Sweetest Flower, Darkest Desire (Part 2)

"So, who should we kick off the cast?"

It's Mari who breaks the silence, looking mostly unbothered by Monokuma's sudden revelation. She's leaning back on her chair with her legs crossed, staring at everyone with her icy blue eyes.

"That's quite the pointed question, Mari." Leonia frowns. "One that can't be answered at the moment."

"Actually, I think it's pretty simple." Mari interrupts with a devilish smirk. She points her finger to someone close by her, and causes an eruption of gasps across the room.

"Me, huh?" Clara says with a small smile. "Why am I not surprised?"

Mari sighs, closing her eyes. "It's not that I like want you to die, Clara, but when you consider all of our options, it is the one that makes the most sense, yes? You understand, right Seizo?" Mari asks, opening her eyes and looking at me.

I bite my lip, averting her gaze. "I, uh…"

"I mean, she did try to end the life of one of own." Mari continues. "Our leader, on top of that," Mari continues, standing up and gesturing towards Takahashi.

"This could be considered her due punishment for her sin from back then, and it would be a just one, right? No one else here has done anything to warrant death, after all." She says, her voice dripping with manipulation and honey, doing whatever it takes to get our classmates to see her point. I forgot how manipulative the model could be sometimes, and it's honestly making me at a loss for words...is Mari really right?

"Well, actually that's not necessarily true,"

I turn to see a smiling Takumi, who has also decided to stand up and face Mari.

"If you really want to get technical, someone else here could very well be another candidate for this little vote." He says. "You guys haven't forgotten Kuro's actions in the second case, right?" He questions, glancing at the black and white haired boy.

Shiro's face instantly turns red and his eyes glance at the floor.

"Oh damn, you're right!" I nod, getting my confidence back and realizing what Takumi is trying to do. "We could kill off Kuro too! He's the reason for Satoko and Hiiro's deaths, right? We can avenge the two of them and axe him off right here and now!"

"Oh, oh, oh, and don't forget about Takahashi!" Takumi continues. "Our fearless leader who's failed to keep up his mission to get us out of here and prevent anymore deaths! We should kill him off now and elect someone else if we ever hope to make any progress!"

"No, no, no, I'll take the bullet for you guys." I nod, putting a hand over my heart. "I may not be the leader but I promised you guys I wouldn't let anyone die and I haven't gotten to uphold that promise thus far. I'll die for you guys and make up for it!"

"Ah, I elect Mari!" Takumi says. "She has a vile and evil attitude that's made all of us recoil in disgust, getting rid of her will clear that sickly feeling we all feel in the pit of our stomachs every waking moment of everyday!"

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Mari glares with clenched teeth.

"Exactly what you're doing, Mari." Takumi smiles.

"Naming all the reasons we could kill a specific person off." I answer. "The point is, we can't just point out one person who deserves to die. Each and every one of us has a reason we could be voted off the island, and singling out one person is unfair. And remember Mari, this is a group effort. Going against the group to further your own regime of killing off Clara won't do you any favors if you don't want to be the one kicked out."

Mari groans, rolling her eyes and sitting back down. "Whatever, it's not that serious, I was just saying…"

Clara says nothing but smiles at Takumi and I.

"Well, now that that's out of the way…" I sigh. "How should we decide who gets left out? It's not really a light decision…"

"We could leave it up to luck." Isami suggests. "Put all of our names into a bowl and draw one out."

"W-way too scary, I don't think I could muster up the strength to write my name." Akumu nervously laughs.

"And something I will not be participating in, I am not leaving my fate up to chance." Norikazu huffs.

Well that idea is out of the question…just how can we decide then?

"Then how about a competition?"

I turn and gasp as I see who the source of the voice is.

Fran's eyes are a bit more lively now and she looks rather determined. "It is the only fair way. A test of skill where everyone proves their worth. The one who doesn't is the one we kick off."

Surprisingly, Koko speaks up as well! "When you think about it, it is the only 'right' option, even though there isn't really a right option…it's the only way we can justly kill someone…"

They both still sound as dejected as ever but speaking is definitely making progress. Plus…

"That sounds like the only good idea…" I sigh. "A competition. That way it's not up to random luck and isn't up to the decisions of some of our…opinionated classmates…" I trail off, glancing at Mari.

"There we have it then." Jack nods. "Whoever does poorly in whatever competition we decide on volunteers themselves as the sacrifice."

"But what would the competition entail?" Akumu wonders. "It has to be something fair. Not too physical so the weak struggle and not anything too mentally complex so the dumb struggle. It needs to be something fair to everyone…"

Something fair to everyone…?

We can't do anything like an arm wrestling contest or something involving strength because that wouldn't be fair to those who aren't the strongest in terms of physical strength.

But at the same time we also can't do anything that involves too much brain power since it wouldn't be fair to people like me who can barely do their own laundry.

So what's the compromise?!

"Hide and go seek."

Takahashi stands up from his chair and makes his way closer to everyone else.

"Hide and go seek?" Norikazu repeats with his usual frown. "What are we, 7?"

Takahashi rolls his eyes. "No. Which is exactly why it's a good idea. It's a game we all know how to play, that everyone understands. So, that means it's fair for all."

"I get it!" Akumu nods. "It's a game that doesn't require much thought, that we should all be great at by now at our age. So whoever the loser is loses fair and square and can't make a big fuss out of it!"

"But wait, how do we determine a loser?" I ask. "For hide and seek we need hiders and a seeker. If the seeker finds everyone they win, but if they can't then the hiders win…meaning it'd be multiple people versus just one person."

"We're doing a twist on it," Taka continues. "The seeker can't be the loser. The seeker will be the only one who is safe. The hiders are the ones in jeopardy."

"So what, the first person to get caught by the seeker loses?" I ask.

Taka shakes his head. "No. That's where we'll leave it up to luck. The seeker will draw a number 1-12. Whatever number they draw corresponds to the number of the 'loser'. So, if they draw 3 then the 3rd person to get caught is the one who loses."

"Wait a sec, so if they draw 12, which is the last person to get caught, then that person is the loser even though they hid the best?" Jack questions.

Taka nods. "Exactly. It's the only way this'll work, to make this fair. It'll be up to your ability to hide as well as Lady Luck. Either hide good to be one of the last people caught or hide bad and be caught first."

"I am not participating in a game that is up to luc-" Clara cuts Norikazu off.

"It's the only way." She says. "We can't come up with something completely fair, it's just not possible. So instead of doing voting which is up to personal bias, or doing something some people may not understand, we can do this, which yes does involve luck but still gives people some control of their fate."

Norikazu thinks for a moment before sighing and crossing his arms, seemingly giving up.

"So, are we all in agreement?" Taka asks. "Not that it matters. I am the leader, after all."

"One more thing," I speak up. "...The seeker. Who did you have in mind?"

Taka smirks, putting a hand on his chest. "Isn't it obvious? The one person who should be protected at all costs. The Ultimate fucking Pilot who promised you losers he'd find a way to escape."

Immediately, a chorus of gasps of disapproval erupted all throughout the cafeteria.

"No way in hell!" Mari scoffs. "If anything it should be the ever so beautiful and intelligent co-leader who should be the protected seeker."

"Or maybe someone who hasn't done anything awful like you two, such as myself for example." Leonia suggests, flipping her hair.

"Or someone innocent like little 'ol me." Takumi grins, putting his arm around Mari (who immediately recoils from him).

I watch the arguing ensue, some people were absolutely enraged that Takahashi would even suggest something like that, while others just expressed their mild disapproval. Through it all though, I kept an eye on the ginger-haired asshole himself, who remained unbothered by the chaos, which is when I realized…

"...He's right." I say. All conversation comes to a halt, and all eyes turn to me.

"You're agreeing with Takahashi?" Akumu says, his eyes wide.

"And agreeing with him on such a stupid thing." Jack frowns.

I sigh, putting a hand on my forehead. "I don't like agreeing with him, but when you think about it…what have we all done to deserve to live for sure? Nothing much other than bitch and moan about everything under the sun. Yes, Takahashi is an absolute menace to society and has a heart of coal, but he's done more to protect us and help us find a way out of here than any of you could ever know…the only person worthy of the protection granted by being the seeker is the person who's done the most for us all…Takahashi."

There's silence for a few moments after my speech, and for a second I regret defending Mr. Dictator, but finally it's Norikazu of all people who lets out a sigh and nods.

"I suppose you are correct. With all things considered, even if he's an awful human being, I don't know that he deserves to die at the moment, especially before he upholds his promise to us to escape." He explains, uncrossing his arms.

"I-I don't know Taka very well," Shiro stammers. "B-But, he has done a lot for us…I think someone like that deserves the o-opportunity to live, more than anyone else…"

"You don't have to be a fan of his person," Isami says. "You just have to respect what he's done…which I suppose is quite a lot."

"I am the first critic of Takahashi, as you all may know…" Clara awkwardly smiles. "But I think he should be given the opportunity to fulfill his promise before he meets his end."

"He wouldn't be my first pick and is actually more like my last pick for a person to survive, but I think he deserves a shot." Akumu nods with a smile.

"Of course I think mi amigo should live!" Takumi beams. "There's no one I'd rather wake up trapped on a spaceship with!"

Mari pouts. "Whatever…"

"He'll have to work extra hard after this, that is for sure." Leonia nods. "...But I think he can. And so, he should live."

Fran looks up from the ground, looking right into Takahashi's eyes. "You better fulfill your promise. So many people have died here because of your poor leadership…" She trails off, her eyes beginning to brim with tears.

Surprisingly, Takahashi does not get angry and instead nods. "I'm trying my best. And I'm not fucking around until our asses are out of this place."

Koko says nothing, looking at the door to the cafeteria, presumably imagining all of her friends who've left her so far, and wondering who'll be the next person dead who won't be able to walk through that door.

I breathe a sigh of relief. Everyone is on board, which means…

"Tomorrow morning." Takahashi announces. "Before Monokuma's game, we'll play hide and seek and decide the sacrifice. We'll meet here in the cafeteria as soon as the morning announcement goes off."

Everyone murmurs words of agreement. I'm relieved that we're all on board, but still…we're all on board for the best way to decide who to kill off…

Why is this happening so soon? What game does Monokuma have in mind?

My guess is, it isn't a good one…

The rest of breakfast was spent in relative silence, most people full of too much anxiety to keep up a conversation. The sole entertainment came from a clumsy Shiro spilling Fruity Pebbles on his hoodie with a flustered Norikazu trying to help.

But other than that, it's clear the atmosphere aboard the HFH Enterprise continues to change with every death. Evelyn, Sonoda, and Nadia's absence is felt now more than ever without Evelyn's random language changes, Sonoda's lowkey creepy comments, and Nadia's awkwardness.

It's so quiet now, and it is totally depressing. The difference between day 1 here and today is incredibly striking. It's almost like when of your classmates move away and things are weird in the classroom for a few days after, except in our situation it's 7 people and they're never, ever coming back.

Unfortunately, that's how the cookie crumbles and we all have to move on or we'll be depressed forever, so after breakfast I decided to hit up one of my favorite spots on the ship.

"Fishies!" I beam, poking the glass tank of the aquarium.

"You are a lot more childish than I would've thought." Clara deadpans, watching me with an amused smile.

"Oh come on, it's fishies!" I say, pointing to the array of brightly colored fish. "How could you not be excited? They're all made up of so many beautiful colors. I wish us humans could be like them…"

"You know, they say that humans give off an aura which is a certain color." Clara brings up.

"Oh yeah? Like what?" I inquire.

"Well, for example, you give off…red!" Clara nods. "You practically exude it. Red means…passionate. Loving. And energetic! All qualities that you possess, and not just by a little bit. Monokuma was right to give you the codename of Crimson!" Clara giggles.

I smirk. "Why, thank you! So if I give off red…I'd say you do too! Because red can also mean angry. Determined. And violent!"

Clara's smile drops and turns into a frown. "Very funny."

I laugh. "I'm just messing with ya. But hey…isn't that funny? Both of us give off an aura of red…and what were our codenames?"

"Scarlet and Crimson." Clara answers. "Quite ironic, huh?"

"Totally." I nod, my mind drifting off. Code names…that's right!

I sighed. "So, what were the prizes."

Mari rolled her eyes. "Totally lame. One was 10 thousand Monocoins, another was this weird box, and another was this weird paper with more information on our code names."

"Yeah, that sounds pretty la-WAIT WHAT?!" My eyes widened. "More information on our code names?!"

"Don't get your hopes up." Leonia sighed. "Takumi is refusing to let anyone see it."

"What?" I gasped. He won't let us see it? What is going on with him today?

"HEY, I WON IT FAIR AND SQUARE LOSERRR! HERE, YOU CAN HAVE THIS THING." Takumi threw the 'weird' box thing Mari was talking about. Taka caught it.

"Clara, remember that codename paper Takumi won in the scavenger hunt?" I quickly ask.

Clara nods. "Yeah…what about it?"

"We still don't know what the hell it said!" I say. "I mean, come on, more information about why we had codenames or what our codenames meant could be super valuable information."

"But Takumi wouldn't tell anyone what it said, right?" Clara frowns.

"Yeah, but that was Takumi high off of Monokuma's Death Flower." I smirk. "Something tells me the Ultimate Escapist has probably had a change of heart…"

"Sorry, I don't know anything about that!"

Clara and I's jaws both drop at Takumi's answer. The white haired boy is currently playing a round of pool with Koko, who appears to be doing a little better.

"B-but, you won the prize!" I stammer. "How can you not remember?"

"Because!" Takumi starts, aiming his cue at the pool table. "Don't you remember? I totally forgot everything while I was infected with that Death Flower stuff! I asked Norikazu about it and he's pretty sure it has something to do with my body still being fragile from my Despiscocide poisoning incident."

Damn it! I completely forgot. Takumi doesn't remember anything from the time he was infected with the Death Flower. So not only did he forget being an asshole to everyone, he also forgot what happened in the scavenger hunt, including what he won…

"Well, wait a sec," Clara puts a hand on her chin. "Even if you don't remember, you should still have the paper in your possession right?"

Takumi frowns, raising a brow as he hits the white ball towards the Number 4 ball, failing to make it in the hole. "Uh, I don't think so…I did my laundry today and cleaned my room. The only thing in my pockets and atop my dresser is a bunch of candy wrappers…"

"So what the hell happened to it?" I dejectedly sigh, beginning to think this whole codename paper search was a complete waste of time.

"Um…" Koko starts to speak up. "Well…if I had to guess, I think Sonoda probably had something to do with it. He was kind of bossing Takumi around during that time, right? Taking advantage of Takumi's altered state of mind…"

My eyes widen. "Koko, you're totally right! I bet you everything that Sonoda must've took the paper from Takumi to get a 'one up' on the rest of us. Shit, he probably would've made us pay him Monocoins in order to see it."

"But now he's, um, dead." Koko bites her lip.

"Yeah…" I nod with another sigh.

"He may be dead…" Clara says. "But, his clothes and everything in his room are surely still intact."

"But we're not allowed in any dead people's rooms." Takumi brings up.

"That's right," Clara nods. "But, we're allowed to have access to their clothes."

"Ew, no."

I roll my eyes and Clara clears her throat, probably trying not to punch Mari in the face.

Mari is laying by the pool in her swimsuit, a glass full of what looks like left over strawberry daiquiri from Takumi's Welcome Back party in her hand and sunglasses covering her eyes.

"Mari, we know you're not wearing Sonoda's clothes right now, we have eyes." I deadpan.

"What we're asking is, did you ask Monokuma for them?" Clara asks.

Mari doesn't say anything for a second, stirring her drink with her straw. She then looks up at us and smirks. "What's it to you? I thought you disliked how I take dead people's clothes. Why should I help you out now?"

"Because Mari, this is super important." I explain. "If we can get answers about our codenames it might help us answer why we were brought here."

"What does it matter why we were brought here?" Mari says. "We're here. Period. And finding out the reason just sounds like it'll stress me out, so I'm good, thanks!"

"Mari." Clara sighs. "Please."

Mari sets her drink down and crosses her arms. "What's in it for me?"

Clara and I both turn to look each other with concern. I think for a moment, before coming up with an offer I know Mari wouldn't be able to refuse, as the selfish teenager she is…

"I'll guarantee your survival in Hide and Seek." I answer with a nod. "You won't even have to hide. Just spend the game lounging by the pool while the rest of us play."

"Oh?" Mari tilts her head, looking quite interested. "And just how are you going to do that?"

I gulp. I hadn't thought that far yet…

But hey, I'm an actor for a reason.

"I already know what number Taka drew to decide the person killed off based on when he catches them. He drew it in advance so he doesn't have to do it in front of everyone tomorrow." I lie with a smile. "And I'll have you know that it's not the first person. So, you just need to get caught first."

"Hm…and what number is it?" The ginger model asks.

"7." I answer. "The 7th person caught will be the one killed off."

Mari goes a few seconds without talking, in which Clara and I nervously look at each other. Did she believe my lie? And is she selfish enough to take it?

…

…

…

"Fine." Mari sighs, standing up from the ground. "Come with me."

I smile. I should never doubt Mari's selfishness again.

"It's a little messy, but welcome to Casa de Tamatsuki!"

Mari's room, the Neptune room, is just like everyone else's, except everything inside is a pale blue color, just like the planet Neptune.

She also has several outfits of hers strewn about the room, and the outfits of most our deceased classmates as well.

"I thought you'd keep your room neater." I admit, stepping over one of Ritsu's black shirts.

Mari rolls her eyes. "Ugh, don't be so presumptuous. My maids back home clean my room, I personally have no energy for it!"

"Your maids clean your room? But you're the one who taught me how to do laundry…I'm sure you have some semblance of how to do household chores." I frown.

Mari's face flushes a deep red and she turns away from us. "G-Give me a second to look for the jacket." She stammers.

While Mari searches for Sonoda's jacket(s?), Clara and I observe the state of the Ultimate Runway Model's room.

It's not a pigsty or anything but it is truly surprising to see how little she takes care of her room compared to how much she takes care of her appearance.

However, I guess it also kind of makes sense. Mari is one of the few students who you rarely see just hiding in her room. She's almost always out and about, laying by the pool, hanging onto Takahashi's arm, or bullying Clara. She barely spends any time here so I suppose that must contribute to her lack of cleanliness.

Why clean a room you're only in to sleep?

"Ugh, finally…Here it is." Mari says, snapping me out of my thoughts.

"Sonoda's suit jacket?" Clara asks.

"Obvi." Mari rolls her eyes. "Now, let's see."

She reaches her hand into one of the pockets and fumbles around…

And frowns, pulling her hand back out. "Nothing."

I sigh, sweat beginning to form on my forehead as my heart begins to race. We need this note…

"T-the other one." I nervously stammer.

Mari shoots me an annoyed look but cooperates.

She slowly puts her hand inside, moving it around.

…

…

…

…

…

…

"What the…"

Her eyes widen as do Clara and I's, and Mari pulls out a crumpled up piece of white paper.

"Is this it?" She asks, handing it to me.

I gulp. "No idea. But, if we're going to read this, everyone should be present…this could be extremely important news."

Mari nods with a smile. "Sure. But anyways, does this mean little old me is safe from the chopping block tomorrow?"

I grimace, remembering how I lied to Mari who actually did deliver what we needed. I nod. "Yes, Mari…you're safe, I promise."

The model smirks and flips her hair. "Come on, let's go to the dining room! It's about the time everyone's there so you can read the note there, yes?"

"Right." I agree. Clara and I follow Mari out of her room and proceed towards the dining hall, where we would hopefully learn something new about our kidnapping situation…

As expected, nearly everyone but Koko and Takumi were present in the dining hall (presumably still finishing up their game from earlier).

I positioned myself at the front of the room, explaining what we believed we had found and what this could mean for us.

"This would certainly be a nice bit of development." Leonia comments. "Finally another piece of this very complicated puzzle."

"Or what if it's just a total let down?" Norikazu says. "Don't get our hopes up too high, yeah?"

I sigh. "Come on, we gotta have some positivity! It's been a while since we've figured anything out, so maybe this is finally our chance!"

"Just open it already, I can't take the suspense!" Akumu dramatically says, biting his nails in anticipation as Jack looks at him with a raised brow.

"I-I'm nervous…" Shiro admits, his face paler than usual.

"No need to be." Isami reassures him, taking his hand in her own (which quickly turned the color of Shiro's face).

"After everything we've been through, we deserve at least some answers." Fran says, appearing to have recovered ever so slightly.

Everyone voices their thoughts and we come to the unanimous decision to read the paper.

I don't know why but I begin to get super nervous, my heart beat quickening like earlier.

Please be something useful!

I would look like a total idiot if I did all that and it turned out this was just a random crumpled up piece of paper…

Slowly, I unravel the paper, and smooth it out, beginning to read its contents…

Codenames Update

It has been a while. We've successfully began the integration of the codenames within the students.

They all seem to be responding fairly well, and have treated it as a simple game like we planned.

Most importantly, the Host is becoming less and less sentient. We believe that they will fully lose control of themselves in the next operation.

We are still training The Face to respond both to their host's given name and their name. So far they are blending in with their classmates whenever active.

Overall the codenames have been successful. We believe Phase 2 will go off without a hitch.

And…that was it.

I stop reading and look up at my classmates who all look as weirded out as me.

"H-host?" Shiro says. "What is that s-supposed to mean?"

"It's implying that one of us isn't…'us'." Akumu awkwardly tries to explain. "Right?"

"I believe I understand what you mean." Fran nods with a nervous expression. "They talked about…The Face receiving some codename that they'd go by, along with their host's given name. It's almost as if they're implying…"

"That whoever this The Face person is doesn't know that they're not really the host, just something occupying their body…" Clara finishes.

This causes us all to stop talking for a second, and think. Are we really who we say we are? Would we know if we're The Face? Are all of our memories some lie or something that doesn't belong to us?

This new revelation brings another added layer of suspicion among us, too. Now we have true reason to suspect each other. Even our closest friend could secretly be our worst enemy…

The rest of the day was boring as hell. I hung out with Clara some more before playing some cards with Akumu and Jack. Then I took a brief nap and awoke, feeling super hungry. It's just before Night Time so I should have a little bit of time to eat before the kitchen is closed...I hope no one sees me and thinks I'm planning a murder, though...

It's pretty late, I doubt anyone is up by now. The kitchen is getting ready to close anyway…

I leave my room and head torwards the dining room, opening the door and slowly making my way inside. Hopefully there's nobody here...

"Seizo? What are you doing up so late?"

To my surprise, I was not in fact alone in the dining room.

Koko, Takumi, Takahashi, Shiro, and Mari (quite the interesting group) are all seated at one of the tables, messing around with some sort of box.

"Uh, hey guys!" I nervously laughed. "I forgot something of mine in the park so I was just going to really quickly go and grab it." I lied, not wanting them to know about my late night trip to the kitchen. Seriously, I don't need anybody pointing fingers at me and accusing me of murder.

"Well good thing that you're here," Mari smirked. "We want to talk to you about something. These idiots can't seem to figure this out."

"Hey, who said I wanted his opinion?" Takahashi frowned.

"C'mon, if there anyone who can help, it's Seizo!" Takumi beamed. "Come on over, Seizo!"

"H-here, take my seat…" Shiro said, standing up from his chair.

"Um, sure." I nod, taking Shiro's seat. What the hell is going on?

"What is this?" I ask, taking the box from Mari's hands.

It looks kind of familiar but I can't place where I've seen it before in my head...

"Don't you remember?" Koko asks, looking rather tired. "It was Takumi's but he gave it away to us..."

"HEY, I WON IT FAIR AND SQUARE LOSERRR! HERE, YOU CAN HAVE THIS THING." Takumi threw the 'weird' box thing Mari was talking about. Taka caught it.

"He's being such an asshole." Taka frowned. "That's supposed to be my thing."

"I don't like this new Takumi." Evelyn sadly frowned. "It actually makes me kind of sad…"

Ohhh, that's right! I even had the flashback in this very same chapter!

Takumi blushes, nervously giggling. "Y-yeah, sorry about that. I guess I figured it'd probably be something unimportant anyway..."

Taka shrugs. "Prolly' is. I asked these idiots for help cause they're the only ones awake but none of us can open it."

I take a look at the outside of the box, turning it over in my hands to examine it in it's entirety.

It's a regular wooden brown box, with 6 white markings - 3 on each side. Other than that there's nothing notable about it.

I shake it and hear a very soft noise. So there's gotta be something inside...the question is what can it be and how the fuck do we get this thing open?

"I dunno guys," I shrug, looking up at everyone. "It doesn't even look like it can be opened. There's no lock or anything on it."

Taka frowns. "See, I told you he'd be no help..." He reaches his hand towards the box to take it back.

"Hey, I'm not done looking!" I frown. "You all got a turn to hold it, let me have a go for longer than a minute!"

Yeah, I know, weird thing to say. But the even weirder thing is...I feel some sort of attachment to this box. Like I don't want to give it up to the hands of Takahashi or anyone else. I want to keep this box forever, give it a name, treat it like as my own, raise it up, watch it get married, maybe even have some children of its own-

"Alright, that's enough." Takumi laughs. "My turn!" He also reaches his hand towards the box.

"Ugh, no, you all are so useless. Let me have it" Mari says, reaching her hand towards the box.

""W-wait, maybe I can help..." Shiro suggests, reaching his hand towards the box.

"Let the depressed girl have a try." Koko frowns, reaching her hand towards the box.

"It's mine!" I yell, pulling the box torwards me and glaring at everyone.

"GIVE IT TO ME!" Everyone shouts, quickly pouncing forwards onto me and putting their grubby little hands on the box.

I scream, falling back in my chair, everyone falling on top of me. I shut my eyes, immediately grunting in pain as my head hits the floor, the other making similar noises of discomfort as we all fall down.

Slowly, I open my eyes, recovering from the impact.

And what I see immediately makes me shoot up from the ground.

"T-the box! It's open!" I exclaim.

Everyone quickly stands up to their feet and gasps at the sight of the box.

"How the hell'd it open?" Taka questions, but Mari shakes her head.

"Does it matter? Let's look inside!" She demands.

"Yeah, I'm starting to get anxious!" Takumi admits, biting his nails in fear.

I nod. "Let's see..."

I set the box down on the table and open it all the way. Inside is...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

A blank piece of paper.

"You're...joking right?" Koko says in an exhausted tone, putting a handon her forehead and slumping.

"That's r-really -disappointing..." Shiro sadly frowns, his eyes starting to get watery.

...

Hm...

"Let's at least see what's on the other side of the paper." I suggest.

"Yeah, yeah, probably another blank side." Taka rolls his eyes.

"LOOK AT IT!" Takumi yells in distress, still biting his nails. Mari just shoots him an annoyed look.

I reach into the box, picking up the paper. Then I turn it over, everyone's eyes glued to it.

And what I see...makes my heart fall into the pit of my stomach.

...

...

...

"So...they're going to figure it out huh...This'll make things interesting. Time to spice things up."

A/N: :bobdance: