Danganronpa: Obscurity’s Disgrace (SYOC) Chapter 31: Triple Shot, One Shot (Part 4), a dangan ronpa kibou no gakuen to zetsubou no koukousei fanfic

Chapter 3: Triple Shot, One Shot (Part 4)

Warning!

This is a Danganronpa Fic, so expect dark and serious themes! And also expect some choice words that might upset people - thanks to a certain Gas Station Manager! But expect fun and whimsical themes as well! I hope you enjoy!

[Pheme's Room]

"You know, this has been so fun so far!" Pheme mused as she skipped around her room. "Already, we're making such great strides, aren't we?"

"Indeed we are, Miss Pheme." The Figure agreed as he casually looked through some forms of Ultimate alumni. "Yes... it's now the sixth we need, right? We've made good progress."

"Yes we have!" Pheme swiftly took the forms The Figure was holding out of his hands. "So let's not delay! It's time to find out who's joining next!"

The Figure chuckled. "Very well then." He took another stack of forms. He wasn't bothered by Pheme stealing the forms he was holding. "Do any of those stick out to you, Miss Pheme?"

"Hm... hm... ah! Yes! Look!" Pheme shoved one of the forms back into The Figure's hands.

"Oh?" The Figure recoiled a bit, but he quickly collected himself and read over what this form had to offer. "Catherine Munchkin... Ultimate Cat Burglar..." He narrowed his eyes.

"Mmhm!" Pheme nodded. "Well, that's not her real name, but it's what she goes by! Doesn't she look good?"

"..." The Figure didn't respond.

"...Well, let's just watch what The Contact gave us!" Pheme didn't question The Figure's silence as she settled in for another video...

...

[Maxim Mansion - Rooftop]

It was the dead of night. Darkness filled the sky, with only the pale moonlight breaking through it. Within all the windows in the neighborhood, not a single light could be seen. Everyone was sleeping nice and peacefully... so you know what that means?

"Nya... ha... ha!" It was time for Catherine Munchkin to get to work! "Let's see here..." She slowly prowled across the rooftop of the mansion belonging to the Maxim family, a local and prestigious family. The father, Kenneth Maxim, the Former Ultimate Politician, was, for obvious reasons, incredibly famous. He has an incredibly strong hold on the political world, is very influential, and he's made plenty of enemies in his time. Now, Kenneth never made an enemy of Cathy directly... but that doesn't mean much! Cathy goes after malicious and greedy humans, and Kenneth fits the bill perfectly!

He keeps his crimes on the down-low, but that's not enough to stop Catherine Munchkin! She knows plenty about this guy! Well, not exactly plenty. She's no Ji-hoon Jo, a person she hasn't met yet. But... she knows enough! She's aware of the blood he has spilt! Yet he still roams free! So Cathy's going to teach him a little lesson in the best way she knows!

And you know what? That's not all! She has another reason for targeting this place! Kenneth's Maxim's son... Howard Maxim, the Ultimate Firefighter... he's quite debaucherous as well! But for notably less notable reasons! Mainly, rumors say that Howard is "just like a Former Ultimate." And if that's true, then he is the epitome of greed!

"Nyahaha! That's enough lore dumping!" Cathy told the narration to shut the fuck up. "It's time for me to get moving...!" With one final stretch, and with one final deep breath, Cathy locked in.

She had already gotten onto the rooftop utilizing her athletic grace, but now came the harder and more fun part. Sneaking in!

The rooftop sported no chimneys, air ducts, or anything like that. So with her usual entrances out, she had to get a little creative. She pocketed her empty sack, and began to inspect the edges f the roof.

"Let's see... maybe... maybe... Ny-aha!" Cathy exclaimed as she spotted her way in. Just a little ways down from the roof, there was a slightly ajar window.

"Rookie mistake! Nyahaha!" Cathy cackled at the incompetence of the Maxims as she stealthy lept down the roof, and onto a small foothold right next to the window. She pried the window fully open with ease, then lept inside.

[Maxim Mansion]

"Nyaha... too easy!" Cathy triumphantly whispered to herself as she started to get her bearings. She seemed to have ended up in the attic of the mansion. "Nyoho! Rife with treasures!" She got to work instantly, pocketing all valuables she spotted by shoving them into her sack. "Pictures... awards... useless junk... all mine!" She non-discreetly hummed to herself as she pried the Maxim family of everything that they certainly did not need.

"Hm... that should be it!" Cathy nodded in satisfaction as she observed the thoroughly picked over attic. She's not the type to leave calling cards, but she does like for her victims to be fully aware that she had struck them. So, because of that, she purposely left the attic in a state of disarray before looking for an attic.

"Ny-aha!" Cathy spotted a trapdoor in one of the corners of the attic. She quickly lept over to it and dived down it.

...

After she did, she found herself in a long and ornate hallway. Countless doors, paintings, and unnecessary vases, flowers, and such lined the wall. "Nyahaha!" She whispered her laugh as she began plucking every she could see. Every single shiny valuable they had out in the open was now hers! Its as simple as that!

"Hm... that's it." Cathy whispered with slight disappointment as she finished yoinking everything in her sights. But her disappointment quickly turned to eagerness as she remembered the countless doors that lay in front of her. "Nyaha!" She kept up the laugh. "My work is far from over!" With a grin, she got to work clearing out the miserable little rooms that lined her sight.

...

One room after another, she lined her pockets and sack with the foolish incarnations of materialism that the Maxim family held dear. Family photos? Nope! Jewels passed down for generations? Hers now! She possessed no discrimination on what she snatched.

"Nyaha! What room do we have... oh!" Cathy raised her eyebrows in slight surprise as she crept into the next room. It seemed to be the room of Kyle Maxim, judging by the pudgy boy sleeping on the overly ornate bed. "Bleh!" She sharply whispered as she observed the unkempt room.

Kyle, like his brother and father, was also fairly infamous. Mainly because that he possessed no talent whatsoever compared to his family. It's an ironic statement, but still very true.

And from what Cathy had heard, he likes to prey on young and impressionable women in... less than consensual ways. She might not have had the best grasp on that world, but even she knew how disgusting the man was. It's made even worse by his brother and father not batting an eye.

If she was more ruthless, she might've ended his life then and there. Rid the world of a useless, disgusting, and smelly human. But she's above that. That type of job is more left for an edgy and murderous goddess of misery instead of a humble cat burglar like her. So, for now, Cathy just settled for taking everything that Kyle held dear!

She methodically swiped everything that appeared to be of valuable from Kyle's room. Consoles, controllers, figures, the works. He'd have nothing left! Nyahaha!

"Nyahaha!" Cathy quietly exclaimed to herself as she looked upon Kyle's room, now notably less full of nonsensical nonsense. And throughout it all, he didn't shift an inch! Ha! A heavy sleeper! Well, that only made her job easier.

She considered doing something else to mess with him... but she decided against it. She had done more than enough to bruise this fragile, greedy boy! She stealthily slipped out of Kyle's room, but not without one last "Nyahaha!"

...

Back in the hallway, she resumed her ransacking of every room she laid her eyes on. It was mainly just an exorbitant amount of guest rooms and storage rooms, befitting the already exorbitant mansion. But as she made her way down the stairs, that changed as she dipped into another room. And found...

...

"Nyaha... ah!" Cathy tried to hold back a smug chortle as she found her way into the room of Howard Maxim, Kyle's older brother. Howard himself was sleeping soundly on his also ornate bed, but his room was in a notably more organized state. The man was also in better shape than his brother, befitting his talent. But Cathy didn't care about the lore of this unimportant human. All she cared about what taking what was rightfully not his!

Howard seemed to be a little more aware as he slept, so Cathy took better care to be quiet as she snatched everything she could. He surprisingly didn't have much of apparent value in his room, so she begrudgingly didn't snatch much. She didn't want to take anything that was worthless after all! If she did, the human wouldn't miss it!

But after she sufficiently scrounged around, she landed on her final stop. His fancy, clean, and polished wooden dresser. She was curious about what he might've been hiding in these drawers... but something on top of the dressed caught her eye before anything else.

"Nya... ha? What is this?" Cathy narrowed her eyes as she picked up what casually sat upon the dresser. It was a... "Picture?" She muttered as she looked it over.

It was a picture of five people. One young boy and four young girls. Judging by how jovial the picture seemed, it looked they were all childhood friends. Everyone seemed happy, smiling and laughing as the unknown photographer took the picture. "Wow..." She whispered. Even Cathy had to admit that this picture was rather nice.

But her impressions started to shift as her eyes started to focus on the more precise contents of the photo. For one, the young boy was most assuredly Howard. Cathy could tell. She didn't recognize any of the girls though. One had blonde hair, another had black hair, and the other had light green hair. As for the other girl in the picture... she couldn't see her. Because the other girl was scribbled out with a red colored pencil. Cathy could just narrowly tell that the scribbled out person was a girl... but she couldn't tell much of anything else. Hm... she wasn't sure what to make of this. But she took the picture anyway!

With that out the way, she moved onto the drawers of the dresser. "Hm... clothes... clothes... dirty magazines... clothes... clothes... and... oh?" The dresser of the older Maxim brother didn't yield much besides for stray clothes. That was, well, until Cathy opened up a drawer on the very bottom. In that drawer, she found something very interesting...

"Oh ho...?" Cathy whispered with curiosity as she pulled out a gun from the final drawer in the dresser. A golden 9mm pistol, to be exact. "I wonder what this human was planning with this...? Hm..." She mused to herself, but not actually thinking it through. She couldn't care less about some random, unimportant plans of a human. But what she did care about was-

"H-Huh...?"

Cathy zoomed out of the room like a flash when she heard Howard stir in his sleep. She left the gun behind in the process. Oh well, she didn't really want to concern herself with firearms anyway.

When Cathy got outside the room, she took a moment to listen intently for any more sounds coming from Howard's room. Because, it he was awake, that meant it was her time to skedaddle.

...

Nothing. He must've fallen back asleep. Good!

"Nyahaha!" Cathy quietly chuckled to herself as she crept further down the hallway and further away from Howard's room, curious to see what else this place has in store for her...

...

And... it wasn't much besides for more unnecessary guest rooms and storage rooms. Ridiculous. She knew the Maxims were famous, but they by no means need this many guest rooms in their mansion. Bah. Whatever. As Cathy made it to the end of the hallway she was in, she realized she had bigger fish to fry. Because, if she was right, this last door had to lead to...

...

"Nyaha! I knew it!" Cathy proudly whispered as she crept into another bedroom. This time, it was the bedroom of Kenneth Maxim. Hmph. Even while sleeping, Cathy could just see pure scumminess radiating off of him. Well, that just gave her more motivation to do her job!

And while that pompous bastard slept the night away, she got to work!

Kenneth had plenty of artwork, jewels, and even straight-up gold on display in his room. He was more materialistic than Cathy had assumed. Nyaha! That just makes this all the more sweeter!

She nicked and snatched everything she could get her hands on. His room was fairly organized, so that meant his materialistic desires were organized as well! Which just makes her job easier!

After sweeping through his room, Cathy landed on the final area of goods that she needed to... repossess from him. It was his closet. She quietly opened the door... and found... clothes. She hoped for something with a little more wow! But that's alright. She yoinked some fancy articles of clothing that he had, but there unfortunately wasn't too much to be found in the closet. She was about to take her leave of Kenneth's room... until she noticed something way in the back of his large closet... it was a...

"Shelf?" Cathy whispered to herself as she tiptoed further in. The head Maxim had a small shelf buried deep in the back of his closet. And on it... were a few random, unassorted items.

The first item was a... "Drama mask?" Cathy narrowed her eyes as she picked up the mask. Or, mask(s) would be more proper here. As what she picked up was your typical comedy mask and tragedy mask, but they were attached to each other on the sides of the mask. "Hmph. How convoluted!" She whispered in confusion as she tried it on. It fit on her face, sure, but it was very impractical to actually wear. "What strange taste..." Cathy muttered to herself before pocketing the mask. It might've been weird, but that didn't mean she wasn't going to take it!

The second item was a... "Pin?" Cathy picked up a small, bright orange pin. It had an interesting design on it, being a yellow sun behind a white cloud. "How strange..." She was able to narrowly see a window from where she was, so she peeked through it, and saw the dark night sky. She then looked back to the pin. The pin... almost seemed to represent the day itself. She wasn't sure what to make of it... but she took it all the same!

The final item was a... "Golden bell?" A large golden bell sat next to the other two items. All of them seemed out of place... but this seemed especially out of place. As Cathy picked up the bell... a very strange feeling washed over her. She didn't know how to describe it. And the bell almost seemed to be giving off a nice and gentle... warmth. It was comforting, in a weird way. The bell just made her feel so... weird. She had no words or thoughts to properly explain what she was feeling.

Cathy looked down at the bottom of her capelet. She had a ribbon clasp around it... but nothing adorned the ribbon itself. She gripped the bell a little tighter for a moment... before attaching it to her ribbon clasp. She heard it faintly jingle as she adjusted it. Huh... yeah. She liked it. She liked how it felt. It felt... right. Almost like...

"Hey! Is someone in here?!"

Cathy's hair suddenly stood on end as she heard Kenneth Maxim's loud yet tired voice. Well, that was her cue to go!

Cathy lept out from the closet, and saw the form of Kenneth Maxim sitting up in bed. "Hey! Who are you?!" It seemed like he could narrowly make Cathy out from withon the darkness.

"Nyahaha! That's not for you to know, human! Just know that all of your precious treasures are now mine! Nyahahahaha!" Cathy set a record for her signature laugh as she mocked the Former Ultimate.

"My... what?! No!" Kenneth jumped up out his bed in a panic.

"Nyahahaha! See you never!" Cathy cattily waved to him, before boldly leaping out his open window.

"Stop it! Stop! No! You can't take those!" Kenneth seemed especially agitated as he watched Cathy's form disappear into the darkness of the night. "Shit... I need to call the police!" He foolishly assumed that the police of all people would be able to catch the Catherine Munchkin.

"Nyahaha!" Cathy let out one last laugh before officially disappearing into the void of the night...

...

[Pheme's Room]

"Oh wow! What a treat that was!" Pheme was on the edge of her seat watching that. "Seeing Ms. Munchkin commit her acts of larceny was so enthralling! I must see more! I must see how she got into Hope's Peak-" She was about to move onto the video The Contact provided that showed Cathy's acceptance into Hope's Peak, but she was stopped by Asclepius firmly gripping her arm.

"Wha-?" Pheme widened her eyes at the sudden touch. "A-Asclepius?! What's the m-matter?!" She never knew Asclepius to be aggressive in the slightest, so this really threw her off-

"No!" Asclepius pulled on Pheme's arm, turning her chair around to face him in the process.

"...No?" Pheme tilted her head, still a little frightened by Asclepius' sudden change in attitude.

Before Asclepius responded, he retracted his hand and took a deep breath, seemingly to collect himself. "I... forgive me for that, Miss Pheme." He bowed his head. "But I'm afraid I must be the bearer of bad news. Ms. Munchkin... simply won't work. She wouldn't fit the Killing Game."

Asclepius going back to his usual calming tone made Pheme feel a little better, but she still frowned at his words. "Huh? Why not-"

"Because I said so!" Cutting Pheme off before she could even finish her sentence, Asclepius slammed his hand down on the desk behind her, causing the goddess to jump in surprise. "Catherine Munchkin will not be a part of the Killing Game! And that's final!"

"O-Okay! Fine! F-Fine!" Pheme shivered a little at Asclepius' frightening tone. She... actually felt a little scared of him. She wondered why he was so vehemently against the little innocent cat burglar... but she chose to not question it. She was scared to question it.

Upon seeing Pheme being visibly scared, Asclepius took another deep breath to collect himself. "Forgive me... Miss Pheme. I didn't mean to frighten you." He turned away from her, then picked up a few more forms. "Let's not concern oursleves with Ms. Munchkin. Let us look at some others, shall we? How about... Natiana Tovak, Ultimate 20/20 Vision? Hazel Lenora, Ultimate EMT? We have plenty of options, Miss Pheme. He tried his best to steer her away from the topic of Catherine Munchkin.

Pheme took a deep breath of her own as she looked through the forms that Asclepius shoved into her hands. Again, that wasn't a side that she was aware that Asclepius had. That... actually scared her. She hadn't felt an emotion like that since... since what? Hm... she wasn't sure where her mind was going with that thought.

Well... anyway, she tried her best to calm down while she got back to finding the ninth person to join their Killing Game...

...

[Cathy's Room]

"Nya... ha... ha." Cathy gave a tired laugh and she languidly stretched her limbs out. She slowly opened her sleepy eyes, and was met with, well, her room. "Hm... what time is it?" She grabbed her Star-Phone, which was buried within her blankets. Star-Phones don't have to charge by the way. So because of that, Cathy just leaves hers in weird places. Because she can!

When she dug it out of her blankets, she saw the time: "6:00 AM? Heh." Cathy chuckled to herself as she shoved her Star-Phone in her pocket. Her sleep schedule was usually pretty wacky, so she was used to this. She considering bundling up in the blankets, and sleeping until the morning announcement.

...

But where's the fun in that?

Cathy lept out of her bed, all of her sleepiness evaporating in an instant. She looked down at the neko-style lingerie set she donned for sleeping, and haphazardly yet swiftly took it off.

She's honestly the type to just casually walk around naked, as she feels very little shame. But... even she could tell this wouldn't be the best situation for that. And who knows how the hypnotist human or how the bartender human would react. ...Wait! Why does she care about the bartender human's opinion? It's not like she... ugh.

Cathy huffed as she felt her cheeks heat up. This feeling... why? Why was she... no. She shouldn't dwell on it. She rapidly shook her head as she went to change into her usual clothes. With that over with, she left her room.

[VIP Quarters]

It was very quiet. The entirety of the VIP Quarters was just... quiet. Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse. Hm... in hindsight, this aura of silence made a lot of sense. Considering...

"Welcome to the third motive, my glamorous stars! The Secrets App!" She cleared her voice. "In this app, you will see two things. On the left side of your screen, you'll see some of your deepest, darkest secrets! And on the right side of the screen... you'll see someone else's deepest, darkest secrets. The other secret you see was chosen at random, of course! Just to make it fun!" She giggled. "And! If no one turns up dead within the next 50 hours, then everyone's secrets will be revealed to the public! Fun, right?" She asked, expecting an answer.

As Cathy triggered a flashback to remind the readers of the motive, she took out her Star-Phone and opened it up to her Secrets App. "Hm..." She narrowed her eyes in confusion and slight frustration as she stared at her own secret.

Catherine Munchkin's secret:

-Catherine Munchkin is a fake name. Her real name is E-

Cathy closed out of her Star-Phone before she could finish reading it again, and to make sure the readers didn't learn her real name yet. It was just... so strange. How do Pheme and presumably Asclepius know her real name, if she doesn't? She was never one to think too hard about things... but... this was a little different.

And to make matters more complicated, there was the other secret she received. Cathy didn't even know where to start with that one. Or... wait. Maybe... she knew exactly where to start.

[Ultimate Bartender's Studio]

"Cathy. Hey. How are you?" As Cathy expected, despite how early it was, Darren was currently behind the bar counter in his Ultimate Studio. He seemed to have been shifting back and forth between cleaning glasses, and mixing drinks to try. "Care for a drink?" He held out a glass for her.

"Hmph. You seem fairly content, bartender human." Cathy crossed her arms as she took steps closer to the bar counter. "Are you really awake this early? I never took a booze-hound like you for an early bird!" She took on a strong front.

"Hm? Nah." Darren set the glass he offered to Cathy down on the counter. "I'm usually a morning person, actually. I've always liked the early morning atmosphere." He made a drink for himself, then took a sip of it.

"Is that so?" Cathy narrowed her eyes as she reached the bar counter. "Don't you bartenders and booze-hounds usually drink the night away? I took you for a night owl, bartender human!"

"Hm? Nah." Darren copied his above answer as he took another sip of his drink. "Well, actually, maybe. The bar I run is usually open pretty late. I guess... I'm a night owl and an early bird." He casually contradicted himself.

"...What? How does that make sense?" Cathy was genuinely confused as she took a seat at the bar counter. "How can you be both?"

"Heh. Good question." Darren shook his drink around a little before taking another sip. "I guess I've taken to being more of an early bird while in this place."

"Is that right?" Cathy layed down on her back over multiple bar stools, in what looked like an uncomfortable position. "And why is that? You enjoy the mornings, bartender human?" She was narrowly able to see him from this position.

"Well... here, yeah." Darren closed his eyes. "Can't say I enjoy much of anything here, besides my studio. But the mornings... are alright. I'm usually up this early, like I said. As for why..." He gazed off into the distance at nothing, then down to his Star-Phone, which he had in his pocket. "Well, that doesn't matter."

"Doesn't matter? You're no fun, bartender human!" Cathy sat up in a normal position while she pouted.

"I guess I'm not." Darren shrugged. "But that's enough about me." He realized how talkative he was getting, and made sure to rein it in a little. "Here, Cathy." He pushed the drink he initially offered to the cat burglar over to her.

"Hm?" Cathy eyed the drink suspiciously. "What is this concoction?"

"Heh." Darren lightly chuckled. "It's called Gigigin." He motioned to the bottle of it, which was sitting in his referential bar cabinet. "It's said to have been made a by a certain Italian referee, as a treat for her team after a successful game. Personally, I rather like the drink and the referee." He shared his creator's opinion on the character that was being referenced.

"I didn't ask for the lore, bartender human!" Cathy wagged her finger. "But the drink is booze? I'll pass!" She shoved the glass back over to Darren.

"It's non-alcoholic. I knew you weren't a big drinker, if at all." Darren shoved the glass back over to Cathy.

"Huh? Really?" Cathy reflexively shoved the glass back over to Darren.

"Yes, really. I knew you weren't a fan of alcohol because of the drinking party. So, this doesn't have alcohol." Darren once again shoved the glass back over to Cathy.

"Hmph." Cathy blushed a little at the forethought he had for her. "Okay, fine. But what is it? Just some gormless drink?" She shoved the gormless drink back over to Darren.

"It's... essentially a cream soda. Nothing much to it." Darren shoved the glass back over to Cathy, now with a slight smile across his face.

"Oh?" A look of surprisingly innocent curiosity washed across Cathy's face. "I... suppose that sounds good." But she quickly dried that look off and replaced it with her usual look, whatever that was.

"Yeah? Good." Darren was glad to see that Cathy approved.

...

But... he also expected her to drink some. So, when she didn't move to drink any, Darren blinked. "You gonna have any? Or are you just gonna stare at it?"

"...H-Huh?!" Cathy rapidly shook her head at the sound of Darren's voice, like she was breaking out of a trance. That was... weird. She rarely, if ever, zones out. So... why was she zoning out now? Why was she so... and around him...?

"You alright?" Darren leaned in a little closer to her.

"I-I'm fine!" A blush ran across Cathy's face as she uncharacteristically stuttered. "...I-I think I'll enjoy this now!" She aggressively pointed at her drink before quickly taking a sip of it. It... wasn't too bad.

Darren kept a slight smile on his face while he continued to talk with Cathy. "How is it?" He summoned a new drink from the shadow realm and took a sip of it.

"It's..." Cathy took another sip. "Not bad." She spoke like she was annoyed that she was enjoying it.

"Oh yeah? Good." Darren took another sip of his shadow realm drink. "Say, Cathy? Question for you. While you're here."

Cathy raised a tenative eyebrow. "Hm? What is it?" Her tone sounded surprisingly open to questions.

Darren turned to face the wall and stare at nothing. "Don't take this the wrong way. But... why'd you come in here?"

"Why did I..." Cathy took a few moments to contemplate his words... for the biggest blush yet spread across her face. "I-I... uh..." Very flustered, she turned her head away from the bar counter, and partially covered her face. "It's... um..." she struggled to find the right thing to say. Her choice to go here was so casual and instinctive... and it only occurred to her now what exactly she was doing. She just...

While Cathy continued to struggle internally, Darren turned back around to stare at her. Now, in case it wasn't clear, Darren was more than aware of what was going on here. The way Cathy acts around him... how could he not be aware? But... he knows that bringing it up... isn't the smartest thing. He'd save that for later. And he can't imagine Cathy coming in here just because of that. He felt like there was a little more to this. But what could it be...

"Cathy?" Darren set his hands down on the bar counter. "Care if I take a guess on why you came in here?" A likely possibility already entered his mind.

Upon hearing Darren's voice again, Cathy's eyes widened, like she realized how embarrassed she must've been looking. She hid her face a little more, though more as an effort to erase the ridiculous, silly, and embarrassing blush on her face. "S-Sure, bartender human! Take a guess!" She gave a non-Rosalind cough. "Nyaha... ha...!" Then she gave her weakest laugh yet. She attempted to still act smug, like usual.

"You have my secret, don't you?" Darren cut right to the chase, taking out his Star-Phone while he did so.

"Y-You-!" Cathy knew how much she had been widening her eyes throughout this conversation, but she did so again. She... didn't expect him to get that immediately. She didn't realize he was that smart. Or... no. That's not right. After all...

Cathy slowly turned to face Darren, having regained most of her composure. A faint blush still remained on her face, but she did her best to surpress it however she could. "Nya... haha! Nyahahaha!" She did her usual laugh to refill her smugness receptors. "What an interesting guess, bartender human!"

"Oh? Thanks." Darren nodded at seeing Cathy collecting herself. "But was I right?"

"...Yes. You are!" Cathy figuring that dancing around the topic wasn't worth the trouble. She took out her Star-Phone, and opened it up to the Secrets App.

"So I was right." Darren nodded again. "Well...?What do you think of what it says?"

"Hm..." Cathy was curious about both of Darren's secrets. That's why she came here in the first place. She just didn't expect him to be so... open about it like this. "Well... first off." She suddenly pulled a familiar object out of thin air. "Remember this, bartender human?" She waved around a certain driver's license.

Cathy lightly snickered. "Who is Ricardo?"

And at the mention of that name, Darren almost dropped the glass he was cleaning. He turned around surprisingly fast. "Who?"

Cathy held up a dirty, chipped, broken and bloody driver's license. "This was in that drawer. It belongs to a Ricardo. Is that a human friend of yours?" She was legit curious here. Using this as an opportunity to tease Darren wasn't even on her mind here.

"Huh. It's not important." Darren managed to snatch the driver's license from Cathy, then pocket it. "Anyway." He went back to cleaning that glass.

Upon seeing Cathy holding up that driver's license, Darren patted down his pockets. Huh. She managed to snatch from him. Sneaky.

"You gonna answer me, bartender human...?" Cathy's tone was less impatient and more curious as she waved the license around. "Who is this "Ricardo" human, hm?"

Darren sighed. "It says who he is on the app, doesn't it?" He avoided explicitly answering the question. "You should know who he is."

"I suppose you're right!" Cathy glanced over what it said about Ricardo on the Secrets App. "But I want to hear you say it, bartender human! I'm not sure if I trust what the goddess puts down!"

"Hm... fair enough." Darren dumped his drink back into the shadow realm, then pulled out another drink, but from the void this time. He knew he had no obligation to talk about this. And he didn't particularly like talking about himself. But if Cathy knew, was there a point to hiding it? "Ricardo was a friend of mine. Often hung out at the bar I own, Playotter. We had drinks together a lot."

"Playotter?" Cathy snickered at that name. "That's a pretty lame name, bartender human!" She threw a small little stray his way.

"Maybe." Darren shrugged. "But my dad, Eric Taylor, owned it before handing it down to me. I had no reason to change the name."

"Eric Taylor?" Cathy said the name of Darren's dad before Darren's actual name. Damn. "Your human father?"

"Yep. That's what he is." Darren nodded. "But he's not important." He couldn't talk about himself too much here after all. "Getting back to it... there was a night where Ricardo and I were having drinks and having fun together. When it got late, I let him use my car to drive home. He..." He gazed at the driver's license still in Cathy's hand. "He didn't make it home."

"...Ah." Cathy got what Darren was implying here. "Wait. Aren't you a bartender, bartender human? Why didn't you stop him from getting too inebriated?" She didn't watch her words at all.

"Heh." Darren took back the license, which was only laying loosely in Cathy's hand. She didn't resist him. "You're right. I should've." He plainly admitted. "So it's my fault, in the end." He pocketed the license without a single emotion on his face.

"Darr-" His name almost flowed out Cathy's mouth, but she surpressed it. Seeing Darren so... honest... it threw her off. "So you blame yourself for the accident? Hmph."

"Yeah. I do." Darren shrugged. "What, you think I shouldn't?" He raised an eyebrow.

"I didn't say that, bartender human." Cathy shook her head. "But your heart... it carries some scars, doesn't it?" She spoke surprisingly thoughtfully.

"Scars, huh?" Darren raised his eyebrows. "That's an awfully human way of describing it. But I suppose... you're right." He slowly nodded.

...

They shared a quick moment of silence, before Cathy sighed. "Hm... I think... from the beginning... I had the wrong impression of you, bartender human." Her tone took on a human-like quality.

"Oh yeah?" Darren took another sip of his void drink. He didn't expect to hear something like that from her.

"...Hmph." Cathy crossed her arms and darted her eyes away, signifying that she had no intentions of clarifying what she meant. Probably expecting a little much of her anyway. I mean, surely she'll live to Chapter 4 to clarify what she meant, right? Surely.

"I see." Darren had no problems with that response. Like the narration said, he didn't expect her to fully open up. But he liked seeing her... not being a one-note, annoying cat burglar. He didn't hate that side mind you, but he didn't hate this side either.

...

After another moment of silence, Cathy sighed again. She shifted her eyes back to meet his. "Bartender human. I want to ask about your second secret." She changed the subject.

"My second one?" Darren looked down at his own Star-Phone, which was already open to the Secrets App.

"Yes, your second one!" Cathy also looked down at her Star-Phone, which was also open to the Secrets App.

"Well... what about it?" Darren kept his gaze downward.

"...I want to know..." Cathy took a second to collect her words. "I want to know why." She was vastly more interested in this secret compared to his other one. Because... if this secret was true...

"...That..." Darren took another sip of his drink as a slight look of frustration ran across his face. "...Is something best saved for another day." He blue-beaned Cathy.

"What?! Come on! That's no fun!" Cathy stood up from her bar stool in an outrage. "Why not?" She pouted a little.

"Well..." The main reason is that Darren didn't want to lose his Darren-ness yet. But he wasn't going to say that. "I didn't see a need in hiding Ricardo... because you already knew about him through the app. The second one... nah." That's all he offered as an explanation.

"Hm... fine! Keep your secrets!" Cathy was a little disappointed, but she could understand wanting to stay secretive.

"To change the topic..." Darren lightly slammed his drink down on the bar counter. "I will actually be honest about one other thing."

"Oh?" Cathy's interest was piqued. "And what's that, bartender human?" She leaned over the bar counter a little.

Darren held up his Star-Phone. "I have your secret, Cathy." He showed his Secrets App as proof.

"Wha-?!" Cathy jumped back like an agitated feline. "You... you do!" She wasn't exactly sure on how to react to that information. Should she be annoyed? Or... even happy?

Darren lightly chuckled at Cathy's response. "I know you said something during the last trial about not caring about or wanting to know your real name. But..." He closed his eyes. "I think its kind of cute. I like it." An ever-so-slightly brighter smile than his usual dull smiles came across Darren's face.

"C-C-Cute?!" Cathy went full tsundere. "That's just..." She thought about her apparent real name for a second. He thought it was... cute? Why did that make her heart feel... weird? And... it's her human name! She doesn't need it! So why did she feel... ugh! Cathy's sudden emotions and feelings started to overwhelm her. "I... I'm going now! I'll see you later, Darre- ah! No! Bartender human!" She rushed out like a cat sprayed with water.

"See you later, Cathy!" Darren called out to her before taking a nice and long sip of his drink. He felt his heart beat the littlest bit faster as he gazed at the empty doorway. Did he... hm. Well, he'd think about that later. But all in all... he didn't hate that interaction. Not at all.

As Darren finished his drink, he went to grab another bottle out of the cabinet. But a small sound stopped him in his tracks.

"Hm?" Darren look up at the vent grate in his studio. He glared at it for a few seconds. Huh... maybe it was nothing. Surely.

Anyway, the drink he was grabbing was called:

It seems like Cathy and Darren grew a little closer today!

He poured himself a glass of it, and took a sip of it. It... wasn't half bad.

...

After a few minutes...

"Hello my glamorous stars! It is now 8am, and that means it's morning time! It's time to wake up and get moving! Get ready for a day full of stardom!"

Ah. Darren didn't realize how long he was talking with Cathy for.

"Well..." Darren finished his drink, then stretched. He figured it was time to get going.

[Cafeteria]

"Huh... guess I'm the last person." Arriving fashionably late, Darren casually sauntered over to a seat next to Cathy, and sat down.

"..." Cathy merely blushed, not saying a word.

"Good to see someone else joining us." Ji-hoon acknowledged Darren's presence.

"Yeah... good to see you, Darren." Ayaka gave the bartender a small, weak wave.

"You arrive basically right after Cathy? Heh." Alpha snickered to herself. "What, you two fucking? Cathy probably gives crazy head." She offered her very worthwhile and valuable opinion.

"Thanks... Alpha. That's very... relevant." Rival couldn't believe that she could just casually joke around like that. Especially after the motive- actually nevermind. If anyone could act unaffected by the motive, it'd be Alpha.

"Hey, Darren?" Joji waved to get his attention. "I already asked Cathy this, but did you see Lake on your way here?"

"No." Darren answered quite literally immediately. "I've been in my studio with Cathy ever since we woke up. I haven't seen Lake today." He summoned a drink for himself, in attack mode.

"Hey!" Cathy hissed at Darren for wording it like that. "Watch your words, b-bartender human!" Judging by the blush still on her face, the "cute" compliment was still getting her flustered.

"Hold on. You two actually...?" Alpha said what she said because she's... well... Alpha. She wasn't actually assuming Darren and Cathy were fucking. But considering she didn't have the context of their FTE, those words sounded a little...

"No! We're! Not! How dare you even suggest that I'd get frisky with the bartender human!" Cathy's embarrassment was definitely distracting from the main problem here.

"Hey!" Joji slammed his hands down on the table. "No one cares!" He didn't have the patience for this tomfoolery right now. "Darren, you seriously haven't seen Lake?"

"Nope." Darren calmly shook his head. "Why do you ask?"

"Heh. Darren?" Kei motioned around the room. "You look at who's here?"

"Hm?" Darren hadn't actually done so, so at Kei's request, he did just that, and saw that four of them were missing.

"Yes... my dear Lake, my dear Raiha, my dear Aurora, and Yoshino aren't here." Damien spoke with a concerned tone. "That has me especially worried. All of them are usually fairly punctual. Hm... I wonder what could've happened..." He was a fairly caring guy after all. He cares about his missing dears (and Yoshino) a lot.

"Yes, it's not *cough* like those four to miss these morning meetings." Rosalind shook her head.

"Hm... interesting." Darren slowly nodded as he digested that information. "Raiha, Aurora, and Yoshino are one thing. But I think the reason why Lake isn't here is obvious."

"You think it's because of the... pool party-nya?" Kuroko tilted her head, inferring what Darren was referring to. "I mean... it was kind of a... failure." She didn't like admitting it, but that was basically what it was. Any fun they had initially got completely crushed by the announcement of the motive. Kuroko especially lamented that. She would've enjoyed being able to be around all the girls dressed in their swimsuits for longer... but oh well.

"Shit... I was afraid of that." Joji gritted his teeth. "Damn it Pheme!" He slammed his fist down on the table. "Can't let anything just be good fun, can she?!"

"Nyaha! It was foolish to assume the party would've gone off without a hitch in the first place!" Cathy wagged her finger. She seemed back to her normal self now.

"That actually reminds of me of something I wanted to ask everyone." Ji-hoon cleared his voice to get everyone's attention on him. "We'll go and check on the missing people of course. First... how are we doing?" He tried to approach this with some tact. "I can imagine this motive being upsetting for..." He eyed a few people. "Certain people. So I just want to check in."

"Wow." Cathy blinked. "The celebrity detective human is... being... nice for once? Nyahaha! How amusing!" She pointed and laughed at him.

Ji-hoon rolled his eyes. He didn't dignify that statement with a response. "I just figure that it's best to... check in with everyone." Frankly, this motive had him on edge. Something like this could easily cause someone to kill. Especially because... he noticed everyone's expressions yesterday.

Ji-hoon and Joji were enraged.

Cathy was confused.

Kei, Alpha, Damien, and Darren were curious.

Raiha, Aurora, and Yoshino were mortified.

Kuroko was clutching her head in pain.

Lake and Rosalind were simply upset.

Rival and Nozomi were expressionless.

He was more than aware of how he himself felt too. The secret he saw... he tried his damndest to not think about it. Overthinking it... would be pointless. "So, everyone?"

"A mental health checkup, is it?" Kei chuckled. "I mean..." He subtly glanced at the person he got the secret of. "I'm good!" He stretched his arms out casually.

"Real convincing, lawyer boy." Alpha scoffed. "But whatever. "I don't give a shit. Killing to keep a secret hidden is stupid anyway. And... I've got nothing to hide." She was more than aware of the trauma dumping she did in the Chapter 2 Epilogue. And the other secret she got was... interesting. But she wouldn't do anything with it. Not yet, anyway.

"Yes, I agree with Alpha." Damien curtly nodded. "I'm fine, myself." He gave a simple and concise answer. "How about you, my dear Catherine? You seemed a tad... confused yesterday."

"Don't even, beautician human!" Cathy waved him off. "My secret was just... strange! And I have no problems with the other secret I received!" She snuck a glance at Darren.

"What Cathy said applies to me." Darren took her answer as he took another sip of whatever was in the glass he was holding.

"Well... same for me I guess." Rival shrugged. "My secret is... whatever. And the other secret I got... wasn't upsetting or anything. It just... made sense." He dropped extremely light foreshadowing for the secret he got.

...

"Hm?" Cathy looked around the room at the sudden silence. "Cinematographer human? Violinist human? Carpenter human? Hypnostist human? Nothing to say? No cat has taken your tongues!" She gave them all smug glares.

"Guys?" Ji-hoon gave them more... wary and cautious glares than smug.

"...*cough cough* Hm?" Rosalind suddenly shook her head. "I... was zoning out. Forgive me, what was the *cough* question?"

Ji-hoon shifted his glare to a more suspicious one. "Just checking in, Rosalind. This motive is heavy and it could have people on edge. You alright?"

"..." Rival wanted to ask the same question too, but he stayed silent. He still felt... awkward from yesterday.

"Ah... yes." Rosalind took a moment to get her mind on the right track. "My secret wasn't anything special, like me." She dryly chuckled to herself. "And the other secret I got *cough* wasn't anything special... e-either." She ended her thought with a slight uncharacteristic stutter.

"Hm..." Cathy playfully narrowed her eyes at Rosalind's response. It wasn't like she was an expert on body language and it wasn't like she actually cared that much about the cinematographer human. But the response she gave was a little... "Nyahaha! You're hiding something, cinematographer human! You got an intense secret! A crazy one! A wild one!" She pointed a smug finger at Rosalind.

"Huh...?" Rival didn't expect Cathy of all people to say that.

"Cathy?" Darren slightly raised an eyebrow at the cat burglar's accusation. I mean, even he noticed that slight stutter. But he didn't think that Cathy would call it out.

"No. I'm *cough* not." Rosalind staunchly denied the accusations.

"Oh! I guess you're not! Nyahahaha!" Cathy shrugged, then cackled like the funniest joke ever had been told.

"...Really? Can you... not, please?" Rival rolled his eyes, not mincing his words. "This is a-"

"It's not worth the trouble, Rival." Ji-hoon stopped the backing vocalist. "Cathy will always be... Cathy." He shifted his eyes over to glance at Darren. "We can only hope that she'll change." He casually said that like Cathy wasn't sitting a few seats away. Cathy didn't care.

"Feel like you're overreacting over a comment like that..." Kei shrugged. "But, eh."

"It's fine." Rosalind shook her head. She was truthfully fairly indifferent to Cathy. She had no particular problems with her. She doesn't like people who intentionally deceive, but Cathy does it... innocently, in a way. Just to tease people. So, she's fine with letting it pass. "But just know that I'm *cough* fine, alright?"

"Well... if you say so, my dear Rosalind." Damien chose to trust her words. "It's not like we can delve into any... lies or fibs hiding in her or any of our words right now, unfortunately." He nodded his head solemnly.

Rosalind looked away. She didn't say anything.

"Alrighty then... Ayaka?" Kei randomly chose another one of the silent ones,

"H-Huh?" Ayaka blinked. "Me?"

"Yeah, you." Kei casually pointed at her. "You doing alright?"

"Um... yeah. I'm f-fine." Ayaka slowly nodded.

...

"Nyaha! She's 'fine,' she says! Nyaha!" Cathy just laughed at her because she could.

"Hm..." Ji-hoon obviously didn't believe Ayaka's words, but he wasn't suspicious of her necessarily. If her secret involved Hinata Maki... he could understand her being a little perturbed. "Well, at least she spoke up." And speaking of secrets he had ideas about... "Kuroko." He snapped his fingers to get her attention. "How about you?"

...

"H-Huh?" Kuroko shook her head, then widened her eyes, like she was getting out of a trance. "Sorry, what was the question-nya?" She nervously giggled before tilting her head.

"Kuroko?" Rosalind slightly narrowed her eyes at the hypnotist, noticing that she had a very similar... state of mind to her. Considering the secret Rosalind got, she wondered if Kuroko...

"I'm asking if you're doing alright, Kuroko?" Ji-hoon asked a little impatiently. "You zoned out just like Rosalind did." He crossed his arms.

"Zoned out..." Kuroko rubbed her head. "Sorry-nya! I'm just... feeling..." She didn't finish her sentence.

"You're feeling what, hypnotist human?" Cathy didn't have time for Kuroko's mental trauma.

"I'm feeling..." Kurolo vigorously rubbed her temples, like she was trying to will away a headache or migraine. "I'm feeling... super-duper-nya!" She suddenly pumped her fist in the air. "Don't worry about me! I'm fine-nya!"

"Huh. And I think I have mood swings." Cathy acted a little self-aware.

"Oh... a-are you really okay, Kuroko?" Ayaka didn't expect a mood swing like that either.

"Mmhm-nya!" Kuroko nodded. "Sorry... it was just a little head pain! Thanks for worrying about me, Ay-nya-ka!" She winked at the violinist.

"Uh... you're welcome?" Ayaka suppressed a small blush as she looked away.

"So... you're really alright, Kuroko?" Rival didn't believe this either.

"Yep! All good! Just..." Kuroko rubbed her head a little. "Just a little... head pain-nya! I'm alright! The secrets... they're nothing-nya!" She did her best to act composed.

"Uh huh." Ji-hoon said sarcastically, not believing this for a second. But like Damien said, they don't have time to be delving into people's exact words to find out if they're lying or not. And from what he knew about Kuroko... even if she was lying... she was probably fine. It's something he could properly ask her about later. And he had time to do so. I mean, it's not like Kuroko is dying in Daily Life Part 5 or anything.

"Well, if we're good with Kuroko... that leaves you, Joji. How are you?" Kei shifted topics.

...

"H-Huh?" Joji suddenly shook his head and blinked a few times, like he was getting out of a trance. "What uh... what's up?" He asked, evidently not hearing what Kei said.

"Oh, come on! Two times is fine but three times is just overdone!" Alpha threw her hands up in the air. "We can retire this trope now!"

"Nyaha! I agree with the gas station manager human! Enough of this "trance" stuff!" Cathy didn't like that the writer of this fic kept doing this. "Carpenter human! The motive! Are you okay? That's the question! Now answer it!"

"I-I'm fine! Jeez!" Joji didn't expect Cathy to be aggressive like that in the slightest. Though, realistically speaking, it probably just came from boredom. "Yeah... I'm fine." He looked down at his Star-Phone, which he had in his hand. "Man...!" He suddenly stood up. "Sorry, I'm getting antsy! I want to make sure Lake is okay! I'm worried!" He ran out the cafeteria.

"Hold on, Joji!" Ji-hoon called out to the carpenter, but to no avail. "Ugh..." He groaned.

"While I think the checkup is important, I do believe Joji to be correct." Damien stood up as well. "I think we should find the missing four. It's not like them to miss these meetings, like we've said."

"So we're done? Sick." Alpha walked out without another word.

"Well... alright." Ji-hoon didn't sense any point in continuing then. "But before we head out and search for everyone. Just..." He took a deep breath. "Stay strong. Stay alert. And... don't let this motive get into your heads. Alright?" Truthfully, Ji-hoon was more convinced than ever that someone was going to kill over the motive. And frankly, he thinks Raiha will. That's why he was especially concerned as to where she was...

"You aren't our collective human father, celebrity detective human!" Cathy rolled her eyes.

"But thanks, Ji-hoon." Darren took over Cathy's thought and finished it himself.

At hearing his voice, Ji-hoon glanced down to look at Darren's pocket. The gun. It was still in there. Good.

"I appreciate you looking out for us, Ji-hoon-nya!" Kuroko always enjoyed him as a leader for their group. "But I'm going to get going! I want to find Yoshi-nya... and Rai-nya and Auror-nya!" Yoshino was a good friend of hers, so it made sense she be concerned for her. And as for the other two... well, she wasn't as worried. After her talk with Aurora yesterday... she was hoping for the best with her and Raiha. Who knows? Maybe they were...

Well, as Kuroko had her inner-monologue, everyone started to filter out of the cafeteria. Both to attempt to enjoy the rest of their day, and to find where the mysterious four no-shows were. Realizing how deep in her thoughts she got, Kuroko quickly left after everyone else, more eager than anything.

And that left...

"Kei." Ji-hoon stopped the lawyer before he left. "Did you do what I asked? Did you get... that?"

"I'm not even sure if this place has this anywhere. But could you see if you could get me..." Ji-hoon whispered what he wanted to Kei off-screen.

Upon hearing what he wanted, Kei raised his eyebrows slightly. "You want... that? That's pretty random. Why do want that?" He was slightly concerned over this.

"Please, just trust me Kei." Going into this, Ji-hoon didn't think he'd be relying on anyone here like this. But he's glad he found an ally in Kei. "I have a plan... involving that. Please." He implored the lawyer.

"Hm..." Kei wondered why Ji-hoon was asking him for this. Couldn't he just get it himself? Well... maybe there was a reason he couldn't get it himself. If that was the case... then... "Alright. I got it. I'll check the Ultimate EMT's Studio for it." That room was still open by the way.

"Oh. Right. I did." Kei nodded as he dug around in his pocket for that. "I gotta admit Ji-hoon..." He pulled out that and handed it to the celebrity detective. "I have no clue why you would even want that. You said you have a plan for it... but..." Kei hadn't felt this stumped about this something in a while. He knows he's not Sherlock Holmes or anything, but still. He didn't have a clue what was going on in his friend's brain.

"Thanks, Kei." Ji-hoon pocketed that. "And yes, I do have a plan with that. If my plan works... then..." He looked down at his Star-Phone, which he had in his hand.

"Then what, Ji-hoon?" Kei wanted him to finish.

"Then... then nothing." Ji-hoon didn't elaborate. "Sorry, Kei. Just trust me. This... will work. I've seen proof it works." He dropped that ominously.

"Proof? Proof that that works? What does that mean?" Kei wished that Ji-hoon wouldn't speak in riddles.

"...It's fine, Kei. Don't worry." Ji-hoon gave him a surprisingly genuine smile. "The less I explain..." He snuck a glance at one of the more obvious security cameras. "...The better."

"Hm... if you say so." Kei begrudgingly trusted him. He knew that Ji-hoon wouldn't do anything rash... but... he couldn't escape this slight sinking feeling in his chest...

"I need to find Raiha. I'll see you later, Kei." Ji-hoon didn't care about the lawyer's inner thoughts as he left the cafeteria, leaving Kei by himself.

"...Right. I need to find Damien as well." Kei took a deep breath, realizing he was likely thinking way too hard about this. He'd keep it in the back of his mind, but he'd let Ji-hoon do his thing. For now, he just needed to focus on the plan. Making sure that smarmy little beautician wasn't sinking his fangs into anyone else. So, he set off to find him...

[Ultimate Horror Novelist's Studio]

"Lake! Are you- oh."

After Joji's anxiety over Lake reached its peak, he ran off from the group, as you saw. He checked multiple rooms for Lake, but he couldn't find them. After a while, he made it to Yoshino's Studio and checked it out, just it case Lake was in here for some reason. But when he did check it out... he found...

"Jojo? What's going on?" Yoshino. He found Yoshino... in Yoshino's Studio. Makes sense. She pocketed something she had on her desk while she looked up at him.

"Uh... we were wondering where you were and stuff..." Joji scratched his the back head. He was of course worried about Yoshino, along with Lake. But something about the aura in the room made him feel... weird.

"Huh? Ah! Shit!" Yoshino gritted her teeth while she checked the time on her Star-Phone. "Christ, it's deep afternoon already. That's totally my bad, Jojo. I didn't mean to miss the meeting!" She gave a surprisingly polite apology, even bowing her head.

"You're... fine. All good. Just good to know you're... safe." Joji breathed a sigh of relief, the impact of finding Yoshino just then hitting him.

"Yeah... sorry..." Yoshino had a guilty look on her face, like she just then realized what the possible implications of her missing are.

"Again... it's fine." Joji waved his hand in attempt to reassure her. "But... uh... what are you doing in here? What would even cause you to lose track of so much damn time?" For as much as he wanted to go and find Lake now, he did care about Yoshino. He wanted to make sure she was okay before anything else. He was... he was confident Lake was safe anyway. Yeah... they must be.

"Shit. I..." Yoshino picked up a few pieces of paper from her desk. "Man, I don't know why I feel so damn embarrassed about this. I'm a novelist for fucks sake." She groaned at her own emotions. "It's... here." She shoved the papers in front of her, motioning for Joji to take them.

"What are these?" Joji took the papers with slight hesitation. "Obscurity's... Disgrace?" He blinked with confusion at what he saw.

"It's uh... I got a crazy random burst of motivation to make this whole experience... into a novel." Yoshino turned the computer on her desk around so that Joji could see the screen. "I'm gonna write it... kinda just what I prefer." She sighed. "But I'm planning out chapters and shit. See?" She pointed out all her planning so far.

"Holy shit..." It wasn't like Yoshino had a lot planned out so far, but it was still very impressive to Joji's eyes. "You got... what? Prologue, Chapter 1, Chapter 2, and even a Chapter 3. Shit..."

Yoshino started to uncharacteristically blush at Joji's compliments. "It's obviously just plans and shit right now, only got like... a few thousand words written." She took back the papers from Joji's hands. "But like I said... I kinda just got some crazy motivation to do this, I guess." She slowly shrugged. "It's a good... distraction." She said that last word with a hint of a certain emotion.

"I guess I can see it..." Joji nodded along. "But you're a horror novelist, right? You comfortable righting other genres?" He wasn't fully aware of the extent of Yoshino's writing prowess.

"Uh, Jojo?" Yoshino gave a half amused/half confused chuckled. "This is horror." She hammered home the reality of the Killing Game they were in. "And besides, I can write more than just horror, thank you!" Some pride oozed out from her.

"Hey, I never said you couldn't!" Joji chuckled while holding his hands out in front of him. "But you make a good point. This shit... really is horror." He had a contemplative look on his face. "But you know, it ain't only horror. This shit is... comedy, action, mystery... even... romance, I guess." He shrugged.

"Huh." Yoshino blinked. "No offense Jojo, but I didn't expect optimism like that from you. Wow." She nodded in surprise. "It's... what? Monty rubbing off on you?" She smirked.

"Hey, just because I have some anger issues, that doesn't mean I can't be optimistic!" Joji knew Yoshino wasn't trying to be mean, but he did take a little offense to that. "But... you're probably right." The embarrassment slowly funneled out any offense or anger he had though. "Lake really has been... rubbing off on me." He admitted with a smile mixed with embarrassment and gratitude.

"Hey, that's good man!" Yoshino was still sitting down, but she patted his arm. "Good to have people like that, especially in this horrific, comedic, action-packed, mysterious, and romantic Killing Game!" She repeated his descriptors.

"You've got that right." Joji sighed.

...

"Wait. Ain't those all just the studios we started in? Plus the Romance Studio on this floor?" Joji realized where his brain got those descriptors from.

"Oh. Yeah, you're right!" Yoshino lightly chuckled. A small part of her thought that had potential to be a little more than a coincidence, but she didn't want to overthink it. "Guess it really makes me think about..." She looked over what she had written so far for the novel. "What type of story this might be."

"Oh yeah?" Joji raised his eyebrows. "I'm sure it'll be... well, not a good one. But an... impactful one? A heavy one? Sorry, not sure of the right word." He struggled to describe it well.

"No worries, I get what you mean." Yoshino nodded. "There really isn't one word that can fully describe a Killing Game. Well, I guess plenty of people had plenty of words to say about those past Killing Games. But those clueless fuckers weren't in one." She shuddered a little.

"That's true, yeah." Joji solemnly nodded. "My uh... my parents. Yuuji and Hana Kaneshiro. I remembered what they had to say about those past Killing Games. My brain didn't really comprehend it at first, cause I was young as hell when they mentioned them to me. But now... it just makes me hate them even more." A non-visible aura of red-hot anger coursed through his body.

"Your parents, Jojo? You... haven't brought them up before." Yoshino could sense this would take a serious turn.

"Yeah..." Joji took a long, deep breath. He didn't realize that he hadn't brought his parents up before. He was worried it might set him off, but he wasn't going to grow if he didn't tackle the things that burdened him. He tried to absorb some residual calming energy from Lake, from wherever they were right now. "Dad was an accountant. Work was the only thing he gave a shit about. Well, he did give a shit about me, I guess. It sure didn't seem like it. I barely saw him. Not even during lunch breaks. After work, he'd go to his room and fuck off. And that's if he even returns home."

"Shit... that's rough." Yoshino's relationship with her parents wasn't necessarily perfect, but at least they were actively in her life. "What about... Hana? Your mom?"

Joji instinctively slammed his fist down on Yoshino's desk just at the mention of his mom's name, giving way to a small gasp from the horror novelist. A few of the horror figurines and writing supplies got knocked over by the impact. "Shit... sorry." He took a quick step back from Yoshino's desk.

"Nah! All... good!" Yoshino took a deep breath to collect herself, then met Joji's gaze. "She... not something you like to talk about then?" She inferred.

"...Pretty much." Joji crossed his arms, and took long, deep breaths as he continued to speak. "Mom was a former model. After I was born, she quit in order to help raise me. But that bitch didn't raise shit. From as far back as I can remember, she'd constantly blame me for ruining her career. She'd yell at me, berate me, and just hate on me for just existing. She never helped me. Never really cared for me. She'd hit me too. Just for mundane shit, like asking for money for a school field trip." His body trembled as he spoke, like he was holding back something big.

"Jesus Christ... she does sound like a bitch." Joji's story only made Yoshino appreciate her own parents more. "What type of mother does that shit?! My god! The hell is her problem?!" She stood up out of her chair, her own aura of rage overtaking her.

"A shitty one, that's what." Joji mentally counted from one to ten in his head, in attempt to calm himself.

"Yeah... fuck, I'm sorry you had to go through that, Jojo." Yoshino debated approaching the carpenter, but she kept her distance. "Man... I gotta ask... but how did you cope with stuff like that?" She asked, despite likely already knowing the answer.

"You..." Joji dryly chuckled. "You really gotta ask?" He clenched his hands into fists, the guilty look on his face telling the whole story.

"...I guess I don't gotta." Yoshino sighed. "You fought back... through anger, yeah?" She nodded in understanding.

"...Yeah." Joji had a mixture of complex emotions written across his face. "Mom luckily ended up ignoring me after a while. Just... acting like I don't exist. I preferred that. But it was... too late. I already turned into-" He stopped talking. "Nevermind..."

"Jojo..." Yoshino could tell what he was about to say. She didn't want to say it herself though. "You... you have anyone else in your life, Jojo? Someone who gave you... any... happiness?" She wasn't sure if that was the right word, but she used it anyone.

"...Karin..." Joji muttered to himself.

"Huh? What was that?" Yoshino didn't catch that.

"Oh! Uh... nothing." Joji quickly shook his head. He... definitely didn't want to talk about her right now. "Just uh... to answer your question... I had a few people, I guess." He gave a very non-specific question. "That's enough about me though. How about you, Yoshino? Anyone who gave you... happiness?" When he spoke that aloud, he realizes how strange of a question that was.

"Me?" Yoshino didn't expect the switch to her, but if Joji didn't want to talk about himself anymore, that was fine. "I guess... in terms of happiness... yeah. Second year of Hope's Peak, I was together with this girl named Hitomi Kimura. She was cute... and I really enjoyed being with her. Unfortunately, the spark kinda... faded away after a year. I kinda wish it ended better, but hey. Shits in the past now."

"That so? I... get that. I understand that... regret." Joji spoke like he really did understand Yoshino's feelings.

"Yeah?" Yoshino sensed the regret in Joji's tone. But if that regret he held was anything like...

Yoshino glanced at the trash can near her desk for a moment. She... wasn't going to ask about it. She... had no right to. She chose to continue on with what she was saying. "Speaking of happiness, my actual time at Hope's Peak was pretty great. I loved it, honestly." A genuine smile came to her face. "Way better than... normal... school." A shiver ran up her spine at the word 'school.'

Joji bit his lip as he witnessed that shiver. He wanted to say something... but he didn't. His eyes flashed down to his Star-Phone for a moment. He really did want to say something... but if he wasn't going to talk about Karin... what right did he have to question her about... him?

"Yeah... I'm the same. Hope's Peak was pretty great for me too." A nostalgic smile overtook Joji's face as he tried not to focus on so much goddamn trauma. "I guess to answer that question again, Hope's Peak really did bring me happiness. I felt... accepted... and supported."

"Really? Shit, I'm glad to hear that!" The smile on both of their faces helped Yoshino forget about him for a moment. "Yeah, Hope's Peak really helped me be successful. Think I wrote like... fifteen novels while there? All were great too! Uh, not trying to brag, I guess!" Her smile turned to a more sheepish one.

"Heh... ain't it crazy? Just Hope's Peak in general." A look of contemplation took over Joji's face as he looked back at some of his favorite memories of Hope's Peak. "I totally get the controversy behind the reopening of Hope's Peak roughly 40 years ago. But man... I think people underestimated the effect it'd have. Say what you want about Yuki Shirazane, but I think she did a good thing."

Yoshino slightly widened her eyes, not expecting a name like that to he brought up. "Shit... you know, I think I agree. Shirazane is shady. That's undeniable. But love her or hate her, it's good what she did. Whether or not she reformed is a different case entirely." That wasn't something she was keen on discussing right now. It was far from her area of expertise.

"Man, let's not even go into that." That wasn't something Joji had expertise on either. "Kinda make me think though..." He trailed off.

"Think about... what?" Yoshino more than noticed the trail off.

"Make me think about... Adam. Wondering what he thinks." Joji said his name with a regretful grimace on his face.

Yoshino on the other hand, flinched at the mention of the academic. "What... A-Adam thinks?" Her voice shook a little.

"I know I shouldn't be digging up shit like this." Joji crossed his arms. "But man... I just wish that... things could've gone better. He... didn't deserve to d-die." His own voice started to shake. "Little man had so much to life for... Alpha summed it up best. But now..."

"...Yeah." Yoshino nodded solemnly. "I think... I've cried all the tears I can cry for him. But I still think about the guy. The shit was... so damn unfortunate. Fucking Genjiro..." That guy still lived rent-free in her head.

"I really do consider Genjiro a victim in this still. I mean, he, in a sense, did sacrifice himself for us." Joji sighed. "Doesn't mean his... everything... is excused. I hate speaking ill of victims, but god damn it is it hard when it comes to that guy." He still couldn't believe he actually considered himself friends with Genjiro at one point.

"Yeah... I have a lot of regrets over everything in the last trial. I still feel like I could've done something. But..." Yoshino looked up at the ceiling.

"But you're going keep living on, right?" Joji finished her sentence. "I sure as hell know that I'm not going to be joining those two anytime soon."

"..." Yoshino didn't respond.

"...Yoshino?" Joji's heart skipped a beat.

"Huh? Sorry... zoned out." Yoshino shook her head. "Yeah. That's what we gotta do. You're right." She stuck her fist out. "Keep living on."

A relieved smile returned to Joji's face. "Damn right. We keep living on." He gave Yoshino a fist bump.

As the two friends enjoyed a moment of silence together, one thought came to both of their minds.

The fact that Yoshino and Joji grew a little closer today!

...

"Shit... Jojo? Weren't you looking for Monty?" Yoshino broke the moment, reminding Joji of his task before he came in here.

"Fuck! You're right!" Joji widened his eyes, then turned around. "I'm glad we got to talk, Yoshino. But I gotta find Lake!" With a quick wave, he ran out of her studio.

"Jojo!" Yoshino called out. She glanced at her desk... then back to the empty doorway. She... should go along with him. Yeah. A distraction... might be exactly what she needs right now. So she doesn't have to think about...

"Wait for me, Jojo!" Yoshino called out one more time before running to catch up with the carpenter.

[Comedy Studio]

"Yoshi-nya...? Auror-nya...? Rai-nya...? Lake...-nya?" Kuroko didn't have a cute -nya name for the ballet dancer. "Anyone?" Despite the Comedy Studio being right next to the cafeteria, Kuroko didn't actually check here immediately. She didn't expect any of the four they were trying to find to be in here. But she swept the entire first floor, she checked it out anyway. And whem she did, she found...

Nothing. No one. A few uncleaned remnants of the drinking party she sadly never got to attend, but that was it. "Hm... where are they-nya?" Kuroko crossed her arms. Yoshino and Lake concerned her a little... but she was hoping for the best, if you know what I mean, between Aurora and Raiha. And who knows, maybe they're just on a higher floor.

Well, Kuroko had no intentions of sticking around this barren place. So with one last small look-around, she turned to leave-

"Ah! Kuroko. I... d-didn't expect you to be in here."

Kuroko's intent to leave went out the window she she saw Ayaka enter. She could feel the FTE brewing as she took a step closer to the violinist. "Hiya, Ay-nya-ka!" She gave her a curt wave. "You looking for the missing four too-nya?"

Ayaka jumped up a little at Kuroko's... Kuroko-ness. She didn't hate the hypnotist. Not at all. In fact, she didn't mind being around someone so... feminine. Especially after Damien's bitch-ass, she was a-okay being around someone oddly comforting like Kuroko.

"Well... kind of?" Ayaka shrugged. "I a-already found one of them."

"Wait... huh? Really-nya?" Kuroko widened her eyes. She didn't expect to hear that. "Where?"

"Over in Raiha's studio." Ayaka pointed to the entrance of the Comedy Studio. "I-I saw, well, Raiha enter there before I entered here." She explained.

"Rai-nya? Was she with anyone? Like Auror-nya?" Kuroko wanted the tea and she wanted it now. She needed to know if Raiha and Aurora had... done anything yet, if you know what she means.

"Um... no. Just h-her." Ayaka shook her head.

"Hm... okay-nya." Kuroko narrowed her eyes and nodded, thinking hard on that juicy information. "Did you say anything to her? Talk to her-nya?" She needed to know more!

"Um... no." Ayaka copied her above answer, head shake and all. "I know we were looking for her, but she seemed fine. So... I let her be. I didn't t-talk to her." She also didn't hate Raiha, but Ayaka wasn't always the type to initiate conversations.

"Okay... okay, that's alright-nya." Kuroko nodded in understanding, yet she was a little disappointed.

Sensing Kuroko's disappointment, Ayaka slightly narrowed her eyes. "...Should I have talked to h-her? You seem... disappointed."

"Huh? Oh!" Kuroko didn't realize how readable her face was. "Well..." She debated telling Ayaka. She already told Yoshino about it, and she trusted her. And Ayaka... she surely wouldn't spread it around, right? Surely? Kuroko didn't want everyone knowing about it yet, in case it makes it worse for both Raiha and Aurora. Hm...

"Ay-nya-ka? Can you keep a secret?" Kuroko lowered the volume of her voice, like she was afraid they were being watched.

"Um... sure?" Ayaka was a little agitated by the sudden mood change in the room, but she was curious about what was going on with Kuroko too.

Kuroko quietly giggled, suddenly feeling a little giddy about sharing non-motive secrets like this. "Rai-nya... she has a crush on Auror-nya!" She revealed.

Ayaka widened her eyes at the reveal, a slight blush raising on her face just from the knowledge of that. "R-Really...?"

"Yeah, really-nya!" Kuroko excitedly nodded her head. "Rai-nya confessed to Auror-nya, but Auror-nya turned her down because she said she wasn't into girls-nya." She decided to spill the whole tea.

"Oh... really?" Ayaka's blush dissipated, suddenly feeling bad for Raiha.

"But!" Kuroko cut in before Ayaka could sulk too much. "I'm confident that Auror-nya... wasn't being honest. I'm confident Auror-nya is a lesbian-nya. Or she at least likes girls-nya." She couldn't be 100% sure of Aurora's actual sexuality.

"Wait... what?" Ayaka blinked. "H-How can you be so sure of that? Did you get Aurora's secret for the..." She didn't want to say the m-word, shuddering at the thought of it.

"Hm? No!" Kuroko denied the allegation with a swift shake of her head. Though the very thought of the motive caused a small bit of head pain for the hypnotist. She powered through it. "I got La- uh, that doesn't matter-nya!" She saw no need in even humoring the motive. "To answer your question, I have a very good gaydar!" She explained like a "gaydar" was a casual concept.

"A... gaydar?" Ayaka blinked once again, in disbelief. She didn't know what to think about a concept like that.

"Mm hm!" Kuroko cheerily nodded. "It's probably due to my time as a hypnotist and how I do things, but I developed a good gaydar-nya! For example... hm..." She ran her eyes ovet Ayaka's slightly trembling form.

"W-What? What is i-it?" The look in Kuroko's eyes scared Ayaka a little.

"Ay-nya-ka... you're... bisexual, aren't you? But... you lean towards girls, right-nya?" Kuroko figured her out instantly.

"H-Huh?!" A more pronounced blush raced across Ayaka's face. "How did you... do that? H-How do you know?" She didn't deny the allegation, merely widening her eyes in disbelief.

"A lady never reveals her secrets-nya!" Kuroko playfully giggled as she tranced a finger up Ayaka's arm. "But we'll get back to that!" She took a step away from her, eager to get back to Raiha.

"Uh... r-right." Ayaka wasn't used to flirtatious personalities like Kuroko's, so she didn't know how to respond to, well, anything that she did.

"So, Rai-nya likes Auror-nya! And Auror-nya is hiding her true feelings." Kuroko gave a quick recap. "I had a good talk with Auror-nya yesterday. I don't want to toot my own horn, but I think it was effective-nya! I'm hoping for something to spark between them! So that's why I'm so interested-nya!"

"I... see." Ayaka slowly nodded. "That's... wow. I d-don't think I could have as much spunk as you, Kuroko. Much less r-regarding... romance." She blushed merely at the mention of the word "romance." It definitely wasn't an area she had experience in.

Kuroko quietly giggled. "No offense Ay-nya-ka, but I could tell." She placed her hand on the violinist's shoulder, seeking to claim it as her own, due to Damien not being in the picture anymore. "But even if you don't have experience with it, you must've had crushes growing up, right-nya?"

"I... g-guess so." Ayaka never would've expected this conversation to turn over to her love life of all things. The blush on her face was here to stay.

Kuroko started to get a playful glint in her eyes. "Really? Like who-nya?" She loved the lesbian-ness of this entire chapter so far.

"Uh..." Ayaka didn't know how to answer this. Kuroko could be a little... overwhelming, to talk with. But at the same time... as a girl... she was strangely trustworthy. "I have a f-friend. Nobara Kujo. She's... I've..."

Kuroko could sense this was going to turn into more of a lore dump compared to simple gossip. "Oh! Let's sit down, Ay-nya-ka." She led the violinist to a chair. "Now, Nobar-nya you said? What's she like-nya?"

Ayaka nervously fidgeted in her chair. The sudden focus on her was throwing her off. She didn't think she'd end up talking about her crushes in this Killing Game at all. But... if there was anyone she'd be alright with knowing this stuff, it'd honestly be Kuroko. It's not like they were particularly close, but...

"Okay... well..." Ayaka had to think before she explained anything. "Nobara is a really g-good friend of mine. She's supported me through... a lot. She's h-helped me through my... experiences... as a violinist." She puy unintentional emphasis on the word "experiences."

"Really-nya? Just like me and Haruhi-nya!" Kuroko sensed the similarity.

"Haruhi?" Ayaka tilted her head. She hadn't learned that name before.

"Yeah! Haruhi Hojo!" Kuroko nodded eagerly. She still wanted to talk about Ayaka, but she was fine with explaining a little more about herself first. "She's my best friend-nya! She's supported me through thick and thin... been with me for so long... and even helped me open my own Hypnotherapy clinic! She's my secretary-nya!"

"Oh wow..." Ayaka wouldn't have expected a similarity like this between her and Kuroko. Well, it's not like Nobara performs with Ayaka on stage or anything. But still. "You... own a Hypnotherapy c-clinic?"

"Yep! I do-nya!" Kuroko was very proud of her trade. "I only take girl patients, but I get very good reviews-nya!" She liked looking back on times there. "I hope Haruhi is taking care of it... nah, who am I kidding-nya? I know she's taking good care of it-nya! So... I've got to get out of here to thank her! And to..." She trailed off.

"And to... what?" Ayaka wanted that trail to finish.

"And to... confess to her." Kuroko already told Aurora, so she saw no reason to hide it from Ayaka.

"W-What?" Ayaka unintentionally whispered, like she just heard a major secret. "Confess? As in... l-l-love?"

Kuroko giggled at the violinist's flustered response. "Love may be a... little much-nya. But I've liked her... for a long time. She's been by my side for so long... but I've been afraid of might happen to our relationship if I do confess-nya." She spoke very sincerely. "But after being around all of this death, it only helped my motivation to get out of here, and to tell her my true feelings."

...

Ayaka blinked. She sat there in silence for a moment. She's always seen Kuroko as a very playful, almost non-serious person. But to see such sincerity...

"Ay-nya-ka? Everything okay?" Kuroko raised an eyebrow at the violinist's silence.

"Huh?! Y-Yeah... I'm good." Ayaka widened her eyes, then took a deep breath, without the intention of bringing out Nozomi. "That's... another similarity b-between us, I guess..." She muttered, still audible enough for Kuroko to hear.

"Another?" Kuroko blinked.

...

"Oh!" It took Kuroko a second. "You mean... Nobar-nya? You... like her-nya?" She leaned in closer to Ayaka, absolutely loving this development.

"I... d-do." Ayaka fidgeted in her seat as the blush on her face grew ever stronger. "Sort of for the same r-reasons you said. She's so strong... so able... and she's been with me for s-such a long time. She even defended me against Hina- ah, nothing." She slowly shook her head after cutting off whatever she was about to say.

"I love that for you, Ay-nya-ka!" Kuroko cheered. She always loved crushes. She found them to be so cute. Even more if they're between girls! "But you haven't told Nobar-nya, right?"

Ayaka slowly shook her head again. "N-No. I haven't. I considered it at one point... but after... something happened... it kinda went to the back burner. I h-haven't thought about for a while." A slight shiver ran through Ayaka's body as thought about that "something."

"I see, I see." Kuroko solemnly nodded along. For as much as she wanted to urge Ayaka to be honest with her feelings, she could tell that this was different than her own situation, or even Aurora's situation. And considering Ayaka has Nozomi, she didn't want to... overwhelm her, so to speak. "Do you think Nobar-nya feels that way about you too, Ay-nya-ka?"

"I..." Ayaka took a second to think about that. "I-I... don't know." She obviously wished that she did, but she wasn't going to get her hopes up.

"I understand-nya." Kuroko claimed Ayaka's shoulder once again. "Well, when you get out of here, I hope it'll go well for you, Ay-nya-ka." She gave her a gentle smile.

"You s-speak that so... definitively." Ayaka flinched a bit at the contact, but she didn't move away. "You speak like I will g-get out of here..." Some good ol' pessimism shined through.

"Hey, what does that mean-nya?" Kuroko playfully frowned. "Don't talk like that, Ay-nya-ka! You will get out of here! I know you will-nya!" She jinxed Sempi's worst nightmare.

"If you... say so." Ayaka gave an unconvinced nod. "Maybe if Damien... ugh." She flinched just at yhe though of that bitchass beautician.

"Ay-nya-ka, I think that's your first problem!" Kuroko now playfully scolded her. "I'm sure it's easier said than done... but letting Damien living rent-free in your head isn't doing you any favors-nya."

"I know... I know." Ayaka definitely knew that. "But... god. I still feel so stupid for trusting him in the first place. And half of everyone here just act like he's a good person. It's so... damn... frustrating." A person like Damien being in the same Killing Game as her was essentially Ayaka's worst nightmare. And as everyone saw, it more than came true.

"It must be. It be must really hard-nya." Kuroko might've not been a direct victim of Damien's alleged manipulations, but she could sense the inner scumbag in him. It was blatantly clear after the second trial. Sorry Oddly, it's Kuroko's thoughts not mine. I think he's great, but some characters think otherwise or something :tch:

"He'll get his comeuppance eventually. I'm sure of it-nya." Kuroko sat comfortably in the club of Damien's biggest haters. She was definitely in the top tier. "And you've seen Kei and Ji-hoon! They're definitely on his case-nya! He won't be able to get away with anything else! And if he tries to do anything to you, I'll stop him-nya! You can be sure of that!" She wasn't sure what exactly she could do, but she'd do something!

"Thank... t-thank you, Kuroko." Ayaka met the hypnotist's gaze with a small, non-visible smile. "That does... m-mean a lot." Considering Kuroko's personality, she did honestly believe her when she said that.

"Anytime, Ay-nya-ka!" Kuroko patted Ayaka on the back.

As Kuroko's words sunk further into Ayaka's mind... Ayaka slowly began to... realize something. Not about Damien, Haruhi, or Nobara. No... she began to realize... something else. "Hey... Kuroko? Can I-I ask you a question?" She felt a little nervous asking this, as she felt like this had potential to lead to a big can of worms that she didn't know if she wanted to open.

"Sure, Ay-nya-ka! What is it?" Kuroko tilted her head in a fairly cat-like manner.

"There. That." Ayaka pointed at Kuroko. "What you just did."

"What I... just did? What do you mean-nya?" Kuroko tilted her head in the opposite direction.

"You... did it again." Ayaka could feel the worm can starting to crack open, "Kuroko... you are aware of your tic, right? T-The whole -nya thing?"

"The -nya thing-nya? Huh?" Kuroko didn't know what Ayaka meant by that.

"Shoot, I think someone did say she didn't notice her tick..." Ayaka muttered to herself. "Uh... sorry. This might sound weird, but you haven't been saying -nya as often anymore. You'll e-end one sentence with it... then the next one will be normal. I just wondered if..." She trailed off, her question self-explanatory at this point.

"The -nya thing..." Kuroko started to instinctively rub her head, like she had a headache. "The -nya thing-nya..." She again did what Ayaka stated.

"Kuroko?" The metaphorical can of worms that Ayaka had was about to burst.

"Nya...-nya." Kuroko seemed... buried in her own head somehow.

"Kuroko?" Ayaka asked again. "Is this related to..." She looked down at her Star-Phone. "Miyuki Majima, by a-any chance?" She channeled Ji-hoon's tactlessness via busting open the can of worms herself.

"AH!" Kuroko suddenly yelled, jumping up out of her seat. "Miyuki... Miyuki... Miyuki...! What did I..." The hypnotist's headache got a lot worse from the mere mention of the name.

"A-Are you okay, Kuroko? W-What's wrong?" Ayaka started to freak out. She desperately wanted Nozomi to take over, but she wouldn't know what was happening. She cursed her creator and the rules she set for her DID.

In Kuroko's mind, it felt like a wave of memories were crashing against a solid, neurological dam. Little bits of those memories seeped through the ever-growing cracks. Just the name... Miyuki Majima... it caused her head to pound... like it was desperately trying to remember Miyuki... and what Kuroko did to her-

"Hello? Is... anyone here?" Here to interrupt the moment, Aurora slowly walked into the Comedy Studio.

"A-Aurora!" Ayaka frantically turned around at the sound of the starlet's voice. The fact that she had been missing up to this point didn't even occur to her. "Kuroko! T-There's something wrong-"

"Auror-nya! Hi hi!" In some major whiplash, Kuroko cheerily strutted up to the starlet. As soon as she entered her vision, the wave of memories abruptly ceased its assault. "How are you-nya?"

"I'm good, thank you." Aurora gave a slightly confused smile. "Is... everything okay?" She looked between Kuroko's smiling face, and Ayaka's concerned face.

"Hm? Yeah, I'm good-nya!" Kuroko eagerly nodded.

"Okay..." Aurora focused her sight on Ayaka. "You, Ayaka? What's wrong?" She felt like she missed something kind of big.

"I..." Ayaka needed a moment to comprehend what just happened. Kuroko's instant change... wow. What Kuroko's secret said was definitely correct. She slightly regretted asking anything about it now... but she couldn't go back in time. She wasn't a therapist or anything, so she hoped that that didn't have a... negative effect on her? Ayaka didn't even know what she was thinking at this point.

"I'm... good. T-Thanks, Aurora." Ayaka tried to muster a smile.

"Well... that's good." Aurora parried the violinist's non-visible smile with a gentle smile of her own. "Say, this is convenient timing. I wanted to talk to you, Kuroko-"

"Oh yeah!" A metaphorical light bulb lit up above Kuroko's head as she remembered something. "You and Rai-nya! Ay-nya-ka told me where she is, so let's go see her!" She needed to make sure her OTP became a thing.

"H-Hold on, Kuroko-" Aurora wanted the hypnotist to slow down, but the hypnotist only wanted to speed up. And with that speed, Kuroko urged the starlet out of the Comedy Studio. Aurora stood no chance.

"Bye, Ay-nya-ka! See you later!" Kuroko called out before leaving with Aurora.

"Um... bye?" Ayaka awkwardly waved after them. That was a... talk, alright. And Ayaka felt... good about it? She'd have to think more about what all Kuroko said later. For now, she opted to leave the Comedy Studio, and to not get wrapped up in whatever Kuroko and Aurora were doing. That wasn't her business. So, she avoided them, and went off to somewhere else.

I guess Ayaka and Kuroko grew a little closer today!

[Grand Lobby]

"C-Can we slow down, Kuroko?" Aurora didn't expect the hypnotist to have such a tight grip on her left hand. Kuroko had dragged the starlet all the way to the entrance of Raiha's Ultimate Studio. Which wasn't very far from the Comedy Studio, so it's not like they went a long way.

"Huh? Oh! Sorry-nya!" Kuroko blush as she realized how forceful she had gotten. She let Aurora's left hand go and looked at her with a guilty look.

"It's okay...!" Aurora nervously chuckled as she fought to suppress her own blush. "I just... didn't expect that so suddenly."

"Right..." Kuroko figured her emotions might've been a little heightened after her talk with Ayaka. "Okay... back to square one-nya. You and Rai-nya." She needed to make sure she approached this in the right way. "Did... anything happen yesterday at the pool party-nya? Well... before the motive." She still was rather annoyed that Pheme cut the pool party short like that.

"Ah... right." The blush fought through Aurora's suppression. "Wait. First, I'd like to apologize for missing the morning meeting. I talked with Ji-hoon about it, and he seemed to understand. But when I woke up, I just... had to think about... everything. Everything you said... yesterday." She took a long, deep breath as she called back to their FTE. "And I suppose it took longer than expected."

"Oh, no worries-nya!" That honestly wasn't a concern of Kuroko's in the slightest. "But... how are you? How's... everything?" Despite the fact that it was a motive to kill, in hindsight, Kuroko would've wished to have gotten Aurora's secret. Mainly so she could... confirm. She was sure it'd be on there, knowing Pheme.

"I'm... yeah." Aurora didn't have the words to describe her mental state right now. Thoughts were constantly bouncing back and forth in her head. Some positive, happy thoughts. And other... not so positive thoughts. She tried her best to focus on those positive thoughts. But she felt... hypocritical doing so.

"I got it-nya." Kuroko didn't think Aurora would have sudden clarity after a single day or anything. "What about Rai-nya? Did you get the chance to talk with her yesterday?" She could only pay attention to so many cute girls in swimsuits at one time.

"Ah... no." Aurora shook her head. "I wanted to, but..." The intensifying blush on her face told the whole story.

"I see..." A smug grin overtook Kuroko's face. "That's alright-nya. You know..." She looked to Raiha's studio. "According to Ay-nya-ka, Rai-nya is in her studio. Now would be a good time... if you're comfortable with it-nya."

"Is she... really?" Aurora bit her lip as she followed Kuroko's gaze. "You think I should... right now?" She looked down at her pocket, which held her Star-Phone.

"Only if you're comfortable-nya." Kuroko reassured her. For as much as she wanted this to happen, she also didn't want to force Aurora to do anything if she wasn't comfortable.

"No... no. I'm... comfortable." Aurora's shaky hands betrayed her words as she tried to stay steadfast. "This... might be good. This... might be perfect." She tried to reassure herself as she took a step forward.

Kuroko smiled as she witnessed Aurora keeping strong. "You got this, Auror-nya! I know it'll be difficult, but I believe in you-nya!"

Aurora didn't fully process Kuroko's words, but she processed the belief. At this point, her long legs started to move on their own towards Raiha's studio. She didn't know what would happen in here... but whatever did... well, she'd worry about it as it happened...

[Ultimate Trendsetter's Studio]

As Aurora slowly stepped into Raiha's studio, she felt her heart beat faster just at the sight of the trendsetter. Raiha was currently looking at her Star-Phone, it seemed like. He back was turned to Aurora. She seemingly didn't hear her come in. A blush already started to race across Aurora's face. Damn it. This was already so much harder that she would've expected. But... staring at her back isn't going to do any good. She took a few more steps into the studio, hoping that the clack of her heels would alert Raiha.

"Hm? Ah! A-Aurora...! Hi!" And alert Raiha it did. At the sound and sight of the starlet, she quickly turned around to face her, pocketing her Star-Phone in the process. "What's uh... what's up?" She had on a very artificial smile, like she was hiding something.

"Well..." Aurora put on an artificial smile of her own, though mainly just to help her keep calm. "I just... wanted to... talk?" She didn't really have any plans before becoming in here, and it showed.

"...Talk?" Raiha took an uneasy step forward. "What... about?" She had half curious/half nervous look on her face.

"Talk about... where you were this morning!" Aurora avoided the elephant in the room with a clear diversion of a topic. You know, for an actress, it's funny how much of a difficult time Aurora has been having lately.

"Where I... oh!" Raiha had a hint of disappointment on her face as she realized what she meant. "Yeah, sorry! My b! I know I was late. I overslept, then my makeup would not cooperate with me, then I kinda... thought about some stuff." The end of her explanation took on a more... distant tone.

"Oh, that's fine! I actually missed the morning meeting as well. For... the same reasons, in a way." Aurora definitely did a lot of thinking earlier this morning. "I talked to Ji-hoon about it, and he understood. Did you... tell anyone, like Ji-hoon, about your absence?"

Raiha flinched at the mention of the celebrity detective. "Uh... no. I didn't." She bit her lip.

"Oh? ...Why not?" Aurora asked, despite likely already knowing the answer.

"Ji-hoon... he..." Raiha heavily debated how honest to be here. "He... scares me..." She just went and said it.

Aurora's breath got caught in her throat at that statement. Depsite half-expecting it, it still shocked her a little. "Scares you... right. I almost forgot about how aggressive he's been with you as of late." She nodded in understanding. "Do you... do you have any idea why he is so aggressive with you?" She couldn't deny her curiosity.

Raiha suddenly looked directly at Aurora, eyes wide and full of... fear. "Uh... no. N-Not at all. I... don't know why." Her acting wasn't very good. "I don't know what the hell his problem is with me... and I wish he'd just f-f-fuck off..." Her voice shook as she spoke, sounding genuinely upset.

Aurora widened her own eyes at the swear, but given the situation, she understood. "Hm... that's weird then. Are you sure you don't know?" She trusted Raiha of course, but Ji-hoon being on her case for no reason didn't sound right.

"I am!" Raiha yelled out, an aura of distress overtaking her. "I am sure! I don't know why he hates me so fucking much! And I-I wish he'd just... stop!" She slammed her hands down on one of the empty podiums. "God damn it..." Tears started to fall from her eyes. "First him, now you..." Her mind didn't even process Aurora's presence as she began to cry in earnest.

Well, Aurora definitely messed this up.

"Raiha!" Aurora ran up behind her, and hugged her from behind. "Hey, it's alright. Don't cry, please." Her mind was aware of the intimate contact, but she chose not to focus on it. She hugged her a little closer. "I'm not here to... get on your case, Raiha. I'm not." Comforting people like this wasn't exactly on her resume, but she had no choice right now. "It's okay... it'll be alright..."

Raiha fought as hard as she could to control her tears, but Aurora's warm embrace made that task impossible. "Fuck... I'm sorry Aurora... I'm sorry... I..." She shut her eyes tight, her anxiety over everything finally reaching its tipping point.

"No need to apologize, Raiha. It's okay..." Aurora kept trying to comfort her. "Let it out... it's alright... it's okay..." She focused on making her voice as soft and as comforting as possible.

Flashes of Ji-hoon, her mom, her dad, and her siblings ran through her mind as she continued to sob. Damn it... she really had been holding this in. She had so much anxiety since this Killing Game started, and this stupid motive only increased it! Then Ji-hoon gets on her case... and it gets even worse! God... why? Why her?! Why did she have to be chosen for this... it really felt like Pheme chose her for this Killing Game... knowing exactly how it would end. With her life ruined. And it's just... god!

Raiha continued to sob, her makeup getting all runny and messed up from her tears. Aurora stayed behind her, her arms wrapped around the trendsetter's waist. Not too tight, but not too loose either. It was just to let Raiha know... that she was okay. And that it would be okay. The irony of all of this more than dawned on Aurora, but she pushed that feeling down. All she was going to do... was comfort Raiha...

...

After a few minutes, Raiha's tears finally started to subside. She hugged herself, her hands on Aurora's forearms as she took long, deep breaths. Her body was still shaking, but as the tears stopped, the shaking slowly began to stop as well. She just closed her eyes... and focused on calming down... with Aurora's warmth as her guardian...

...

"Raiha? How are you?" Aurora looked downward, her extra seven inches of height on Raiha apparent as she gave a patient, gentle smile. "Have you... calmed down?

"Yeah... yeah, I have." Raiha contently closed her eyes, and felt herself momentarily melting into Aurora's embrace. She opened her eyes, then looked up to meet the starlet's gaze. "Thank you, Aurora. I'm... sorry you had to see that." That look of contentment got quickly replaced with a look of guilt.

"No apology is necessary, Raiha." Aurora gently shook her head. "Everyone's anxiety must be at an all-time high right now, considering the motive and the... past four deaths." Aurora was no exception to that! Her anxiety was at an all-time high as well! But she's just a little better at hiding it compared to Raiha. "There's no reason to feel guilty. It's good you... let it out."

"...Thank you, Aurora." A few more tears gathered in Raiha's eyes, but these were grateful tears, not distressful tears.

"Of course, Raiha." Aurora gave her a patient nod.

As they stared into each other's eyes for a moment, the intimacy of their position started to click for the both of them. Aurora widened her eyes, feeling her heart beat faster and faster. A mixture of anxiety, embarrassment, and... something else overtaking her.

Then as Raiha's final tears dried, her own eyes widened, the proximity and warmth of her crush making her cheeks flush like a tomato. She felt her heart best faster as she continued to stare deeply into Aurora's eyes.

...

"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to-/I'm sorry! I didn't mean to-" Both the girls said the same thing in unison as they split apart from each other, their hearts and faces showing their conflicting emotions.

"I'm sorry, Raiha! I didn't mean to get so... close!" Aurora felt her face heating ever more up.

"No, I'm sorry! I should've... I could've..." Raiha struggled to think of an excuse. Aurora's embrace was just... so warm and...

Both the girls stared at each other, an unspoken tention and understanding in the are. They stared into each other's eyes... feelings, thoughs, and emotions rife on both of their faces.

...

"Aurora, I need to be honest-/Raiha, I need to be honest-" Both of them once again spoke in unison as their heightened emotions and feelings died down for the moment. But the whole speaking in unison thing clammed them up again!

"Uh..." Raiha whispered with confusion and slight concern. "Aurora? You need to be honest about... what?"

"Um..." Aurora blinked rapidly. "You need to be honest... too- no. No, you know what?" She stopped herself, feeling an ounce of determination run through her. She was going to deflect onto Raiha and her "honesty"... but no. She... wasn't going to do that. "Raiha... let me say... I need to be honest about something." Her hands started to shake.

"O-Okay..." Raiha's heart started to beat a little faster, but not from embarrassment this time. She had a slight feeling on what Aurora was about to say... but she wasn't going to jinx it. "You can... be honest... first... Aurora. What's... up?" She spoke slowly between her words as she took a step forward.

Aurora tried her best to focus on Kuroko's words from yesterday. She took a deep breath. She... was going to say it. She was actually going to express it... to someone who wasn't Mr. D'Rue. Oh god... her brain was telling her to stop... to keep it in... but...

"Raiha. I talked with... Kuroko yesterday." And so... Aurora began.

"Kuroko? About... what?" Raiha tilted her head.

"Well... we talked about a lot of things." Aurora took another quick, deep breath. "Happiness... truth... death... she even shared with me a... personal story of hers."

"Personal... story?" Raiha could sense the potential tea, but she didn't want to interrupt. She let Aurora stay in control here.

"Indeed." Aurora solemnly nodded. "Knowing Kuroko, I'm sure she won't mind if I share. Especially if it's with you." She coughed in a specifically non-Rosalind style to supress her nervousness. "Kuroko's parents... along with not believing in her talent, they were fairly... homophobic." That last word flowed out of her mouth unsteadily.

"...Oh. Oh wow." Raiha blinked. She didn't expect to hear that. "That... that must've been hard. I... can't imagine." She was grateful that her own parents never cared about her sexuality. God she missed them...

"Yes... I imagine so." Aurora solemnly nodded once again. "The story..." He hands started to shake again. "Resonated with me... in a way that..." She set her hands down on one of the podiums to steady herself. "In a way that... really... hit... home." She closed her eyes. "Raiha... I'm sorry... I..." She was going to do it. She was going to say it. "I... lied to you..." That was one of the hardest sentences she's had to speak in her life. And she knew the next one would be even more difficult.

"You... lied?" Raiha had an expressionless look on her face, with the slightest hint of expectance, as if she anticipated those words. "You lied about... what?" She stared at the starlet's face, ready to hear whatever will come out if her mouth.

"What I lied about... is..." Aurora set one of her hands over her heart. "No... I can word this better. I'll just say... this." With slow, deliberate efforts, she managed to meet Raiha's gaze, the conflict on Aurora's face apparent. "Raiha... I'm... a..."

...

"Lesbian..." That was the hardest word that Aurora had to speak throughout her entire life. She channeled all of her willpower to keep meeting Raiha's gaze, no matter how difficult it was. She felt shame, embarrassment, hate, and so many other emotions swirling within her.

...

Raiha didn't immediately respond.

...

"You're a... lesbian?" After a few moments, Raiha finally did.

"...I am." Shame was now prevalent on Aurora's face, as the tremors of her form showcased her inner and outer turmoil.

"...Okay." Raiha nodded with surprising understanding. She wasn't mad, sad, or even happy necessarily. She just... understood.

...

"R-Raiha?" Aurora shakily asked, expecting the trendsetter to react to this somewhat. "Um... what's... up?" She didn't know how to proceed without a proper reaction from the trendsetter.

"..." Raiha sighed, then crossed her arms. "Aurora..." She took a few steps forward, sauntering closer to the starlet. Aurora's gaze couldn't handle meeting Raiha's from such a close distance, so she looked away. "Aurora... it's okay." She gave... reassurance, of all things.

"It's... what?" Aurora shakily looked back at her, tears stinging her eyes. And when she did, she locked eyes with... the screen of Raiha's Star-Phone. It was... open to the Secrets App. Aurora read what she saw, internally.

Aurora Beaufort's Secret:

-Aurora Beaufort claims to be Heterosexual, but she is, in reality, a Lesbian. She suffers from internal homophobia, so she chooses to hide her true sexuality.

-Aurora Beaufort is not her real name. Her real name is M-

She looked away before she could accidentally spoil anything for the readers. She especially didn't want to acknowledge her third secret.

More tears fell from Aurora's eyes as she fully processed the implication of what she just saw. "Raiha... you... have my secret?" She shakily asked, refusing to reunite with the trendsetter's gaze.

"...Yeah. I do." Raiha took a deep breath.

"Oh god..." Aurora muttered as she felt even more tears start to fall. This... was honestly the worst thing that could've happened. But... she suppose she expected it... damn it. Forget feeling shame... or feeling embarrassed... she was... she was mortified. Raiha... really knew everything? Raiha already knew everything. This made things... so much more difficult. Kuroko's words of encouragement started to fizzle out as her mind started to race between different emotions. She felt her hands start rapidly shake. If what she saw earlier was Raiha's anxiety... this was... this was her anxiety. She began to wrap her arms around to hug herself... momentarily forgetting about the person watching her have a mental breakdown. But before she could...

"Aurora... it's okay." Raiha boldly took both of Aurora's trembling hands in her own. "Believe me... it's okay." It was her turn to do the comforting.

"..." Aurora silently met Raiha's gaze, the warmth of the trendsetter's hands piercing her very being.

"Yes... I have your secret. And I know... that you lied to me. I know your real name. And I know... what you did. But..." Raiha gripped Aurora's hands a little tighter. "I'm not mad or feeling betrayed, if that's what you're thinking."

"You're... not?" Aurora felt Raiha's residual warmth start to calm her inner turmoil.

Raiha gently shook her head. "No. I'm not. I... understand. And... I can infer... about it." She collected a few thoughts in her head before continuing. "There was something you said to me... when we talked in Bessie's studio that... struck me a little.

"Ah, forgive me." Aurora realized that she worded that weirdly. "It's just that... when you're, well, not just an actress... but a starlet... you're expected to act a certain way. Kind, thoughtful, gentle, and more." She listed examples. "I'm not saying that I'm not those things! But you're expected to act a certain way within the industry... and I do."

"So... you're acting how everyone expects you to act?" Raiha furrowed her brow.

"...I suppose you could say that." Aurora gently nodded.

"Ah..." Aurora had forgotten she said that.

"Let me guess." Raiha spoke with a gentle, reassuring tone. "Everyone expects you to get with some rich, handsome guy, became a famous celeb couple, make babies with crazy names, and so on, right?"

Aurora shakily nodded. She was right. That was what was expected of her.

"But... you realized you liked... girls... not guys." Raiha continued her guess. "This world is plenty advanced... but it still has its fair share of problems, maybe ironically." She dryly giggled. "Kuroko's story is a... good example. Not everyone is accepting of people who are different, despite it all. So... people expect you to be one way... but you can't be that way. So you suppress the way you actually are... and that suppression leads to... well... internal hatred." She summed it up the best she could.

"T-That's..." Aurora shakily bit her lip. "That's... exactly it. I'm so afraid... of losing what I worked so hard for. I worked so hard to get where I am... so I don't want to lose it. But... if people don't accept me... I'm finished. And the part I want people to accept... it's not what they want. So... it's just..." She felt her makeup start to get runny from her tears, just like with Raiha.

"Yeah... yeah. I'm obviously not exactly in your shoes. I may be famous... but not starlet famous." Raiha slowly nodded. "I get it. I've gone through so much to get to where I am too. So much blood... sweat... and tears. And I'm not going to give it up either. And... it may not be my sexuality, but there is... stuff... that... if it comes out... I'd be finished too. Almost feels like I have to walk on eggshells, putting up a front, because I'm afraid of what people might say. About me." She felt a few fresh tears start to form in her own eyes.

"You too... huh?" A faint smile started to form on Aurora's face. "That's... actually... really reassuring." She knew that they were far from being in the same boat, but knowing the someone she admired so much could at least somewhat get what she was going through... it felt... good.

"Can I... can I ask, Aurora?" Raiha didn't know the 'correct' way to go from here, but she tried to focus on the way that could hopefully help Aurora feel better, if at all. "You being a lesbian... does anyone know? Your parents? Your manager?" A small bit of her desire for tea shined through.

"Huh? ...Oh." A small, near-permanent scowl adorned Aurora's face as she thought about her... true self. "I... guess I can answer that. My parents... no. I haven't told them. I also haven't told Mr. D'Rue... but I think he knows anyway. Some of the things he's said to me... it sounds like he's... figured it out." A slight smile, one both happy and sad, adorned Aurora's lips as she thought about her manager.

"I see..." Raiha slowly nodded. "I'm sure my words can't just... instantly make you feel more accepting about who you are." She definitely wished that were the case. "But even if they don't immediately click or resonate... just know that... I really do like you, Aurora. As in... I like-like you." She gave her an actual confession this time. "Your elegance... your gentleness... the way you carry yourself with such... composure..." She gripped her hands a little tighter. And she was aware that she wasn't very elegant or composed at the moment, but that was besides the point. "So... if anything... know that I'll accept you... okay?" Renewed tears might've been falling from her eyes, but she mustered her best smile all the same.

"Raiha..." Aurora's tears grew in intensity as she processed and absorbed Raiha's words. Those words of acceptance... for the briefest of moments... granted a clarity in her mind. And that clarity... begged her to speak her truth. So... she did. With both pleasure and pain, she spoke. "Raiha... I like-like you too." The words came out before her brain could fully process them. Her eyes widening were proof of that.

"You... what?" Both disbelief and happiness took over Raiha's tone as she took in Aurora's words.

"I..." Kuroko's words came back into Aurora's mind. Her... happiness. She had to think about... her happiness. "I... think I... really do like you, Raiha." Pleasure and pain morphed to relief and slight disgust with herself as she continued to speak. "How cheerful... quirky... and how... vibrant you are. I think... from the beginning... I really did like you, Raiha."

"..." Raiha was speechless. Even with her makeup in a currently horrendous state, seeing Aurora... her bestie... speak such genuine words was just... wow. "Even after I got your secret... I... didn't expect... reciprocation." Her heart started to beat out of control. "I..."

Aurora took control of their handholding, returning Raiha's grip. Her mind was on autopilot now, waving and waddling through the messy swamp of inner distaste she had for herself. "I know this is a Killing Game... and I'm sure..." She met Raiha's eyes. "Both of us... have plenty to hide. But... I'm so glad I got to say it. That's the one perk about this place. There's no one who will judge me or reject me... I suppose."

As Raiha's heart started to beat faster and faster... so did something else... something... akin to fear. "Aurora... I..." The urge to tell the complete truth started to knock at her consciousness. "I'm so glad that you feel the same way... but..."

As Aurora continued to lock eyes with Raiha, just like earlier, the intimacy of their position, despite it just being hand holding, started to get to her. She slowly let go of Raiha's hands. She felt her mind getting more and more muddled, like it just then processed everything that she said. The implications and truth of everything had just sunken in for her. "Raiha... I... I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that. I just..."

"I'm afraid you won't like the real me." Both of girls, for the third time, spoke in unison.

At the end of those words, their shaky eyes met each other's, mixtures of fear... embarrassment... and slight amusement across their faces.

"Heh..." Raiha chuckled. "Wow. That's a... funny coincidence, huh?" She spoke between sniffles.

"Yes... that's..." A smile reached Aurora's lip as she contemplated her words. "That's... funny."

...

Neither girl truly knew what to say from there. All of their words... their inner turmoils... it was all spent. They both took a step closer to each other, until they were mere inches apart. They were a trendsetter... and a starlet. Two positions of rather intense fame, and yet, neither knew how to proceed.

Aurora was the first to make a move, moving her eyes away from Raiha's. But the trendsetter took Aurora's hands in her own, almost commanding the starlet to meet her gaze again. In this brief moment, every ounce of anxiety truly had faded away. Raiha wanted this moment... to last forever.

Aurora's mind, annoyingly enough, wasn't simply allowing her to enjoy this. But Raiha's residual warmth... her soft hands... her gentle gaze... it provided enjoyment she didn't know was possible. She felt like... if truly was going to work past this hurdle... Raiha could help her through it. She instinctively bent down a little, to more directly meet Raiha's gaze.

Both of the girls' makeup was awful by this point, being ruined by their tears. But... neither cared. The heat of the moment got to them both, as slowly... slowly... slowly... moved their faces closer to each other. Slowly... slowly... slowly... their grip on each other's hands got tighter as they slowly... slowly... slowly... got closer and closer... until...

The door to to Raiha's studio slammed open. "Humans! What are you doing?" Cathy kicked open the door, her Cathy-ness taking over the room.

Both of the girls tensed with shock at the sound, as Raiha accidentally wrapped her arms around Aurora's form. And as she did... that momentary shock... caused them to close that small gap... and they kissed.

It was for the briefest of moments, lasting a mere second long. But to both, it felt like an eternity. The softness of each other's lips... it was something that was going to stick with them forever.

Raiha looked up at Aurora in shock at what just happened, her mind not fully processing it. Neither did Aurora's mind. She didn't even process that they were now fully hugging each other, their bodies fully touching.

"Ugh, you humans are so gross! Get a room!" Cathy audibly gagged at the PDA, despite them already technically being in a room.

"Huh?! What?!" Cathy's voice once again hit them as they both stumbled away from each other. "What just... happened?" Raiha's heart started to beat a mile a minute as she finally turned to look at Cathy.

"Oh... my god. That was..." Aurora's heartbeat almost felt both painful and pleasant as she turned to look at Cathy as well.

"So you human's finally tied the knot?" Cathy asked, despite not actually caring that much. "Gah, whatever. That's not what I came here to say. I couldn't care less about your disgusting public displays of affection! I came here to say-"

Ready to cut off Cathy's line, an announcement suddenly started.

"Attention, my glamorous stars! It's time for the third Special Event! If you're excited, which I'm sure you are, then I ask you to report to the Ultimate Backing Vocalist's Studio! And for this one... seven of you should suffice! Now go! I wish to see you all there!" Pheme's smug voice cut off.

"Tch, swell timing, goddess." Cathy scoffed. "Anyway, the goddess told me she was about to make an announcement, so I wanted to interrupt whatever people were doing to tell them! Nyahaha! I've stolen your time, starlet human and trendsetter human! Nyahahaha!" With a classic Cathy cackle, she ran off.

...

"Do you... want to go?" Raiha asked after a few moments of confused silence.

"...No." Aurora slowly shook her head. "But... I think I will go." She looked to the entryway with a surprisingly content look on her face. "I need to think about... a lot of things. You gave me..." She put a finger up to her lips, still remembering Raiha's touch. "...a lot to think about, Raiha." She turned to face her one last time. "Truly... thank you. I mean it. I'll see you later, okay?" With a gentle wave, the starlet slowly left Raiha's studio.

"O-Okay! I'll... see you later!" Raiha's voice cracked as she waved her off.

...

Now alone... Raiha didn't know what to do. She wanted to cry... she wanted to laugh... she wanted to jump for joy... but no. She didn't do any of those things. She stood there... and thought about what just happened. And the main though that came to her mind was... that...

Undeniably, Aurora and Raiha definitely grew closer today!

[Ultimate Backing Vocalist's Studio]

"Nyahahaha! What game do you have for us this time, goddess- huh?!"

As Cathy burst through the doorway to Rival's studio after climbing the stairs at blinding speeds, she very quickly faced a certain fact that baffled her. She... she wasn't the first one here!

"And that makes seven then." Ji-hoon took another count of everyone who was here. "Perfect. Let's get this done, Pheme."

"This bitch is lucky I was already up here. This stupid shit better not take long." Alpha groaned and grumbled to herself.

"Same... here." Rival yawned. "I was up here... in my studio. Because... it's my studio." It wasn't like he was planning on performing anytime soon, but that didn't mean that he couldn't just... hang out in here. Besides... there was a certain something about being close to both Bessie's and Rosalind's Ultimate Studios that... wasn't the worst feeling in the world.

"But Pheme burst in here... told me I was going to be in the Special Event... and here I am." Despite his tired tone, Rival's annoyance came out rather clearly.

"I'm afraid that's how the cookie crumbles, Rival." Kei shrugged. "Besides, you can't deny being the littlest bit interested in what Pheme has got for us, right? C'mon." He nudged Rival's shoulder with a playful smirk.

"Yes, it's as you say, Kei." Damien agreed with the lawyer. "I haven't attended the previous Special Events, so I admit my curiosity got the better of me here." Who wouldn't be morbidily curious about Pheme's plans.

"Same." Darren gave a simple, one word response as took a sip of an otherworld abomination that humans cannot comprehend. Aka, some wine. He wasn't even sure why he got wine for himself. He kinda just... did. But he was regretting it now. "Same for you, Cathy?" He looked the cat burglar right in the eyes.

"Well...!" Cathy's eyes widened with a mix of shock and annoyance. How was she beaten here?! She literally ran here! What the heck?

Pheme giggled at Cathy's expression, not caring about her inner confusion. "Come in, Ms. Munchkin! It's great to see you!" She urged her in. "I'd love to discuss the motive with you all, as well as Mx. Beaumont's Ultimate Studio, but I'm afraid we're on a time crunch today! So come! Spspspsps!" She made a sound you'd made to normal draw a cat towards you.

"Ha! You think me that simple-minded, goddess?" Cathy scoffed, but she moved further in anyway.

"Hold on." Ji-hoon wasn't going to let what Phemr said slip by. "What's this about Lake's studio?"

"Yeah..." Rival furrowed his brow. "What's... up with it? And where is Lake? Has... anyone found them?" He looked around, as if expecting Lake to just be standing behind them.

"Ah, for the record, I did find my dear Lake!" Damien used his totally trustworthy words to reassure everyone. "I ran into them in the VIP Quarters. It was merely a case of them oversleeping it seems. So rest assured, they are alright." He took great comfort in knowing that his dear Lake was safe.

"Yeah, like your word is truthworthy! Fat chance, rapist!" Alpha rolled her eyes, opting for a simpler, more in-your-face insult.

Damien merely chuckled at her words. "Well, if you don't believe me, that's alright. Nothing I can do to change that. But my dear Lake is safe, rest assured." He gave a comforting smile. Don't worry Kadachi, you can surely trust Damien's word, right? Surely.

"We'll take it, I guess." Kei didn't believe that either, but he'd rather take a lie over nothing at all. "And that reminds me. Yoshino? Raiha? Aurora? We find them anywhere?" He personally didn't spot them anywhere himself.

"Aurora talked with me earlier." Ji-hoon backed up Aurora's words from the previous scene. "But that's all I've seen. Anyone else?"

"Nyahaha!" Cathy thought this squabbling and worry over these humans was rather amusing. "I spotted the trendsetter human with the starlet human! And the horror novelist was running around with the carpenter human! So those two are alright! Stop your pathetic worrying! Nyaha!" She never saw the point in worrying, honestly.

"Nice to see you being forthcoming, Cathy. Thanks." Darren winked at her, before taking another sip of his middling wine.

"You're welcome, bartender human!" Cathy crossed her arms and smugly looked away from him, as an effort to hide her blushing face.

"Okay. They're fine. Good." Ji-hoon actually trusted Cathy's words. He didn't trust Damien's, but that was something to worry about later. "I want to talk with Raiha about her being missing..." That was something that especially concerned him. "But I'll save it. Pheme. What's up with Lake's studio?" This was something he was very curious about.

"Mr. Jo, I just told you we are on a time crunch!" Pheme looked at him disapprovingly. "But fine. One of you informed me of a 'gas leak' or some such in Mx. Beaumont's studio, so I closed it off! I shall not be entered for the foreseeable future! There! Happy?"

"Gas leak? The hell?" Alpha showed a modicum of curiosity, as there was a small chance her talent could actually be relevant here.

"That's... weird." Rival didn't fully trust Pheme's words. "Who... told you?" That's what he wanted to know most of all.

"I won't tell you!" Pheme giggled. "And that's that! Come now, we must begin!" She was getting impatient.

But Ji-hoon wasn't satisfied yet. "Hold on-"

Pheme gave a dangerous glare to the celebrity detective. "Mr. Jo... I said..."

*CLICK*

A sharp, distinctive click echoed throughout the studio. "I said..." Pheme pulled out a golden 9mm pistol, and held it up to Ji-hoon's temple. "That's... enough." Her voice took on a cold, chilling tone.

"Holy fuck! Another gun?!" Alpha had seen plenty of guns in her life, but she frankly didn't expect Pheme to have more than one.

"Woah...! Getting a little... heated, Pheme?" Kei chuckled, attempting to hide the slight nervousness rising in his tone.

"Sheesh, goddess! Scare tactics?" Cathy scoffed, showing absolutely no fear to the gun.

"Alright... I'll stop." Ji-hoon didn't stick his hands up or anything, but slowed his movements to be more methodical and careful. "Let's do it, Pheme. What do you want us to do?" He wasn't necessarily scared, but he sure as hell wasn't going to piss off the psycho with the gun.

"Very good! I'm glad you see it my way!" Pheme radiated with glee, providing a strange image, considering she's holding a gun. "Now... everyone. Look over there!" She pointed with her free hand over to one of the rows of seats. And in some of those seats...

"You finally gonna explain those... dummies?" Rival personally watched Pheme set up six dummies in every other seat over in one of the rows. He didn't question it at the time, but he decided now was a good time to do so.

"Part of the... Special Event, I presume?" Damien made a safe guess.

"That's correct, Mr. Lux! A gold star for you!" Pheme gave him a metaphorical gold star. "As you all can see, there are twelve seats over there! Go sit! Now! Right now!" She impatiently pointed the gun around at everyone to urge them along.

"Nyaha! Impatient, much?" Cathy still showed no fear as she quite literally lept into one of the seats.

"I feel like... I've seen something like this before..." Rival did a little foreshadowing as he slowly sat down. If he was afraid at all right now, he sure wasn't showing it.

"Same here, Rival!" Kei felt like knew exactly where this was going. He chuckled as he sat down in a seat, purposely trying not to look at the gun in Pheme's hands. As he looked away, he witnessed everyone else, besides for one person, sitting down.

After a few moments, the seats were as follows:

Dummy, Ji-hoon, Dummy, Kei, Dummy, Alpha, Dummy, Damien, Dummy, Rival, Dummy, then Cathy.

And that left...

"What about me?" Darren casually walked up next to Pheme as he looked at his fellow stars sitting down.

"Well, Mr. Taylor... you have a very special role today!" Pheme set the golden pistol in Darren's hands with an almost sensual grace, the touch of her fingers on his lingering for a moment too long. Darren didn't react or care.

"G-Goddess! What's the meaning of this?!" Cathy sure did react and care though! Something about Pheme being sensual with Darren... even if he didn't react... made her feel... not good. Why? Why did she feel like that?

"You're giving Darren the gun then. I... suppose I'm grateful the one who has experience with firearms is the one who is wielding it." Damien felt his curiosity and intrigue growing with each passing moment.

"This is your game then, Pheme?" Ji-hoon sounded both agitated and annoyed as he spoke, like he had just then figured out exactly what this is.

"Ah! I see some of you have figured it out!" A grin crept onto Pheme's face as she faced her sitting stars. "But for those who may not now what this is, allow me a ask a question!" She cleared her voice before speaking. "Tell me. Have you stars heard of the show, Your Turn to Live?" Pheme loved her references, and this one was no different as she waited for her stars to respond.

"Your Turn to Live? The fuck is that?" Alpha evidently hadn't heard of it.

"I've never been one for human television shows!" Cathy hadn't heard of it either.

"Well, girls..." Kei took it upon himself to explain. "Your Turn to Live is a death game TV show. It's seasons have 20 people or so, and they go through little traps and mini-games before going to the main game, a debate where they discuss who should survive. After the vote multiple times on who should live, whoever doesn't get voted gets executed. And it proceeds like that." He nodded as he finished his explanation. "It's pretty popular, but it's not my thing." He shrugged.

"It's also incredibly... fake." Rival pointed out. "Unlike this." He silently wished this was a fictional TV show sometimes.

"That's right, Rival." Ji-hoon had mixed feelings in the show itself, but he didn't have time to go into those feelings. "So, Pheme? You're copying one of the most famous moments from the show?" He didn't actively mean to taunt her, but it sure came out that way.

"Gasp! Mr. Jo! I'd never copy from someone else! I'm no plagiarizer!" Pheme took intense offense to the accusation. "I'm merely... re-utilizing the concept!" She gave an excuse.

"That's still plagiarizing, goddess!" Cathy pointed out with a smug look.

"Shush, Ms. Munchkin!" Pheme's eyes glowed with intensity as she pointed her dagger at the cat burglar. "This sounded like a fun idea, so I'm doing it!" She retracted her dagger, then took out something else.

"Now... Mr. Taylor!" Pheme turned her attention back to the bartender. "Take a look at these!" She opened her hand, and revealed twelve bullets. "That golden gun you hold can fit twelve bullets! So, here you are!" She handed the bullets to him.

"Thanks." Darren gave a quick and plain nod as he took the bullets. He held one of them up to examine them.

"Now, as for what the purpose of these bullets are!" Pheme clapped her hands. "First... you should know something! Six of these bullets are fake! And the other six are real!"

"That is as expected." Damien nodded. It seems like Pheme truly was following the TV show's format perfectly.

"Mr. Taylor! I ask you to load those bullets into your gun!" Pheme continued, ignoring any comments from the peanut gallery. "And when you do... you must use the gun to shoot your fellow stars, one after the other! Get through this with your fellow stars being shot, and you'll win a prize!" She gave Ji-hoon a quick look, knowing exactly what he was hoping for from this.

"So I have to load them correctly. That's... easy." Darren thought this to be a little too simple, but he started to load the bullets anyway. "If someone does die? Or get shot? What happens? Am I the blackened?" He wanted clarification on that first.

"Nope!" Pheme cheerily shook her head. "If one of your fellow stars does get shot, you won't be the blackened, and there won't be a trial! Nothing will happen! You won't get your prize, but things will just... proceed! As usual!" She loved bringing out cruel and interesting rules.

"...Damn." Rival's face still didn't show any apparent fear. "Cold-blooded..."

"Hmph! That feels both fitting and unfitting for you, goddess!" Cathy narrowed her eyes. It felt strange that she'd allow that, but she knew better than to question her. Pheme's mood swings were almost as intense as her own!

"Got it." Darren accepted the rule with a stoic look as he finished loading the bullets in the gun. Without wasting a breath, he walked to the far left seat, which housed a dummy. He held the gun up to its forehead.

"Shit, getting right to it? Damn... alright." Alpha was almost impressed by the size of Darren's balls.

"That's good. I'm glad he's getting right to it. He's probably the best person for this role." Ji-hoon was glad that Darren was doing this. Someone stoic and steadfast could handle this role well, so Darren was perfect. He was confident that-

*BANG*

A loud *BANG* reverberated throughout Rival's Studio as Darren took his first shot, cutting off Ji-hoon's internal monologue. Everyone, scared by the sudden sound, looked to the dummy victim, and to the hole in its head. "One down." Darren stayed stoic and steadfast as Ji-hoon wished, especially as he moved onto the celebrity detective himself.

"Hey! A little warning next time, bartender human?" Cathy covered her ears with a grimace.

"Yes... that was rather loud..." Even Damien spoke with some annoyance as he retracted his hands from his ears.

"Oh, relax! The gun is modified! Any sounds made from it cannot hurt your hearing! So don't worry!" Pheme reassured them. "You'll be fine!"

"That's not reassuring from you..." Rival's hoodie luckily shielded him from some of the sound, but it was still damn loud.

"Think we gotta take her words, Rival." Kei shrugged, staying fairly casual despite the proximity to the gun. "The faster he does this, the faster Pheme gets her entertainment, and the faster this gets over with! Right?" He flashed Darren a grin.

"Right. You'll all be fine." Darren spoke with surprisingly reassurance as he lined up the gun with Ji-hoon's head. "Including you, Ji-hoon."

*BANG*

Without waiting for a response from the celebrity detective, Darren shot the gun. Everyone, including Ji-hoon, flinched at the sound. Everyone then waited with baited breath for the outcome, as if they couldn't just look to their right to see that Ji-hoon was completely fine.

"That was a fake bullet. Nice job, Darren." Ji-hoon touched the small mark the bullet left on his forehead as he showed no fear whatsoever.

"Well, look at the celebrity detective human acting all cool!" Cathy sneered with a mocking tone. "You act like you weren't scared at all."

"I wasn't." Ji-hoon shook his head. "This isn't the first time I've been a life-threatening situation. Not counting this Killing Game, of course." He flashed Pheme a quick look.

"Damn..." Rival slightly widened his eyes. He hadn't really considered where Ji-hoon's talent/career could take him in his life. But having his life threatened... he could see it.

"Impressive, Ji-hoon." Damien gave a look of approval. "And you're even more impressive, Darren. I'm assuming you alternated the bullets as you loaded them?" He casual revealed the magician's secret.

"Yep." Darren nodded.

*BANG*

Without a hint of hesitation, he moved to the next dummy, shooting a very real bullet into its head. Everybody still flinched. Fearful or not, the sound of a gun shooting wasn't one you could simply get used to.

"I'm gonna make this quick." Darren's voice took on an unintentionally assassin-like tone as he-

*BANG*

Shot right at Kei, not giving the lawyer a chance to breath. "Damn!" He slightly jumped at the sensation. "Can safely say that I've never been shot before!"

"It's not common." Darren shook his head as he moved on.

*BANG*

Another dummy down. "Ji-hoon is probably the only exception." He mused. "Unless... have you been shot at before, Alpha?" He posed the question to the gas station manager as he lined up the gun with her temple.

"Eh, I've been threatened before. Never been shot shot at." Alpha gave a surprisingly legit answer. A gun in your face, even if confident you'll be okay, can do a lot to drive the truth from you.

"I see." Darren nodded. "Just Ji-hoon then, I guess."

*BANG*

Darren shot the gun. In an alternate universe, that gunshot would've killed Alpha, and Epi would be jumping for joy right now. Alas, we are not in that universe. Alpha was okay. "Shit... guess I can say that I have been shot at now." She chuckled.

Damien gave Alpha a peculiar look. "I'm not sure about..."

*BANG*

"Being proud of that..." Damien finished his thought as another dummy went down. He looked up at Darren's expressionless face with a calm grin as the bartender approached him. "Well?"

Darren couldn't help but chuckle a little at Damien's simple reaction.

*BANG*

Boom! In another alternate universe, the Damien haters rejoice as Darren mercilessly kills him. But alas, that is not the universe we exist in. Sorry, all of Damien's haters.

*BANG*

Rival didn't even get a chance to make a comment before Darren approached him next, tearing through the dummy next to him with ease. Rival looked up at him. "Pheme is... probably wanting reactions from us... right?" He wasn't able to see her from the angle he was sitting at. "In that case... do it."He invited the bullet with open arms.

*BANG*

And Darren gave it to him. "Well, there you go." He nodded, before moving to the last dummy.

*BANG*

The last dummy went down with ease. And that meant one thing. He was down to the last fake bullet. And he was also down to...

"Nyaha! I'm last, huh D- uh, bartender human!" Cathy's smug comment got ruined by her inner... well, whatever you want to call it.

"It seems that way." Darren, notably slower than every other time, lined up the gun with Cathy's head. He didn't shoot yet.

"So... being threatened with death by a human! Nyahaha! An interesting sensation!" Cathy had gotten into precarious situations before as a cat burglar, but nothing explicitly life or death. This was a new one for her.

"Yeah. It... uh... probably is." Something enter Darren's tone of voice as he kept pointing the gun at Cathy's head. He didn't shoot yet.

"Nyaha! That's what I said!" Cathy cackled Cathy-ly. "And because I said that, that means you can do it now, bartender human!" She was getting a little impatient now.

"Yeah... don't worry. I'm... I'm gonna..." Just then, a particularly strange thing started to happen. Darren's arm... the one holding the... it started to shake. "Just gotta... do it..." His hand and arm started to shake more and more the longer the gun kept being lined up with Cathy's head.

"...Darren? What's up?" Rival showed some concern.

"Nyahaha! Getting scared, bartender human? What a typical human response!" The truth hadn't sunk in for Cathy yet as she stared smugly at Darren's conflicted face.

"I'm not... I'm not..." Darren felt his breath started to pick up. Shit... what is this? He was able to go through with everything else just fine... but now... staring at Cathy's smug, non-serious, and cute face... he felt... doubt creeping into him. "Shit... I... I don't..." His arm shook almost violently as he fully realized what this. Confident or not that she'd be safe... Darren... he didn't want to kill her. He... couldn't even bring himself to do this.

"Hey, Darren?" Ji-hoon stood up from his chair, wariness and uneasiness in his aura. "What's going on?"

"The fuck are you doing...?" Alpha whispered, both confused and curious by this development.

"Nyaha! Nyaha!" Cathy kept laughing. "You truly are... sacred... um... bartender human?" Her voice turned gentler as she finally acknowledged the turmoil on his face. "Bartender human? What... are you doing?" The slightest bit of worry came into her.

"I... damn it... I..." Darren didn't expect to... feel this way. At all. He came into the Killing Game... with no expectations. He was just going to... go with it all. But now... here he was. Shaking like a leaf. "Cathy... I can't... I can't..." For the first time, actual emotion was apparent on Darren's face. He... was scared.

"Bartender... human?" Cathy's voice sounded remarkably human as she felt her own hands start to shake. "What's... wrong?"

"I..." A million thoughts ran through Darren's mind as he struggled to do something about this. Everyone was looking at him with understandable confusion and concern. Shit... what was he going to do? What... could he... do...?

...

Maybe... maybe he could...

"Bartender human? What's going on?!" Cathy stood up out of chair, the gun not following her temple. "What's wrong with you?!" For the first time in a long time, Cathy was experiencing pure and actual worry. She was... worried about him.

"I..." Darren slowly retracted the gun away from Cathy. But then... but then he... he... lined the gun up with his own head. The barrel felt cold against his forehead.

"Darren?!" Damien stood up out of his seat as well, shocked by what was happening?

"Hey, calm down!" Kei didn't stand up, feeling frozen with anxiety and concern.

"Bartender human?!" Cathy set her hands on his shoulders. "Stop it!"

Darren slowly closed his eyes. Yes... this was... what he had to do... he had to... do this. His finger slowly tightened against the trigger.

"No! Stop!" Cathy tried to wrest the gun away from him, but to no avail. She wasn't strong enough.

Darren took a long, deep breath. His finger tightened just a little more.

"The hell are you doing?! Don't do it!" Actual genuine human emotion came from Cathy as she struggled to get the gun away from him.

As Darren's finger hovered on the point of no return, he opened his eyes... and briefly looked down at Cathy's mortified, almost tearful face. "...Thank you, Cathy." He closed his eyes again... and...

"No! Stop it! Please!" Cathy kept on begging... until... she yelled out one last time...

"DARREN!"

*BANG*

...

Whoops! Darren dead! Unlucky!

In all seriousness, wow! Darren committed suicide! Unlucky!

Okay, in all all seriousness. This chapter had a few moments I've planning for a long time!

This chapter primarily focused on the relationships between Cathy/Darren and Aurora/Raiha. The motive gives such interesting opportunities for characters to interact with each other, doesn't it?

I knew I wanted Cathy and Darren to get each others secrets from the beginning, and it allowed for more delicious Darren lore! It also allowed for the mystery of Cathy's real name to be thrown into the fray! And Darren thinks it's cute! Isn't that nice?

Then to the last scene... I knew I wanted this to happen at some point in Chapter 3. Darren does something crazy, and Cathy loses her mind over it. She even called him by his actual name! Darren! Definitely something I've been looking forward to writing! I knows it's a cliffhanger, so I hope you're excited to see how the Special Event turns out! :D

Also, Cathy's flashback was super fun. That's all I'll say about that!

Then to Aurora and Raiha! Yep! Aurora is a lesbian! What a surprise right???

Yeah, I purposely wasn't very subtle with it. The shaky rejection, to Kuroko helping, then to... the FTE! The whole lesbian with internal homophobia idea was super interesting, and I knew I had to make good use of it. It's not like the idea is over yet, but I hope you, and especially Wolfie, enjoyed how I revealed it! Their entire FTE was easily the most romantically charged one, and I'm definitely nervous about it. I hope it was... good, for a general term. Exploring their anxieties and careers... their secrets... it was a fun FTE to write, but I just hope people liked it.

They even kissed! That kiss was definitely something I was looking forward to for a long time! Now, surely one of them won't die next chapter right? Surely!

Also, because she gave me such a great character, I'd like to shoutout Danganronpa: Happily Never After by WolfieRed23! She's the creator of Aurora, and she's a writer too! Check her out!

Then the last thing... wait, huh? Lake? They're missing? Nah, don't worry about it! They're fine! They're just... somewhere! Being alive! You can trust Damien, right? :damien_wink:

I think that's it! The blood god yearns! He hungers! And he shall be fed come the next chapter! Who's gonna die? Tell me your predictions in the comments down below, and don't forget to hit that bell! See you soon!

Glamorous Stars Remaining: 15

Aurora Beaufort - Ultimate Starlet [WolfieRed23]

Ayaka Naganohara - Ultimate Violinist [Sempi]

Catherine Munchkin - Ultimate Cat Burglar [Nekoja]

Damien Lux - Ultimate Beautician [oddlyillregular]

Darren Taylor - Ultimate Bartender [Otterplay]

Ji-hoon Jo - Ultimate Celebrity Detective [TheRoseShadow21]

Joji Kaneshiro - Ultimate Carpenter [SureJahn]

Kei Aikawa - Ultimate Lawyer [theotakureader101]

Kuroko Kurobara - Ultimate Hypnotist [MrUtenaHolic]

Lake Beaumont - Ultimate Ballet Dancer [KadachiNova]

Mabel "Alpha" Jane - Ultimate Gas Station Manager [Epifanio Therion]

Raiha Miyahara - Ultimate Trendsetter [Prince PokePersona]

Rival Seizon - Ultimate Backing Vocalist [SinWriter7]

Rosalind Reinhardt - Ultimate Cinematographer [Orlando Butler]

Yoshino Akiyama - Ultimate Horror Novelist [DeathlyJazzHands55]