[Confession: Kai]

"Writing is a complicated process. It's something we people use to accomplish plenty of stuff through the power of words and storytelling like sending a message, exploring ideas we're passionate about, and even providing an outlet for the events going on in our lives. Literature can immerse others into your reality or create a fantasy they can get lost in. Sometimes, it can be a mixture of both because we humans put much of ourselves into what we create when we're passionate about it. Our minds and personal experiences heavily influence our works since we've all got different views and styles that we instinctively embrace because it's the one we've grown into. Us writers usually set out to achieve different goals when creating our works because there's really no outline for telling a good story and that's why it's quite the intricate mess to think about and reflect on in the same way I've gone plenty of times over the years, especially with how difficult it is to differentiate when stuff is either coming from either from a person's imagination or is a reflection of their realities. However, you must probably be wondering what purpose this handsome non-Irish lad is trying to reach for using my stories..."

Kai leans forward and gives the camera a cheeky smirk while he leans against his head against his right hand,

"Well... it's because-"

[Confession Ends]

"Chef, you gotta keep a better eye on that kid," Chris remarks once the camera abruptly cuts to him talking with Chef in front of the campfire. Since it seemed to be night, this likely occurred moments after the previous elimination had wrapped up.

"Do I look like a caretaker to you?" Chef asks after crossing his arms.

"With how soft you've been acting this season, you might as well be," Chris answers while rolling his eyes at his co-host.

"Why, you-!" Chef got ready to... hopefully do something to get some payback on the host for his comment.

"Awww~ Why didn't you let me finish my confessional?!" With a frown and hands behind his back, Kai suddenly pops into the scene.

Chef stopped any plans of revenge now that the redhead was here and he sighed in defeat at his current situation.

"Because we're not changing the format that we use to open each episode, also, as much as I've been enjoying your antics with Chef, you do still need to start making some progress on your challenge ideas," Chris explains while shaking his head at the new intern.

"Oh, don't worry! I've already got an idea that'll modify tomorrow's challenge," Kai confirms as he gives a thumbs-up to the host.

"Perfect, you can tell me about it after this recap!" Chris announces before he turns to face the camera with a host-worthy smile.

"Alrighty!~" Kai could only be heard responding since the camera was focused on Chris and Chris alone.

"Previously on Total Drama, our campers continued to learn about each other and tried deepening their bonds... except for Hanako and Sazama who just fought each other, and there's both Arthur and Rosie who both seemed more focused on ticking off Yana, and there was Luciana who showed how hopeless she was at playing the guitar," Chris finally begins his recap as his eyes slowly started drifting off to the side the further he spoke.

"How does what Lucy did not count as deepening her bond? She was connecting with Rival by having him start to teach her, wasn't she?" Kai points out with confusion in his voice.

"Yeah, but when it comes to reality television, we only highlight the exciting parts here and work our way around all the boring details... speaking of exciting stuff, both teams then competed against each other in our second challenge of the season... which I had to watch in its entirety after it happened because I missed the entire thing. That tragedy aside, both teams took an interesting approach of letting new members become the leaders for yesterday's challenge where Gogo was chosen for The Ferocious Trouts and Shiro was chosen for The Frogs of Death, although Sazama was too busy eliminating the rest of his team to help out, and it was thanks to him and Gogo's unorthodox yet appreciated plans that The Ferocious Trouts were able to win," Chris explains after quickly looking back at the camera.

"Slay," Kai unironically said.

"After the challenge, Sazama implemented his 'brilliant' plan of chasing away Kazuru and letting his superiority complex dictate the course of his game, thus leading to the rest of his team turning against him. Knowing that he was good as gone, Hanako decided to pull off a 'smart' move of her own and started messing around with the boy by trash-talking him and even attacking him which we didn't disqualify her for because-"

"Because you're scared of what she'll do if you guys take her out of the game?" Kai bluntly guesses whilst letting out a slight snicker at the whole situation.

"The reason doesn't matter, I've decided! Before Hanako could do something that I totally would've 'appreciated' to Sazama, she was stopped by Rival... until she stopped him by forcing herself on him through a kiss, but then, she was momentarily stopped by Sazama, but she soon knocked him out. Before things could escalate more, Rival agreed to get together with Hanako in exchange for Sazama's safety which then ended the little conflict they had... until elimination came around when Sazama was voted off by the rest of his team, and before he was taken off the island, he exposed Hanako to the rest of the team, causing a divide amongst The Frogs of Death that I'll be watching close!" Chris cheerfully and proudly announces.

"Oh! Can I-?" Kai steps into the camera's view to start asking his question.

"Let's just get into this episode of-!" Chef interrupts the troublemaker with a grin on his face.

""Hey! You can't just-!"" Chris and Kai began protesting as they both faced the co-host.

"Total!" The camera zooms out to show more of the elimination ceremony that Kai, Chris, and Chef were all at.

"Drama!" The camera zooms out again to show Chef and most of the island behind him and the other boys.

"Island!" The final zoom showed off the entire island and none of the trio since they were now too small to be seen, especially since they were nothing in size compared to the Island where Total Drama constantly occurred.

Shihoko Hirata & Shoji Meguro - Pursuing My True Self

A television is turned on, showing Chris McLean and Chef Hatchet standing in front of a campfire at night time. The screen turns static as the camera zooms into the television.

We are living our lives,

Gogo Artoria seemed to be lying on top of a pile of books that acted as her bed.

Abound with so much information.

She abruptly fell asleep and dropped the book that was in her hands onto the ground. The screen then turned to static before showing the next scene.

Come on, let go of the remote, don't you know you're letting all the junk flood in?

Kazuru Badasu slowly walked onto a stage with a smirk.

I try to stop the flow, double-clicking on the go, but it's no use, hey I'm being consumed.

His hands picked up a controller which he then raised into the air.

Loading, Loading, Loading, Quickly reaching maximum capacity.

The controller started vibrating wildly.

Warning, Warning, Warning, Gonna short circuit my identity (Ahhh).

Before he knew it, the controller blew up, sending Kazuru through an invisible wall and landing in a pile of snow.

Get up on your feet, tear down the walls,

Arthur Kingston stepped on top of this pile and began his ascension.

Catch a glimpse of the hollow world.

His hands pull a sword from out the ground which he swings at the screen.

Snooping 'round will get you nowhere,

Once the screen breaks apart, Rellik Rorrim smiles at the camera.

You're locked up in your mind.

The camera then zooms into his left eye, showing an endless swirl of black with a blue background.

We're all trapped in a maze of relationships!

Kai Hayashida ran into a maze without a second thought.

Life goes on with or without you.

Yana Hayashida stood still before following her brother into the maze.

I swim in the sea of the unconscious!

Shiro observed this before letting himself fall backward into a pool.

I search for your heart, Pursuing My True Seeelf-

Inside this pool, Rosielina Tsunade grabbed ahold of an underwater star before a splash fizzled her out.

You are standing in the middle of another world!

Chara Campbell walked through an empty, dark room.

It's hard to feel your real emotions.

A ray of light appears to shine on Makima who bowed for the camera.

You are smiling in a shirt with bitter tears!

Sazama pushed Makima out of the light before staring at the light above.

Let me help you find a place to call it hooome-

Ryokai Shimashita turned off the light she was shining on the boys.

We're all trapped in a maze of relationships!

Hanako Kaneko slashed away at the maze around her using a knife.

Life goes on with or without you.

Luciana Ignis watched Hanako from atop one of the maze's walls.

I swim in the sea of the unconscious!

A gust of wind causes Luciana to turn around and look at the people behind her.

I search for your heart, Pursuing My True Seeelf!

Rival Seizon and Jessica Seizon's unconscious bodies both fell into the middle of the maze, shattering the world around them and turning everything into static one more time.

Chris, Chef, Gogo, Kazuru, Arthur, Rellik, Kai, Yana, Shiro, Rosie, Chara, Makima, Sazama, Ryokai, Hanako, Luciana, Rival, and Jessica all found themselves surrounding a familiar-looking campfire. They all looked into the camera which panned out to reveal the title of this latest season.

Total Drama Sinland

Once the camera flashed on to begin filming the morning antics of the contestants, nothing happened for some time. Both cabins were relatively quiet and there weren't any sudden or loud noises waking everyone up which made it difficult for the cameramen to decide what they should do. So, they eventually decided to go through with their recently established routine by focusing on the cabin belonging to The Ferocious Trouts.

The camera began zooming into the left cabin in the hopes of at least catching something interesting since no one here was getting paid to have fun, they were here to make an exciting show. Eventually, the events unfolding inside the Trouts' cabin were finally starting to be captured. Now, the episode could truly begin and show what the members of The Ferocious Trouts were up to.

Everyone was awake by now and things were already getting heated between everyone. In fact, A certain trio of girls found themselves playing the game...

"Saishou wa guu-"

The game of Rock, Paper, Scissors.

"""Janken po!""" Ryokai, Gogo, and Jessica all said in unison as they threw out their hands to reveal their decisions. Jessica was noticeably louder than the other two girls.

"Dammit!" Unfortunately for the loud girl, she lost by choosing rock and fell onto the ground out of shame.

Ryokai and Gogo fist-bumped each other after defeating Jessica through the power of paper.

"Guess it's just you two, now," Jessica admits once she sighs in defeat as she remains lying on the floor. Although she was slightly disappointed by her swift demise, a part of her was curious to see how the next round would go between her two friends.

"Sweet..." Gogo responds with a slight smile, only for her to instinctively yawn just seconds later at this irrelevant, but fun little game.

Ryokai nodded and mentally started bracing herself for an ultimately pointless, but semi-exciting game of Rock, Paper, Scissors.

The two opponents then nod at each other before holding out a rock gesture with their hands.

""Saishou wa guu,"" Ryokai and Gogo spoke in unison once more.

""Janken-"" Both of them then move their hands back as if they're prepared to throw out a baseball. Unfortunately, they also had a disturbing lack of energy in their voices which made the whole thing feel less exciting for the girl spectating them... though she did also expect this from them.

""Po,"" Ryokai and Gogo finally make their decisions and throw their right hands forward to reveal them.

Ryokai had chosen rock and Gogo had once again chosen paper.

"And the win Go-goes to Artoria!" Jessica proudly declares after recovering from her defeat by popping back onto her feet. She even raises Gogo's left hand, making it clear to everyone in the cabin who had won their little game.

"Nice one..." Gogo remarks with a light chuckle as she finds the bad joke to be rather endearing.

Ryokai, on the other hand, rolled her eyes at the joke... however, she also had to fight back a slight smile that nearly formed on her face. After all, such humor wasn't worth complimenting or even entertaining in her mind.

"Looks like you girls are having fun over here," Rellik comments whilst walking up to the trio of girls.

"You could say that," Jessica confirms as she turns to face her teammate, "Unless you meant that in a different way."

"It's like I told my dear mom and dad, there aren't any dirty thoughts on my mind," Rellik answers, raising his hands to visually protest the not-so-serious accusation.

"In that case, you'll be doing fine around us... but, What if I asked you what you wanted to be?" Jessica wonders with a cheeky smirk creeping onto her face.

"Well, I think that the answer is rather plain to see," Rellik responds with a knowing smirk of his own.

""I Wanna Be Famous!"" Rellik and Jessica sang together after they both turned to directly face the camera.

The rest of the Trouts shook their heads at the duo.

"Anyways, What exactly are you girls doing over here?" Rellik questions in an attempt to get the conversation back on track.

"Oh, we're just playing Rock, Paper, Scissors," Jessica answers after clearing her throat.

Behind her, Ryokai and Gogo seemed to be starting another round against each other.

"That checks out... though I don't remember ever playing the game like that," Rellik points out while scratching the back of his head.

"Well, we're doing the Japanese version since Ryokai grew up with it... It took us a few tries to get used to it," Jessica admits with a nervous chuckle. Since Gogo didn't understand Japanese and Jessica herself didn't speak the language (though she did know the basics), it took them about five tries to finally get the motions and wording down.

"Sounds like you two are trying to make her feel at home," Rellik speculates after tilting his head very slightly out of amusement.

"Yeah, we're trying our best," Jessica confirms before she turns around to look over at her two friends.

Ryokai had chosen scissors and Gogo had yet again chosen paper.

"I win," Ryokai monotonically confirms as she pumps her winning right hand into the air in celebration. This came off as if she was trying to imitate a celebration, making her reaction come off as sarcastic to Jessica and Rellik. However, Gogo slightly smiled at the journalist since the fact that Ryokai bothered to even attempt a celebration showed her that she did care about winning to some degree and was working on becoming more expressive.

"I can see why," Rellik finally responds to Jessica's comment as he scratches his left cheek. For once, his words didn't get an immediate response from the girl, so he took this as a cue to say something else, "Do you always try to do that when you're around your friends?"

"Do what?" Jessica asks after turning her attention back to her teammate.

"Make them feel at home, specifically, as if they're free to be themselves and to relax around you," Rellik explains.

"H-Huh? What makes you think that?" Jessica asks, but this time, her eyes widen slightly and she takes a step back from the star-eyed contestant.

"It's just a hunch... feel free to tell me that I'm not in the right, though!" Rellik happily responds whilst pointing at his chest.

"Actually, you're not wrong with what you just said," Jessica confirms with her head facing away from her teammate.

"Would you consider us friends? Because if you do, then I could try making you feel at home for a change," Rellik suggests before putting on a gentle smile that seemed almost completely genuine. He then carefully pats Jessica's head with his right hand and even rubs it softly.

"H-Hey-!" Jessica tries scolding the boy for his abrupt action which startled her, but she cuts herself off and finds herself getting lost in this moment. Normally, she hated anyone touching her without her permission and would've quickly gone off at Rellik since he wasn't any of her brothers, meaning that he had no right to surprise her like this. However, the stars within the boy's eyes stopped her from doing anything as she found herself being entranced by them, plus, the smile he had on made her feel comfortable because it reminded her of someone who'd always give her the same expression. Any anger that she felt was being washed away and replaced with a feeling of nostalgia which made her feel happy in the moment since it felt like a scenario that could only happen inside a romance manga. Yet, this moment was happening in the real world. Everything about Rellik from his magical eyes to his kind smile, and even his words that displayed an understanding of her character that initially shocked her, each made this feel like a dream and a special moment that she wanted to indulge in for some time.

"Could you two please flirt elsewhere?" A new voice interjects itself into the conversation, catching both team members off-guard in the process.

"I wasn't fl-flirting with h-him!" Jessica protests after jumping back, she even tries hiding the very visible blush on her cheeks using her hands.

Rellik merely raised an eyebrow at the new person who had annoyingly stopped him from getting closer to the athlete.

"You sure? How about we ask the girls whether that's true? Because, right now, it looks like Mr. Rorrim is trying to seduce you. Isn't he?" Makima (the new person) asks with a slight smirk at the reference he made.

"Indeed. You two seemed like you were both on the edge of going to La La Land," Ryokai honestly confirms after approaching the ever growing group.

[Confession: Makima]

"I'm hoping that she was referring to the general term and not the movie..." Makima admits before nervously chuckling.

[Confession: Ryokai]

"I have never watched La La Land, but if it is anything like the term suggests, then I am certain that the movie also works as a metaphor for the 'lovely' little moment that Jessica was having with Rellik," Ryokai explains with too much confidence for someone who had never seen the movie they were referencing.

[Confession Ends]

"Right, it sounds like we got a bit too carried away in public," Rellik responds before raising his hands and taking a step away from the girl he'd been conversing with.

"Y-Yeah! We should save things like that after we beat the other team in another challenge!" Jessica yells out as she pumps her right fist into the air.

"That sounds like a good idea," Makima responds with a slight nod of agreement to the athlete's words.

"Yeah, I guess our focus should be on the people standing in the way of my victory first," Rellik says, his eyes now focused mainly on the actor when making this comment.

"Don't you mean our victory?" Makima points out with the smirk on his face growing slightly wider.

"No," Ryokai states after closing her eyes and quietly sighing at the explanation she was about to give, "This is a competition that only one person can win, and eventually, the teams will be disbanded once we reach the halfway mark. So, even though our enemies are the other team for the time being, we are all technically enemies of one another because we are all standing in the way of each person's victory."

"(That's right... it's every person for themselves.)" Jessica quietly agrees with her friend's sentiment, although there is now a slight frown on her face.

"You do make a fair point there," Makima admits before sighing at the journalist's words.

"Well... that's quite pessimistic..." Gogo remarks as she finally joins in on the conversation that over half of her team was in.

"Well, it's not like she's wrong," Makima responds.

"Indeed, she isn't... but... we can still form friendships on this show... after all... it's not smart to make everyone your enemy... that's why alliances hold so much power... don't they?" Gogo points out whilst wrapping her arms around Jessica and Ryokai.

"Yes, they do," Rellik answers before turning his head to face the actor once more.

"Having an alliance of friends is quite the advantage in this game," Makima confirms as he faces the star-eyed contestant.

Makima and Rellik exchange smirks with each other before looking back at the trio of girls who themselves were clearly the biggest alliance on their team.

"That's right! Even if it's a competition, that doesn't mean we can't still be friends." Jessica also finds herself agreeing with the historian's words and she gives the two girls on her right a cheerful smile.

"(We're... friends?)" Ryokai simply and quietly asks herself. Her tone contained a mixture of confusion and uncertainty behind it, meanwhile, her head had turned away from the other girls in the hopes that none of them could hear her say this simple word. After taking a few seconds to contemplate her current situation, she shakes her head and puts on her signature poker face as she looks at the boys standing in front of them.

[Confession: Gogo]

"It's not all that... hard to see what Rellik and Makima... are doing... and yet, something about it feels off... the two of them could just work with Arthur and Chara to eliminate us... so why aren't they doing that?" Gogo begins pondering as she pulls out a book called 'A Christmas Carol'... which has no relevance to what she is saying. However, she begins reading the book in her mind during this confessional before finally ending it with her final thought that she thought was worth sharing, "Perhaps... I'll have to ask Arthur Kingston about it... eventually..."

Seconds later, she fell asleep inside the confessional room.

[Confession Ends]

Arthur could be seen leaning against the cabin's walls and quietly observing the conversation going on with the rest of his team. Something like this would normally creep other people out, but everyone else who could notice him was too busy dealing with each other rather than looking at their surroundings which gave him the chance to listen and analyze the interactions happening in front of him. There was only one person who could notice what he was doing but said person didn't seem disturbed by what he was doing since they were barely phased by anything that their team had gone through thus far. Of course, the person was one Chara Campbell whose intentions and personality were far less obvious than the other team members, making her an enigmatic figure in his eyes. However, until she proved to be a threat to his game or someone who had skills to look out for, there were no plans to prioritize her elimination over that of Makima's.

"Greetings, Arthur Kingston."

Speaking of the devil, Arthur turns to his right and faces the girl he was just about to not think about.

"Greetings, Ms. Campbell. What brings you over here?" Arthur questions after getting himself off the wall and standing himself up.

"Curiosity," Chara simply answers.

"What exactly made you curious enough to approach me?" Arthur asks another question after slightly raising an eyebrow.

"Have you ever been betrayed before?"

This simple question somewhat surprised the prince who blinked a few times and crossed his arms before giving his initial response, "That is quite the question to randomly drop on someone."

"Yet, it's something that you can easily answer. Isn't that right, Mr. Kingston?" Chara continues her questioning without any changes in the tone of her voice or the expression on her face. It was as if she was staring into his soul at this moment.

"..." Arthur finds himself in silence at first. Even though the question did come out of nowhere, the prince already had multiple answers ready to use because although the question seems rather meaningless at this current point in time, it could easily come into play later on. After all, that's just how things work in life, things that are irrelevant at the moment can become very important later down the line. After taking some time to make his choice, Arthur uncrosses his arms and shuts his eyes, "I have never been betrayed by another person before."

"Interesting. You seem to have chosen to answer with honesty," Chara observes whilst slightly raising her head.

"Why would I lie when you already knew the answer?" Arthur merely counters as he opens his eyes and gives the scientist a chilling stare.

Chara could feel a sudden gust of cold wind blow through her and she even grabbed onto her lab coat to prevent it from flying away. Once the random wind stops, the scientist takes a deep breath and releases her grip on her coat. After taking a few seconds to recollect herself, Chara gives her response with the same expression she has been using throughout the competition, "It would seem that you have caught onto my implications."

"The Kingstons have made a name for ourselves by backstabbing and using other people for our own benefits. We're a popular, but not well-respected name for a reason... and it's not a stretch to assume that you know that, don't you?" Arthur bluntly explains.

"It seems like I should have been much more careful with my approach, especially when confronting the child of demons," Chara admits before closing her eyes.

"It would seem so. Now, is that all the questions you would like to ask of me?" Arthur wonders after turning his head to face the rest of the team who were still in the midst of their conversation.

"There is one more question I would like to find a solution to."

Arthur quietly sighed at this confirmation as although he didn't mind answering questions, it wasn't exactly one of his top priorities at the moment.

"(How is your sister doing?)"

Arthur quickly redirects his full attention toward the scientist after hearing this question. Moments ago, he had no reason to entertain the conversation beyond not burning any bridges with the girl talking to him... but now, she had brought an outside factor into the game that he wanted to keep out. His eyes narrowed on the scientist who had opened her eyes.

The two of them had now locked eyes and neither had any intention of looking away. Both of them had yellow eyes that pierced and forced their stares into each other's respective brains. Chara's eyes were brighter and had more life to them at this moment in comparison to Arthur's duller eyes, yet they got across a much colder and more serious demeanor than the distant and unbothered expression he constantly wore. Although both of their stares were just as effective in their own ways, these looks didn't seem to be shaking up either contestant as much as they were hoping to do so. Even after a few minutes passed, nothing had changed and both seemed no closer to rattling the other person like how they had originally anticipated.

And so, one of them did eventually have to break things up.

"I apologize for bringing up your sister," Chara says whilst giving the prince a slight bow.

"You are forgiven for your blasted question," Arthur responds before turning away from the scientist.

"That is a relief to hear... Mister Kingston," Chara simply says.

Arthur gave no response before walking away from the green-haired contestant. Even though her actions had momentarily angered him, none of it still displayed anything worth being concerned over as his sister was far away from the competition, meaning that there was no way that she could be dragged into any of this and so any potential threat that the scientist could pose to his relative was almost non-existent. Besides, if he went after her just because she mentioned his sister (who was also a public figure to an extent), then it would be a decision purely made out of paranoia and emotions... and he knew how easily doing things like that would result in disaster. So, even though the conversation left him feeling displeased, it still hadn't changed his mind in any significant way and nothing about it made the scientist much more of a significant threat than other members of his team. However, if she ever threatened his sibling ever again, then he wouldn't mind becoming the demon that makes her pay for her sin.

Eventually, the prince reached the other side of the cabin and wasted no time watching the conversation the rest of his team were engaged in. Rellik and Makima quickly looked in the direction of Arthur and Chara respectively, both of whom gave them a nod since it was the most they could currently express themselves. Afterward, the star-eyed contestant and actor took this as a sign to continue the current conversation they were having with the trio of girls in front of them.

Now that the prince is no longer nearby, Chara pulls out a clipboard with a piece of paper attached to it and she writes some words into it before quietly giggling to herself as her eyes take one more glance at Arthur Kingston,

"(It's time to let the experiment begin... or in your words: Let the game begin~)"

Almost everyone on The Frogs of Death was already awake, in fact, most of the members seemed like they had been up for a while. They didn't need any human-shaped or phone-shaped alarm clocks to alert them because most of them were feeling restless about the new situation that had affected the mood of every member in one way or another. Even though they were only days into the competition, an inevitable divide had already been created thanks to the actions of certain members leading to a relationship that two other members were planning to separate for different reasons. Only three members had no direct involvement in the situation at this current point, but each of them understood that they were going to end up getting dragged into things whether they liked it or not. Everyone awake was thinking heavily about the current conflict that was taking over their team... until the last member sleeping finally woke up from their slumber.

"Well... that's the best rest I'll be gettin' all season," Rosie immediately remarks after sitting herself up.

Rather than taking a look at her surroundings or checking up on how the rest of her team was doing after their first elimination of the seasons, the v-tuber had other plans in mind and displayed her true Gen-Z nature... by immediately pulling out her phone and scrolling through social media.

"Hope the feedback's better today," Rosie half-heartedly says, knowing full well that, if anything, the longer the competition goes on, the more toxic people will get online. Besides, the only thing she did yesterday that could be complemented, aside from looking cute, was scolding Sazama, but that did lead to her getting knocked out of the challenge so there wasn't much to be proud of. But, even if the perception of her wasn't exactly the best thus far (it also didn't seem to be improving anytime soon), that won't stop her from holding her head up high because, at the end of the day, she would forever have those who would support her.

Looking through the feedback, multiple comments were praising her either because certain viewers found her entertaining rather than anything or they were calling her 'Queen' for calling out Sazama which she wasn't the biggest fan of. Unfortunately, the positive reception didn't seem as prevalent as the previous days, and more comments were calling her out for a few of the remarks she had made. This wouldn't have bothered her too much if it weren't for the increasing list of insults being directed at her family and speculation regarding her potential relationship with other guys like Kazuru and Arthur which had upset a few of her fans. None of this was particularly new, but unlike the previous times where it was only a vocal minority doing such things, more people seemed to be turning against her, and to make things worse... she felt responsible for all of this. All of the attempts to quell the backlash seem to have backfired on her and although it wasn't too late to change the common opinion about her, doing something like that on the internet was nearly impossible.

After looking through a good chunk of tweets, TikTok and Twitch clips, and YouTube shorts, there was only one thing that the v-tuber felt she could do at this point.

"(As if I care about what you bakas have to say,)" Rosie dismissively whispers before turning her head away from her phone. Evidently, she decided to double down on her character.

On her phone was yet another positive message, but it wasn't praising her... it was praising another person on her team.

"Hey Rosielina~"

The sudden, familiar voice caused the blonde to flinch and she dropped her phone just from hearing it.

Rosie slowly started raising her head so she could face the person who startled her for various reasons, even though she already knew who it was. The timing was perfect considering that the figure standing in front of her bed was the one which the message was praising. Once her eyes had reached the person's face, the pinkness of their eyes/hair and the fake innocence they were showing made the v-tuber instinctively gulp.

"I hope you've been having a lovely morning!~" Hanako happily greets after she shuts her eyes.

It took a moment for the tsundere to think of an appropriate response to the deceptively cutesy girl who stood in front of her, especially after seeing just how badly things could go for the person going against her. However, this moment of hesitation doesn't last long since the girl just went with the first idea that came to mind.

"Tell me what brings you here, you bitch!" Rosie abruptly and aggressively makes this demand.

[Confession: Rosie]

"Why the fuck did I say that?!" Rosie found herself panicking inside the confessional and nearly pulling out her hair.

[Confession Ends]

"Oh! I like that nickname!~" Hanako responds with a joyful giggle.

[Confession: Rosie]

"It's 'cause I'm a fuckin' genius!" Rosie suddenly gained all the confidence in the world, even if her hair was now messier.

[Confession Ends]

"Seriously? Are you some kind of masochist or some crap like that?" Rosie asks with a hint of disgust.

"No, but my koibito is. So maybe his habits are rubbing off of me," Hanako answers after opening her eyes and letting out a dreamy sigh.

"Are you sure that he's your-?"

Before she could finish what she was saying, Rosie's entire body froze as a knife was suddenly held up to her throat.

"...Would you like to finish that sentence?" Hanako bluntly asks while glaring at her.

"N-N-No M'am!" Rosie immediately answers as her body begins shaking in fear.

Thankfully, Hanako pulls the knife away after hearing this answer which makes Rosie sigh in relief and nearly pass out on her bed.

"How are things going between you and your koibito?" Hanako suddenly asks as if she didn't just threaten the other girl's life literally seconds ago.

"H-Huh?! What do you mean by that?!" Rosie loudly questions. Currently, she was confused, scared, and angry, meaning that her mind and emotions were all over the place.

"I mean you and Kazuru. You two are able to get along and understand each other better than anyone else, so I figured that you two must be some sparks between the two of you," Hanako explains before shrugging casually.

"Eh?! Are you stupid?! Why would I ever fall for that loser?! Is this your attempt to make me lose my fans?!" Rosie angrily asks after standing up from her bed as a blush soon appears on her cheeks.

"You're quite the firecracker, aren't you?" Hanako remarks with amusement towards the tsundere being a tsundere.

"Why you-! Damn right, I'll be the firecracker that pops your ass wide open!" Rosie declares before lounging at the pink-haired contestant like the tiger many of her fans knew her as.

Hanako simply steps out of the way in response to this.

This simple action causes Rosie to miss and slide across the floor after landing on it.

"Ow..." Rosie could be heard groaning in pain.

Before Hanako could make her way over to the fallen girl, someone else grabbed onto Rosie's hands and they pulled her back to her feet.

Hanako felt her fake smile immediately turn into a frown at the sight of this person.

"You really need to learn how to be more careful about... anything." Yana tries giving Rosie some advice after helping her get back up.

"Who do you think you are to try and lecture me?!" Rosie asks with crossed arms.

"I'm just trying to look out for you here... speaking of which, you might want to step away from us," Yana responds before she faces the pink-haired team member.

"Seriously?!" Rosie questions again with just as much defiance as ever.

"Actually, you might want to listen to her on this one," Hanako confirms as she locks eyes with the blonde team member she didn't like at all.

"Yeah, I'd rather not have you get dragged deeper into this drama than you already have to," Yana explains before stepping in front of the v-tuber.

"...F-Fine! I'll let you two have your little conversation with one another," Rosie says before turning around and walking away from the two girls. Admittedly, she was more excited to leave the two alone since both girls had scared her before, even if she tried making it seem like she was reluctant to leave.

With the v-tuber finally out of the conversation, Yana and Hanako looked at each other with feelings of annoyance, disdain, and jealousy running through them. But, even with all of these negative emotions, neither girl was planning on getting into a fight since this wasn't the time or place for them to settle things. So, without saying a single word to each other, they had both come to an agreement as to what the terms of the conversation were and waited for the other person to start things off.

"..."

"..."

After letting out a sigh, Yana chose to start the conversation.

"When did you catch feelings for him?"

"I fell for him by the end of the first challenge, after you decided to take a little nap with his little sister, he was almost eaten by a raptor and I had to step in to save him myself."

"..." Yana felt a wave of guilt wash over her at this revelation and she looked away due to the shame that she felt from this.

"I've been watching him ever since and it seems that it's become normal for him to constantly play the role of a hero for you. Yet, playing hero always leaves him beaten down, so I've tried my best to make sure that he'll end up alright because, clearly, no one else on this team truly takes care of him."

"..." Yana couldn't find a good response to these words as a feeling of frustration began to build within her.

"After seeing him almost drown yesterday, I had enough of him always doing so much and never getting anything in return. By becoming his girlfriend, not only am I giving him the love he deserves, but it means that I can stop him from getting himself hurt because we both know he won't listen to reason. I'll use my romantic connection with him to keep him from experiencing any more pain because I love him too much to see him waste his efforts on someone who'll never be able to do anything for him."

"SHUT UP!" Yana bursts out with rage and she even takes a step forward without thinking. Before her anger could get the better of her, Yana moved her right foot back and after taking some deep breaths, she reduced her anger by merely snarling at Hanako. It felt like the girl was intentionally trying to set her off by making her more jealous, but she wasn't planning on letting Hanako have her way.

"Why should I? I'm only giving you the reality of the situation, aren't I?~" Hanako questions once a grin forms on her face.

"If that's really the truth then why did you attack Sazama?" Yana counters with a question of her own.

"He was threatening my koibito, so I-"

"Why was he protecting Sazama from you, then?" Before the pink-haired contestant could finish her sentence, Yana wasted no time countering her next point.

"Well, my dear senpai is sometimes too kind of-"

"You're trying to protect him yet you're also going against him for protecting someone else? That doesn't make a lot of sense, ya know... so, that means that you're either trying to control him... or... you're lying about protecting him..." Yana speculates before clenching her fists.

"What are you trying to get at here?" Hanako is finally able to get out a sentence whilst her eyes narrow on the blonde.

"Maybe... you don't love him," Yana bluntly answers.

"..." Hanako goes dead silent at the accusation and the entire mood of the conversation shifts entirely once she hears these words.

Any light that was previously coming through the window was now covered up by the clouds outside and the cabin around the girls took on a more lifeless and serious mood which they both felt. Any light or humanity in Hanako's eyes was entirely gone due to this and even her pupils had dilated to a point where they could barely be seen. The shift in mood had also caused the girl's head to slightly lower, causing her hair in the front to somewhat cover her eyes as the wind that blew into the room temporarily revealed them from time to time. Everything started to feel colder in the cabin, but the pink-haired team member didn't notice it at all as her mind and thoughts were focused on the blonde standing in front of her.

Yana instinctively gulps at the change in mood and she even takes a step back out of concern for the next possible move that the pink-haired girl will take against her. Her body had even started to shake because of the cold temperature that had suddenly taken over the room. But, rather than letting herself be taken over by this drastic shift and fear for her own well-being, she once again takes a few deep breaths to calm herself down. After regaining her confidence and resolve which were momentarily drowned out, she steps forward and stares straight into the cold eyes of the pink-haired girl standing in front of her. She wasn't the only person who she was confronting Hanako for, so as far as she was concerned, she had to see this through and try settling things through conversation, even if the chances of that happening were non-existent at this point.

"You dare question my love?" Hanako asks with a scowl on her face.

"Love isn't about controlling someone else and changing them into someone who'll serve your needs and desires. When you love someone, you fall in love with every part of who they are, flaws and all. Sure, you can still have issues with them, but to actively force them to change themselves doesn't mean that you love them... it just means that you love the idea of the person you see in your mind," Yana states before putting a hand on her chest.

Love was a concept that Yana held very close to her heart.

"But I do love every part of him... I love the lack of self-care he has, I love watching him suffer, and I love that he chose to get into a relationship with someone like me! He makes me more excited and my heart beats more than anyone else has!~" Hanako cheerfully explained amidst all of the giggles that she was struggling to hold back at this point.

Love was a concept that Hanako held very close to her heart.

"You're wrong! Love is all about supporting each other and making each other happy! What you're describing sounds more like lust!" Yana insists while shaking her head at the obsessive romantic.

"You're wrong! The feeling I have towards my koibito is love since I fell for him because of his attitude, not because of his looks! Besides, Who are you to decide what's love and what isn't? As far as I'm concerned, you won't even be around after today because I'm taking you out of this game!" Hanako declares after pulling out a knife from her skirt once again and she points it at her upcoming target.

"We'll see about that... because I'm not planning on losing to you," Yana responds before sending a glare into her teammate's direction.

Any attempts to resolve things now had obviously fallen through since the two girls were more focused than ever on sending each other home. Seeing as neither of them was going to budge, both girls turned around and walked off in opposite directions. Winning today's competition seemed like a secondary goal to each girl since their battle against each other mattered much more to them.

Thanks to how loud their conversation became, everyone else on the team found themselves watching the confrontation until it reached its heated yet non-violent conclusion. Different reactions sparked from this with some members feeling concerned over the state of their team since this was hindering their chances of beating the other team while others had already expected this, so their reactions were one of indifference. One of the people who had been intently watching the conversation was the person who had indirectly caused the friction between the girls in the first place.

Rival finds himself disappointed at how he's handled the situation thus far now that the confrontation between Yana Hayashida and Hanako Kaneko has wrapped up. The only positive thing that came out of it was the fact that both girls didn't start throwing hands at each other, but that was probably because they figured that he didn't want to see that at the moment... which they would be right about, although none of that made this situation better. He also did still feel quite a bit of guilt, even if the situation was nothing new to him.

"Nice to know that they're done talking," Kazuru comments after sticking his head out from underneath the vocalist's bed.

This causes Rival to be pulled out of his thoughts as he faces the person who is apparently under his bed.

"...When did you get there?" Rival asks with slight exasperation.

"Since before you got up," Kazuru answers before pulling himself out and standing up.

"Guess that should've been obvious..." Rival admits with a slight, yet awkward smile. Another question then enters his mind which he wastes no time asking, "Why were you hiding under my bed?"

"Well, if ye desires to know then..." Kazuru prepares to explain in the most Kazuru-way possible...

Only for him to frown and sigh as he then takes off the eyepatch that was covering his eye. It was only then that Rival noticed that there had been a small cut on the boy's right hand.

"Well, Hanako first approached me by playing nice, but it was fairly easy to figure out that she was only trying to get me to vote her way tonight, so I tried getting out of the conversation..." Kazuru explained in the least dramatic way possible as he didn't feel like sugarcoating anything. His eyes slowly drifted down and he found himself staring at his signature eyepatch, "So... she threatened my life."

"..." Rival didn't give a response to the news, but he seemed somewhat saddened by the boy's words.

"And so, I agreed to her deal since it's not like I could do anything..." Kazuru confirms before dropping his eyepatch onto the floor and closing his eyes.

"..."

"After all... I'm Kazuru Badasu... I've been a disappointment since I was born... I'll never be as successful or respected as my parents are... I'm just an idiot who's too weak to really improve myself... I'm so pathetic that I'd rather run away from reality than confront it... and I'm nothing but a coward," Kazuru states whilst tears begin rolling out of his closed eyes.

"(I'm so pathetic...)"

"See that's where you're wrong, Kazuru."

Suddenly, the black-haired gamer feels a hand being placed on his head which makes him open his water-filled eyes.

"You may think that what you've done makes you a coward, but that's not entirely the case. I don't know anything about your family, but it sounds like you were born with expectations that you couldn't hope to live up to... and it's fine that you didn't. Although you should still love your family, you shouldn't do everything they expect of you because if they truly care about you, they'll let you make your own decisions regardless of the outcome. After all, it's your life... not theirs."

"...And if I don't love them anymore?"

"Do they love you?"

"..." Kazuru couldn't find it in himself to give a response. Instead, he looked down and gave his answer by remaining silent.

"Well then, you were brave for getting away from people who didn't appreciate you," Rival says as the clouds outside begin going away.

The light from the sun was no longer being blocked out and the cabin around the two boys suddenly seemed much brighter and more lively than it had been before. Rival didn't care much for the change in scenery because his attention was entirely on the person he was trying to support emotionally. He then reaches down and picks up the eyepatch that the other black-haired boy had dropped.

"It's sad to know that you and your parents don't like you guys getting along, but don't blame yourself for it... stuff like that is usually a group effort," Rival remarks before casually shrugging at the other boy.

"Guess you're not wrong there..." Kazuru admits as a slight chuckle left his mouth. Even though he appreciated the sentiment, he still didn't feel much better about himself and his eyes were looking toward the ground again.

"Just remember that you always have a choice and that running away is sometimes the hardest thing to do... and if you think otherwise..." Rival intentionally stops his sentence before raising his left hand off Kazuru's head and into the air. He then puts the eyepatch that he picked up into his left hand and clutches it tightly before suddenly spreading out his stance. The vocalist then smirks before pressing the five fingers on his right hand against his forehead and tilting his head slightly forward. This caught Kazuru's attention and he faced the other boy with widened eyes as he immediately recognized what he was doing. After seeing the normally overdramatic boy look at him, Rival finally followed through on his sentence, "Then this mortal will have to kombat the illusions haunting ye mind and shatter those illusions in the most epic, badass, and... uhhh... the coolest way a normie such as me can do so before they... mess with you more than thy attacks already haveth, I guess?!"

Unfortunately, that sentence alone made it clear that his English wasn't the best... or rather his attempt at Old English wasn't all that good.

"That was so cringey!" Kazuru yells out before devolving into laughter at how stupid the vocalist looked by trying to imitate him. Seeing other people try to act overdramatic was always amusing, but seeing just how much effort the vocalist placed into it made this all the better. Tears of laughter even started leaking from his eyes due to how much he was laughing.

"Yeah, it was," Rival admits with a smile of relief at seeing the overdramatic boy break out of his gloomy mood. However, he quickly gets out of his stupid-looking stance and holds out the eyepatch in his left hand.

"Thank ye," Kazuru responds once his laughter starts dying down and he grabs the eyepatch.

"No problème," Rival remarks before then putting both of his hands back into the pockets of his jacket and leaning against his bed. While the 'God of Gamers' was suiting up by putting his eyepatch back on, the vocalist decided to give him one more piece of advice, "If you're happy with who you are and you're not hurting anyone, then I say that you can stay as the person or deity that you are. After all... you're still Kazuru Badasu... and regardless of whether I understand what you're saying or not... I'd appreciate it if you continued doing what makes you happy, especially since I sometimes do enjoy it."

"Y-You d-do?!" Kazuru asks with a slight squeak in his voice. A blush even appeared on his face.

"Believe it or not, I do, so keep it up if it makes you happy," Rival answers while giving the eyepatch-wearing contestant a thumbs-up with his left hand.

"Thy words have such power... 'tis almost as if ye are a Conduit," Kazuru responds as the 'God of Gamers' once more. Though he made sure to turn his head away from the other boy first.

"I... actually understood that reference," Rival admits before chuckling at the fact he knew something gaming-related for once, especially since gaming was one of the many things he wasn't all too familiar with.

"Oh, senpai!~"

A familiar voice interrupts the two boys.

Kazuru gasps and wastes no time running off in the direction of the window for some reason.

Rival watches the 'God of Gamers' run off and sighs quietly to himself as the pink-haired girl approaches him.

"Where's he going?~" Hanako questions once she reaches the vocalist.

"I think he's-"

Crash!

"Leaving..." Rival answers the question a little too late.

Both contestants now found themselves looking at a broken window.

[Confession: Hanako]

"It seems that I might've gone a bit too far with poor ol' Kazu-kun somewhere," Hanako admits whilst leaning forward and resting her head on her right hand. A part of her wondered why the 'Chuuni Boi' had reacted like this considering that she wasn't even planning on negotiating with him again and even considered him safe after accepting her entirely consensual offer. A joyful smile did eventually appear on her face and she abruptly started to giggle before continuing her confessional, "At least the reaction is absolutely adorable yet expected, especially coming from someone as fragile as Kazu-kun who I'm certain will be voting with me, and my koibito tonight."

Once her giggling calms down, she leans back and stares at the ceiling as she tries gathering her thoughts, "That does leave me with Rosie and Luciana as the only other numbers, both of whom are going to be tricky catches. I'll take my chances on Rosie more since I've already got her otaku-husbando, but I don't mind trying to get one more person on my side since I could possibly create another love triangle for this season. The one going on between me, my senpai, and the homewrecker will have to end very soon since that homewrecker is too much of a threat to my happy sugar life and so, I'll have to take her out of the picture before she can end this thrilling experience of mines."

A sigh then leaves her mouth before she looks back down and right at the camera with a lustful smile, "All of this strategizing is tiring, but as long as it allows me to keep my lovely relationship with my koibito going, then I'll happily do anything to make sure that this train of love won't be stopping anytime soon! That homewrecker may think otherwise, but I do truly love my senpai and because she has a problem with that, I'll make sure to take her out before she can threaten my happiness any further. It's also the best way that I can show my love for my lovely, dear senpai~"

[Confession Ends]

Across the room from the forced-together couple, the person who had been watching every interaction that has taken place on their team steps off from their bed. Now that Kazuru had taken a loud shortcut just so he could escape the menace of their team, meaning that he was currently alone and that it was a chance to have a private conversation with the chuuni. So, the person begins making their way to the cabin's door since it is a safer and more practical way to get out of the cabin. Before doing this, they grab their bunny plushie and hold onto it as approach the building's exit

"Konnichiwa there, Shiro~" A voice causes the person to stop before they can grab onto the door.

Shiro turns around and faces the girl who had interrupted him.

"...Luciana Ignis," Shiro simply responds, his grip on Mono tightening as he speaks.

"Where do you think you're going?" Luciana asks after putting her hands behind her back and tilting her head at the boy.

"Somewhere," Shiro cryptically answers as he tries to analyze the person in front of him.

"Are you planning to set up a game of hopscotch for us? I'm sure that'll be fun to do," Luciana wonders whilst jumping into the air a few times.

Shiro shakes his head at the suggestion.

"Awww, man~" Luciana responds with disappointment by the time she stops hopping. She even pouts before looking away from the boy, "I guess it sadly makes sense, especially with tensions rising among us."

Shiro blinked a few times before randomly sighing at a random thought that came to mind.

"Trust me, I'm just as disappointed as you over-"

"Could you vote with us tonight?" Shiro bluntly asks.

"What?" Luciana responds with immediate confusion at the sudden question.

"Mono and I would like for you to vote with me and Yana tonight," Shiro explains after closing his eyes.

He then raises Mono who is made to nod in agreement to the boy's words.

"Are you sure you should be asking me like that? You don't sound all too chuffed about getting my vote," Luciana responds after crossing her arms. The tone he used wasn't particularly convincing her to follow what he was saying.

"I'm not," Shiro admits before looking behind the thanatologist, "But... you're an important number."

"I guess you do make a decent point there," Luciana ponders the idea by looking up and tapping her chin, "Should I vote with you and Yana tonight?"

Shiro slowly lowers his bunny plushie before quietly waiting for the girl's answer. He didn't want to interrupt whatever thoughts were going through her mind because he wanted to see what answer she would provide him with.

"I'll need some time to consider your offer," Luciana finally responds after looking back at the boy and clapping her hands together.

Shiro nods in understanding at the answer, it was smarter to weigh your options than to make a rash decision in the heat of the moment, after all.

"Are you going to do anything to get me to vote with you two?" Luciana wonders after placing both of her hands on her hips.

"I could try setting up a game of hopscotch," Shiro suggests whilst shrugging slightly.

"...Is that seriously the best you got?" Luciana asks after facepalming herself at the incredibly unconvincing negotiation tactic that the boy was trying to use.

"It's either that or threatening you... Mono doesn't like the latter option," Shiro responds before looking down at Mono who he once again motions to nod in agreement to what he was saying.

Luciana instinctively takes a step back and defensively raises her left hand as her mind immediately remembers what happened between the two of them on the first day. After realizing that he wasn't going to try anything, she sighed in relief after getting back into her previous position. Another idea then enters her mind which causes a grin to form on her face, "Fair 'nuff, say, How are things going between you and your lovely lil' lass?~"

"..." Shiro slowly looks back at the girl before deciding to give no response to her question.

"I'm not trying to imply anything, but something tells me that the two of you are mates at the very least," Luciana suggests as she leans against the wall.

"Friends, yes. Soulmates, no." Shiro gives an intentionally simple response as he turns his head away from the girl.

"Figures you'd say that... Why aren't you chatting with her, then? You are her main ally now that she's in a silly lil' rival-ry," Luciana asks before her eyes narrow on the boy.

"I need to focus on getting numbers for our side so we can get rid of the Pink Panther," Shiro explains in the simplest terms he could think of.

"What about blondie? Don't you want to emotionally support her rather than focusing on the game?" Luciana wonders whilst tilting her head.

Shiro silently stared at the rock climber who was sitting on her bed and intently watching the forced-together couple across the room. It was easy to tell that she was incredibly peeved over the situation and needed someone to calm her down.

...But could he ever be that someone?

"I'll make a deal with you, then," Luciana says before she begins walking over to the boy.

Shiro redirects his attention back to the thanatologist who brings out her left hand and leaves it open for a handshake.

"I'll vote with the two of you tonight..." Luciana intentionally pauses before she finishes explaining what her offer is, "If you're willing to be more honest with yourself and follow your heart."

Shiro tilts his head in confusion at the deal.

"What do you say to that, mate?" Luciana questions as she holds out her left hand.

Shiro stares at her hand, but he looks up at her face with confusion written all over his face.

"The fact you're not immediately accepting the offer tells me that you might have an idea of what following your heart entails," Luciana responds before pulling her left hand away and stuffing it into her pocket.

"Or maybe I don't know what I'm agreeing to?" Shiro points out.

"Oh come on, you know what being more honest with yourself and following your heart means. It sounds rather stupid, but if you were already doing those things then you would've already accepted my offer. After all, what's a better deal than to keep being yourself? The only reason someone wouldn't accept it is if they are hesitant to do such a thing," Luciana explains.

Shiro remains silent after hearing the explanation.

"I know when someone's holding themselves back... so, if you stop doing that, then I'll happily vote with you and your... mate," Luciana confirms with a grin plastered across her face.

Shiro responds with more silence as he blankly stares at the thanatologist.

"I'll be keepin' an eye out for you. Sayonara for now!~" Luciana exclaims before skipping away from the caretaker.

Shiro sighed now that the interaction was over before looking down and pondering the deal the girl had offered him. Any uncertainties about the offer had been cleared up and he now knew full well what the thanatologist meant which was at least somewhat reassuring. However, as he stares at the rock climber sitting on her bed, the white-haired boy finds himself conflicted on whether going along with the deal was the correct choice... or if it was even possible for him to do it in the first place.

[Confession: Luciana]

"I've got nothing at stake here," Luciana immediately confirms with a shrug. She then leans forward and elaborates further, "The only person on this team I have somewhat of a connection with is my guitar teacher over there, but it's not like I like an idiot like him that much. So, I don't have much reason to vote with either side at the moment..." A mischievous grin soon then forms on her face, "Meaning that I'll just choose whoever can help me get closer to one of my goals... so, let's see who'll provide the best offer for me~"

[Confession Ends]

"ATTENTION TEENAGER-Y NON-TEENAGERS! IT'S CHALLENGE TIME! SO, YOU ALL BETTER MEET US AT THE COORDINATES THAT WE SENT TO YOUR PHONES!" Chris' voice suddenly booms over the speakers.

"Did you hear that, senpai?!" Hanako asks with excitement in her voice after wrapping her arms around her senpai's left arm.

"AND JUST TO MAKE SURE YOU ALL HEARD THAT: IT'S CHALLEEENGE TIIIME!" Chris momentarily turns on the speakers to make the same announcement.

"...I think I got it," Rival bluntly responds.

"YOU THINK?! WELL, LET'S MAKE SURE THAT YOU KNOW THAT IT IS-!"

The Ferocious Trout and The Frogs of Death had all already arrived in the middle of the woods.

"Campers, Welcome to your next challenge where-!" Chris prepares to explain the gist of today's challenge.

"You're not having this!" Chef unintentionally interrupts the host as he runs around behind him. In his hands was a laptop that he held very close to his chest.

"Oh yes, I am!" Kai declares before pointing right at the co-host, "Get 'em, Ian!"

At this moment, everyone finally processes the strange sight they are all seeing. Kai had somehow gotten himself a raptor which he was currently riding and this raptor seems to follow his orders as it leaps at the co-host.

Chef's able to move out of the way of the raptor and he continues running away.

"I will have that lil' laptop!" Kai yells out while Ian the Raptor readjusts its current position.

Afterward, the raptor charges forward as Kai and Chef resume their game of cat and mouse... or more accurately, dinosaur and human.

"What is he doing?" Ryokai asks with her arms crossed, she didn't seem too amused or happy with the pointless chase that the writer had likely started himself.

"Well, we tried having him test out today's challenge, but before we could add raptors to it, Kai befriended one of them and is now using 'Ian' over there to chase down Chef and take his laptop," Chris explains after he turns around to watch the ongoing chase that was continuing off-screen.

"Somehow, I've got more questions than before," Makima remarks whilst scratching the back of his head.

"I'll just let them play their game, after all, today's game for you campers was modified by our intern!" Chris declares with a slightly devious smile.

"(Oh no,)" Yana quietly responds with some concern at the announcement.

Everyone then observes the area where their challenge will be taking place. Behind the host are a series of countless wooden poles that are lodged into the ground (some of them weren't as stable as others), but these poles seemed to act as a series of stairways too. The series of poles increased in size and reached higher into the sky the further out the poles got, creating a seeming stairway of poles that miraculously reached the clouds.

"Today, your main objective is to avoid hitting the ground by staying on top of the poles as that was the original idea for the challenge," Chris begins his explanation by turning around and facing the contestants.

"Oh! Does that make this an endurance challenge?" Hanako asks with wonder in her eyes.

"It was initially, but thanks to our intern's additions, it's become more dangerous than just that. Although the last team standing does still win the challenge, everyone will be required to try and reach the platform at the highest height in under ten minutes, just so that no one just camps down on the lowest level. The platform and idea to make many more poles that get higher than the last was our intern's idea," Chris explains.

"If someone falls from the platform located at the highest height, that could potentially be fatal," Luciana points out after realizing that the platform must've been at cloud level. Now, she wasn't a mathematician, but falling from the clouds plus landing on flat ground should just about equal death.

"Fine, we'll add an extra rule that no one from different teams can fight at the top during the time limit," Chris responds after rolling his eyes at the comment.

"So if only members of one team reach the top within the time limit, then that team wins?" Arthur asks for the sake of clarification.

"And if members from both teams reach the top within the time limit, then the winner will be decided by who'll be the last person standing," Shiro chimes in with an added observation.

"So this is an endurance challenge that turned into a racing challenge that could also end as an endurance challenge?" Jessica also questions as she looks up at the sky with confusion.

"Sure, that all sounds about right," Chris half-heartedly confirms.

"Nani don't you guys just make things simpler next time?" Rosie questions after huffing in frustration at how needlessly complicated this all sounded.

"I'm just going to ignore what you said," Chris dismissively responds.

"Could we try taking down people from the other team on the way up?" Luciana asks after raising her hand, even though no one has called on her.

"There's no rule against it," Chris confirms before yawning at the amount of energy he's spent on explaining the whole challenge, "That's all the explanation you campers need."

"Chotto a matte there-" Rosie begins speaking as she takes a step forward.

"Campers, prepare for the challenge!" Chris announces before turning away from the contestants and walking to the side so he can grab his air horn.

"(Bakayarou)," Rosie quietly responds before sighing in frustration at the host.

The Ferocious Trout wasted no time grouping up so they could try and create a plan.

"Today's plan is-" Rellik tries taking the lead once more.

"It would be in our best interest to not have someone like you lead us," Ryokai bluntly responds.

"I-I think what Ryokai meant is that we'd like to see someone else lead us today!" Jessica exclaims in the nicest way she could reframe her friend's question.

"Oh... well, it did work well for us last time," Rellik optimistically responds with a forced smile that seemed devoid of almost all anger.

"I've got... no useful tactics for this... so, making me leader... wouldn't be a good idea," Gogo confirms whilst lying on the ground and raising her head just enough to observe the stairway of poles.

"Hope none of you guys or ladies will mind me taking the lead for this one," Makima says after taking off his glasses.

"And if we do mind?" Rellik wonders before he begins impatiently tapping his feet.

Ignoring the star-eyed contestant's words, Makima waits for his vision to become less blurry before he intently observes the poles. He found himself crouching down and grabbing his knees as his eyes suddenly widened, all of which were done so he could inspect the non-crime scene in front of him the best he could. After spending a few moments in silence, the actor is finally able to come up with a plan and he stands up, only to walk over to everyone else whilst leaning his head forward.

"Our main strategy will be focusing on getting to the top since the more people we get up there before time runs out will give us an advantage on the other team. Arthur, Chara, and I will all be the exceptions to this as we'll be in charge of taking out members of the other team and defending our slower members from any attackers that'll come for us. If anyone here is targeted while we're occupied or too far behind, then unfortunately, it'll be all up to you to try to knock off the enemy or try avoiding them," Makima explains in a soft tone as he reaches down to pick up his glasses.

"That sounds fair," Jessica responds whilst nodding at the suggestion.

"Why'd you drop your glasses if you're just going to put them back on?" Rellik asks an important question after crossing his arms.

"Dramatic effect," Makima bluntly answers after cleaning out his glasses and putting them back on. He straightens his back and returns to normal after doing this.

[Confession: Makima]

"Taking off the glasses was to help me get into character, specifically, L from the Death Note movies," Makima confirms while pushing up his glasses.

[Confession Ends]

"Question: Why is Chara tasked with attacking the other team?" Ryokai questions.

"Because I want you, Jessica, Gogo, and Rellik to focus on getting to the top rather than taking out the other side. Plus, Chara has done well enough in previous challenges that I think she can pull this out in case things don't go our way," Makima answers almost immediately.

"Understood. In that case, the three players you've chosen to be our defenders and attackers are good picks," Ryokai confirms before nodding her head a few times.

"(I sense some bias here...)" Rellik mutters after walking behind Arthur.

"How do you feel about the plan, Mr. Kingston?" Chara randomly asks, directing all of the team's attention to the prince.

"...I'll play my role to the best of my abilities," Arthur says with a blank expression that doesn't display any emotion or feelings that anyone else could pick up on.

"Oh... you're not trying to... Nelson Mandela him?" Gogo questions with a slight smirk.

"No. The two of us have already made a deal," Arthur cryptically explains.

"What kind of deal-?" Jessica tries questioning as everyone turns their attention to the actor.

"HURRY UP!" Chris loudly interrupts The Ferocious Trouts'.

"It seems that the time for planning is over," Chara remarks.

"Yeah, let's get into position!" Makima announces to his team who all nod in agreement to the declaration (some of whom were more reluctant than others). The Ferocious Trout began approaching the stairway of poles in front of them, however, Makima and Arthur found themselves momentarily locking eyes. Luckily, both of them were able to look away and redirect their attention toward today's challenge before anyone could notice.

[Confession: Jessica]

"Maki's plan works because it allows the fastest members of our team to focus on reaching the top while supporting some of our... not-as-fast members in case they fall behind," Jessica explains in the nicest way she could phrase her sentence before nervously chuckling. Her eyes then look to the ground as she begins speculating about something, "Although, I do wonder what kind of deal he made with Arthur considering the one that he made with Gogo yesterday... I'm also worried about Ryo becoming much colder to all of us because, as her friend, I can only cover for her so much before she takes things too far and burns bridges with some of our teammates... I've also noticed a lot of tension on the other team which could help improve our chances of winning... but, I also don't like seeing my sis-friend or Rival look as upset as they both do..." By the time she finishes letting out her thoughts, the athlete sighs.

"Well," Jessica forces a convincing smile onto her face before she stares at the camera, "I'll try my best to not let the stress get to me! I've gotta focus on getting our team the victory so that we can avoid losing any more members and so I can hopefully prove myself as a valuable teammate after my disappointing performance last challenge! So, bring on the challenge Chris, after all, I'm Jessica goddamn Seizon and I plan to show off why I'll be the winner of this season!"

[Confession Ends]

The Frogs of Death, on the other hand, were far more hesitant to even group up and discuss a plan considering that three out of the seven members were actively opposing one another. Even the members who didn't consider anyone here as an 'enemy' didn't feel like bringing the group together out of concern for how it'll end, especially with the high chance of things between them ending in violence. Only Luciana was unbothered by all of this, but she also didn't care enough to even try uniting the team and becoming the leader.

"My koibito and I will stick together!" Hanako suddenly declares before wrapping her arms around Rival's left arm and pulling him to the stairway of poles with her. She wasn't much of a planner, so leading the team was out of the question, especially since all she wanted was to spend time with her boyfriend and maybe help out her teammates (except for Shiro and Yana) if that got them to vote with her. Whether they won today or not didn't matter because all that mattered was making sure that she'd win this lovely war.

Rival looks back at the rest of his team before looking back at Hanako as he's dragged away from everyone else.

"Well, that's subarashii... our second-best player on this team seems to be going narazumo-rogue," Rosie remarks after rolling her eyes.

"If that's how she wants to act, then I guess we can throw planning out the window!" Yana yells out before she also begins walking over to the stairway of poles.

"Yana, don't-" Shiro tries to stop the girl after grabbing her right wrist.

"Shiro..." Yana cuts off the boy as she remains looking away from him, "I appreciate you, so please... don't touch me."

"..." Shiro blinks a few times and he lets go of the blonde who then storms off from the rest of her team.

"Looks like you're runnin' out of time there, mate~" Luciana teases Shiro as she spins around him and walks to the stairway of poles ahead of them.

Shiro gave no visible or verbal response to the tease and he merely stared off at his blonde ally who wasn't thinking all too clearly right now.

"Hey Kazu-kun, You doing daijoubu desuka?" Rosie questions after realizing how silent the boy has been this entire time.

"Y-Yeah! I'm doing alright... thanks for checking up on me," Kazuru responds with a slight smile of happiness.

"Hey! I-It's not like I c-care about you or anything!" Rosie protests before crossing her arms and looking away from the boy.

"(Of course you chose that response,)" Kazuru quietly remarks whilst chuckling at the tsundere's antics. He then looks over at Shiro before taking a breath, "Hey Rosie, Would you mind going on ahead? I want to speak with Shiro for a bit."

"Naze is that?" Rosie wonders as she turns her head to face the boy with metaphorical question marks appearing all over her.

"I'd rather not say... so c-could you... y'know?" Kazuru requests one more time with an awkward smile.

"You're lucky that I've got a kokoro..." Rosie confirms before she also takes her leave, "Rizz 'em up, Kazu-kun!"

"(That girl's mouth,)" Kazuru remarks quietly once again whilst shaking his head before walking over to the bunny-holding contestant who was standing still.

[Confession: Luciana]

"I've got no idea why Rosie's upped her cringe levels today, but that's a thing now, I guess," Luciana casually remarks before shrugging at the v-tuber's attitude. A smile then forms before she goes on, "That aside, it looks like I'm completely safe from elimination since the rest of my team are too focused on getting each other out, so I can do just about whatever today. Winning doesn't seem like it's our priority today considering the amount of effort we just put into organizing and planning is almost non-existent... which is more than those who get abortions, but I wouldn't consider that something to be proud of. I'll just focus on making sure that I won't be eliminated just in case everyone tries taking out the swing vote... after all, I can't prove myself if I'm no longer in the game, now can I?"

She then leans forward and stares down the camera with a confident grin, "I'll make sure to do anything possible to make sure that the whole world knows the name of Luciana Ignis by winning this whole damn thing... after all, I came here to slay~"

[Confession Ends]

Chris picked up an air horn once everyone from both teams stepped onto the lowest level of poles which were only a few inches off the ground. These lower levels matched the number of contestants competing today, but after certain points, the contestants could see that the amount of poles was lessening over time. At the highest levels of these 'stairs', there were only four poles for these layers.

One of the contestants noticed all of these details quicker than everyone else but decided to comment about something else.

"No gun today?" Chara questions after noticing the lack of a gun in the host's hand.

"Unfortunately so. At least this airhorn is also loud enough to work and won't endanger any birds," Chris explains with a proud smile. He felt incredibly smart for coming up with the idea of using a non-lethal object to signal the start of a challenge.

"Ride like the wind, dinosaur!" Kai could be heard shouting as he, Ian, and Chef passed the contestants before continuing their chase off-screen.

"Ferocious Trouts..." Chris prepares to announce as he raises the air horn.

The Ferocious Trouts got ready to execute their leader's plan.

"Frogs of Death..." Chris slowly presses his finger against the button on the top of the air horn.

The Frogs of Death just braced themselves for the chaos.

"LET THE BATTLE BEGIN!" Chris announces right as the air horn goes off, signaling the start of today's challenge.

Everyone follows the order and wastes no time running up the poles, leaving the host as the sole focus of the camera.

"Finally... I won't have to worry about-"

A random falcon then accidentally punches Chris by smacking itself against his face, resulting in the two of them falling to the ground.

After lingering on the awkward moment for a few seconds, the camera cuts to the contestants competing in today's challenge. When it came to The Ferocious Trouts, Jessica and Rellik were the quickest members and had the easiest time stepping on each pole, Ryokai and Gogo had significantly more trouble and found themselves stumbling more than the rest of their team, however, Makima made sure to stay right in front of them and Chara remained behind them as the two tried playing defense, although this left Arthur in the middle of the pack who was looking at the other team during all of this. When it came to The Frogs of Death, Hanako was already dragging along Rival who was barely able to keep up with her current pace and stumbling quite often as the two were in front of the rest of their team, Yana and Luciana were right behind the duo with the two intentionally keeping a close eye on them for differing reasons, Kazuru and Rosie were predictably the slowest members as they were on the verge of falling multiple times already and found themselves quickly becoming exhausted, although Shiro was staying right ahead of them in the hopes of maybe countering any attack the other team would make on them. Neither team seemingly had a lead on each other quite yet.

"..." Jessica slowly looks over to her side where she notices her brother being dragged along by the pink-haired contestant. A frown instinctively forms on her face as she continues staring at the not-so-lovely duo.

"Looks like we've found our main competition," Rellik responds as he's able to keep up with the athlete thanks to her slightly slowing down.

"Yeah..." Jessica simply says without much excitement in her voice.

"...Hey, Why don't you focus on getting to the top? I'll take care of those two if they try anything," Rellik suggests with a confident smile.

"R-Right... I'll do that, then!" Jessica accepts the offer before turning her head away and running as fast as she can up the poles.

"(Time to get myself some screen time!)" Rellik quietly declares before he begins approaching the duo.

"Oh? Looks like someone's trying to take us out~" Hanako notices with a mischievous grin. She immediately begins reaching into her skirt with her only free hand.

"Could you not use knives? It seems a little excessive to use them for a challenge like this," Rival requests after halting their momentum entirely. He even grabs onto Hanako's right wrist in order to stop her from using her signature weapon.

"Oh come on, it's not going to kill them," Hanako dismissively remarks after rolling her eyes at the suggestion.

"That's not the point..." Rival responds with a sigh before looking over at the enemy approaching them, "Just let me deal with 'em."

"No! I won't let anyone lay a single hand on you!" Hanako declares before pulling her hand out of her boyfriend's grasp and reaching into one of the many pockets in her skirt.

"Hanako! Just let me do my thing and-!" Rival tries protesting by grabbing onto her wrist once again.

Rellik takes advantage of the argument by pushing the two of them and taking off before anyone else can reach him. Both members stumble across the various poles and try stepping on each pole in the hopes of finally finding some way to regain their balance before they fall off. None of them proved to be successful with their attempts. Rival misses a step which results in him falling onto another pole which smacks him in the face, causing a tooth to fly out and his vision to go blurry as his body turns around and he begins falling to the ground. Hanako, on the other hand, looks over at her lover and tries getting over to him, but due to her not looking where she is stepping, one of her steps lands too close to the edge of a pole which causes it to slip off.

Each of them had started to fall, but two other teammates were running after them.

Yana tries reaching for Rival who she initially misses, but before he can fall out of her grasp, she jumps down to catch his left hand with her left one and uses her right to grab onto the top of the pole. Her plan works as intended and she finds herself holding onto her teammate and holding the top of the pole, meaning that neither of them is out of the competition yet and they both can get back into things.

"..." Yana begins blushing as the two of them are still hanging, but she shakes her head and begins pulling herself and her teammate back onto a pole and into the competition.

Luciana goes for Hanako and she initially succeeds in catching the girl by wrapping her arms around her. Rather than pulling her up, however, the thanatologist keeps the two of them in this position which causes the romantic to nervously chuckle as she waits for something to happen. Before she could say anything about their current predicament, Luciana leaned into her ear with a wide grin.

"(Do you think you could share your boyfriend with me?~)" Luciana asks after tilting her head.

"...I-I'm a-afraid I can't-" Hanako begins her response whilst nervously laughing and forcing a smile on her face.

Before she could finish, Luciana let go of the romantic before digging her hands into her pockets as she looked down at her falling teammate. Hanako turns around amid her fall and she glares at the thanatologist who winks at her before continuing to run up the series of poles without any regret for what she did. During this fall, Hanako looks around before her eyes eventually land on Yana and Rival, specifically, the fact they are holding hands.

[Confession: Hanako]

The screen quickly begins glitching out as the pink-haired entity stares at the camera with a dead look in her eyes and all that can be heard amidst all of the audio issues are the words, "He'S mInE."

Slowly, she pulled a knife out from her skirt and stabbed the screen which was now completely dark and only had one word all over it in red lettering-

MINE. MINE. MINE. MINE. MINE.

[Confession Ends]

Yana and Rival both got up and stood on their respective poles after the rock climber had stopped the vocalist from getting taken out.

"I didn't know you were that strong," Rival remarks after shaking his head.

"Rock climbing does that..." Yana explains before clearing her throat and giving the boy a serious look, "That aside, we should focus on winning the challenge right about now."

"Right... should we wait for the rest of our team first?" Rival suggests after noticing that the rest of The Frogs of Death (Shiro, Kazuru, and Rosie) who had been behind them were finally catching up.

"Will that help us win?" Yana asks after crossing her arms.

"Well, teamwork does make the dream work," Rival casually remarks.

"Now's not the time! I know you're a masochist who for some reason likes being with someone who forcefully kissed you, but, we've got a challenge to win, dammit! So could you please just take this serious-?!" Yana instinctively snaps at the boy before cutting herself off with a gasp.

"..." Rival remains quiet as nothing but the sound of the wind can be heard. On his face was an unreadable expression that seemed entirely unphased by the wind blowing against it.

"A-Ah! I-I'm sor-!" Yana tries apologizing as she takes a step forward...

...

"EEEEEAGH!" Yana suddenly yells out before her body abruptly stops moving entirely.

Once the blonde's body begins falling, a large cut can be seen going across the back of both her shirts. What stood out even more was how the slash didn't stop at her clothes, but it even reached her skin which made the vocalist immediately know who had done this as this wasn't his first time seeing such a sight... but this time around, the cut was far deeper than the previous times it happened. On the way down, Yana's body bounced off the poles until she finally hit the ground.

None of this was enough to put her life in deep danger thanks to how short the fall was, but it was obvious from the slash alone that whoever did this didn't care if it did. After analyzing all of this, Rival looks up at the person who took out Yana.

"(You. Are. Mine.)"

Hanako barely spoke in between pants while looking at the person she considered to be her biggest 'enemy'. After processing what she has done, her head slowly turns up so she can face the person who she just did that for... the person who she loved dearly. Soon enough, hearts practically form in her eyes and the rate of her heart rapidly increases the more she stares and drools over the boy standing in front of her.

"..." Rival remains with the same expression as before, but this time, his stance seems more tense due to the girl standing in front of him.

Suddenly, Hanako feels a surge of pain come from her ankles which almost causes her to collapse on the spot. Unfortunately for Shiro, the pink-haired girl is able to regain her balance and fight against the pain enough to prevent herself from falling. Seeing that his first try didn't work, he runs down the poles and prepares to swing his pair of scissors once more.

"Hanako... please don-" Rival begins pleading, almost as if he knew what was about to happen.

His pleas were left unheard as Hanako jumped onto another pole before Shiro could reach her. Before he can redirect himself and devise a new plan, Hanako gets behind the white-haired boy and slashes his back.

Shiro, unlike Yana, doesn't let out a single noise as his body goes limp and he falls to the ground seconds later.

Rival watches his other teammate fall before slowly facing the pink-haired girl who had caused multiple of their team's eliminations. A part of him expected to be horrified by what he was watching, but a feeling of numbness washed over him instead. At this point, he had gotten all too used to the visual and this knowledge disturbed even himself... it also didn't surprise him to know this fact.

"Sh-Shiro!" Kazuru calls out once he stops and also takes a good look at their fallen teammate.

"(Say, Chuuni Boi...)"

Kazuru's entire body freezes at the voice calling out to him and he slowly looks up to face the owner of said voice.

"You spoke with my senpai earlier... didn't you?~" Hanako asks with a tilted head.

Immediately recognizing where this is going, Kazuru tries taking a step back before it's too late, however, he misses the pole behind him and begins falling backward in the process. Seeing this as an opening, Hanako charges forward and rushes across the poles in an instant so she can take another swing with her knife. Before the inevitable could happen, two people got involved.

Rival grabs Hanako's left hand (the one she wasn't swinging with) and tries pulling her back so he can intentionally make her miss. Rosie sees what is about to happen and instinctively reacts by stepping on the pole in front of Kazuru and spreading out her arms so that she can block him as much as she possibly can. Both members then gasp at their sudden actions before-

"ITAAAAAA!" Rosie cries out in pain with closed eyes once the knife cuts across her chest and leaves a wide mark on her skin.

After landing on his butt on another pole, Kazuru watches his best friend collapse whilst clutching her chest in pain.

Much like the two other teammates before, it didn't take long for her to hit the ground, but she did cry slightly before falling unconscious.

"Hanako! Could you please stop-?!" Rival begins yelling at his 'girlfriend' after his grip on her left hand tightens.

Rather than hearing him out, Hanako leans over without a care in the world for what she just did and forces her boyfriend into yet another kiss. In her mind, she wasn't doing anything bad or anything wrong... she was just doing whatever it took so she could protect her dear lover and the happy life they were destined to live. All she wanted was to continue loving her koibito after all... was that such a bad thing?

...

A loud slap noise could suddenly be heard interrupting their kiss.

"S-S-S-S-Sen-..." Hanako stumbles back with widened eyes and a red slap mark on her right cheek which she gently rubs.

"I'm sorry for having to do that..." Rival responds before shaking his left hand.

"Y-Y-You're..." Hanako stares into the red eyes of the person whom she had considered her lover.

Rival stares back into the pink eyes without any intention to move out of the way.

"(Perfect~)"

The hearts in Hanako's eyes reappear and she slowly grows a gleeful smile.

"Wh-What?" Rival responds with widened eyes and a level of confusion he'd never felt before.

"I'm glad that our relationship won't be as simple as I thought it'd be because that means that we can love each other even more!~" Hanako exclaims as she begins sweating heavily.

"That's not how it's supposed to-"

"Couples are meant to fight and argue! So what you just did was an act of love far greater than what any kiss could give!~" Hanako proudly explains after closing her eyes and letting out a hot breath.

"But, I don't actually-!"

"Now's not the time to feel sorry or to have regrets, my dear koibito~" Hanako opens her eyes and she wraps her hands around her boyfriend's cheeks. She tries giving him the sweetest smile she can put on, but it instead comes off far more twisted and deranged than she intends it to be due to the overwhelming amount of excitement she is getting out of this. After taking a few seconds to think about her words, the pink-haired romantic leans into her lover's ear and whispers to him a piece of advice she felt happy to give, "(You caused all of this to happen... you chose this path... so, please... don't feel sorry about what's happening... you don't deserve the right to feel sorry over something that's all your fault... I learned that a long time ago, so it's about time you learn it too~)"

"..." Rival blinks a few times and any signs of confusion and panic soon fade away as he processes the romantic's words.

Her words should mean nothing to him, especially after hearing her twisted version of 'love' which he couldn't entirely wrap his head around. Yet, he just couldn't block out the words now echoing in his mind because there was an element of truth to them. In the heat of the moment, he chose to get with her and all of this was just the fallout of a choice that he can't merely take back.

"(I'm the worst... aren't I?)" Rival quietly told himself as he looked at the floor with acceptance.

He accepted her words as the truth.

"I think we both know the answer to that... now, let's win this challenge together, senpai!~" Hanako happily declares before taking the vocalist's left hand and dragging him up the series of poles.

All of this left Kazuru all by himself as he watched the not-so-lovely couple carry on with the challenge. Throughout the conversation, he wanted to say something so badly but was unable to muster the courage for him to do anything about what was going on. This left the eyepatch-wearing contestant to look down and consider just taking himself out of the competition.

What else could he even do?

He was just Kazuru Badas-

"You are not worthless."

Another voice pulls Kazuru out of his mulling and he looks at the person who had said these words to him.

"Under normal circumstances and even currently, you can be considered weak in almost every aspect... however, that does not make you worthless."

His only visible eye widens as he realizes who has been telling him these words.

"You still hold the potential to do amazing things and be far braver than your car-loving parents ever could be. Although you're not showing it, I know that you can still do something when you truly put your mind to it, so it would be appreciated if you do that the next time your opportunity arrives."

Kazuru slowly gets onto his feet and begins taking in the person's words.

"For now, however, I'll have to take you out of the challenge... just know that I'm hoping that you do something about Hanako Kaneko tonight because if you don't do anything now, then you'll probably never have the chance again to do anything like you're hoping to do so... that's my advice for you, so please don't let it go to waste..."

Kazuru looks down before he's promptly eliminated from the challenge after getting bonked in the head by the handle of a wooden sword. The impact was rather weak, but it was still enough to make the boy fall off his pole and land on the ground due to dizziness. He then takes one last look up at who eliminated him before falling unconscious.

"...Kazuru Badasu," Arthur Kingston finally finishes his sentence before looking up the series of poles.

His focus was primarily on the pink target who was clearly going to be the biggest threat to their team. Although her performances in the previous challenges have been nothing special, the brutality that she has displayed throughout the competition and the fact she was able to so easily take out three of her teammates pretty much gave away how much of a danger she is. At this point, it was a safe assumption that Hanako Kaneko was someone not to be messed with.

After waiting a few seconds, the prince turns around to look at the rest of his team.

"Hiyah, Hiyah, Hiyah," Ryokai blankly said with each step she took whilst stumbling quite often and almost falling off multiple times. Chara wordlessly stayed behind the journalist without showing any signs of struggle.

"Wake up and get moving, Soldier!" Makima yells out after straightening his back and glaring at the historian. This was enough to wake Gogo up and she begins making progress up the poles by even passing the journalist, only to then fall asleep whilst standing.

Arthur doubted that they would reach the top in time.

"Hypothesis: Perhaps working on your physical prowess before coming onto this show would have been a smart idea," Chara comments before quickly getting ahead of her teammate.

"Response: I know," Ryokai responds before trying to pick up the pace by running across the poles.

Although the journalist does successfully make some progress up the series of poles, this doesn't last too long. Before she could do anything about it, her knees slightly buckle and she finds herself starting to fall which causes her to lose any balance. During this fall, she tries grabbing another pole which successfully works out in her favor.

"I just need to-" Ryokai begins explaining as she hangs onto the pole and tries pulling herself up.

Unfortunately for the struggling girl, her hands immediately give out and she starts falling once more.

Luckily for her, Makima quickly catches her hand and holds her up before she can fall any further. Without missing a beat, he pulls her on top of the same pole before quickly jumping onto another one.

"Wow... that happened so fast, I couldn't even come up with a one-liner," Makima remarks.

"Thank you for the save, team leader," Ryokai merely says with a nod.

"No problem... say, how does this-?" Makima prepares to say the one-liner that just came to his mind with a cheeky grin on his face.

Suddenly, the actor feels a sudden spike of pain coming from his right leg.

"AHHHHH!" Makima screams out before he looks at what was the source of the sudden pain. His eyes widen after noticing that the cause of his agony is a knife that is currently stabbing him. The combination of the brutal sight, the suffering his body was going through, and the abruptness of it all were all enough to make him fall off his pole and hit the ground seconds later.

Ryokai watches all of this and now her entire body has frozen up due to what she has just witnessed.

"Prepare to dodge," Arthur instructs the rest of the team who had seen their leader for today be taken out early.

Even despite the distance separating them, Hanako was throwing knives back at The Ferocious Trouts. Although Arthur had reacted to the first throw just in time by jumping onto another pole, Makima was clearly not as lucky. With their appointed leader today gone, the prince sighs in relief.

[Confession: Arthur]

It takes a few seconds for the camera to turn on, and once it does, a giant crack can be seen covering a good portion of the screen. This causes the prince to sigh since there isn't much he can do about the camera for the time being. So, he sits down and looks at the broken camera that somehow still functions despite its very poor state, even if it couldn't capture any other movements that he was making.

"At least the audio works, as for the camera... Rellik and Rosie are the only contestants who likely could fix the camera, so I shall ask Rellik for his assistance after the challenge. For now, I'll have to admit that I'm relieved that my plan to indirectly take out Makima by not warning him about the knife has worked out in my favor, even if I could've easily played it off if he had dodged the knife. With him out of the way, it means that I'll have more freedom with my actions today... so, as far as I'm concerned, things are playing out well for me."

[Confession Ends]

"Oh," Chara merely comments without any changes in her mood. The only modification on her face is how her eyes are more narrow, making her seem more observant as she looks at the source of the knives that are heading their way. Before she can dodge any of the upcoming knives, she quickly faces her other teammates to see how they are doing.

Her head stops turning once she notices the stunned journalist who is in the middle of shaking her head. It looked like she was trying to get her mind off something and attempting to focus on something else.

"Ack." Chara's hit in the head by the handle of a thrown knife. She immediately loses her balance and falls out of the competition seconds later.

[Confession: Chara]

"...I planned for that to happen," Chara starts off the interview with a blatant lie, "Regardless, it would seem that Ryokai Shimashita is either closer to Makima than I had originally anticipated or maybe she is more squeamish than anyone, me included, could have guessed. Whether any of those assessments are true remains to be seen, but after analyzing her actions and words today, I believe that at least one of my guesses will prove to be true."

[Confession Ends]

"(Oh dear...)" Gogo quietly comments after slightly opening her eyes just enough to see the barrage of knives raining in her direction. Even though she didn't have a lot of energy at the moment (which seemed to be the case for just about every moment of her life), that didn't mean she was planning on going down without putting up a fight. Before bracing herself to dodge, she observes her surroundings where she takes notice of the journalist.

"(Don't get distracted. You have more important matters to focus on,)" Ryokai whispers to herself, however, her voice is still loud enough for the historian to hear them.

Gogo tilted her head at what her teammate was saying. Although a part of her felt tempted to ask her what she meant, she knew very well that Ryokai wasn't someone who would just give out free information for no reason, in fact, most of the news she normally posts about (which normally was about murder cases and corrupt businesses) only come around whenever the topic is most relevant. Plus, Ryokai is obviously keeping information or secrets from her and Jessica that she's yet to explain, so it was practically a guarantee that she wasn't going to give her any answers.

"Are you ready... to dodge?" Gogo questions before turning to face the oncoming knives.

"Answer: Yes," Ryokai answers twice over before also staring at the knives.

Luckily for the girls, Arthur swings his wooden sword with his right hand at three of the knives which snaps his non-lethal weapon into pieces, however, this halted the knives' momentum enough that they fell. After doing this, he catches the remaining two knives by grabbing them by their handles right before they can fly out of his reach. Having done all of this, the blue-haired contestant then drops everything in his hands (his broken wooden sword and the two knives he caught).

"I'll focus on getting to the top now," Arthur explains after turning around to face the two girls.

"...Alright," Ryokai says whilst being confused about what just happened.

"Gotcha... we'll try keeping up..." Gogo responds with a nod.

Arthur nods at the girls before turning back around and wasting no time running up the series of poles. At this rate, he knows they wouldn't make it to the top in time, so rather than staying with the girls, he's decided to just make a dash for the top and see if the girls will be able to keep up. So, the prince runs up the series of poles without much trouble which was helped by the fact no knives were being chucked in his direction.

Behind him, Ryokai and Gogo quickly glance at one another before they also take off.

[Confession: Gogo]

"I know that we're... on the same team... but-"

[Confession: Ryokai]

"I never anticipated that I would see the day that a Kingston would help me out-"

[Confession: Gogo]

"Not that I'm complaining... it's just weird to see... even if-"

[Confession: Ryokai]

"He will likely screw me over in the future since it's just how the Kingstons work: When they want to achieve something, you're just another factor in a plan that you won't know anything about until you've been put to use. Information about what Arthur Kingston has done is scarce, but if he's anything like his parents, then I'm certain that he's someone who cannot be trusted in this game or especially outside it. That's why I'm never planning to work with him and why I'll ensure that neither Jessica nor Gogo invites him into our alliance."

[Confession: Gogo]

"He will likely screw me over in the future... after all... it's just the Kingstons work... but... a part of me feels bad for Arthur Kingston... every kid is a product of their uprising in one way or another... some more obviously than others... and knowing what I do about his family... not that they were as secretive or as subtle as he seems to be... his parents were definitely not the best... so a part of me does pity him... however... I'm also intrigued by what he's planning... you could even say that... I'm curious about Arthur Kingston."

[Confessions End]

"We're almost at the top!" Jessica exclaims, although her speed has slowed down from what it'd been earlier, she's still running up the series of poles without much trouble.

"Oh, th-thank... m-me!" Rellik tiredly responds, although he's keeping up with the athlete well and is only a few poles behind her, he clearly is putting more effort into this and is trying to catch his breath.

Unfortunately for the star-eyed contestant, this wouldn't be the end of his troubles.

"G-Gotcha, bi-bitch!" Luciana yells out as she grabs Rellik by his right ankle and tries pulling him down. Luckily for her, this works out and her enemy begins falling onto the same pole he just jumped off.

"H-Hey!" Rellik reacts in time by grabbing onto the pole before his head can hit it and he holds onto it for dear life before he glares at the girl behind him, "L-Let go, you bi-bitch!"

"(Glad you two are taking advantage of the lack of a profanity filter,)" Jessica remarks once she stops ascending the series of poles. Although she's so close to the top, making sure that her teammate isn't eliminated from the competition matters just as much to her.

Having made up her mind, the athlete begins going down so she can assist her teammate with his ongoing issue.

"C-Come o-on! Aren't you kn-knackered by n-now?!" Luciana asks as she leans back and shifts her weight around in the hopes of pulling her opponent off the pole. Her voice had a hint of desperation behind it and her movements had more effort behind them than what was probably needed.

"I don't even kn-know the meaning of the w-word!" Rellik responds with defiance in his voice, even though he is also telling the truth.

"Sorry for what I'm about to do," Jessica says after standing on a pole right next to the one which the thanatologist found herself on.

"If you're really sorry, then why don't you just piss off?!" Luciana responds as she kicks the athlete in her gut with her right foot.

"Gah!" Jessica clutches her stomach in pain.

Luciana then swings her leg up and kicks the athlete in her face.

Jessica falls backward, but she grabs and holds onto another pole before she can fall any further.

"Now, to take care of the other dolt!" Luciana declares before she directs her focus back on Rellik who is still holding on.

"Indeed~"

Luciana stops pulling her opponent after hearing the familiar voice and she even lets him go. Normally, the voice of another person wouldn't startle her all that much and she would've likely kicked the person if she didn't already know who it was. Her head slowly turns around where she sees the source of the sweet voice that had a malicious undertone behind it.

"H-Hey there, Hanako~" Luciana responds with the most innocent tone she could muster, although the nervousness behind it made the act apparent.

"Hey, Lucy... Do you have any last words?~" Hanako asks before licking the knife in her right hand.

"R-Rival! Could you please calm your lovely lil' bird down?~" Luciana pleads while nervously chuckling at the predicament she now found herself in.

Rival goes to open his mouth whilst trying to grab a hold of Hanako's left hand.

"Sorry, my dear senpai can't do that..." Hanako begins her response by nearly crushing the vocalist's hand and giving him a quick kiss on the cheek, "He's the one who made all of this possible, so the only thing he should do is watch and live with the consequences of his actions!~"

"..." Any energy that Rival had completely dissipated at the actions and words of his lover who reminded him of the painful truth. His dull eyes slowly looked down as no light or life could be seen coming from them, instead, his eyes were filled with hopelessness and acceptance of the whole situation. At this point, his hand being nearly crushed by his lover barely brought him any pain because nothing hurt more than the words coming from her mouth which he whole-heartedly agreed with... not that this was his first time making this realization.

"W-Wait! I was just messing around earlier!" Luciana yells out before looking around the area, "I didn't mean to-" Amid her sentence, the thanatologist tries landing a quick jab on the romantic with her left hand whilst looking away from her.

Unluckily for the thanatologist, the pink-haired girl swings her knife at her hand, hitting it away and cutting her in the process.

"O-Ow!" Luciana yells out before clutching her left hand.

Hanako wastes no time disposing of her teammate by kicking her in the stomach. The kick sends Luciana crashing through the same pole that Rellik is still holding onto, the impact of which causes the sturdy pole to break and crumble into a giant cloud of dust. With the pole collapsing, both Luciana and Rellik were eliminated from the challenge as their bodies can be seen lying on the ground once the dust cleared up.

"Hehehe~" Hanako chuckles at the beautiful sight she caused just with a single kick.

[Confession: Hanako]

"Many people may question my decision to add Luciana to my hit list when she could've been another number to help me take out the ones threatening my happy future... Well, the thing is that I've already got the numbers to take them out! I've already got Kazu-kun on my side which just leaves me with Rosie, who I'm sure will be voting with me tonight, so there's nothing for me to worry about! Besides, I'm pretty sure that not even the homewrecker or her koibito is desperate enough to trust Lucy... when you give someone the power to become an angel, then you're also giving them the chance to become a demon... and when it comes to Lucy, I'm certain that she would be the first angel to fall from grace."

[Confession Ends]

After spending a few seconds admiring the sight, Hanako faces her lover before dragging him with her. Eventually, the two of them are able to reach the platform high in the sky which marks the end of the series of poles.

"..." Jessica puts on a determined look before she slowly pulls herself onto the pole she has been hanging onto this entire time.

"It would seem that we're the last ones standing," A voice emptily informs the athlete who had her back turned to them.

"Huh? What happened to everyone else?" Jessica questions as she turns around to face the only teammate she has left in the challenge.

Needless to say, she wasn't surprised to see that it was Arthur Kingston.

"Makima and Chara were taken out by Hanako's knives while Ryokai and Gogo were both unable to keep up," Arthur confirms before looking down.

The camera then cuts to the unconscious duo of Ryokai and Gogo, the latter of whom seemed far more comfortable and content than the other girl.

"Are they-?" Jessica wastes no time in asking.

"They'll live. However, we must currently focus on reaching the top," Arthur bluntly answers.

"R-Right! Let's take care of this," Jessica responds as she turns around to look at the only two people standing in the way of her team's victory.

Arthur and Jessica run together and the two of them quickly reach the same platform that their enemies currently stood on. Luckily, the two of them had made it in time which was evident by a familiar airhorn that they heard in the distance.

"Sounds like the ten minutes are up... that was close," Jessica responds with a sigh of relief.

"Indeed. Unfortunately, this isn't the end of the road," Arthur states before staring at the duo standing across them.

"Oh? So you also picked up on the hole in Chris' half-assed rule?~" Hanako happily asks with a cheeky grin.

"Yes, I did. He said that we can't fight up here during the time limit... however, he didn't say about what can happen after the time limit expires," Arthur explains whilst positioning his right foot behind himself.

"Wait, what does that mean?" Jessica asks while she rubs her hair.

"The only rule about this spot is no longer in effect... meaning that this safety zone is no longer safe," Rival explains as he looks at his sister. She could not notice any excitement or relief coming from him when clarifying things for her.

"O-Oh!" Jessica suddenly raises her fists at the confirmation.

"Don't worry, senpai, you won't have to fight your dear imouto~" Hanako says before positioning herself in front of her lover after letting go of his left hand. As expected, she uses both of her hands to pull out some knives from the pockets of her skirt.

"Fine by me... I wanted to fight you anyways," Jessica confirms before clenching her fists.

"Why? Don't you remember what happened last time?~" Hanako wonders whilst tilting her head as the grin on her face shifts into a sadistic smirk.

"I haven't... but that still doesn't change the fact that I've come to hate you for what you've done to my brother," Jessica bluntly declares before her muscles begin tensing up.

"Jessica, you don't know how to fight." Rival points out whilst seeming entirely apathetic to the events going on around him.

"That doesn't matter! I'll try my best to win today's challenge even if we lose and I'll try making this girl pay for whatever she's done to you... besides, I'm Jessica goddamn Seizon!" Jessica announces before wasting no time charging at her pink-haired opponent.

"Good luck." Arthur simply tells his teammate before closing his eyes and taking a step back. Rather than assisting his teammate, the prince seems content with letting her handle the fight by herself.

"Alright, let's see if you'll-!" Hanako begins giving her response as she feels a rush of adrenaline light up her entire body.

Bump!

Suddenly, the platform suddenly shakes beneath the four contestants for seemingly no reason.

Jessica loses her balance and she falls onto the platform, slightly sliding across it in the process. Before her opponent can take advantage of this, she puts her hands on the floor and looks up to see what the pink-haired contestant is doing.

Hanako slightly stumbles forward and although she is able to remain on her feet, a feeling coming from her shoe confuses the girl. After raising her right foot, she sees that a piece of chewed gum has somehow gotten stuck to her shoe. Many questions start circulating through her mind and in this brief moment, the romantic finds herself distracted.

During this moment of confusion, Hanako feels a pair of arms wrap around her and a strong gust of wind that sends chills through her entire body. This further confuses the pink-haired contestant who was still processing the events that had just taken place. Even though the list of questions continued to mount in her mind, all of them went away once she looked down.

The person who had wrapped their arms around the romantic was her lover. A gasp leaves the girl's mouth and the pupils in her eyes shrink as he starts moving her to the edge of the platform. Although she knew that she should be stopping this from happening, the powerful gust of wind blowing in her face and through her clothes made it hard for her to get a clear view of her surroundings. Plus, her mind was still in a state of shock at the action that her beloved senpai was taking against her and there were too many uncertainties going through her mind over what she could do about any of this. Eventually, her lack of action leads to the lovers being forced off the platform entirely as her lover throws himself off with her.

"H-Huh?" Arthur responds with genuine shock after opening his eyes which immediately widen at the action that the vocalist had made.

"R-RIVAL!" Jessica cries out as she tries reaching out for the duo. Unfortunately for the black-haired sister, she's unable to do anything but watch the duo fall off the platform together.

Rival found himself on the bottom as he tightly held his pink-haired lover in his arms still. He knew what he was doing could be considered insane, especially after the thanatologist herself commented about how the fall could be potentially fatal. Yet, despite this knowledge, the boy still decided to go through with ending the challenge this way. It certainly wasn't the smartest or safest option, but it's the one that he still went with because it's the one that he believes will yield the best results for everyone involved with the mess he feels responsible for. Knowing how well his other decisions have played out, he knew it probably wasn't the 'ideal' solution or that it would provide the outcome he desired, but it's the only one that he thinks will realistically work out for everyone else.

Hanako looked down at her black-haired lover who gave her a different smile... this one seemed more hopeless and defeated than any of the other ones he had shown her. Seeing such an expression made it obvious to the girl that the action wasn't being done because he hated her, after all, he wouldn't be bothering to smile at her if he'd grown to despise her. It was difficult to truly understand the boy's mindset and the reasons behind his actions, but it didn't take long for the romantic to come up with her interpretation. To her, this was a scene straight out of Romeo and Juliet in the sense that the only way to achieve their 'ideal' scenario was by finishing this story in another place. Now that she had come to this conclusion, the girl found herself feeling a level of happiness greater than the previous peaks that the boy had given her because what he was doing was, as she saw it, the ultimate act of love.

The two of them stared into each other's eyes, one was filled with despair while the other was filled with hope. Despite their differing feelings about their relationship, each of them accepted their current situation, and neither had any intentions or desires to stop their fall. One of them wanted to go through with this because the reality of their situation had completely set in and they went with the most realistic option that could help everyone else, meanwhile, the other person wanted to go through with this because it was the only way to get their ideal ending and they were more than willing to recreate a scene from a fantasy to get what they wanted. However, the biggest disconnect that the girl had yet to notice was regarding the topic of whether they even loved each other. Although they were both 'boyfriend' and 'girlfriend', whether they truly loved each other was still a mystery.

"..." Rival shuts his eyes and leans in to kiss the girl once more.

"..." Hanako blushes from this and she instinctively wraps her arms around the waist of the boy.

Suddenly, the lovers are flipped around as they continue falling moments before reaching their inevitable ending.

THUD!

After the loud sound of the duo landing on the ground is heard, Makima steps out from behind one of the nearby poles. Currently, the actor can be seen rubbing his right shoulder before approaching the pair of contestants who haven't moved at all. Once he reaches the duo, he pulls out a coin which he flicks into the air before it lands right by the duo.

"Keep the change, ya filthy animal," Makima says before stepping over the duo and walking away from them whilst waving back at them, "And have a Happy New Year!"

Eventually, the actor walks until he's out of sight.

[Confession: Makima]

"Glad that worked out... the fall was a little rough, but it wasn't as painful as some of my stunts have been, so I guess I should be thankful for getting taken out on one of the earlier levels even if that wasn't a part of my plan. I know that I was out of the challenge, but knowing Chris, he probably won't mind me getting involved since he can blame Kai for taking me to the poles holding up the platform via vehicular raptortation... never thought I'd be able to make that pun in this day and age, but here we are. Anyway, I was the one who caused the platform to shake and I'm very glad it took out Hanako... in fact... I see this as an absolute win!"

[Confession Ends]

Between the two contestants, Hanako took the worst damage since she was the one on the bottom by the time they both had landed. Her eyes were wide open, but her entire body was left twitching in pain thanks to the unbearable pain that it caused to her entire backside. Her clothes had also gotten torn (though not enough to expose anything worth censoring) and even though her eyes were open, they were also filled with water not only due to the pain that the fall had caused her, but it also came from the extra pain that her body felt whenever she tried moving it. Although none of this meant that the vocalist didn't also greatly suffer from the fall, in fact, it was quite the opposite. His eyes were closed, his hands were basically broken, and there were no signs of movement coming from him.

It didn't take long for someone else to come across the duo.

"THE FEROCIOUS TROUTS WIN TODAY'S CHALLENGE!" Chris announces after dusting a few feathers off himself.

No one around him reacted to this because they were all either still down, nowhere near the spot, or were too high in the sky to even hear the news.

"Thanks for the exciting reactions..." Chris sarcastically remarks after hearing nothing but crickets.

Now that he's done his job, the host turns around and he begins walking away before stopping in his tracks. After feeling a vibration from his pocket, he pulls out his phone and looks at the notification that he's just received.

"Oh..." Chris responds to the notification as his eyes widen at what is on his phone.

"Ch-Chris!" The host hears someone call out for him.

Chris lowers his phone and he faces the rock-climber slowly walking toward his direction.

"Wh-Where's-...?" Yana begins questioning, only for her to find her answer right behind the host.

"Looks like you campers had a rough day," Chris remarks after stepping out of the rock climber's way.

"Ri-Rival!" Yana yells out whilst stumbling over to the duo. The cut across her back still brought her pain, causing her attempt to run to be rather sloppy and lead to her almost falling with each step. But, even with her body not being in the best shape, this didn't stop her from carrying on and eventually reaching the vocalist who still hadn't moved.

Wasting no more time, Yana grabs onto Rival's jacket (which had a lot of dirt and grass on it) and she lifts him off the pink-haired contestant.

Hanako tries keeping her arms around her 'koibito', but this fails and his arms just fall to the ground. In the state she currently found herself in, there was nothing that the romantic could even do but watch.

"(Thanks...)" Rival quietly responds after his teammate wraps his left arm around her neck.

"H-Huh?" Yana finds herself initially confused and she looks at the vocalist's face.

"(You're a good person... Yana,)" Rival says with a small but proud smile whilst his eyes open just enough for him to look at the girl he's saying these words to. Currently, his face has some dirt and bruises on it (thanks to the fall), but none of this seems to matter all that much. The only thing that mattered to him was giving the rock climber the compliment she deserved, especially after all of the stress he caused her.

"...I'm glad to hear it," Yana simply responds after a light blush appears on her cheeks, although she doesn't seem to notice this. It wasn't her first time hearing such a compliment, but for some reason, hearing it come from the vocalist made her feel more accomplished and relieved than she normally would. A part of her did feel slightly annoyed that he didn't say this sooner... but, it's not like she has enough time or energy to argue with anyone at the moment. Besides, there was no way that she could bring herself to hate the vocalist, even if her earlier outburst made it look like otherwise. After processing the boy's simple words, the girl turned around and began carrying him off with her.

Hanako slowly begins raising her head and she puts all of her effort into forcing herself to move.

Before she can do anything else, a foot quickly stomps the girl's head into the ground, knocking out the romantic for the time being.

Shiro is soon revealed to be the person who stomped out the pink-haired contestant without a hint of remorse or regret visible on him. The only thing he did afterward was stare down at the person he'd knocked out before picking up his plushie bunny who was turned away from the brief moment of violence that had just occurred.

"..." Shiro then watches Yana and Rival walk off together after picking Mono up.

Slowly, the white-haired boy looked down and sighed after staring at his best friend. For once, there was a sense of sadness and disappointment coming from him which showed in his normally emotionless yellow eyes. So, he quickly turns away from Rival and Yana before walking off into the woods with Mono clutched tightly into his arms.

[Confession: Rellik]

"Looks like I'm in charge of fixing this thing," Rellik can be heard saying after stepping into the outhouse. There was a hint of frustration in his voice and even some annoyance at being one of the two people on this island capable of fixing an issue that he wouldn't normally care about... it's just that this one did involve him. How is he supposed to be shown off during his confessional if the screen is too cracked to do so?

"Oh? What's this little thing?~" Rellik is heard responding once he notices something after pulling the camera off the wall.

Before what he discovers can be shown, he takes the camera apart and cuts off the recording.

[Confession: Rival]

By the time the vocalist opened the outhouse, the quality of the camera had drastically improved from the cracked screen of just one confessional ago. He even looks around the place before closing the door behind him and sitting down so he can begin whatever confession he has to make here.

"I'm surprised that I survived that fall," Rival explains before closing his eyes, "But, what else is new? I've got a habit of getting involved in potentially fatal situations whether I choose to or not, so I shouldn't be that surprised at this point," He casually explained before shrugging at the disturbingly common occurrence, "And like always, I'm able to survive even when I should be dead." A frown soon formed on his face and for a brief moment, there was nothing but complete silence in the outhouse.

...

"Well, since it looks like I'm still alive, I'll have to deal with the consequences of my actions and continue living as I've always done," Rival confirms after the frown on his face goes away and his eyes open up. "Although I don't hate Hanako and I do appreciate her for helping me remember some very valuable lessons, she was also becoming too dangerous around everyone else, and so, I needed to take her out. Did I feel happy throwing myself off the platform with her and needing to basically injure her to get her to stop? No, but it needed to be done and it's not like my thoughts exactly mattered there... She hurt so many people and made so many enemies which wouldn't have been a problem if some of those people weren't also people who I care about. After hearing what Yana and Jessica said, I knew what had to be done because the only way to help the people I care about is by throwing my feelings and opinions out the window."

After giving this in-depth explanation, the black-haired vocalist looks at the camera and gives it one more smile before giving his final thoughts, "Sorry Hanako, but there are other people who I want to help out more than you... so, I'll try my best to make my team happy."

[Confession Ends]

The Frogs of Death walked into view of the camera. Unlike the previous elimination, not everyone left on the team was currently there with Hanako being the only member who wasn't walking alongside the rest of her team which was probably for the best. Thanks to everything that took place today, most of them weren't exactly having an easy time making their way to the elimination ceremony and a few of them needed support from their other members.

These members were Rosie, Luciana, and Rival who all had Kazuru, Shiro, and Yana supporting each of their respective teammates. Kazuru looked at Rosie with concern over well-being which wasn't helped by the fact that the v-tuber was looking away from the self-proclaimed pro-gamer whilst pouting, even though she didn't hold any genuine hatred for him. Luciana and Shiro seemed the most indifferent to their pairing, but the caretaker did lean into the thanatologist's ear to whisper something that caused her to giggle and give the boy a demeaning smirk. Rival and Yana merely smiled since neither of them minded being near each other, in fact, they were both relieved that they were able to casually do this without the threat of anyone getting hurt on their watch.

During this walk, Kazuru spotted a beeping red light against one of the trees they were walking by which he immediately recognized. So, he yoinked the object which the flashing red light was attached to off the tree and placed it into his pocket before anyone else could even notice it. Right after this, the team walked off-screen before the camera turned up to focus on the moon once again.

As has been the case previously, The Frogs of Death's logo was then edited onto the full moon in the sky.

The logo on the moon soon transitions away once the camera pulls out to reveal The Frogs of Death sitting at the elimination ceremony.

"Welcome Frogs, you may notice that someone is missing tonight," Chris says after clapping his hands together and giving the contestants a host-worthy smile that only a McLean could love and truly appreciate.

"Yeah, Where's Chef?" Luciana asks an incredibly valid question.

"Glad you asked. After spending most of his time creating an accidental livestream that Kai somehow recorded in the middle of their chase, Chef decided to get some early rest tonight... after today, I don't think he's a fan of the Raptors," Chris remarks before chuckling at the rather amusing set of events he just described.

"Didn't he also nigerun away like a big baka from the raptors on day ichi?" Rosie fairly points out.

"I don't speak weeb," Chris remarks, making it clear that he did not understand fifty percent of what was just said and didn't even want to bother to comprehend it.

"I think she's just pointing out that Chef was never a fan of the Raptors," Yana elaborates after giggling slightly at what the v-tuber just said.

"True, but his opinion doesn't matter! We'll keep using the dinosaurs and whatever other dangerous animals we can find!" Chris declares while pumping his fist into the air in excitement.

"...I believe we should discuss Hanako's state in the game," Shiro says in an attempt to get the ceremony back on track so that they can discuss the missing elephant at the campfire.

"Right! That's something else worth talking about," Chris responds before clearing his throat.

"..." Rival sighs at the name that was mentioned, but Yana quickly comforts the vocalist by lightly holding his left hand.

"Here on Total Drama, we love putting our campers through torture and inflicting pain on them... but, attempting murder or trying to injure the rest of your competition are lines that we cannot accept for legal reasons. So, even though you guys caused her to be in the state she's currently in, she also did use a knife against you guys... which is a very deadly weapon. Basically, I'm letting your actions slide today," Chris explains.

"What does that mean for the nemesis of this group?" Kazuru questions.

"I was getting there..." Chris responds with clear annoyance before turning around to face the campfire behind him, "Because Hanako could get us into legal trouble if she gets too out of hand and due to her physical health not being the best, the producers and I have come to the agreement to medically and legally disqualify Hanako Kaneko from the competition."

"So you finally grew big enough balls to do something about the 'Scary Girl' herself? I'm impressed~" Luciana demeaningly remarks before clapping slowly at the host for making such a 'brave' decision.

"Watashi was certain that she was outta here anyways, her attitude was not very poggers or jouzu by the standards of the ones who speak nihongo," Rosie says as she nods in agreement with the decision.

"Does this mean we're not voting anyone off tonight?" Yana wonders with hope-filled eyes.

"Yes, that's exactly what it-" Chris begins his response with exasperation at the fact he needed to clarify something that he thought was pretty obvious.

"Oh senpaiii~" A familiar voice calls out from the woods behind the host.

Everyone slowly turned their heads and faced the source of the voice just to confirm if it truly was the person they were all discussing. Their suspicions all prove to be true once the pink-haired contestant takes a step out of the dark woods and into the campfire area where the fire revealed them.

"You're... m-mine~" Hanako simply declares with a desperate tone which makes her current appearance even more disturbing to every other person here. Currently, her entire body seems unfit to walk as each step of hers takes a few seconds for her to make, her torn-up clothes have some dark red stains on them, and her arms remain completely limp during all of this. Yet, even with the poor state her body is in, her face tells a different story. Not only are her eyes wide open and laser-focused, but her hair is messy and filled with leaves while her mouth is entirely drenched by the drool overflowing it and her tongue licking it. All of this made the romantic seem less like a person and more like a wild predator looking to capture their prey and keep them trapped at their home for the rest of their life.

"E-Eeep!" Rosie squeaks out before immediately taking cover behind her stump.

Kazuru gulps at the girl's appearance and he nearly falls back, but he uses his hands to stop this and he shuts his eyes once he gets back into a comfortable sitting position.

"Damn yandere," Luciana growls out with an unusual amount of venom in her voice.

"He's not your plaything! Stop treating him like one, you abusive br-brat!" Yana nervously but defiantly yells out after she stands in front of the vocalist and gets into a fighting stance.

Shiro simply hugs Mono with one hand just to make sure his best friend is turned away from what is about to happen as he begins raising a pair of scissors he placed beside his stump.

"How c-cute... you all th-think you can st-stop true love from ha-happening?~" Hanako questions before reaching into the only pocket of her skirt that doesn't have a hole in it.

"..." Rival looks at the pink-haired girl with pity at how she's acting.

"Well th-then... time to take out all of my love rivals!~" Hanako announces after pulling out the last knife that she has on her.

Chris wastes no time running away from the romantic and straight into the woods.

"How courageous," Luciana sarcastically remarks.

"(Heaven. Hell. Earth. None of you will ever forget any words that shall be spoketh,)" Kazuru suddenly starts whispering some seemingly random words with his eyes remaining closed.

Hanako takes a step towards the rest of her team.

"This vessel's name is Kazuru Badasu: The foremost prodigy among all gamers. I am the God of Gamers and I shall bring magic into this world just so I can forever take out my nemesis," Kazuru continues his strange speech as he takes off his eyepatch and slowly opens up his eyes.

Rosie gasped after finally realizing what exactly the boy was trying to pull off.

"Behold my power-!" Kazuru swiftly reaches into his pocket before throwing out the object he picked up just before getting here.

Just as Hanako takes another aimless step forward, something slides under her feet.

Beep.

"Huh?" Hanako slowly looked down to see what caused the noise.

Under her feet was a landmine that she just triggered.

"EXPLOOOOOSION!" Kazuru calls out as loudly as possible whilst waving his imaginary staff in front of him.

Once the powerful command (which was just a perfectly timed shout) was ordered, the fantastical spell finally took form in this reality.

The landmine under Hanako goes off and a big explosion consumes the romantic whilst the fire near them intensifies the heat of the explosion and burns her even more. A loud scream of pain is heard from inside the explosion and this scream continues as the explosion also throws the pink-haired contestant off the ground and into the night sky. Her body then falls limp as it flies through the night sky, although the camera is able to catch one more shot of the girl before she flies off. Her already torn-up clothes were nearly burnt off and black marks were present all across her body, but what stood out the most were the tears coming out of her closed eyes that she probably let out when she was screaming. This is the last view of the pink-haired romantic before her body flies too far away for the camera to capture her any further as she becomes a mere dot that eventually crashes into the ocean in the distance.

"...I did it," Kazuru says with the biggest and brightest smile he's ever had.

"THAT WAS AMAZING!" Rosie wastes no time fangirling about what happened as she hugs her friend.

"I didn't see that coming... well done," Luciana remarks before she applauds the boy.

"Where did you get that mine from?" Shiro asks an incredibly valid question.

"That spell was obtained from a lethal company," Kazuru answers before looking into the woods, "Known as the trees."

"So you don't know?" Shiro immediately figures out the actual meaning behind his words.

"...Thou is correct with that summarization," Kazuru quickly confirms after he turns away from the caretaker, causing the v-tuber to get her arms out from around him.

"I'll have to say, that explosion was a beautiful sight to behold," Yana admits before looking into the night sky where the leftover smoke from the explosion finally clears up.

Rival stands up from his stump and walks over to Kazuru before holding out a fist, "Kazuru... that was badasu."

"Anything for the mortal who was able to help this deity stay connected with the fantasy they hold so dear," Kazuru responds before fist-bumping the vocalist, "Speaking of which, would thee mind becoming a part of the fantasy?"

"If that's what you want, then sure," Rival quickly answers, even if he doesn't know exactly what the offer entails.

"(Yes!)" Kazuru quietly exclaims after he turns around and begins jumping with joy.

"Glad that crazy bitch is gone," Luciana says with a sigh of relief.

"You and me both, Lucy," Yana responds before the two girls high-five each other.

"Well... I didn't expect you of all people to do my job for me, but I'm not going to complain," Chris remarks once he walks back to the campfire area.

"I'll betto you that you absolutely enjoyed the elimination that my tomo-friend-chi just did," Rosie says after crossing her arms.

"I did, especially after watching you cower behind your stump there," Chris responds with a slight smirk at his comeback.

"F*** you!" Rosie angrily yells back at the host.

Shiro begins looking around the area to see what could've caused the random bit of censorship.

"As much as I'd like to defend myself at this outside court, it's time for you campers to return to your cabin!" Chris announced as he pointed off into the woods. Every member of The Frogs of Death follows the order this time around and begins walking off without having as much to worry about as last night. Yana, Rival, Kazuru, Shiro, Rosie, and Luciana all seem content with how tonight played out and Shiro even started making Mono dance with joy.

"Oh, wait!" Rosie suddenly exclaims before looking into the camera and making the shape of a heart with her hands, "To all the viewers who have still chosen to support me: I love you!~"

After making this sudden announcement, the v-tuber continues walking off with the rest of her team.

[Confession: Kazuru]

"For those who're curious about why Rosie said that 'tis because that is the signature outro she uses in the grand finale of her livestreams before they reach their inevitable outcomes of ending," Kazuru explains in the least amount of words that he currently can use. During this explanation, he puts on his eyepatch once more and smirks at the camera as he covers his eyepatch for dramatic effect. He then slowly removes his hand from his eyepatch and throws it to the side, but in doing so, he accidentally hits the wall, "Ow!"

For a few seconds, the confessional is put on hold as the boy shakes his left hand in an attempt to relieve the pain that is already going away.

"Anyways," Once the pain goes away, Kazuru prepares to resume his confessional by clearing his throat and shamelessly pumping his right fist into the air (luckily, he made sure that his fist didn't have another meeting with the outhouse's indestructible walls), "I'm so glad that the explosion spell finally worked! I've always talked about doing it, even though I knew that it'd be impossible to genuinely pull off in this world, so seeing it work out for the first time and the fact that it lives up to the beauty that a certain mage would constantly describe it to be makes it all even better! Although I'm still scared of Yandere's, at least I now know that I'm not as helpless against them as I once believed myself to be. Plus, I've now got someone in my life who'll be there to support me and keep my fantasy intact... the last time I had someone like that was Kamei, so it's quite a big thing to me, but I'm sure that Rival probably knows that well. Now that I think about it, he does also share one more thing in common with Kamei... but I'd rather not say it! What I will say is that I'm glad to not have turned out like Hanako did since although we both live in fantasies, hers are far more destructive than any spell I could ever cast."

[Confession: Rival]

"Looks like I'm a member of Kazuru's party," Rival confirms before looking around the outhouse, "I wonder if I'll need an eyepatch or something like that to feel like a complete member," He explains before deciding to stop looking around and shrugging at the camera, "...Eh, I guess I'll just ask the 'God of Gamers' about it later, he's the only one who actually knows anything about this 'fantasy' stuff that I agreed to."

The vocalist then leans back against his seat before continuing his last confession for the episode, "I'm relieved that I'm able to keep my promise to Yana since I'm not exactly the best with doing that, plus, making her happy is the least that I can do after indirectly forcing her onto a rollercoaster that only came to an end moments ago... though I wonder how Shiro feels about all of this since I've got a feeling that he feels an attachment to her. I'm not entirely sure if his feelings for her are romantic or platonic since I don't know too much about the guy, but I'm sure that I'll find out soon enough since Yana will probably fall in love with me if she hasn't already... this may sound clichéd, but, I know this because ain't my first rodeo. Now, as for Hanako, I'll just say that I don't feel bad or regret anything that happened... after all, a thing like me doesn't deserve to feel bad over stuff that is my fault."

With these final words and a smile, the vocalist's confessional comes to an end.

[Confession: Kai]

"I have a confession to make... I was the one who planted that landmine there during my island-spanning chase with Chef! Why? Well, the more important question is 'Why not'?" Kai wastes no time in confirming before giggling with glee at how the day played out. He then picks up a laptop that he placed on the ground and opens it up. After the device completely turns out, he begins typing away, "Although Ryokai may reasonably think otherwise, I've been progressing in my mission and I'm almost done with it now that I've got the thing which can help me tie the story together since although I'm a drama writer, mysteries are another way to get drama and so I'm also a fan of those!"

After spending a few minutes clicking through certain files and searching for specific information, a grin slowly forms on the redhead's face.

"This is quite the spicy case that I've solved... though I'll wait a bit before revealing it to Ryokai," Kai confirms before gently closing the electronic device that has helped him accomplish his task. He even pats the laptop even though it isn't an animated object that can feel the pats. This didn't matter too much as the redhead then stared straight into the camera, "Because Chef stole my moment earlier..." The drama writer then clears his throat before raising his arms, "What do I have to reveal to Ryokai?! Can The Frogs of Death prevent themselves from going on a losing streak?! And who will be the next victim to have an explosive exit?! Find out on the next episode of-!"

[Confession Ends]

Chef smirks at the camera whilst in his pajamas after turning off the camera recording the intern, "You'll have to wait a bit longer before you can do that, boy."

Afterward, the co-host walks off, leaving the episode off in silence. The questions posed by Kai were very valid ones to have, however, only a few of them can possibly be revealed next time, meaning that for the time being, these questions will go unanswered...

Nanawo Akari - One Room Sugar Life

Mainichi ga gudaguda aimai ni gudaguda, [Every day feels worn out because of how vague it all feels,]

Hanako can be seen walking through a crowd of people with no physical features on them except their scribbled-out faces.

Shiteru itsumo datte atashida. [Though that's just who I am.]

Her head looks down at the sidewalk as she wanders aimlessly in the colorless world around her.

Kono mumina raifu made, [If it weren't for this tasteless life,]

A person suddenly crashes into the concrete in front of the romantic who gasps at this.

Nakattara atashi mo anata mo inai! [You and I wouldn't be here!]

The person is revealed to be Rival who Hanako pulls off the ground while the world around them explodes with color.

Kanjou ga kirakira, Anata de kirakira, [My emotions glitter, You make them glitter,]

The next thing that's seen is the lovers eating dinner together.

Shiteru ima dake ga zenbu janai! [But this moment isn't everything!]

Both of them go for the same spaghetti string which nearly connects their lips.

Kono amai sekai, No uso mo hontou wo, [In this sweet world, full of lies and truths,]

The next thing that's seen is the lovers dancing together inside a nightclub.

Yappa choudai dore mo atashi nanda! [I want to keep them as they define me!]

Both of them end up in each other's arms and they lean in to make their final moves.

Say Wow!

The next thing that's seen is a giant bell that suddenly rings out with doves flying past it.

Sakende emooshon, [Scream out your emotions,]

Hanako steps in front of her lover with a wedding dress on.

Tsukurotta vueeru wa mou iranai. [I don't need my mask anymore.]

Rival smiles at the romantic who offers up her hand.

Ai wo! [With Love!]

The boy then pulls out a ring.

Utatte iyou yo kono heya no, [Let's sing a song in this room,]

He then puts the ring onto the girl's ring finger before the two lean in.

Naka kara zenbu kaeyou yooo! [That will change everything!]

All of these thoughts go through Hanako's mind as the screen transitions into the moment where the lovers kiss during their fall earlier. Her thoughts about the potential future they could have together speeds up the beat of her heart and the two of them are moments away from hitting the ground with the vocalist being the one who'll take the potentially fatal blow. However, the yandere flips them around at the last second and decides to take the blow... the reason for this wasn't something that could be explained or something that needed much explanation since the answer was a simple word that Hanako Kaneko valued more than what was healthy for herself: Love.

Total Drama Sinland

Remaining Contestants:

The Ferocious Trout: Rellik, Jessica, Makima, Ryokai, Chara, Gogo, and Arthur.

The Frogs of Death: Yana, Shiro/Mono, Rival, Luciana, Kazuru, and Rosie.

Elimination Order:

Kai Hayashida (16th)

Murano "Sazama" Yoshio (15th)

Hanako Kaneko (14th)

Number of Lawsuits (so far): 0.

Anime Songs List:

Episode 1: "Mephisto" from Oshi no Ko

Episode 2: "KICK BACK" from Chainsaw Man

Episode 3: "Sparkle" from Your Name. and "Colors" from Code Geass

Episode 4: "One Room Sugar Life" from Happy Sugar Life

Author's Notes:

ANOTHER CHAPTER DONE! Now, if you combine this chapter with the Minisode, then this update is about 30K words long! I'm glad it wasn't longer than the last update (though topping 40K this soon would be ridiculous), but these chapters are definitely not getting shorter... unfortunately for my sanity, but hey! I only make these chapters as long as I feel like they should be so I've got no one to blame but myself for thinking that these are the appropriate length for each chapter. Now, to get onto my-

Reason for Elimination: Remember how I mentioned in the previous Author's Notes that I thought that other characters deserved a more mean-spirited exit than Sazama? Yeah, Hanako is one of those characters. Although she could've gone further, especially if I chose to have her keep her temper for a few more chapters, I figured that other characters had more potential for more interesting storylines and considering that her social skills are significantly weaker than normal when she falls in love with someone (combined with the fact that this isn't a Ridonculous Race fic, meaning that playing a good social and strategic game is more important here than just being terrifying and cutting people), I decided that having her go this early and making her my first "hateable" character would make her another strong and memorable early boot that stands out from the chaotic Kai and the arrogant Sazama. Writing her has also made me realize that I don't hate the "Yandere" trope, I just don't like seeing those types of characters get what they want because it usually feels like the story is rewarding them for their irredeemable actions and toxic attitude which doesn't lead to the most enjoyable viewing experience in my book, so Hanako ending up with her "lover" was never in the plans for me since it would've left a poor taste in even my mouth.

The funny thing about this chapter is that I wanted to get it out by the end of last year, so Gogo reading "A Christmas Carol" was written before Christmas came around and was meant to allude to this being a "Christmas Special", but evidently, I got this out one month later which is sad in retrospect... also, Makima's Home Alone reference is something else that is meant to feel like a "Christmas Special" even though it was written much later than that... so yeah, there's the extra joke behind those scenes for those who read this. I'm not entirely sure if the tone of this chapter ended up as balanced as I tried to make it, but I'm hoping that it did.

That's all I've got to say, so I'll just thank ninjedi for beta-reading this story and I'll give an extra thanks to Tech-Star 2.0 once again for being the first and only review on this story by the time of this update! Thank you to anyone else who reads this as I appreciate you taking your time to give my story your time of day or night! As usual, I'll now-

PEACE OUT!