Seeing nothing else to talk about, Masashi thought to end the meeting now. He was about to open his mouth, but he stopped upon seeing a certain bear suddenly pop out of nowhere.

"Hey, there, passengers!" Monokuma said. "Looks like you're enjoying yourselves quite a bit!"

"Well, I was, but then you suddenly showed up," Sayua remarked. "What do you want?"

"Hey, now, don't be so hostile toward your dear captain!" Monokuma replied, feigning shock. "I assure you, I come in peace! I mean you no harm!"

"After everything you've done, I seriously doubt that," Murphy mumbled grumpily, crossing his arms as he gave the captain a sidelong glance.

"Anyway, what have you come here for?" Faye asked.

"Not much, truly," Monokuma answered, leaning toward the side. "I simply want to report to you guys a few… cleanups."

"'Cleanups'?" Masashi said, puzzled.

"Well, I don't personally see the need for them, but I just do what I'm told. That's corporate life for you," Monokuma said as he shook his head in disappointment. "Why doesn't anyone care about my opinions? Why don't I get a say in how things are run?"

"Oh, I don't know… Maybe it's what you get for trapping us here for days," Sayua said snidely. "And without giving us any new clothes, to boot."

Monokuma pretended his weeping act for a few more seconds before going back to normal. "Ah, let me see… Remember the library connected to the merry-go-round room? Previously, you had to find the special switch whenever you wanted to go inside. But now, you don't need to do that! The doors are always open!"

"Really?" Tanjiro said surprisedly. "Well, it'll make going there much easier, at least."

"What else have you done?" Mari asked.

"Only one other thing!" Monokuma answered. "You know how the exhibit rooms in the second ship have locks, right?"

Uh oh… Masashi thought, as there was only one reason why Monokuma would mention such a thing.

Monokuma chuckled as he covered his mouth with his paws. "It's been decided! Those locks have been removed!"

Gasps came from many of the others.

"Y-You mean that we have free rein to go in and out of the exhibit rooms?" Faye said incredulously.

"Well, that's how rooms whose doors don't have locks work, isn't it?" Monokuma replied. "Why do you look so surprised? You should be glad that you can take a look at the Egyptian gods whenever you want!"

"But without the locks, the exhibit rooms can't be used as an effective storage room anymore!" Masashi pointed out, getting a bit angry from seeing the glee on Monokuma's face. "Why did you decide to remove them?!"

"Sorry, what was that, buddy? Could've sworn that a flash of lightning had suddenly popped up," Monokuma said cheekily.

"I said—"

"Oh, now that I think about it work calls for me," Monokuma interrupted, "so I'll be on my way now. See ya!"

"Hey, answer the question!" Arashi bade.

But his words were pointless, as Monokuma left the room in his usual way. For a few moments, the group simply stared with utter dumbness at the empty space on which he had stood.

"Well, what now, man?" Sorao asked, facing Masashi. "You heard what Monokuma said. What shall we do now?"

"I don't think it's a good idea to have all the weapons and other stored things in the exhibit room now," Masashi began. "We should return everything to its original place. For instance, the ropes should be taken back to the storage room in this ship. As for the emergency rations, they should be put in the kitchen."

"I guess it'll be good to have them nearer to us, in case we need to use them in an emergency," Mari said.

"So who wants to move them?" Masashi asked. "I know it's a bit troublesome, but it'll take a while to put everything back to where it was."

Murphy sighed as he scratched the back of his head. "I don't really have anything better to do, so I'll help."

"I'll help as well!" Arashi said excitedly.

"Ah, that's very kind of you, Arashi," Faye said. "I ought to bake you a treat later. How does an éclair sound?"

Arashi let out a gasp of amazement, eyes glinting. "Well, I don't know what that is, but if it's from you, Miss Nirigiri, I'm sure it's delicious!"

"And once that's taken care of, what shall we do then?" Mari asked.

"You guys can go do your usual routine," Masashi answered. "I still need time to think of our first bond-building event."

Once the group saw that there was nothing else to talk about, the others began to leave the room, heading their own ways.

"Hey, Masashi! Could you hold on a minute?"

It was Kasumi, who was the only other one still here.

"Hmm? What is it?" Masashi asked.

"First of all, I want to thank you for sticking up for me!" Kasumi replied, grinning. "I know I may seem dangerous because of my Ultimate talent, so I appreciate that you're willing enough to trust me."

"Ah, well… it's nothing," Masashi answered. "I thought you were earnest when you said that you would never never kill, and so I would give you another chance. Still, don't be surprised if the others aren't as willing to trust you."

"That's what the whole bond-building thing is for, right?" Kasumi said. "Once they get to know me, they'll see that I truly meant every word of my vow not to kill!"

She then lowered her smile, her expression turning mellow. "Sure, they may know my real name, but if I have to choose between killing them to keep it secret and having my real name be potentially exposed… I think I'll go with the latter."

"I hope you'll be able to live up to those words," Masashi said. "Now, if that's all, you're free to go."

"Um… actually... there is one other thing I want to talk about," Kasumi replied as she adjusted her red masquerade mask. "You want to have us form a bond together. That's your strategy to stop any more killings from happening, yes?"

"Yeah, that's right…" he answered, wondering what concerned her.

"I agree with all that, but in the long run, won't we still be in the same place?" she asked. "However strong a bond we may make, we'll still be stuck here on this ship. Have you thought about any possible ways to escape?"

"Ah…" He had, of course, wished all this time that this killing game came to an end, but he had thought little about actually trying to escape this place. "Sorry… no, I haven't. I was hoping that someone would find us eventually."

"You mean the rescue forces that Futaba mentioned?" She stopped for a few seconds, skepticism entering her eyes. "Um, no offense, Masashi, but I'm actually not sure whether they'll ever come."

"Wh-What?" Masashi said, a little taken aback at her uncertainty. "But why?"

"Hey, don't get me wrong! I want help to come as well!" Kasumi replied, looking a little flustered herself. "But it's been at least a week since this whole thing began, and so far, no signs of help have shown up. I don't deny the possibility that rescue forces will come to us later, but our chances don't really look good!"

Masashi cocked his head in unbelief. "But why? Why wouldn't they be on their way?"

Kasumi scratched her cheek. "Well, I can only guess! Maybe it has something to do with this Project Shining Morrow that we apparently were involved in. Maybe something's happened to the outside world, and that's why government forces haven't come after all this time."

Masashi groaned as he lowered his eyes. "Much as I don't want to admit it… you have a point."

On the first day, Futaba had assured them that they would be rescued sooner or later, but he suspected that the others now felt less inclined to believe this, especially because its greatest proponent was dead. And now that the killing game had lasted this long, there was a chance that something strange was going on in the outside world, and that was the reason why no one would come rescue them.

Of course, that assumed that the lack of any rescuers was not done on purpose. Masashi shuddered upon thinking that the government might have had a hand in their predicament.

"If help's not coming," Masashi said, wanting to find some hope amid all this uncertainty, "what do you suggest we do, then?"

Kasumi set her hands on her hips. "Well… there may be one way that we can get out of here ourselves. Follow me, and I'll show you what I mean."

She left the dining room, entering the starboard hallway. Masashi followed, feeling a rush of excitement through his body. To his surprise, however, Kasumi's destination was not so far from the dining room; she was walking to the end of the hallway, where there was a great door to which was chained an equally great golden lock. Masashi recalled having tried to open it on the first day, but he had failed, and ever since, he had ignored this part of the hallway.

"Hey, Masashi…" Kasumi said. "Do you remember that conversation we had on the second day? You know, the one in which Haruyuki guessed that I'd broken the curfew?"

Masashi gasped. "Oh, yeah, you said you were looking at this door! And since you were up at that point, you saw Atsushi come out of the merry-go-round room!"

"And I agreed to let you investigate it, after I had you give Arashi hot sauce disguised as a soda drink!" Kasumi giggled as she set her hands behind her head. "Now that was a fun time, wasn't it?"

"I think you were the only one that had fun from that experience..." Masashi pointed out, feeling disappointment that Kasumi had thus tricked him. "And let me remind you that you must play no more pranks on anyone else."

"Oh, don't worry about that! I promise you that I've turned a new leaf!" Kasumi said somewhat assuringly. "Anyway… this golden lock actually has no physical key. The keyhole is only for show. Instead, it has a hidden keypad."

She pointed at a certain square indentation on the top of the great lock. She pressed down on it, after which the cover slid all the way to the right. What was uncovered was a keypad that offered English letters and numbers as input options.

"I tried to find a way to get past this lock, but I had no luck," Kasumi said. "You can try to guess what the password is if you want, but for all we know, it may be twenty characters long."

"So it's pointless to even try to guess what it is…" Masashi muttered. "Have you found any clues as to what it may be?"

To his disappointment, she shook her head. "This ship's a pretty large place, so unless we're lucky, I don't think we'll stumble upon a clue easily."

"Hmm… Kasumi, do you know what may be behind this door?" he asked.

She shook her head again. "I don't know, but I think that whatever's behind this door can prove instrumental for our escape! It seems pretty weird that Monokuma would block off access to this room out of all rooms."

"So at the very least, we can be nearly certain that there's something important behind it…" Masashi concluded. "By the way, Kasumi, have you tried unlocking the "STAFF ONLY" doors in the dining room and in the Egyptian palace's second deck?"

"Oh, those doors? Yeah, I have," Kasumi answered, looking none too cheerful. "Sorry to break it to you, but we're actually not allowed to go into those rooms. I thought about doing that last night, but Monokuma told me that the only 'STAFF ONLY' doors that we can access are the ones that are already unlocked. I'm pretty sure that's why the Memory Bank, which had such a door, was accessible to us. You can check the rules if you want to make sure."

Masashi looked at the rules listed in his Monopad, and indeed, what she had said was on there. The very sight disappointed him, as he had hoped that they might find something behind those doors.

"Hey, now that I've taken another look at the rules… there's something that's caught my eye."

Masashi pointed with excitement at the twelfth rule:

12. Only when the amusement park reaches its destination does the killing game end.

"Maybe we can simply wait until the ship arrives at its destination!" Masashi added. "There's a time limit to this killing game, so there don't have to be any more deaths!"

Kasumi chuckled weakly. "Um… Sorry to break it to you, Masashi, but I don't think that's right!"

"What…?" he said, befuddled. It all seemed simple: the ship was sailing toward its destination, whence Monokuma would let them go.

"Well, the problem is that it doesn't say what the destination is. Maybe we'll be sent off to some dangerous place, so we won't be out of the woods yet," Kasumi replied. "And with this 'Project Shining Morrow' that we somehow were involved in, maybe Brightmere Research has more sinister plans in mind!"

"Ah… That's right…"

Masashi groaned, finding himself unable to rebut her concern. He could definitely see Monokuma tell them that the killing game was over, only to send them to some lab facility. That technically would not be against the rules, and he doubted that Monokuma would answer any of their questions about this rule any time soon.

"So… it seems like waiting it out isn't even an option…" Masashi murmured.

"If you ask me, you'd better focus on this door," Kasumi said. "If you find a way to go into this room… I think that the chances of escape will rise greatly."

After he returned to his room and took a short shower, Masashi tried to think of a few alternative solutions to end this killing game, such as subduing Monokuma somehow. But it had been clear from the very beginning that Monokuma himself could not be destroyed, as he could simply come back in a copy of his body. Masashi looked at the rules again and saw that jumping off the ship was technically allowed, but he doubted that anyone would dare to swim all the way to civilization, especially with the stormy weather.

The only solution was to find a way to get past the locked door, but where might he find any clues on the password? Maybe he ought to organize a search later, though he doubted that it would yield any useful results. Surely it would not be that easy to find a way out.

After taking a short nap, Masashi left his room and saw a certain girl walking about the garden, not at all fazed by the rain coming down from the aperture.

"Ah, hey, Masashi. What's up?" It was Mari, who wore her usual dark-blue hoodie.

"Nothing much. What are you doing right now?"

Mari touched a fringe of her long black hair. "It's raining a bit hard outside, so I can't spend time walking on the deck as usual. This garden's not so bad, is it?"

"Yeah, while we're all here, we should appreciate the sights of this weird amusement park," Masashi replied. "Mind if I walk with you?"

Mari showed a small smile. "That sounds swell."

For a long while, the two walked back and forth through the fourth deck, sometimes varying the pattern by walking in circles around certain patches of blossoms. Once, Masashi nearly tripped on a patch right by the patch on which the rain came down. Luckily, he had narrowly avoided rolling into the drenched patch and instead was troubled only by the dirt and grass on his gray jacket.

Sometime later, the two stopped beneath a tree, protected by the branches' cover. The rain poured down harder, the air growing chillier, the winds outside uselessly attacking the ship with its many blows.

"Hey, Mari…" Masashi began. "I've been wondering… why did you become a phenologist in the first place?"

"Well, if you had to guess, what would you think?" Mari asked simply.

Masashi thought for a few seconds. "Um… Maybe you decided to follow in your parents' footsteps or something."

Mari giggled softly. "Sorry, but my parents don't work in the sciences. My father's a fireman, and my mother's an elementary school teacher."

"Oh… I see," Masashi replied, a bit disappointed that his guess had been wrong.

"Ah, but don't get me wrong. My parents are pretty… outdoorsy, so I guess you could say I got my outdoorsiness from them," Mari continued, smiling a gentle smile. "Anyway, to answer your question… When I was a child, I was pretty curious about the natural world. So I went to scientific exhibitions, watched scientific shows and documentaries, read scientific books… you get the gist."

"Wow… Bet you were a very diligent scholar," Masashi said. "Were you in any science clubs, then?"

"Indeed, I was," she answered, gazing at the surrounding blossoms. "I liked to participate in as many scientific activities as I could. Scientific competitions and fairs were all fair game for me."

"Oh, did anything in particular inspire you to specialize in phenology?"

She shook her head. "Not really… My liking of phenology developed over time. If I had to guess, I'd say that it goes well with working outside." Her eyes then glinted. "It's fun to spend time outdoors while observing seasonal phenomena, don't you think?"

A little startled to see excitement entering her expression and voice, Masashi nodded.

"Anyway, as I got older, I began to go on field trips to a few scientific institutions, and I even attended a few workshops at some universities during the summer," Mari continued, her excitement subdued a little. "I even assisted a few researchers in their projects and was credited as a contributor."

"Wow, really? That's unbelievable!"

"If you can't believe it, then the papers will make you believe, Masashi," she retorted cheekily.

"Well… I guess I'll take your word for it," he said, gaping. "You're not the kind of girl to while the time away by playing games at home, are you?"

"I'm more a book girl, truly," she answered. "I can recommend you a few books if you want to learn more about phenology. Maybe then we can have more fun conversations, and we can even try to challenge each other on how much we know about the earth!"

Masashi started upon seeing Mari lean toward him, her excitement waxing.

"Th-That's your version of fun, huh…" he said. "Truthfully, I don't think I can compete with you in that field. I'm only a normal guy, but you're the Ultimate Phenologist! I don't think I can ever learn as much about it as you!"

"Nothing's stopping you from learning more, Masashi!" Mari clasped her hands together as she approached Masashi. "There are many interesting things about phenology, I assure you!"

Wh-What the…? Masashi thought, startled to see her look so excited. Was this a scientist's eccentricity at work? Sh-She really wants to talk about this…!

Seeing what would soon befall him, he also saw that he could not escape her without looking like an thoughtless sap. She looked not at all bothered; in fact, now that he was essentially trapped, he swore that he saw her eyes glint yet again.

"To begin with, phenology plays a key role in life not only for humans but also for other beings!" Mari said, raring to go. "For instance, birds may time the hatching of their eggs to occur in seasons when certain insects appear. That way, the birds can catch them to feed their younglings…"

But she did not relent at all. For a long while, Mari talked about sundry seasonal phenomena, never growing listless. She mainly talked about how organisms of the natural world were affected by the seasons, though she occasionally talked about how the seasons affected humans. This topic had far less focus, Masashi guessed, because he was already familiar with them. In any case, he was amazed by her depth of knowledge, though that was greatly dwarfed by his astonishment of how long she could talk.

"Isn't it interesting how great a role the seasons play for all beings on Earth?" Mari said as she ended her talk.

"Yeah… It's rather interesting to hear how certain animals get ready for winter…" Masashi replied, trying to reckon how many minutes her talk had taken. Had it been ten? Had it been thirty? Or had it been a whole hour? He might even believe that it had taken a whole day, were his sense of reality weak.

Mari smiled a small smile. "I'm glad that you would listen to what I had to say. Maybe next time, I can talk to you more about phenology."

"If that's what you want, sure…"

As Mari walked away, Masashi made a note to himself that he ought to be ready for long lectures the next time that he decided to go on a walk with her. Fun as it was to be around her, he definitely felt tired from having listened to her go on for that long.

"Wh-What do you want?"

Hikari looked not at all glad when Masashi entered the pool room in the pirates' cove. From what he could tell, she was simply looking at the pool, in which no one swam right now. The only thing to greet her was her own reflection.

"Oh, I only want to check up on you," Masashi began, trying to ignore her irked expression. "You haven't really been talking much with the others, so I wonder whether there's something bothering you."

Hikari looked away as she covered her mouth with her white kimono's sleeve. "I-I see no reason to talk with th-them…"

"What don't you like about them? On the whole, I think they're good people."

Hikari stopped yet again. "I-If you think those people are g-good… y-you'd better be ready for d-disappointment."

Masashi widened his eyes, the concern on his expression growing. "What…? Why don't you think they're good people?"

"You're really naive, if you ask me…" she replied as she took in a deep breath. "Y-You may think that people care about you… but in truth, they all look out for themselves. Th-They'd gladly toss you away if it helped them somehow."

"Well, I think you may be too pessimistic—"

"Of course you would say that!" Hikari faced Masashi with a scowl. "Y-You don't know what my life is like… You don't know what it's like to be loved by no one."

"No one?" Masashi repeated incredulously. "Come on, that can't be true. Can you explain to me why you feel that way, at least?"

"You're not going to go away if I don't tell you, r-right?"

"I'd like to go away with a better understanding of your problems, at least," Masashi answered. "It's clear that there's something wrong, and if I can, I want to do something about it."

Hikari looked at him with bewilderment for a few seconds. "Well… I-I guess I'll give you credit that you don't want to stay naive… All right, I'll talk."

Masashi smiled gently, hoping that he would let her feel at ease, even if it meant having to brook her demeaning characterization of him.

"To begin with," Masashi said, "you say you're loved by no one. But you have a family, don't you?"

Hikari sighed as she lowered her head. "Oh, please… I-If family had meant anything, my own parents wouldn't have forsaken me in the woods."

"What?" Masashi said, wide-eyed. He was about to ask whether it was true, but he quickly reasoned that it would only worsen her opinion of him. "But why?"

Hikari set her hands together, her kimono's sleeves covering them. "It… It's my spirit channeling powers. Because of them, I-I've always been treated differently. I remember hearing from my mother how odd I was… for laughing and weeping willy-nilly. I-I saw things that the other children didn't… It was all right at first, but as I got older, the others gave me more and more wary glances."

"Ah…" Masashi understood what she had said. She must have been to interact with ghosts at a very young age, and obviously, that would make her stand out too much. "But what made your parents decide to forsake you?"

"I-It happened when I was about s-six," she answered. "I saw her… my maternal grandmother. She had died years before my birth… but I could talk with her. I knew things that only she knew. And it was then… that my parents saw that I had special powers."

"That… That is pretty conclusive evidence…" Masashi replied. "So why did they choose to leave you alone in the woods?"

"I don't really know for sure..." she said gloomily. "Th-They were frightened by my powers, so it was clear I didn't belong in their home anymore… I guess they thought leaving me in the woods was the easiest option."

"And not an orphanage?"

Hikari scoffed. "Th-They may have tried doing that, but I guess it didn't work… Not that it would've helped."

"So, uh, do you have a home now, or are you living in the woods?"

"A-A home… It's a bit of a long story, though… one I don't really want to talk about."

The more he heard of her tale, the drearier he too felt. Other than the beginning, it had nothing positive about it at all; the people that had been supposed to give her a loving home had ended up going as far as doing the crime of child abandonment. The dread and mistrust that he could sense from her tale was so tiring that he would have her end the tale at once.

All right, this is getting way too gloomy, Masashi thought. I should try to end things off her on a positive note.

"Hikari… I think it's good that you've told me all this," he said. "I definitely understand why you don't think highly of other people."

He thought to say that she ought to be more open-minded. After all, unlike her parents, the other people here were, on the whole, kind and would not mistreat her at all. At least, that was what Masashi thought of them. But given how condescending that might sound, he realized that that might tick her off instead. He decided to go at it from another angle.

"Let me ask you this, then: how do you feel after telling me all this?" he asked. "Do you think it's helped you in any way?"

"Well…"

Surprisingly, Hikari dropped her usual moody expression, which was replaced by a look of confusion. She glanced away from Masashi and eyed the ground, mumbling something. Masashi wanted to ask whether she was all right, but he figured that she would snap at him, saying that she needed time to think. Eventually, after a minute or so, she gave her answer.

"I… I guess this wasn't too bad," she said. "At least you're not saying I'm wrong for feeling this way."

Masashi smiled. "Hikari, let me assure you that if you're ever in any trouble, I'm here to help you. I won't harm you, I promise."

"Wh-Whatever…" she replied, though the usual wariness in her voice was noticeably less.

"And you won't mind if I come talk with you again, right?"

"Hmph… E-Even if I say no, you're going to do it anyway…" she said bitterly.

Masashi watched as she walked away. Though wishing that she had answered more positively, Masashi could tell one thing from her answer: she was not unwilling to spend more time with him. Maybe over time, he could get her to change her mind and become trustful of other people.

When Masashi entered the Egyptian palace's exhibit rooms, he saw Kasumi looking at one of the exhibits.

"Hey, Masashi!" she said in her usual chirpy voice. "Want to hear a tale of mine?"

"Uh, sure, go right ahead," Masashi said, seeing how keen she seemed.

"You see this, Masashi?" Kasumi pointed at an exhibit of a falcon-shaped figure. According to the nearby stand, the god was named Horus. "I stole something like this a long while ago! It was a bird-like idol figure that a famous rock musician had bought. On a snowy night, I arrived at the mansion, the musician having already received my calling card. As I approached the mansion, I heard music being played through the speakers…"

She then went on about how she managed to sneak into the room in which the idol had been stored. It sounded so unbelievable that Masashi would think that she had made it all up, were it not for the awfully great amount of detail in her tale.

"Anyway, I got the idol in the end," Kasumi finished. "As usual, after the theft was reported on the news, I sent the musician his idol back. And let me tell you, he sure wasn't happy that I had ruined his 'performance'!"

"Wow… You really enjoy what you do, don't you, Kasumi?" Masashi replied, astonished.

"Well, if one has to stick to something, it'd better be something one's either good at or enjoys a lot," she said, smiling. "And thankfully, in my case, it's both!"

"So what made you want to become one in the first place?" he asked. "It's not exactly an orthodox occupation, to put it lightly."

Kasumi giggled as she covered her mouth with her right hand. "Ah, you want to hear? Well, I guess you know my name, and it flatters me that you want to learn more about me." She then leaned toward him with a slightly stern expression, as if ready to whisper to him some great secret. "Keep in mind, though, that I'm technically wanted by the government and some particular individuals, and revealing my background details can potentially put me in greater risk. Hence, I want you to promise that you won't say anything!"

"Oh, uh… sure. Sure, I won't say anything," he answered. On one hand, he liked to follow authority and would cooperate with the government if need were, but on the other hand, he was interested in learning more about Kasumi, and she seemed harmless and friendly, her thefts set aside.

"All right, I'm holding you on your word on this!" Kasumi said. "If I catch you blabbing on me, I'll, uh… Say, what valuables are in your room back home, anyway?"

"My room? For starters, a lot of video games—"

"That's it!" She snapped her fingers. "I'll send you a calling card that says I plan to steal all your video games! And you'll get them back only after I finish playing through them!"

Oh… that's one way to punish me, I suppose… Masashi thought. And some of those games will take days to complete, so it might take a year to get them back...

"To begin with, when I was very young, through certain circumstances, I became separated from my biological parents," Kasumi said. "I was found by a certain man… For reference's sake, let's call him the 'Thief King'."

"The 'Thief King'?" Masashi gave her a puzzled look. He was also interested in the part about her biological parents, but figured that in this tale, it was not important, and so decided to keep quiet about it.

"You see, the Thief King is actually the Ultimate Thief… but for certain reasons, he forsook his original name and lived his life using fake names thenceforth," she continued, speaking with an overly dramatic tone. "He was in the middle of a getaway heist when he found me. He took me in, and after he forged a new identity… I'm legally his biological daughter. Using a few tricks, he registered his new identity on the family registry. He decided to use my last name as his fake last name."

"Wow… I guess the Thief King decided to settle down if he wanted to take care of you," Masashi replied, amazed at how much of her life seemed like something out of fiction.

"Well, not exactly. Even after adopting me, he still went on a few heists," Kasumi answered. "I helped him plan a few of them, as did his son."

"To be clear, you're actually living with an adoptive father and his biological son, even though the government thinks you're all of the same blood," Masashi said.

Kasumi nodded. "Glad to see that you want to get all the lore straightened out! Anyway, to answer your question of why I wanted to become a phantom thief… I guess my work with the Thief King made me interested in doing something involving theft. I didn't want to become a regular thief, though."

"Really? Why didn't you become a thief?" Masashi asked, and now that he thought about it, it sounded weird to ask such a question in the first place.

"Well… to be truthful, I think theft done only for personal gain is kind of dishonorable," Kasumi said. "I understand that many regular thieves do it because they're victims of circumstance, and I appreciate that the Thief King thieved to take care of me… but still, I prefer that it be not done."

"Ah, that's kind of weird coming from you… but I see what you're getting at," Masashi replied. It was funny to hear her of all people talk about how dishonorable theft was, but in a way, it was also admirable that she too had standards for it.

"In the end, I thought phantom thieving to be much more interesting," she answered, smiling softly. "As a phantom thief, I alert the owner beforehand that I plan to steal his treasure. That way, he has time to get ready and try to defend his treasure. That makes it a fair challenge between us!"

"Hmm… Once again, that's kind of weird, but I understand your logic," Masashi replied. "I guess you're the kind of person that enjoys the challenge."

"That's right!" Kasumi nodded, her eyes glinting as if he had harmonized with her. "I steal for the fun that the challenge gives, not for money or for the treasure itself! And don't you think phantom thieving is much more extraordinary, anyway?"

"Well, I admit, it is pretty cool…" Masashi thought of all the phantom thieves that he had seen in fiction. He remembered a certain one that had a ninja as an assistant, and he had always wondered at how fun a life the phantom thief lived.

Kasumi clapped her hands together. "Well, if you think it's cool, then I'll tell you even more about the world of phantom thieving next time! There's always something interesting afoot!"

Sometime later, Masashi thought that it might be a good idea to have the first bond-building event be set in the arcade in the pirates' cove. From what he could tell earlier, there were sundry games offered in the arcade, so there should be enough games that the others would be interested in, whatever their preferences might be. Still, he had not checked the games out in total, so he went off to the arcade.

When he arrived, he saw that Arashi and Murphy were already playing on one of the machines, and Faye stood nearby watching them. From what he could tell, the two were a racing game called End Dream Racing Kart, which he had heard of. End Dream was a popular role-playing game franchise whose installments took in many different kinds of fantasy worlds, and generally, the games were independent of one another, so an interested player could start off with any of them. Masashi even owned some of the games, though he had never played or seen the racing spinoff.

"Aw, man!" Arashi groaned as he slammed his hands on the machine. "I can't believe I've lost again!"

Murphy sneered as he leaned back on his chair. "I've played the console version many times, so of course I know the game like the back of my hand."

"Ah, cheer up, Arashi," Faye said. "You've played the game a few times already, so you should have gotten the hang of it by now."

"I sure have, Miss Nirigiri!" he answered. "I'm gonna stick with Amelia! With her fire magic, she's definitely my kind of girl!"

"Hmph. Guess I'll stick with Harold," Murphy said, referring to a paladin who wanted to avenge his family after the villain had slain them.

"All right, let's begin!" Arashi said, gripping the controls excitedly.

And so the two began a session of End Dream Racing Kart, a remix of a battle theme from one of the games playing. The two were racing not against each other but also against AI-controlled drivers, each driver using a different character.

Masashi looked around the arcade more, checking the other games. A few that interested him were Combat Magique, a fighting game in which all the characters appeared to be French; Kriegsherr, a shooting game taking place in a military setting; and Macbeth's Last Stand, a platformer that was based on a tragedy written by the English playwright Shakespeare. Most of the arcade games had multiplayer options, so Masashi expected that it would be no problem for the group to play these games together.

Wondering whether there was anything going on in the staff lounge, Masashi headed for the arcade corridor and took a turn to the left. The door at the end not only took a somewhat great amount of work to open because of its weight but also creaked loudly. Upon entering the room, Masashi felt a warmth that soothed him at once.

"Huh? Oh, it's only you."

It was Sayua, who was playing on one of the arcade machines inside the staff lounge. The creak must have made her look toward him. Once she caught sight of him, she turned back to her session on Kriegsherr.

"Hey, man, what's up?"

This time, it was Sorao, who was sitting on the couch with Tanjiro, the musician's arm resting on the top of the sofa. Unlike Tanjiro, who looked keen to be elsewhere and was slouching, Sorao looked relaxed and sat lazily, his right hand holding a can of herbal tea.

"I only want to see how you guys are doing, that's all," Masashi answered. "What are you doing, anyway?"

Sorao drank of his herbal tea before answering. "We're chilling, dude. You see, I've decided that I want to hang out with my old buddy."

Tanjiro sighed, looking rather tired already. "It certainly wasn't my idea…"

"So what's exactly the story between you two, anyway?" Masashi asked. "If I have it right, you two live on the same apartment block, so you're neighbors."

"Yep. We've been neighbors since we were born, really," Sorao answered, smiling as he gave Tanjiro a sidelong glance. "When we were babies, I used to play around with Tadaomi, don't you remember?"

Tanjiro nodded reluctantly. "Yeah… You hung out with my younger twin brother a lot… and happened to leave me out at the same time. It got to the point that our mothers joked that it was you and Tadaomi that were actually twins..."

"Hah… Come on, dude, don't be so down about that. There must've been a perfectly good reason why I felt inclined to hang around with him far more than with you. What do you think it was, Masashi?"

"Huh? What do I think?" Masashi said, caught off-guard as Sorao looked at him with a beseeching grin. "Well… maybe the younger twin was far more active and outgoing. No offense, Tanjiro, but I don't think you're that kind of person."

Tanjiro groaned as he lowered his head. "You're not the first person to say that."

Meanwhile, Sorao let out a merry laugh before he sipped his herbal tea again. "See, it makes sense, man. I like to have fun with others, but you… you're a stick in the mud. You're very persnickety and uptight about academics. That's why not many people want to hang out with you, don't you think, dude?"

"No… No, I suppose not," Tanjiro muttered, sounding even less happy.

Sorao chuckled again. "Why so down, Tanjiro? It's not as if you had nothing to be happy about. I mean, you're a famous writer, right? I admit, when I heard you struck gold… I was kind of envious."

"You were?" Tanjiro said, looking at him bemusedly.

"Yeah, I'd already become successful with my music, you know, so it surprised me that you'd managed to accomplish something," Sorao said. "I even thought about whether I should do the same thing, man. Writing seems kind of fun, and I think I've a talent for fiction."

Upon hearing his praise, however, Tanjiro returned to his usual dreary expression. "Oh… Of course you would say that."

"What's wrong, buddy?" Sorao asked, gazing at him puzzledly. "Sure, in the end, I decided I would stick with my music, but you should still be happy that you moved me with your accomplishment! With your high standards, you'll never be happy with your deeds."

"Y-Yeah… I guess so," Tanjiro muttered weakly.

For the next few seconds, Sorao drank his herbal tea, and he sighed out of delight as he shook his empty can. "Well, that's it for me, man. I think I ought to go do something else. It's been good chatting with you, buddy."

"See you later..." Tanjiro answered shyly, not even bothering to look him in the eye.

As soon as Sorao left the room, Tanjiro let out a great sigh of relief as he sat back against the couch, ease returning to his expression. It was as if to Tanjiro, Sorao were a weed whose sight was enough to ruin his otherwise pleasant walk through a garden.

"I'm sorry you had to see that," Tanjiro said after a while, looking at Masashi normally, though his voice still showed a hint of weakness. "I was rather embarrassing with my behavior, didn't I?"

"I wouldn't say 'embarrassing', but… you were pretty awkward," Masashi replied. "You didn't seem at all willing to want to talk with Sorao."

Tanjiro let out a small groan. "I know… But I can't help it. You may not see it, but I have good reason not to feel easy around him."

Masashi set a finger on his chin. "You mean he's truly a bit of a bully?"

"That's understating it, but I guess 'bully' will do," Tanjiro answered, his hands gripping his thighs. "You heard what he said. About our childhood, I mean…"

Masashi thought back to that part of the conversation, thinking it to have been somewhat odd. Sorao had appeared to simply reminisce about the old days, but given Tanjiro's obvious lack of comfort about the topic, it had seemed more like Sorao had wanted to draw that reaction from him.

"Wait… did Sorao pick on you a lot when you were little?" Masashi asked.

"Not exactly… it was my younger twin that did the picking on..." Tanjiro sighed as he looked down at his lap with a grave expression. "Still... he demeaned me whenever he left me out of his playtime with my younger twin brother. And it wasn't limited to that, either."

"It wasn't?" Masashi said.

The writer shook his head, his eyes lowered. "Since we were neighbors, it's not so surprising that we attended the same elementary school and the same middle school… From the very start, he was the popular kid that all loved, whereas I was the quiet one that hardly anyone wanted to hang out with."

"And I take it that he never tried to help you improve your standing?"

"Well, I asked him a few times whether I could join him and his friends on their activities…" Tanjiro answered, his voice growing quieter. "Sorao always said that he'd think about it… but in the end, he never bothered to reach out to me. He always pretended as if my asking him had never happened. I admit, I often doubted whether I remembered things right… but looking in hindsight, I'm very sure that Sorao was lying to me."

"That… is very peculiar," Masashi said, feeling more and more disturbed. "And does it still happen to you in high school?"

"Oh, no… but the reason's that Sorao and I go to different high schools," Tanjiro said. "My younger twin brother and I go to a local high school, whereas Sorao apparently goes to a music school… But since we live on the same apartment block, we still see each other from time to time."

Judging by his voice and his gloomy face, Masashi sensed that Tanjiro was not lying to him about this. If so, then it meant that Sorao was far less clean and truthful than the man would like others to believe. Even with his cool personality, Masashi could see how someone like him could very well act as a bully for Tanjiro.

"Wait… Hang on a minute, Tanjiro," Masashi said, realizing something. "You're talking about what he was like when he was a kid. But isn't it possible that Sorao's changed since then? Maybe he grew up a bit when he started high school."

Tanjiro, however, sighed as he looked up at Masashi with a slightly surer expression. "I want to think that… but I assure you, he's the Sorao that I've known all this time. Trust me when I say that you shouldn't trust him at all."

I shouldn't… trust him?

Masashi believed that Sorao's penchant for lying was true, but the amount of foul intention involved was up to question. Still, on the whole, Sorao was a rather questionable person, and ordinarily, Masashi would think better than to associate with him. He might not reject him, but he would very much like to spend his time with more trustworthy peers.

No… I shouldn't think like this, Masashi thought. After I told everyone that we needed to learn to trust one another, it doesn't feel right to not give Sorao a chance.

Yes, Sorao had lied to Futaba and indirectly gave Abraham an opportunity to exploit Futaba's lack of knowledge about the truth. But seeing that his decision had only harmed him, Masashi felt inclined to believe that Sorao had been well-meaning with his deception. It might not have been the ideal choice, but given the circumstances, what he had done was right. And besides, Masashi had given Kasumi a chance to redeem herself after she had lied to everyone about not going to the Memory Bank. It was only fair, then, that he give Sorao a chance to show that he meant well. Tanjiro might think otherwise, but his bad experiences had clearly tainted his opinion of the man, and he needed to learn to foster a trust with Sorao.

And that kind of trust was needed for beloved peace.

And yet… Why do I still feel this doubt?

It must be a part of him that wanted him to think twice about his choice. But he was the leader now, and this time, he needed to set aside that doubt and believe in the others. Any doubt from him would certainly affect the others' opinions about his hopes for building a bond; people tended to follow their betters' behavior, after all.

With a deep breath, Masashi cleared his mind. The doubt was all gone, or at least, he believed that it was.

"Hey, Tanjiro! Come here, will you?"

The one who had spoken was Sayua, who beckoned her right-hand man to come to her. Had it not been for her moving of the controls for the game that she was playing, Masashi might have forgotten that she was even here. In any case, Tanjiro let out a small sigh, as if embracing himself for humiliation, and went to the cheerleader.

"What is it?" he asked meekly.

The screen of her arcade machine showed "GAME OVER", so Masashi figured that that was why she had only now decided to start a conversation.

"You know, Tanjiro, I've been listening to you guys talk the whole time," Sayua began, sitting with crossed legs. "And you want to know what I think? With your sad childhood and whatnot, it's pretty clear that that Sorao dude makes you a jittering weakling."

"Oh…" Tanjiro whimpered as he slumped his shoulders. "That… That is understandable—"

"Now, see, that's the problem!"

"Wh-What…?" The writer looked at his self-called boss confusedly. "What do you mean?"

Sayua sighed as she crossed her arms. "It won't do at all if you're like that. It's one thing to be a gigantic wimp, but it's another to let that guy bother you!"

"Huh?"

"What, you don't get it?" Sayua raised a finger, pointing at him. "Don't forget, you're a member of Team Tomi, and I can't have you be all too wimpy and whatnot when you help me! So forget about that Sorao and focus on me instead!"

Oh… So that's why… Masashi should have seen it coming that her motives were not so pure as her first words might suggest.

Meanwhile, Tanjiro looked at her with a less heavy expression, his voice now full of mild surprise instead of gloom. It was as if she, however self-centered she might be, had relieved him with her foreseeable response.

"I… see what you're saying," Tanjiro answered, sounding calmer now. "But, Sayua, I assure you that I'm all right. You didn't need to say all that."

"Wh-What? Are you sure about that?"

"I know that I may come off that way whenever I'm done talking with Sorao…" he said. "But it's nothing that I'm not used to. After a while, I feel all right again."

Now it was Sayua's turn to look bemusedly at the other person in the conversation. For a few seconds, she said nothing, but eventually, she scoffed as she touched one part of her blond hair.

"Yeah, well... I was only checking on you… That's all," Sayua replied, sounding less aggressive. "As I said earlier, I can't have you act stupidly now, can I? Now go out there and get me something to drink, will you? That's my bidding, and you have to do it now!"

Tanjiro started upon hearing her usual chant. "R-Right… I'll be right back."

Like an obedient lamb, Tanjiro scuttled out of the room, Masashi and Sayua the only ones left.

"What are you looking at me for?" Sayua asked, looking askance at him.

"Ah, well, I'm only a little… surprised," Masashi answered. "I didn't expect you to try to cheer him up."

Sayua scoffed again. "What kind of girl do you take me for? You think I'd like to have Tanjiro be even more of a wimp than he already is? At least he's not a dumbass, unlike a few others here."

"Huh, really…" Masashi then thought of a certain question, and he felt daring enough to ask her. "Hey, Sayua… do you like Tanjiro?"

"Huh?"

The cheerleader grew flustered once more, but this time, her cheeks had a tinge of redness, and her lips quivered, as if he had said something ghastly to her. Given her clenched fists, he earnestly thought that she might even try to hurt him, and though he was confident that he could overpower her, he was sure that she would still have managed to land a few smarting hits on him.

Eventually, she gave her answer, not getting up from her chair.

"No… I don't like him," she answered softly. "I tolerate his presence, that's all."

"You 'tolerate' his presence?" Masashi said, finding a little mirth from her choice of words. It was obvious that she wished to say no more about this topic.

"Yeah, that's right!" Sayua said, her tone returning to its usual harshness. "Do you have a problem with that?"

"N-No, not at all!" he said, raising his hands defensively. "So, uh, what do you think of me? Do you tolerate me?"

"You don't get on my nerves, at least. It's pretty clear you've got some wits."

"Then how about, say, Sorao?"

Sayua then frowned. "That guy? Nah, I don't like him at all. Let me tell you, he's the kind of guy who wants everyone to pay attention to him. And when everyone's focused on him, who's going to focus on me?"

Masashi had no words to say, her reason not at all unexpected. Of course she would feel that way toward someone that might unwittingly threaten her perceived popularity.

"Still… you should try to be friendlier with him," he said, wanting to steer her toward a more positive way of thought.

She, however, looked no less steadfast in her stance. "Look, Masashi, I'm willing to give your bond-building thing a try, but that doesn't mean I have to be friends with him, does it? You're not getting me to be friends with that dumbass storyteller, either. I can try to learn to live with those people better, but I'm not going to be buddy-buddy with them, you know."

"Ah... I understand."

Her response had not shocked him by any means, but he still wished that she were a little more open-minded about this. Still, she might change her mind later; it was not so surprising that not all the others were fully open about his idea at first, but maybe after the first activity, they would be more willing to interact with those toward whom they felt less friendly. Eventually, Masashi hoped, the group would reach a lasting peace.

And it'll be just like how things are back home, Masashi thought, smiling wishfully. It'll be like what my normal life is supposed to be.

It's time for Free Time Events! This time, it's with Mari, Hikari, and Kasumi. Mari got one a while ago, but for totally innocent reasons, I've decided to give her another one. This chapter also focuses on possibilities of escaping the killing game, Masashi's plans for the group's bond-building activities, and Tanjiro's relationships with Musical Rantaro and Cheerleader Bitch Miu.

Anyway, my question for you this time is: at this point, which characters do you hope will survive (besides your own if your submitted characters are still alive)?