Chapter 18: In the Dark of the Night
Byakuya watched as the students paraded off to the beach, many chattering along the way. Most were in their swim clothes, as that had been the pick for this evening's activity, though Byakuya, Hiyoko, Mahiru and Chiaki chose to come along in just their regular clothes.
It had been a busy day. Between checking up on Mahiru a few times, Byakuya had tried to convince Fuyuhiko to partake in the buddy system twice, and he had spent some time at Jabberwock Park, just to make sure that nobody tried to sneak over to play the game.
That worry had been unfounded. He had seen Akane and Nekomaru racing past a few times, presumably running around the island, but they never went to the park. Apart from that, only Ibuki literally dragged Peko there. He let them stay a little, trying to drown out Ibuki's incessant babbling, until he shooed them off when he decided to take his leave.
Now, the only thing left on his agenda for the day was to talk to Kazuichi. He wanted to inquire how he had handled Teruteru.
As soon as they arrived at the beach, he stopped Kazuichi and took him aside. It didn't take long for the other students to spread out and beach bags to be dropped wherever. Ibuki immediately ran across the beach and threw herself into the water with a splash. Akane followed only seconds later, while Sonia entered the water at a slower pace. Peko left her bamboo sword leaning against a tree and went off to swim in deeper water, while the other girls were more or less paddling around near the shore. Even though the sun hung low above the horizon, it was still warm and the water didn't seem to have cooled off too much to swim.
Hajime stayed on the shore near the water and started to build a sandcastle; Nekomaru soon went to help him. Hiyoko and Mahiru on the other hand had brought a blanket and settled under one of the palm trees. They invited Chiaki to sit with them.
They weren't complete this time. Fuyuhiko obviously hadn't joined them, though Gundham had opted out when they decided on a visit to the beach and Mikan hadn't shown up for the meeting to begin with. Her complete absence had nagged at him, even after Chiaki had assured him that she was fine, so he had stopped by at her cottage on the way to make sure she was still alive. She was and told him she just felt a little exhausted and would rather rest. A sentiment he could get behind.
"What is it?" Kazuichi asked, glancing longingly at the sea. "Come on, I'm missing out on all the fun."
Byakuya cast one last look over the beach to make sure everyone was accounted for, before he said, "I wanted to ask about your assessment of this day. Were there any problems with Teruteru? Did you get along with him?"
"I brought him food three times. No problems." It looked like Kazuichi wanted to add something and stopped himself.
"But?" Byakuya prodded.
"No buts. He didn't eat much, but that's not my problem," he said, getting defensive instantly.
A shout alerted him to what looked like some kind of war that had broken out between Ibuki and Akane. They were sloshing each other with water, laughing and cheering loudly. When Byakuya had made certain that nobody was drowning, he focused back on Kazuichi. "Did you talk to him about anything in particular?"
Kazuichi glared at him. "Why does everyone try to pressure me into being friends with him? I told you, I want nothing to do with him. I'll give him some food but I won't stay around him any longer than I have to."
Byakuya rolled his eyes. "If it were just a matter of keeping him fed, I would be more than capable of taking care of that myself," he said. Kazuichi didn't have to know that he really could use someone who lightened his workload, even if it was just bringing food to Teruteru.
"Why don't you do it then!?" Kazuichi crossed his arms, his beach bag nearly hitting Byakuya when it swung around.
Scowling, Byakuya was about to tell him off for his attitude. Then he stopped himself at the last second. They could argue about this as much as he wanted, but it was the same issue he had with Fuyuhiko. While he could try to give them orders, he had no way of enforcing them. Even as their leader, he could only get them to do things they willingly went along with.
He could insist that Kazuichi befriend Teruteru, though with his attitude that was unlikely to happen. Byakuya would have to watch all of their interactions to make sure Kazuichi did what he was told, which would be extremely counterproductive.
This was a lost battle, he realized.
"Fine. It looks like we are not getting anywhere."
Kazuichi looked at him warily. "That means?"
Byakuya hesitated for a second, then he decided, "That means you give me back the key to his cottage. You won't be Teruteru's buddy any longer."
"I won't? Thank god," he said in surprise. Then he caught himself. "Oh, uh, yeah… that's good." He put down his bag and squatted down to sift through it. Glancing up, he asked, "So… is Hajime gonna be my partner, then? I mean, Fuyuhiko isn't participating, is he?"
Byakuya lifted his glasses by their stem to rub his temple with his other hand. "I'll have to think about what to do with you. I'll tell you about my decision tomorrow morning."
Kazuichi, having found the key in the depths of his bag, stood back up and held it out to him like it was burning hot. He let go of it before Byakuya had properly grasped it, resulting in it almost getting dropped in the sand.
"Sorry," Kazuichi said, shrinking under his scathing look.
Byakuya sighed and pocketed the key. He should have come up with a plan B.
"So, can I go now?" came the hesitant question.
"Don't let me stop you," Byakuya said. He watched Kazuichi trudge through the sand quickly, throwing his bag off to the side and walking over to Nekomaru and Hajime. The other boys were trying to save the sandcastle that had started to crumble when a wave had reached it. They were unsuccessful. By the time Kazuichi arrived at their side, their creation was only a weirdly shaped bump on the sand. The two of them talked with Kazuichi for a minute over the ruins of their work, then all three of them joined the students already in the water. Byakuya noticed Mahiru getting up, as she had done periodically, and snapping a few pictures.
Mulling the situation over in his head, he let his gaze wander up to the sky where the sun had already vanished beneath the ocean and the small clouds were painted in brilliant colors ranging from bright gold to a purplish red. Of course, he could just take care of Teruteru on top of Nagito. Since they were both confined to their cottages most of the time, they couldn't wander off when he wasn't looking, so it wasn't a matter of taking unnecessary risks. Still, his time was better spent on other things. He also doubted that Teruteru would ever really warm up to him. He had tried to talk to him, but… they were just too different.
He was just as reluctant to partner Kazuichi with Hajime. Yes, Fuyuhiko was doing his own thing, as usual, so Hajime technically didn't have a partner yet either. Byakuya at least approved of him thinking ahead and spending some more time with Mahiru and Hiyoko instead.
So, maybe it would make sense to say he should partner up with Kazuichi.
It was just… he refused to give up on his plan for Fuyuhiko just yet. Maybe if there was still no change tomorrow evening, he would budge. For now, though, he wanted to hold on to his original plan as much as possible.
With a sigh, he rubbed his eyes. This was actual work. Someone really ought to pay him for his efforts. He righted his glasses and let his eyes sweep over the other students to make sure everything was in best order before he walked over to the girls still sitting on the blanket. They looked up when he approached. Hiyoko glared at him.
"I'm going to head back to the cottages," he said, addressing Chiaki. "Would you tell Hajime and Sonia to make sure nobody stays behind once the nighttime announcement plays?"
She smiled. "Sure."
He nodded and looked over to Mahiru for a moment. She looked back curiously. "Could you also go back with Mahiru and Hiyoko?" He saw Hiyoko roll her eyes and avert her gaze.
"Of course," Chiaki assured him.
"Good. I'll be off, then."
He turned on his heels without waiting for another reply and left the beach behind. Once the rowdy students were out of earshot, it was a remarkably calm evening. He checked the park again, just to make sure none of the students that had stayed behind had snuck off without him noticing, but it was deserted.
He didn't meet anyone; not even when he came back to the hotel. Only Gundham had his lights on. He went to the cottage opposite of his own and unlocked it with the key Kazuichi had returned to him.
Teruteru was sitting on his bed, looking toward the door in surprise. It was starting to get dark in the room, though switching on the light was optional for now, even if Byakuya had to strain his eyes to see everything.
"Oh, it's you." Teruteru turned his head away. "I didn't expect any more visitors today," he said, speaking to the room.
"There has been a change of plans," Byakuya said. He stepped in and closed the door behind himself. He was a little glad that Teruteru wasn't asleep yet. "I just had a talk with Kazuichi. He said he brought you food?"
"Yeah."
At least he had done that much. "He was supposed to check up on you not just for that, but it appears this arrangement isn't working. I made him return your key, so he won't be your buddy anymore."
"Alright."
"For now, I'll be responsible for you again, but I'll think about a possible solution. I might have you form a group with two other people instead. I will tell you about my final decision at some point tomorrow."
"You don't have to make such a fuss about me. I know this is all just unnecessary work for you." Teruteru shrugged. He sounded indifferent. "It's fine. I don't need a partner."
Well, at least it was a step up from one-word replies. "Having you sit alone in your lodge all day isn't the point of this arrangement."
"Maybe not, but I don't mind either way."
Byakuya kept quiet for a long moment. Long enough for Teruteru to actually look at him again. Finally, he said, "I want to apologize."
In the gradually darkening room, he barely noticed Teruteru's eyes widen. "Huh?"
Now it was Byakuya's turn to look away. The topic made him uncomfortable. "I upset you last time due to my ignorance. That was… not my intention."
Teruteru was speechless for a second. "You're actually sorry? You mean it?"
Byakuya's first impulse was to ask him what that was supposed to mean and if he couldn't appreciate an apology, he would take it all back. However, he was aware that it would be a knee-jerk reaction which would probably do more harm than good. So, he kept that to himself and tried a calmer approach. "I realized that I can hardly relate to your situation, which makes it easy for us to have misunderstandings like the other day. I don't know whether we will ever really see eye to eye on anything. But you need someone to talk to, no matter who it is. So, you'll get a partner or two, whether you want to or not. Kazuichi is too stubborn, but there has to be someone on this island who will agree to do it."
Unexpectedly, Teruteru started to chuckle.
"What's so funny?"
He shook his head. His smile didn't quite reach his eyes. "Nothing. It's just… you really have a way with words. Somehow, you always manage to make everything sound like a hidden insult."
Byakuya was taken aback. "What?" he said with a frown, running his words through his head once more, not coming up with anything that might have rubbed him the wrong way. "Where did I—"
"It's fine," Teruteru deflected. "I know you probably didn't mean it that way."
"I didn't mean to insult you," Byakuya confirmed, still confused.
"It's okay," he repeated. He smiled thinly. "Did you come up with that on your own?"
His confusion grew. Hadn't he already explained that in the morning? "I told you, I planned this all along with Nekomaru, Sonia, Hajime and Chiaki."
"No, I meant… well, it doesn't matter." He trailed off. After a short hesitation, he added, "I appreciate the sentiment, I guess."
It started to dawn on him that he was probably referring to how Byakuya wanted someone to talk to him about his problems. He wasn't completely sure, but he wasn't going to ask. He didn't want to risk making him angry again.
Unsure of what would be appropriate to say, he let the silence stretch until it went from just slightly awkward to downright uncomfortable. Byakuya cleared his throat. "Well, like I said, I will consider some possibilities and tell you tomorrow what I decided on."
"Alright, if you insist."
He lingered for a moment longer, but when Teruteru didn't say anything else, he figured they were done here for the day. Byakuya gave him a court "good night", which Teruteru returned, and left the cottage.
The night was quiet. Peko knelt on the pillow in front of her small table and waited, listening for any activity outside of her lodge.
She couldn't hear anything and she had checked behind the curtains several times, though there had been nothing worth worrying about ever since the light in Ibuki's cottage had been turned off. That had been nearly two hours ago, around 11:40 p.m.; since then, there had been no sign that anyone else was awake.
Though she knew that someone was still outside.
Fuyuhiko had slipped her a note saying that he would play the game once everyone was asleep and that he would discuss the contents with her afterwards. To avoid anyone noticing that something was going on, she had switched off her lights hours ago, after they had returned from the beach and the nighttime announcement had played, to make it seem like she was sleeping.
Now all she had to do was to wait. Minutes crawled by. She started to worry that something had kept him from going. She didn't know much about video games, but shouldn't he be back by now? Even if something had happened to impede him, she wouldn't be able to confirm it. Leaving her cottage to visit his own or to go to the park was out of the question. It was of utmost importance that nobody found out about their connection, so she couldn't risk it.
Thankfully, it was almost 2:00 a.m., when her door opened. She hadn't locked it, of course, to allow him quick entry. Fuyuhiko snuck in and shut the door behind himself carefully.
She stood, showing her respect with a quick bow. "Young master," she greeted him.
She could see him nod his head. She noticed that he held something in his right hand. It looked vaguely like a flat square, but she couldn't make it out in the darkness. "Hey," he mumbled back.
He stepped further into the room, stopped, and came to stand in the middle of it.
"Did everything go as planned?" Peko started the conversation when he didn't say anything.
"Yeah…," he said quietly, "no problems."
He fell silent again and Peko was confused. This kind of behavior was unusual for him. But he said that nothing happened…
"Did you play the game?" she prompted, hoping that it would get him to start talking to her. However, she only got a muted "Yeah" for an answer. Something was definitely wrong.
She hesitated, thinking about how she should phrase her question. She didn't want to make it sound like she was demanding information, even if her worry grew with every second of silence. Then she asked: "Do you want to tell me what you found out?"
She was almost certain now that Byakuya had lied to them. If the game truly only concerned Mahiru, Fuyuhiko wouldn't act like this.
A few more seconds passed. Peko forced herself to stay patient.
"It's…," he eventually started, only to trail off again.
Peko frowned. Didn't he sound strange? She listened carefully, though she could only hear his calm breaths.
...No, not calm, she realized. He was breathing deeply, in and out, but it… almost sounded unnatural. As if he forced himself to steady his breathing.
"Natsumi…"
She was momentarily distracted by the hitch in his breath and his shaky voice that the name only registered a moment later. Her eyes widened. If she hadn't expected one thing, it would have been for his sister's name to come up on this island. She wanted to ask what Natsumi had to do with anything but reigned in her curiosity.
"Peko."
Her own breath caught in her throat and she involuntarily took a step forward. He sounded so lost. She wanted to do something, but what?
She saw him raise his head. She could only make out his face faintly, but she was sure that he was looking directly at her.
"She's dead, Peko."
It was merely a whisper. For a moment, his words didn't make any sense.
"Are you sure?" she asked without thinking once the message registered in her head, because it was all starting to sound so unreal. She regretted her words immediately.
"Of course I'm fucking sure!" he hissed, throwing the object in his hand furiously. It whizzed through the air, hitting the wall with a crinkling sound and landing on the ground. Distantly, she registered that it sounded vaguely like paper.
"She's—!" His anger vanished as soon as it came and he made a strangled sound in the back of his throat. "There are pictures, Peko. Fucking pictures."
He hung his head again, falling silent. He looked so small. It felt like there was an iron ball sitting painfully in her stomach.
Peko was at a loss. She was not good with words. There was no way for her to come up with the right thing to say. If she tried, she knew she wouldn't be able to express herself properly, with her head being as empty as it was. She didn't even know if any words existed that could make him feel better.
Still, she had to do something. Seeing Fuyuhiko look so lost and vulnerable, she couldn't just stand there. Without thinking, her body moved instinctively. She walked over to him with gentle steps, came to a stop right in front of him, and with only a moment of hesitation, she wrapped her arms around him.
As soon as she did, she heard him inhale sharply as much as she felt his muscles tense beneath her hands. Realizing what she had done, she froze. This was unacceptable. Completely inappropriate. She had stepped over all the lines in existence. He was already in such a fragile state and now she was forcing her compassion onto him as well.
Appalled at her own actions, she thought frantically of what to do. Just when she was about to release him and apologize profusely for her insubordination, he leaned into her slightly. She held her breath, waiting for what he was going to do.
After another tense moment, his head came to rest on her shoulder. Then he raised his arms and carefully returned her embrace.
Peko exhaled, feeling her body relax in the process. She hadn't angered him. That was good. She had half expected him to… well, it didn't matter. As her anxiousness disappeared, she realized that Fuyuhiko was trembling.
Immediately, she felt helpless again. Her young master was in need of… something. And she wasn't sure what else to do. How could she possibly relieve his pain? She couldn't bring back his sister. She didn't even know what had happened. Though pushing him to tell her was out of the question.
She thought about what other people might do in such a situation as she tightened her hold on him. One of her hands started awkwardly moving over his back in what she hoped would feel like a soothing gesture.
Was this all she could do for him? Hold him in her arms and pray it would somehow help? She wished she had some instructions on what to do, though that was a preposterous desire. No matter how often she asked him to rely on her, Fuyuhiko often shied away from giving her orders, preferring to solve his own problems.
Still, in a situation like this, he had to know that she would do anything to help. If he knew what he wanted her to do, he would tell her. Peko was sure of that.
After a while, he started to talk. He told her about what he had found out. His voice was shaking almost as badly as his body, but he shouldered through. He told her that his sister had apparently been accepted into Hope's Peak Academy as well and that she was murdered by another student. He also mentioned the photos Monokuma had given him afterwards that confirmed the whole story. It was awful and her heart broke for him. The only consolation was that he must have already avenged Natsumi's death, if the game was to be believed
Her instinct told her to keep him close. She wanted to tell him to stay until the morning. She wanted to tuck him into her bed and hold him through the night, just acting as a source of comfort.
She knew, however, that he would never agree. He had always hated showing weakness, even in front of her. He tried to be tough and distant. To keep up an air of indifference. Despite how emotional and sensitive she knew he could be.
Besides, they couldn't be seen together. If anyone noticed him coming out of her cottage in the morning, they might as well announce to the world that they had always known each other. That she had been in his family's service for her entire life.
As much as it hurt, they had to keep pretending. They were just normal classmates for now. And Fuyuhiko was on bad terms with all of them. No matter how much she wanted to be there for him and soothe him, if only a little bit… her wishes were irrelevant.
So she just kept him in her arms for now and didn't say anything.
When he finally lifted his head and shifted away from her, Peko freed him from her embrace obligingly. He took a step back, his head turning to the side. He was carefully breathing through his mouth, though she could hear that his nose was clogged. She was sure that she would find wet patches on her uniform. She didn't check. Neither did she comment.
"She fucking knew," he said quietly. His voice shook, this time with anger. "Mahiru knew everything and she tried to destroy the evidence. She tried to protect this bitch who killed Natsumi. And now she's trying to hide behind Byakuya and his bullshit project. Like she's above judgement. She thinks she has the right to—" He cut himself off to take a deep breath. "I want to fucking kill her. I want her dead, Peko."
"I know," she said. How could he not? However… "They would know it was you."
He was quiet. He must have known that as well.
"Do you want me to kill her for you?" she asked.
After a few moments of silence, he said, "We need a plan. We'll do it together."
Peko caught on immediately. "You want to make use of the accomplice rule." It was almost like the rule was meant for them. Maybe it was. If Monokuma had control over the cameras, he must have known that she was under his command.
"They won't find a connection between us," he confirmed. "We'll work together on the preparations. Then I'll have to get myself an alibi while you kill her. They have no reason to suspect you. We can frame someone, just to make sure. Hiyoko for all I fucking care." After a pause, he added, "First we need to find a way for you to get close to her without any of her guards getting in the way."
She instantly realized how stupid she had been in hindsight. "I'm sorry," she said.
Fuyuhiko turned his head to her. "What for?"
"If I had just insisted on being her bodyguard, this wouldn't be an issue."
"Tch. You didn't know. It's just a bit of bad luck that it turned out this way. If anything, blame that whiny brat." When she hesitated, he said, "Don't worry. We'll get her." His voice was so full of conviction, she just had to believe him.
Peko was touched that he tried to reassure her. And he was right. Blaming herself wouldn't accomplish anything. What they needed now was a solid plan. Peko finally felt like she had direction. She would kill Mahiru for her young master and they would both get off this island. This was the goal, and her part in achieving it was clear. She would do everything in her power to grant his wishes and destroy everything that stood in his way.
This was what she did. What she had always done.
A/N: I've got some bad news. I ran out of pre-written chapters and I don't have a lot of free time right now. Originally, I wanted to have chapter 19 finished by the time I upload this one. Turns out I barely even found the time to edit this chapter in time.
I really can't tell you when the next chapter is done but it will probably take some time.
