.
19 STUDENTS REMAINING
All of the chapters this week are kind of filler-ish? More like everything building up to the events that are going to be happening soon. I've got a plan. For everyone except, like, three of them, but I do some stuff they're going to do. Just not how they're going to die.
Either way, next week's chapters things start getting intense.