Archive of Our Own ^beta

"Come on."

Rantaro smiled, barely able to contain his own excitement about getting to go on this trip. New discoveries means new travels! And, being the Ultimate Adventurer and all, that certainly opens up more opportunities for Rantaro. However, this time, Rantaro's best friend Kirumi Tojo has agreed to come along with him. All it took was the keyword, 'request', and she immediately agreed. But Rantaro doesn't actually want this to be a request. He wants to make sure that Kirumi will also have fun on this trip of theirs.

Before boarding their flight, Rantaro decided to ring up his boyfriend, Shuichi. Shuichi started out as a shy and timid boy at the start of their year, but Rantaro had managed to get through to him, and, well... They caught feelings. Not much more to say than that.

Kirumi nodded, and stood next to Rantaro as she waited for him to be done with the call.

As Rantaro heard the click of the call being answered, he grinned, waiting to hear Shuichi's voice.

Back at Hope's Peak Academy, Shuichi had been in the library settled down with a mystery novel. A woman had just been strangled, and an eerie part of the mystery is that the theme is 'three blind mice', and during the murder, that tune was whistled. Shuichi has been trying to work out who the killer is.

His bets are on the detective.

Shuichi heard his phone ring, and failed to fight off a smile as he saw Rantaro's name on the screen. He picked the phone up, and answered. "Hi, 'Taro."

"Hey!" Rantaro's smile could practically be heard in his voice. "We're about to go on the trip. It's a sapphire waterfall. It's a waterfall made of sapphires." Rantaro explained, a slight undertone of excitement in his calming voice. "This enormous jewel the size of a glacier reaches the cliffs of oblivion, and then shatters into sapphires at the edge. They fall 100,000 feet, into a crystal ravine."

Shuichi blinked, taking a few moments to process this information. Shuichi chuckled at how passionate Rantaro seemed to sound. And Shuichi loves listening. "That sounds great...! Tell me everything when you get back!" Shuichi's voice crackled from the phone. Unfortunately, reception isn't so good here. But Rantaro got the gist of what he was saying.

"Yeah, of course." He nodded, knowing that he'll be ready to jot down any notes of information to tell Shuichi. Rantaro then looked up, realising they had to board. Rantaro longed to speak to Shuichi more, but of course, he has to leave now. "Alright, we have to board now. I'll talk to you later, Shui."

"Okay, see you later--Oh, and tell Kirumi I say hi." Shuichi smiled, leaning back in his seat.

Rantaro turned away from his phone, and turned to Kirumi, a calm smile on his face. "Shui says hi."

Kirumi leaned forward slightly, speaking into Rantaro's phone. "Hi, Shuichi."

Rantaro chuckled, and placed the phone back to his ear. "Alright, bye. I'll miss you."

"I'll miss you too, 'Taro. Bye." Shuichi's voice crackled one last time, before hanging up.

Rantaro signaled to Kirumi that they'd better start boarding, so the two of them began following the lines of people beginning to board their plane. Kirumi glanced over at Rantaro, tilting her head. "You know, we should still be careful and cautious on this trip. It is not exactly something we have done before."

Rantaro raised a brow, that soothing smile still on his face. "Going inside a big metal shuttle with a bunch of strangers across a diamond planet called midnight?

...What could possibly go wrong?"

Kirumi and Rantaro sat in their seats near the front, lucky Rantaro getting the window seat. ..Well, only because Kirumi offered. Rantaro had planned on allowing Kirumi to sit near the window, because that would be a nice thing to do. But Kirumi kept offering... And offering... And offering..... Until Rantaro had no choice but to finally agree.

Some more people began to board the shuttle, until it seemed like there wasn't anymore to arrive. There wasn't a lot of people on the plane, but to be fair, this is a very private trip, and there aren't a lot of slots available. Kirumi didn't book tickets, so its a shocker that she actually managed to turn up and get on the flight.

The Hostess walked down the aisle, handing things to everybody, before finally stopping at Rantaro and Kirumi. The two students looked up at The Hostess, blinking.

Only it began to feel like a game of pass-the-parcel as The Hostess began passing things to Kirumi quickly, as Kirumi tried to keep up and pass them to Rantaro.

"That's the headphones for channels 1 through 36, that's the M link for 3 BD game, complimentary earplugs, complimentary slippers, complimentary juice pack, and complimentary peanuts."

The Hostess explained, the endless passing of items finally seeming to have.. ended. "I must warn you, some products may contain nuts."

Kirumi looked down at the peanuts she was given, and blinked slowly.

"Enjoy your trip." The Hostess smiled.

Just as The Hostess was about to leave, Kirumi nodded. "I cannot wait. Allons-y."

The Hostess blinked, and looked over to Kirumi with a look of confusion. "...Pardon?"

"It is French for 'let's go'." The maid elucidated.

The Hostess raised a brow, smiling a little. "Fascinating." She raised a brow, her glance lingering on Kirumi for a moment, before leaving.

Rantaro awkwardly organised all the things they were given, placing them either down on the floor or on his lap. He then turned to Kirumi, a serene smile on his face. "You never told me you knew French."

Kirumi returned his smile with her own calming smile. "Indeed, I do. I'm fluent, actually." She said, the faintest hint of pride in her voice.

Rantaro raised an amused brow. "Me too. I've had to learn a lot of languages, makes the travelling easier. .. We can make it our secret language." Rantaro joked, leaning in slightly.

Kirumi huffed out a small laugh. "Molto bene." She smiled, joking a little. "Though I highly doubt that 'French' is much of a secret." She smiled to herself.

Rantaro turned his head to look over at the other people on the plane. Behind them was an old man with who could be presumed to be his granddaughter. The old man seemed to know a lot about the sapphire waterfall, and was explaining it to his granddaughter.

The old man caught Rantaro staring, and just as Rantaro was about to sincerely apologise, the old man leaned forward and began to politely shake Rantaro's hands. "My name is Professor Genzoru, pleasure to meet you, young man."

Rantaro smiled politely, shaking The Professor's hand. "Nice to meet you, too. Professor. I'm Rantaro Amami."

The Professor's granddaughter leaned forward and also shook Rantaro's hand, as soon as The Professor was done shaking. "I'm Kaori Inoue, nice to meet you, Amami."

Rantaro politely said his greetings, before sitting back in his seat.

Kirumi was remaining quiet, deciding to observe everyone rather than jump into action.

Across from her, Kirumi's eye caught a young woman. Older than Kirumi, but appearing to be perhaps in her early twenties. Twenty-two is Kirumi's best guess. She's reading a book rather intently.

Hearing a slight commotion at the back, Kirumi leaned out of her seat and craned her neck to look out into the aisle, where there was a family. A mother and a father with their teenage boy, who appears to have a rather punk-rock style.

"Oh, don't be silly, Daisuke, come sit with us!" The mother teased slightly, gesturing for her boy to come sit with them. 'Daisuke' appears to be embarrassed, huddling himself into his own seat across from his parents. The mother held up the pair of 'complimentary slippers' that the flight attendant has handed out to everyone. "Look! We've even got slippers!"

The father nodded along, seeming much more stern than the mother. "Yes, Daisuke, do what your mother says."

Daisuke crinkled his nose, scooting away from them. "I'm sitting here, and that's final." He mumbled stubbornly.

The father rolled his eyes, scoffing. "Oh, he's ashamed of us, but he doesn't mind us paying." He sighed, shaking his head. "Teens these days..."

The mother exhaled, also rolling her eyes in annoyance. "Don't you two start." She then turned to the father, holding up the juice pack. "Should I save the juice pack or just have it now? Look, peach clementine!"

The Hostess walked down the aisle, speaking through some kind of microphone to make her voice heard. "All passengers of this shuttle, welcome on board the Crusader 50, if you would put on your seatbelts, we should be leaving..." She checked her watch. "...Any moment now!"

"Doors." The Hostess announced, and a slight bell sound rang out as the doors began to close and lock as The Hostess commanded them to. Rantaro and Kirumi exchanged a glance.

"Shields down." Like with the doors, the shields over the windows closed, blocking off any light. The passengers all smiled and laughed in awe, seeming to be enjoying this. Rantaro has always preferred travelling on foot rather than by vehicle, but this was a trip they had to see inside of a shuttle, and it certainly wasn't something he wanted to miss.

"I am afraid the view is shielded until we reach the waterfall palace. Also a reminder, the planet of 'Midnight' has no air, so please, don't touch the exterior door seals. There is a fire exit at the rear, and should we need to use it... You first!" The Hostess giggled. Despite how she tried to speak professionally, Rantaro could tell that it was her first time doing this. But she didn't seem to be doing badly at all. "Now I will, uh, hand you over to Driver Sei!"

A screen at the front of the plane blinked on, showing a map. Rantaro leaned forward to take a closer look, as the voice of the pilot began to speak through the speakers. "Driver of the wheel. There's been a diamonds fall at the winter witch canyon, so we'll be taking a slight detour as you'll see on the path of the map the screen should be displaying. The journey covers 500 kliks to the multifaceted coast. Duration is estimated at four hours. Thank you for travelling with us, and I hope you enjoy your flight."

The plane began to shake as some bells went off, and Rantaro and Kirumi looked up. They both exchanged a smiley glance, before looking away and preparing for the flight.

"For your entertainment, we have the music channel playing retrovides of earth classics." The Hostess pressed a button on a controller she held, and music began to play from the speakers. "Also the latest artistic installation from luffy climb." The Hostess pressed another button, and spinning lights akin to disco lights started to bounce around the plane. "And finally, for the youngsters, a rare treat!" The Hostess grinned, and pressed a button, causing a projection to flash against the wall, as Walt Disney's animation of 'Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs' began to play. "And there'll be more where that came from!" She giggled, giving an enthusiastic thumbs-up.

The Hostess, finished with what she's done, placed her remote down at the front, got up, and walked down to the other side of the aisle to enter another room.

Kirumi glanced over to the other side of the plane, where she saw the woman reading. The two of them exchanged a glance, as the other woman seemed extremely irritated by the lights, the music, and the movie, rolling her eyes.

Kirumi sighed a little, turning over to look at Rantaro. "...It is rather noisy in here."

Rantaro was squinting, the brightness of the light stabbing into his eyes. "Ah, yeah... Kind of annoying." He murmured, crossing his arms.

He sighed, as he looked behind him, noticing that almost everyone has inserted their earplugs. It really is loud...

Rantaro turned back to look forward, and noticed the remote that The Hostess had used to turn everything on.

An idea sparking in his mind, Rantaro sneaked over to it, before quickly snatching it and getting back into his seat.

Rantaro pressed the 'off' button, hoping that he isn't accidentally destroying the whole shuttle. Thankfully, he didn't, and instead turned off the obnoxiously bright lights, excessively loud music, and scrambled movie.

Rantaro quickly turned to Kirumi. "Rooms. I need a screwdriver."

Kirumi nodded professionally, and pulled out a screwdriver. Rantaro raised a brow, not actually expecting her to have one, but accepting it nonetheless. "I just gotta jam the buttons..." Rantaro tried to jam the specific buttons that turned on the lights and music, and finally managed to do so, tossing the controller back to the front.

Rantaro turned to the side, and locked eyes with the woman Kirumi had looked at before. They exchanged an amused glance, before looking away.

As the music, movie, and lights turned off, Rantaro heard The Professor breath out a sigh of relief. "A mercy..."

The Hostess walked back inside, seeming confused with how it all turned off. She approached the controller and tried to press the buttons to turn it back on, but couldn't, as if they were jammed. She frowned, clearly frustrated. "Uhm.. I--I do apologise, everybody... We.. We seem to have had a problem with the entertainment."

She sounded worried, and Rantaro then knew that it was definitely her first time doing this. Rantaro began to feel a little bad for her, and so he tried to reassure her. "It's alright, really. No worries."

"Well, what do we do?" Daisuke's mother asked, pouting slightly.

Daisuke's father sighed heavily. "Four hours of this? Four hours of just... sitting here?"

Noticing how The Hostess began to gradually get more and more nervous, Rantaro jumped out of his seat and stood on it, leaning onto the back of it so he could look at everybody else. "Or... We could just talk to each other instead?" He shrugged non-chalantly.

No one seemed very happy about that.

Rantaro and Kirumi now sat at a seat near the back with everybody else, the only person at the front being the woman who seems very adamant about not socialising with anybody.

All passengers except for that woman and Daisuke was laughing, as Daisuke's parents began to tell a funny story. Rantaro and Kirumi had also managed to find out that Daisuke's mother's name is Ayaka Sasaki, and Daisuke's father's name is Kenji Sasaki.

Ayaka tried to repress her laughs, as they continued telling the story. "So Kenji, he said, 'I'm going swimming!'"

Kenji jumped in to explain, his own amused smile on his face. Daisuke looked very embarrassed, burying his head in his hands. "Oh, I was all ready. Trunks and everything -- nose plug, too!"

Ayaka laughed again, shaking her head. "Oh, this little nose plug, you should've seen it!"

Kirumi and Rantaro shared an amused glance as they leaned onto the backs of their chairs, looking down at the couple in their seats.

Kenji shifted in his seat, looking back up at the duo in front of him. "And so I went marching up to the lifeguard, and he was one of those men with the really big foreheads, you know?" The other passengers nodded, repressing their own laughs as they listened to the further explanation. "And I said, 'where's the pool?' And he said... 'The pool is abstract'!"

All passengers, except for the woman and Daisuke, broke out into fits of laughter. Rantaro laughed, whilst Kirumi smiled politely and gracefully.

"It wasn't a real pool!" Ayaka giggled.

Kenji shrugged. "It was a concept!"

Rantaro raised a brow, grinning. "And you were wearing a nose plug?"

"Oh, I was like this!"

Kenji did a demonstration, plugging his nose and making a silly face, causing the other passengers to laugh even more.

Rantaro stood at the back of the plane with the Kaori Inoue girl, the two of them having gone to the back to get a drink for themselves. But it led to talking, and Kaori was now telling Rantaro about herself,

"Oh, I'm just a secondary student... But I wrote a paper, The Professor read it, he liked it, took me in as a researcher just for the holidays." Kaori smiled.

Ah, so she isn't The Professor's granddaughter, then. At least Rantaro knows now.

Kaori handed a cup of water from the dispenser to Rantaro, before beginning to get her own cup. "Well... I say researcher, but most of the time he's just got me fetching and carrying things.. But it's all good experience." As Kaori got her drink, she turned back to face Rantaro.

"Well, I'm sure one day you'll be able to get the real experience you want. Even become a professor of your own, you know." Rantaro smiled calmly, tilting his head slightly.

Kaori smiled kindly, nodding, clearly grateful. "Yes. ...To research?" She proposed, raising her cup to tap against Rantaro's as how people would clink their glasses together.

Rantaro nodded. "To research." He tapped his cup against Kaori's.

Meanwhile with Kirumi, she had gone to check on the woman at the front of the plane. She had seemed lonely, so Kirumi decided to check if she was in need of any assistance, and it led to them chatting. Kirumi had managed to learn her name, Shoko Watanabe.

Shoko had just asked if Kirumi was here with anyone, and so Kirumi decided to answer. "Yes, I am accompanied by my friend Rantaro Amami, the Ultimate Adventurer. That's him, back there." Kirumi pointed to the back, where Rantaro was speaking to that Kaori girl.

Shoko quirked a brow in slight confusion. "...Ultimate Adventurer? Oh, are you both from Hope's Peak Academy?" She asked, blinking.

Kirumi nodded. "Yes, we are. I am the Ultimate Maid, so if you are ever in need of assistance, feel free to tell me." Kirumi had a serene smile on her face, before realising that she may have just stolen The Hostess' job.

"I see.." Shoko nodded thoughtfully, and their conversation fell silent.

Trying to keep the conversation going, Kirumi decided to ask a question of her own. "What about you? Are you here with anybody?"

Shoko shook her head, sighing. "No, it's just me." She murmured, a slight twinge of sadness to her voice. "I don't have many friends to go with, so when I saw this, I saw it as a way of getting... 'Me time', or whatever it is people call it."

"Ah, I see." Kirumi nodded in understanding. "I have done plenty of that, Rantaro, too. I have had to go on many travels to go around serving my masters, and with him being an adventurer, I think his reasons are rather self-explanatory. ..Are you planning on going anywhere else after this?"

Shoko scoffed, chuckling a little. "No. I'm still getting used to.. This. I found myself single rather recently, not by choice."

Kirumi's eyebrows knitted together, as she tilted her head. "Oh, why? If you don't mind me asking, of course."

Shoko shrugged, looking off to the side. "Oh, the usual. She said she needed her own space, as they all say." She sighed again, turning her gaze back to Kirumi. "A different galaxy, in fact. I reckon that's enough space, don't you?"

Kirumi didn't know how to answer, so she merely hummed thoughtfully, and nodded.

"How about you? Do you have a special someone?" Shoko asked, a playful and teasing smile on her face.

Kirumi turned slightly red, smiling a little. "..Indeed, I do. Miu Iruma, Ultimate Inventor. She's.. wonderful." Kirumi murmured quietly. Kirumi and Miu had actually met before going to Hope's Peak, and due to their prior connection, they became quick friends at the academy.

Shoko nodded politely, before looking down.

They had both been handed food by The Hostess, something served in a chinese take-away box. Shoko raised a brow, looking down at it. "Oh, what's this, now? Chicken or beef?"

Kirumi got a piece onto her fork, and examined it suspiciously, crinkling her nose. "...I think it is both."

"..."

Kirumi and Shoko exchanged an amused glance.

The Professor now stood at the front of the plane, explaining how the planet of Midnight works. Rantaro and Kirumi, along with everyone else, watched him. He even has a slide-show prepared "So this is Midnight, you see, bombarded by X-tonic rays. Raw, galvanic radiation. Kaori, next slide."

Following The Professor's instructions, Kaori changed the slide to the next one, giving a quietly excited thumbs-up to everyone.

The Professor stood proudly, smiling a little. "This is my project. Actually, I'm the first person to ever research this, because you see..." The Professor lowered his voice to a whisper, causing Rantaro's curiosity to spike higher for a moment. "...The history, is fascinating... Because there is no history...! There's no life in this entire system, there couldn't be. Before the leisure palace company moved in, no one had come here in all eternity. No. Living. Thing."

Everyone remained silent at that, exchanging glances and sharing looks, until Daisuke decided to speak up.

"Buuut... How do you know? I mean, if no one can go outside—"

Ayaka quickly cut in, rolling her eyes. "Ohh, his imagination. Here we go." She chuckled.

Rantaro shook his head, siding with Daisuke. "No, I think he's got a point, though." He shrugged.

"Exactly!" The Professor pointed at Rantaro and Daisuke. "We look upon this world through glass! Safe inside our metal box. Even the leisure palace was lowered down orbit." The Professor explained dramatically, clearly passionate about the subject. "Here we are now, crossing Midnight... But never touching."

Everyone in the plane gasped at that dramatic finishing line, and Rantaro couldn't help but smile as he saw Kirumi gasp too, seeing how she was so invested and immersed in it. He's glad to have finally gotten her to a place where she can properly relax like this.

However, interrupting his thoughts, the shuttle suddenly shuddered and shook just as it did when it was about to start.

Ayaka frowned in confusion, standing up straight. "We've stopped..." She muttered.

"Yes, we've stopped." Kaori said louder, as if announcing it to the other passengers.

Kenji blinked, looking around for The Hostess. "Oh, are we there now?"

Kaori shook her head, adjusting her glasses. "No, we can't be, it's too early." Rantaro nodded in agreement, getting off the chair he was standing on to stand up properly, as he began to put his mind to work to think about why they stopped.

The Professor frowned, shaking his head. "No, but... We can't have stopped, crusader vehicles never stop."

Rantaro turned his head as he heard footsteps, and noticed The Hostess approaching, an uneasy and nervous expression on her face. "I.. If you would all just make your way back to your seats. It's just... Just a small delay." She twisted her mouth into a smile, before hastily walking away. Judging from how bad she was at faking that everything was fine, Rantaro could tell that.. well... Everything was not fine. Ah.

Everyone shared uneasy glances as they all returned to their original seats. Kenji shrugged as he sat down, as if trying to lighten the atmosphere. "Eh, maybe just a pit stop?"

The Professor sighed, shaking his head. "No, this is not normal. I've been on this expedition fourteen times! They never stop!" He scoffed, turning away.

Shoko groaned, clearly annoyed with The Professor. "Well evidently, we have stopped, so there's no point in denying it!" She snapped, glaring at the older man.

Daisuke began to laugh, amused with situation. "We've broken down!"

Ayaka rolled her eyes. "Thanks, Daisuke." She said sarcastically.

Daisuke widened his eyes, as if trying to act creepy and dramatic about the situation. "In the middle of nowhere~!" He laughed.

Kenji sighed heavily, frustrated with his son's behaviour. "That's enough, now stop it."

Rantaro watched everyone go back and forth, a slight feeling of unease making his gut twist. If it was true that the crusader vehicles never stop, then.. Why have they stopped? Is it something serious? It's taking Rantaro every fibre of his being to hold himself back from adventuring into the private area and asking questions.

There was then the sound of The Hostess clearing her throat, as she quickly walked back up to the front of the shuttle. "Hello, everybody. We are just experiencing a short... delay." She explained, going to the front to press a few things on the controller, before turning to face the other passengers. "The driver just needs to stabilize the engine." She elucidated, putting on a smile. "There is absolutely no need to worry, i--it's perfectly routine, so if you could all just stay in your seats..."

Rantaro had a blank expression on his face, as he very clearly disobeyed her and began to walk toward the front, making his way towards the door that led to the private area.

He failed at holding himself back.

"I--I'm sorry sir, I--" The Hostess tried to stop Rantaro, but seemed to give up very quickly.

"Sorry, 'scuse me." Rantaro held up a hand, smiling calmly, before pressing the button that opened the doors to the pilot's area and entering.

The Hostess began to panic a little, calling out to Rantaro. "I'm sorry sir, but if you could just sit down—!" But before she knew it, the doors closed on her.

Rantaro walked over to the two men in the seats in front of him, and leaned on the seats.

One of the men blinked, and turned to look up at Rantaro. "Uh, sir, you should really be in your seat—.."

Rantaro waved it away. "No, it's alright. My name's Rantaro Amami, by the way. Tell me what's going on, ah..." Rantaro leaned forward, and checked the nametags of the two men. "...Driver Sei and Mechanic Fubuki."

Sei shrugged, and gestured to something. "Nothing big, we're just stabilizing the engine feed. It won't take long."

Rantar blinked, staring at what Sei gestured to. "Ahh... No, because that right there is the engine feed, and that's perfectly fine, you don't need to fix that." Rantaro pointed at something else, glancing at Sei and then back at the feed. "And it's a micro petrol engine so stabilizing doesn't really make sense does it?.. Ah, sorry." Rantaro smiled, holding his hands out in front of him. "So, since that isn't the problem, what's wrong?"

Fubuki shrugged, sighing. "No idea, we've just stopped. Look, the whole system's fine, everything's working, but we're not moving." He mumbled.

Sei pointed to something else. "I've sent a distress signal, they should dispatch a rescue vehicle, top speed." He said calmly.

Rantaro tilted his head thoughtfully. "...How long until they get here?"

Sei smiled up at him, not seeming to be very worried at all. "About an hour."

Rantaro hummed, nodding, until a thought sparked in his mind. "...Well, since we're waiting... How about we take a look outside?"

Sei and Fubuki exchanged a glance, before turning back to look at Rantaro. Sei seemed like he was about to protest, but Rantaro quickly jumped in. "Ah, come on, we can just lift the screen a little, yeah?" Rantaro tilted his head, putting on a more persuasive voice.

Sei huffed out a disbelieving laugh. "It's 100 X-tonic out there. We'd be vaporized!" He shook his head, sitting up straighter.

Rantaro grinned. "Oh, but the windows here is made out of finito glass, so we should have at least a few minutes. Come on." Rantaro's curiosity began to get the better of him, as the more adventurous side of him was eager to see the sparkling world out there.

Sei and Fubuki blinked, and exchanged a glass. Sei then chuckled and shrugged, before pressing a button, and lifting up the screen.

Rantaro's expression turned into one of awe as he saw the marvelous world out there. It looked like a real palace made from sapphires and diamonds, all shining and sparkling beautifully. It's... Breathtaking. A beautiful sight to see. Remembering what Shuichi said on the phone, Rantaro brought his phone up and snapped a photo. He's no Ultimate Photographer like Mahiru Koizumi back at Hope's Peak, but he tried to get a good photo of it.

"Wow... Isn't it beautiful?" Rantaro smiled, awestruck by the sight before him. He could tell that Sei and Fubuki were, too.

"Look at those diamonds... Poisoned by the sun, no one can ever touch them." Fubuki chuckled.

"..." Rantaro remained quiet for a moment. "...Sei, you said we took a detour, right?"

Sei nodded. "Yes, just about forty kliks to the west."

"It's a nice path." Rantaro murmured, still unable to take his eyes away from the wonders of the shining and sparkling diamonds and sapphires. 

"Really?" Sei raised a brow, chuckling a little. "We haven't gone down this path before, the computer worked it out on automatic." He shrugged, leaning back in his chair.

A glint appeared in Rantaro's eyes, as he smiled a little. "...So we're the first to be here... The first to have ever lived on this ground... The first in the whole of recorded history--"

Suddenly, Fubuki flinched and jumped back in his seat, pointing wildly, eyes wide with fear. "Th--There! Did you just see that?" He exclaimed. "..." Fubuki looked a little closer, before awkwardly shrinking back. "Oh, uhm, nevermind. Sorry."

"No, no, wait." Rantaro held up a hand, as if to tell Fubuki not to forget it. Rantaro glanced out the window, before turning his gaze back to Fubuki. "What? What was it you saw out there?"

"Just..." Fubuki sighed, and leaning forward again, pointing up. "Just up there, on that ridge. Like... Like a shadow, just--just for a split second."

Rantaro frowned, leaning in closer and squinting, as if trying to look closer and see if anything was there. "What kind of shadow...?"

Alarm bells started ringing, and Sei sat up. "Time to close the screens." He announced, and pressed the button, beginning to lift the screens back down.

Then, Fubuki jumped up yet again, pulling on Rantaro's arm and pointing wildly once again, urging Rantaro to look. "Look, look! There it is again, it's there! There!"

Rantaro did his best to look closer, but didn't get to see anything as the screen closed down to quickly. Rantaro turned his gaze back to Fubuki, a frown etched onto his features. "What? What did you see?"

"J—Just something... Shifting?" Fubuki shrugged, turning to Sei and Rantaro, clear fear in his eyes. "Like, something sort of... Dark." He frowned, trying to find the right words. "Like it was... Running?"

Rantaro's eyes narrowed, as he tilted his head to the side. "...Where was it running?"

"...Towards us."

Rantaro's eyes widened for a moment, until he was interrupted by Sei. "Right, ah, Amami, please make your way back to your seat, and not a word. Rescue's on the way, so there's no need to worry."

Rantaro frowned, and began to back away, still staring at the screen that now covers the window they were looking out of before.

"Shut the door on your way out, please."

Sighing to himself, Rantaro turned around and exited, shutting the door behind him.

As Rantaro walked back into the passenger area of the plane, his eye caught Kirumi perking up, ready to get up and greet him. As he was about to make his way back over to her, the girl called 'Shoko' quickly stopped him.

"What did they say? Did they tell you? What is it? What's wrong?" Rantaro was suddenly bombarded by questions from Shoko, and he blinked as he tried to process all the questions he was just asked.

Rantaro put up a calm front, smiling peacefully and hoping that his voice would be soothing enough. "Oh, nothing, they're just stabilizing the engine, happens all the time." He assured, holding up a hand.

Shoko smiled nervously, eyes wide. "I don't need this. I'm on a schedule." She suddenly whipped around to look at The Hostess, expression going from nervous to angry. "This is completely unnecessary." She snapped.

The Hostess put on a smile. "Back to your seats, thank you." She then exited into the area where Sei and Fubuki were.

Rantaro sighed and got back into his seat. He turned his head to meet Kirumi's gaze, and opened his mouth so that he could tell her everything. However, just as he was about to, he felt something tap his seat, and he heard Kaori's voice. "Excuse me..."

Rantaro smiled apologetically towards Kirumi, who waved his apologies away. Rantaro turned around and stood up on his seat, looking down to speak to Kaori. "Yes?"

"...They're micro petrol engines though, aren't they...?" She murmured worriedly.

The Professor sighed, tugging on Kaori's sleeve. "Come on now, Kaori, don't bother him."

Kaori sighed and shrugged The Professor off of her, continuing to speak to Rantaro. "My dad was a mechanic. Micro petrol doesn't stabilize... What's going on?" Kaori frowned leaning closer.

Rantaro opened and closed his mouth, trying to search for the right words. "Well, uh, it's nothing of concern. Nothing to worry about, I swear."

The Professor suddenly leaned over to look at Rantaro, and he sighed heavily, leaning away a little. "So it's not the engine?" The Professor questioned.

"No, no, it's... It's just a little pause, it's fine." Rantaro shook his head, holding his hands out.

"How much air have we got?"

As Rantaro was about to respond, Kirumi stood up next to him and leaned over the seat to help. "Professor, I am sure that everything is under control." She said, trying to make her voice as soothing and believable as possible.

"What did he say?" Ayaka suddenly called out, having heard their conversation. Her voice sounded panicked. Rantaro felt a pit form in his stomach, as word began to spread out to the other passengers.

"Nothing." Rantaro and Kirumi said in unsion, trying to calm the other passengers.

Ayaka frowned, clearly disbelieving of what they were saying. "Are we running out of air?" She interrogated sharply, putting the magazine she was reading down to glare at them.

The Professor smiled sheepishly, shaking his head. "I—I was just speculating."

Kenji's eyebrows furrowed, as he whipped around to look at The Hostess, who had just exited the other area. "Oi, host woman, are we running out of air?"

"Is that what the captain said?" Ayaka asked suspiciously.

The Hostess took a deep breath, holding her hands up. "If--If you could all just remain calm--"

"How much air have we got?!" Ayaka shouted.

Daisuke rolled his eyes, sitting up and glaring at his mother. "Ohhh my god, just stop it." He huffed.

"Everything is under control—"

"Well he said it!!" Ayaka scoffed, pointing at Rantaro. Rantaro blinked, backing away slightly.

Rantaro's eyes widened as he looked around at everyone, and all of a sudden, everyone's words were overlapping and descending into arguments and yelling. Rantaro tried to calm everybody down, telling everyone that it really was nothing, but all that happened was that his words ended up getting lost in the whirlwind of arguments and shouting. It's impossible to pick out any words amongst the others with how everyone's shouting so loud.

Rantaro busied himself with speaking to Kaori, someone he saw as a more rational and smart member of the group. He tried to calm her, but even she seemed to get lost in this storm of yelling. But, just as it seemed that it wouldn't stop, a certain voice yelled out.

"QUIET!" Kirumi yelled, loud enough to finally silence everyone.

Rantaro looked around at everyone, recovering from his momentary surprise that Kirumi could shout so loud. He then felt slight relief that everyone had finally listened.

Kirumi inhaled and exhaled through her nose, returning to a more graceful stance. "...Thank you." She nodded. "Now..." Kirumi blinked, and turned to look at Rantaro. "..." She then gently pushed him forward. "Rantaro would like to talk."

Rantaro rolled his eyes fondly, before gesturing to Kaori. "Actually, it's Inoue here who needs to speak."

Kaori blinked, looking over at everyone, before taking a deep breath and standing up. "I, uhm... Well, it's just that... The air's on a circular filter, so we could stay breathing for ten years." Kaori shrugged.

Hearing that, the other passengers seemed to calm down a little, looking away.

Kirumi nodded, turning her gaze to Kaori, before glancing back at the other passengers. "There you go."

Rantaro raised a finger, deciding to put in his own input. "And, uh, I've spoken to the captain, I can guarantee you everything's fine." He smiled, looking around at all the passeng--

BANG, BANG!

...

Everyone turned their heads to look at the back of the shuttle, where the loud noise seemed to have come from.

"...What was that?" Ayaka said quietly, no one looking away from the back of the plane.

The Professor breathed in and out. "It must be the metal. We're cooling down." He shook his head, whispering. "It's just settling." He chuckled, seeming to disregard it.

Kaori swallowed, clearing her throat. "It could be, uhm... Rocks... Falling." She shrugged, leaning back.

Kenji shrugged, not seeming to care much as he looked around at everyone else. "What I want to know is how long we're going to have to sit h--"

BANG, BANG!!

But once again, the two clanging sounds resonated from the back of the shuttle, this time louder than before. Kirumi and Rantaro took a hasty step back, and it startled Daisuke so much that he shot up out of his seat.

Shoko sighed shakily, but tried to mask her clear fear as annoyance. "What is that?"

Ayaka's eyebrows furrowed. "Is somebody else out there?"

The Professor scoffed, rolling his eyes. "Oh, now don't be ridiculous."

"L--Like I said, it could be rocks." Kaori mumbled.

The Hostess smiled anxiously. "We--We're out in the open, n... Nothing could..." The Hostess swallowed, the nervous smile still plastered onto her face. "...Nothing could fall against the sides."

BANG, BANG!!!

Shaky gasps sounded as the banging sound came back.

Rantaro frowned. Two knocks... "Knock, knock.." He murmured.

Daisuke smirked, looking up at Rantaro. "Who's there?" He joked.

Everyone then remained silent, staring at the back of the plane, as if there were some kind of uncaged animal there, getting ready to pounce and rip them all to bloody, fleshy shreds.

"...Is there something out there?" Shoko spoke up, prompting Rantaro to turn his head towards her.

Shoko was met with silence, and uneasy glances.

"Well?.." Shoko asked again, huffing out a nervous chuckle. "Anyone?"

BANG, BANG!!!!

Ayaka and Kenji hastily got out of their seats and joined the others at the front of the plane.

Shoko grew more and more frightened, turning to Kirumi for help since she seemed to know her the best out of all the other passengers. "What the hell is making that noise?!"

Kirumi tried to make an attempt to calm Shoko down, until The Professor butted in. "I'm sorry, but the light out there is X-tonic. That means it would destroy any living thing, in a split second." He sighed.

"..." Rantaro raised a brow as he noticed Kirumi begin to step forward, an uncommon frown on her face. Has she realised something? Rantaro turned around to try and see what she was looking at, only to see the shielded windows.

"It is impossible for someone to be outside." The Professor shook his head.

BANG, BANG!!!!!

Shoko flinched, eyes wide. "Oh, what the hell is that then?!"

As Rantaro turned his gaze back towards Kirumi, he noticed her begin to approach the windows. The Hostess was clearly getting more and more anxious. Hell of a first time on the job she's got. "Miss, I have to advise you to get back in your seat."

Kirumi turned around, smiling apologetically. "Apologies, but this is rather important." Kirumi then approached the window and put her ear against it, everyone seeming to be watching her. "..."

Kirumi blinked, her eyes widening ever so slightly as if she had heard something. "...Oh."

BANG, BANG!!!!!!

Rantaro whipped around, as this time, the bangs were in a different place.

They're getting closer.

Daisuke took several steps back. "Jesus christ, it's fucking moving." He cursed, ignoring the disapproving looks from his parents.

Kirumi walked away from the wall, and began to walk closer to where the bangs came from.

"Hey, careful." Rantaro warned, taking some steps forward so that he could be closer to Kirumi, and so that he could pull her away at any time just in case danger came. Jeez, he really wanted this to be a stress-relief for the both of them. If anything, it's just bringing even more stress.

BANG, BANG!!!!!!!

Suddenly, the banging sound spread towards the door, as if whatever it was was trying to get through the door. Rantaro's eyes widened.

Ayaka gasped shakily, gesturing wildly. "It--It's trying the door!"

The Professor rolled his eyes, seeming much too calm for the situation. "There is no 'it'! There's nothing out there."

But even The Professor flinched and grew shaky, when the clanging against the door continued yet again.

BANG, BANG!!!!!!!!

Everyone flinched, covering their heads for a moment, as the banging spread to the ceiling. Whatever it is, it's... Above them.

All of them looked up, none of them daring to utter a word. White noise roared through Rantaro's ears, as his fight or flight instinct began to pump through his blood.

BANG, BANG!!!!!!!!!

Rantaro whipped around, as the banging had now spread to the entrance door. Rantaro felt something tug on his sleeve, as he felt Kirumi begin to gently pull him back.

Rantaro's heart hammered against his rib cage, as he tried his best to keep a calm expression on his face.

"Oh!" Ayaka exclaimed, staggering backwards. "Th--That's the entrance! Can it get in?!"

"No!" Kaori gasped, trying to make her voice sound as believable as possible. "That door's on two-hundred weighing hydraulics."

"Stop it!" The Professor huffed. "Don't encourage it!" He gestured towards the door.

Kaori scoffed, turning to meet The Professor's gaze. "What do you think it is?"

Kenji began to approach the door warily, before putting his palms against the door.

"Oh, Kenji, stop!" Ayaka wailed.

Rantaro held up a cautious hand, also shaking his head. "Sasaki, I think you'd better not." He said warningly, worried for the other man's safety.

Kenji sighed, feeling the texture of the door for a moment, before stepping back. "No, there's no way it's getting through that." He grinned.

Kenji then knocked on the door three times for good measure, before joining the grou--

BANG, BANG, BANG!!!!!!!!!!

Everyone flinched and gasped, bewildered by what just happened.

"Three times..." Ayaka breathed out shakily, shaking her head in denial. "Did you hear that? It did it three times, like you...!" Ayaka breathed in and out, her breathing turning into hyperventilating. "THREE TIMES, IT DID IT THREE TIMES!" Ayaka yelled, clearly beginning to get hysterical at this point.

"Alright, alright." Rantaro watched as Kirumi jumped in, as always, to calm down the group. "Okay, everyone, let's calm down."

Shoko shook her head, eyes wide with terror. "No, but it.. It answered. Don't you understand that? It answered!" She repeated, urging everyone on. "Don't tell me that thing's not alive, it answered him!"

BANG, BANG, BANG!!!!!!!!!!!

The group yelped, as yet again the bangs copied Kenji's three knocks.

The Hostess moved to stand by Kirumi, her eyes wide with unreadable emotions. "Okay, I must tell you all to get back in your seats!!"

"No, don't just stand there, telling us the rules!" Shoko snapped, taking a raging step forward towards The Hostess. "YOU'RE the hostess, YOU'RE supposed to DO SOMETHING!!!"

With every word, The Hostess shrank back fearfully, falling silent.

Rantaro tore his eyes away from the others as he heard another banging sound, though this time it clearly didn't come from the 'thing'. Kirumi was leaning against the door, and she knocked against it four times.

Everyone turned to stare at Kirumi, everyone silent as if waiting for the bangs to copy Kirumi.

They all stood in silence, Kirumi slowly beginning to step awa--

BANG, BANG, BANG, BANG!!!!!!!!!!!!

Shoko now looked like she was on the verge of tears, tears welling up into her arctic blue eyes. "What the hell's making that noise?" She whimpered, voice wobbling. "She said she'd get me... Make it stop, make it stop, make it stop...!"

The Hostess began to hastily make her way to the side of the plane where a dialer phone was, and quickly held the phone to her ear.

Hearing Shoko's words, all the passengers began to stare at her with unreadable expressions etched onto their faces. The strongest emotion that Rantaro was currently feeling was concern. But just as he stepped forward in an attempt to calm Shoko down, she suddenly started yelling.

"D--Don't just stand there looking at me, it's not my fault!" Shoko began to sob, black mascara smudging beneath her eyes. "Sasaki started it with his knocking, and then Tojo knocked again and made it worse!!"

"Look, help me!" The Hostess exclaimed, seemingly speaking into the phone.

"CALM DOWN!" Kaori yelled, trying to get Shoko to calm herself before it descended into something worse.

"WHY DIDN'T YOU LEAVE IT ALONE!?" Shoko screamed at Kenji and Kirumi, causing them both to flinch and share a glance.

"MISS, PLEASE...!" Kaori shouted, doing her best to try and silence Shoko, but failing.

"STOP STARING AT ME!!" Shoko's behaviour got increasingly erratic, as she stared at everyone frantically, eyes crazed and manic.

"CALM. DOWN!" Kaori screamed.

BANG.

All of a sudden, a singular bang rang out and silenced everyone.

BANG.

The bang is now right above Shoko.

BANG.

Shoko began to back away, eyes wide as she stared up at the ceiling.

BANG.

"It's coming for me..." Shoko muttered, petrified.

BANG.

"Oh, it's coming for me...!" Shoko's voice raised in volume, as she back away until her back hit the wall.

BANG.

"It's coming for me!!" Shoko repeated, eyes filled with nothing but pure horror.

BANG.

Rantaro's breathing quickened, as he followed the bangs until his eyes fell onto Shoko Watanabe.

BANG.

"It's coming for me...!!" Shoko shook her head, sobbing.

BANG.

The bangs are getting closer.

BANG.

"IT'S COMING FOR ME!!!"

BANGBANGBANGBANGBANGBANGBANGBANG.

Shoko began to scream, cowering in fear as she looked up at the ceiling where the bangs came from.

BANGBANGBANGBANGBANGBANGBANGBANG.

The screaming stabbed not only their ears, but their hearts, too.

BANGBANGBANGBANGBANGBANGBANGBANG.

"WATANABE-SAN!!-" Kirumi made her best effort to bolt towards Shoko and pull her back, but it was too late.

BANGBANGBANGBANGBANGBANGBANGBANG.

It got her.

BZZZZTTT!!!!!

Suddenly, the electrical screens next to Shoko burst and fizzed and crackled, and all lights began to shut off or flash. The shuttle began to shake and rock from side to side quickly, causing the passengers and The Hostess to be slammed against the walls as they were recklessly thrown to each side.

Screams and yells rang through Rantaro's ears, accompanied by a ringing white noise blasting at his eardrums. He could barely think, all he could focus on was not being slammed to the floor as he was thrown about, trying to grab onto something, anything, to get grounded again.

Rantaro felt himself begin to fall as his head went down but it felt as if his feet were going up. Rantaro fell to the ground, grabbing onto one of the chairs to stop himself from being thrown again.

Finally, the reckless shaking of the plane slowed, until it eventually stopped. The lights were now shut off, as if the electricity had been completely buzzed off.

Rantaro swallowed, taking a deep breath as he hoisted himself to his feet using the chair. He looked around at everybody else, trying to make sure they were alright. Right next to him shot up Kirumi, her hair and attire looking quite disheveled, though Rantaro must not look any better.

Rantaro cleared his throat, looking down at all the others who still seemed to be collecting their bearings. "Is everyone alright?"

The Professor grunted, staggering to his feet with the help of Kaori, who's already recovered. "Earthquake, must be." The Professor stated, seeming to still be in a state of denial.

"That's impossible." Kaori shook her head, shaking like a leaf. "The ground is fixed, it's..." She shook her head, sitting down in a chair and wrapping her arms around herself.

"Torches!" The Hostess exclaimed, brandishing a shining torch. "Everyone take a torch, they're in the back of the seats."

Rantaro followed the Hostess' instructions, fetching a torch for himself and a torch for Kirumi. He tossed the other torch to Kirumi, and the of them switched them on. Before they knew it, everyone had a torch, and it was rather blinding.

Daisuke took a deep breath, clearly anxious as he walked up to the front.

Ayaka gasped, making her way over to Daisuke. "Oh, 'Suke, come here!" She said worriedly, trying to embrace Daisuke.

Daisuke pulled away, shaking his head. "N—No, nevermind me, what about her?..."

Everyone, including Rantaro and Kirumi, joined Daisuke at the front, leaning over a chair and shining their torches out into the corner...

...Where Shoko sat with her hands held above her head, her back to them, unmoving, as if frozen in place.

"Wait, what's happened to the seats?" Ayaka frowned, shining her torch down. When shone brighter, it was clear that the seats have been... Shredded up. "S--Somebody's ripped them up!"

Rantaro looked down at Shoko, his concern growing. Yet another side of him wondered what exactly happened to her.

Rantaro took several steps forward as he noticed Kirumi dart towards Shoko, kneeling down next to her. "Hey, careful." Rantaro murmured cautiously.

"It's alright, It's alright. It's over." Kirumi assured, speaking quietly to Shoko as she put a hand on Shoko's back. "You're... Still alive."

Kirumi looked up and flashed her torch's light at the wall, which was dented but not destroyed. "Look, the wall's still in-tact, see." Kirumi turned her gaze to glance at Rantaro and the others, before turning away again.

"Sei? Fubuki?!" The Hostess exclaimed, yelling into the phone.

"We're safe." Kirumi whispered to Shoko, patting her on the back in hopes of being comforting.

"Driver Sei, can you hear me?!" The Hostess snapped, and waited for a response from the phone.

...

Nothing.

The Hostess sighed heavily and slammed the phone back into the case, before trying to compose herself and turning to the others. "..." She gave up on composing herself, and her expression twisted into one of annoyance as she began walking down the aisle. "I'm not getting any response, the intercom must be down." She huffed, before pressing the button that led towards the other area—

All of a sudden, a bright and blinding light shone inside the plane. It's the light from the... Outside. Many of the passengers screamed and covered their faces. Rantaro squinted and covered his eyes, the flashing white lights burning his eyes. Their hair blew back with the sudden gust of wind shooting into the plane, as the Hostess staggered back with shock. The Hostess slammed her hand against the button, closing the doors. She then stumbled back to join the others, eyes wide with horror.

Ayaka gasped, catching her breath as she pointed at the doors wildly. "What happened, what the hell was that?!" She shrieked.

Kenji gasped, glancing at The Hostess then back at the doors. "Was it the driver? We've lost the driver!"

The Hostess breathed in and out shakily, her whole body trembling with fear. "...The... The whole cabin's gone..." She mumbled.

The Professor crinkled his nose. "Oh, don't be silly, it can't be gone! How can it be gone?" He frowned.

"No, th—there's nothing there." The Hostess shook her head. "The whole cabin, it--it was ripped away..." Her voice cracked.

"I am afraid that there is only one logical conclusion." Kirumi murmured, eyes drifting to the ground.

The Hostess looked as if she were on the verge of tears, trying desperately go compose herself. "M... Maybe they... M—Maybe the cabin just separated...?"

Rantaro met Kirumi's eyes, realisation dawning on him, too. His heart clenched in his chest, as he took a deep breath, standing up straight. "If what happen to the chairs," he gestured towards the ripped up chairs, "happened to the cabin, too, then..." He sighed. "...Driver Sei and Mechanic Fubuki would've been vapourised out there. Disintegrated to dust." He crossed his arms, turning away.

Everyone remained silent for a few seconds, but just as it sounded like they were about to descend into distress again, Rantaro jumped in again. "But they sent a distress signal. Help is on it's way, they saved our lives. We are going to get out of here, I promise."

Flashbacks of trips with his little sisters began to buzz through Rantaro's mind, crackling like barbed wire. He found himself turning to look at Kirumi, a surge of protectiveness rushing through him.

He won't let what happened to his sisters happen to her.

He took a deep breath, turning back to look at everyone. "We are still alive, and they are going to find us." He announced, trying to up everyone's spirits.

"Amami, look at her."

Rantaro whipped around as he heard Daisuke speak, and saw Daisuke at the front flashing a torch down at the corner where Shoko was. Rantaro turned around and exchanged an uneasy glance with Kirumi, and the two of them made their way over to Daisuke, looking down at where his torch pointed.

Shoko is still there.

Same position, with her hands over her head, as if frozen in place.

"Why won't she turn around?"

"Ah, what's her name, again?" The Professor asked, and as Rantaro turned around, he realised that everyone had gathered in a line to stare down at Shoko.

Kirumi tilted her head, craning her neck to get a better look at Shoko. "...Shoko. Shoko Watanabe."

"..."

Everybody stood in silence, until Kirumi began to step forward, shining the light down on Shoko.

"...Watanabe-san." Kirumi called out warily. "...Can you hear me?"

Shoko remained silent, curled up into her ball, her back to them.

"Shoko." Kirumi dropped the honorifics, her only focus being getting Shoko to listen. Kirumi kneeled down onto the floor, eyeing Shoko carefully. "...Can you move, Shoko?" Kirumi's light shone onto Shoko's back, as she remained unmoving. "Just look at me."

As they spoke, Rantaro realised something. "Hold on." He murmured, taking his torch away from Shoko and shining it around the plane. "...That banging noise. It's not sounding anymore."

Ayaka huffed, rolling her eyes. "Well thank God for that!"

"No, no." Rantaro sighed, gritting his teeth together for a moment, before speaking. "...It's not outside anymore... But what if it's inside?"

"Inside? Where?!" Ayaka explained, staggering back and frantically shining her torch everywhere.

Daisuke nodded in agreement to what Rantaro was saying, turning his gaze back to Shoko, and gesturing to her. "...It was heading for her."

Rantaro's concern grew for not only Shoko, but Kirumi too, as he saw Kirumi scoot closer to Shoko, still brandishing her torch. "...Shoko?" Kirumi called out again. "Shoko, it's alright." She whispered, voice low so she wouldn't accidentally startle the other woman. "I just want you to turn around. ...Face me."

All eyes were on Shoko, as her neck twitched with a slight movement. Slowly, she began to bring her hands down, away from her head... Though it was mere seconds, it felt like hours as Shoko began to slowly, slowly.. Turn around.

Shoko's head whipped around as she faced all the other passengers, her neck twitching from side to side as her wide arctic blue eyes dug into their own eyes. Only Shoko's once lively eyes seemed deprived of what made Shoko... Shoko.

Rantaro felt his heart jump to his throat, as he fought to keep his expression calm and his breathing level, despite the situation they were currently in. But he couldn't stop the shiver that went down his spine as Shoko's eyes, devoid of emotion, landed on him.

Kirumi's expression turned into one that Rantaro knew well. She's calculating the right thing to do. She moved closer towards Shoko, expression pensive. Shoko's head whipped around to turn to face Kirumi.

"..." Kirumi's eyes narrowed as she scanned Shoko over, examining her current state. Raising a brow slightly, Kirumi began to slowly tilt her head to the left.

...

Shoko copied afterwards, also tilting her head to the left.

A slight frown began to etch itself onto Kirumi's face, as she changed course and instead tilted her head to the right.

After Kirumi tilted her head to the right, Shoko copied her actions. Kirumi then sat up straight. And then so did Shoko.

"...Shoko..." Kirumi muttered cautiously, eyes digging into Shoko's.

"......Shoko..."

This time, it wasn't only Kirumi's actions being copied, but her words, too.

Shoko repeated what Kirumi said.

Rantaro had to hold himself back from yanking Kirumi away from Shoko. Alarm bells were going off in his head, but he had to stay calm. He can't afford to panic in situations like this. He needs to be able to think rationally.

"..." Kirumi seemed slightly caught off-guard by Shoko's behaviour, but tried to remain unphased. "...Are you alright?"

"......Are you alright?" Shoko echoed.

"Are you hurt?"

"...Are you hurt?"

"You don't have to talk.."

"...You don't have to talk.."

"I'm trying to help you."

"...I'm trying to help you."

"My name is Kirumi Tojo. Do you remember me telling you?"

"...My name is Kirumi Tojo. Do you remember me telling you?"

Rantaro watched the conversation go back and forth, but it seemed less like a conversation and more like Kirumi just talking to herself. Rantaro's mind began to race. Is it like when the bangs copied Kenji and Kirumi? Rantaro's thought of whatever it was making the bangs being inside started to sound more and more true, and the thought of how the bangs had been heading for Shoko made Rantaro feel nauseous.

Kirumi sighed, clearly getting exasperated with Shoko's continuing repetition. "Could you please refrain from copying me?"

"...Could you please refrain from copying me?" Shoko repeated blankly and monotonously.

"I'd like you to stop." Kirumi frowned, a glint of annoyance in her eyes.

"...I'd like you to stop."

"Why is she doing that?" The Professor murmured in confusion, though his voice was tinted with curiosity as he shone his torch down on Shoko.

Suddenly, Shoko's head whipped around away from Kirumi to face The Professor, her eyes creepily wide. Rantaro braced himself from the sudden movement, thinking that something terrible was about to happen.

"...Why is she doing that?"

Shoko echoed, doing no much more than face The Professor and repeat his words.

Kenji shook his head, a grimace tugging on his features. "She's gone mad."

Shoko turned to face Kenji. "...She's gone mad."

"Stop it." Ayaka demanded Shoko stop it, a sharp stab to her voice.

Shoko spun around to look at Ayaka. "...Stop it."

"I said stop it!" Ayaka snapped.

"...I said stop it!"

Kaori shook her head, gasping softly. "I--I don't think she can." Nothing but horror tinted her voice.

Shoko now stared at Kaori, her voice sounding almost mocking of Kaori's shaking voice. "...I--I don't think she can."

The Professor glared at Kaori for a moment, before looking back at Shoko. "Right now, stop it, this isn't funny." He said sharply, yet warily.

Shoko twisted around to face The Professor. "...Right now, stop it, this isn't funny."

"Hush it, all of you." Rantaro stepped in, seeing that this could get very repititive if they all just started arguing.

Placing an eerie feeling in Rantaro's gut, Shoko now faced Rantaro. "...Hush it, all of you."

Rantaro couldn't help but shudder slightly as he heard his own words be copied by the other woman.

"..My name's Daisuke!" Daisuke smirked, shining his torch down, seeming to see this more as a funny game rather than a possibly dangerous situation. His mother, Ayaka, shot a warning glare at him, though he didn't seem to notice. Either that, or he ignored her. The latter is more likely.

Shoko stared at Daisuke now. ".....My name's Daisuke!"

"Sasaki-san, please refrain from speaking further." Kirumi fought off a slightly annoyed frown as she turned to look at Daisuke.

Shoko turned to glare at Kirumi. "...Sasaki-san, please refrain from speaking further."

Everyone fell silent, and Kirumi leaned in closer, expression calculating. "...Why are you repeating?" She muttered, half a question to Shoko, half to herself.

"......Why are you repeating?"

Kirumi's eyes narrowed, and Rantaro recognised that look. Kirumi's thought of something. "...What is that?.. Learning?" She whispered, just loud enough for Rantaro and the others to hear.

"......What is that?.. Learning?"

"Copying?"

"...Copying?"

Kirumi tilted her head, eyebrows furrowing slightly. Her eyebrows then raised, as she asked herself another question. "Absorbing?"

"...Absorbing?"

Kirumi stared at Shoko, before turning up and glancing at Rantaro. His eyebrows knitted together with concern for his best friend, as he mouthed 'be careful' to her. Kirumi processed what he said, before putting up a calm and serene smile, and nodding.

Kirumi turned back to face Shoko, who still had that eerie wide-eyed look on her face. Kirumi breathed in and out, before beginning to speak.

"...The square root of pi is 1.77245385090551602729816748..."

"......The square root of pi is 1.77245385090551602729816748..."

Shoko continued copying Kirumi as she recited the numbers until their words were overlapping, Kirumi expression gradually getting more and more awestruck.

Rantaro's eyes widened as he watched Shoko repeat, a small part of his shock being that Kirumi could even recite so many numbers, and the majority of it being because Shoko was still repeating. This isn't a joke. It's real. She can't stop.

"...3341--Wow." Kirumi ended the reciting of words, shaking her head as she murmured the surprised 'wow' quietly.

"......3341--Wow."

Shoko echoed Kirumi's words, but the 'wow' sounded more mocking than awe-struck, as if Shoko was playing some sort of game with Kirumi. Or, at least...

Whatever had taken control over Shoko.

Rantaro and the others: The Hostess, Kenji, Ayaka, Daisuke, the Professor, and Kaori, all exchanged glances as they looked each other, all of them having different expressions on their faces, but still having the same fear swirling in their eyes.

"But that's impossible...?" The Professor murmured anxiously.

"...But that's impossible...?" Shoko whipped around to face the Professor.

"She somehow managed to repeat all that.." Kaori gasped.

Like before, Shoko spun to look at Kaori. "...She somehow managed to repeat all that.."

"Tell her to stop." Ayaka snapped.

"...Tell her to stop."

"She's driving me mad!"

"...She's driving me mad!"

Rantaro's eyes widened as the arguing began, trying to calm everyone down, only for Shoko to copy his words and create more mayhem.

"JUST MAKE HER STOP!"

"...JUST MAKE HER STOP!"

"...What's wrong with her eyes...?" Kaori mumbled fearfully.

Shoko stared at Kaori. "......What's wrong with her eyes...?"

The plane fell into endless noise as everybody began shouting and yelling, only to be repeated by Shoko Watanabe, her echoes just increasing the uproar of the people.

"Stop her staring at me, shut her up!" Ayaka shouted.

Shoko now faced Ayaka. "...Stop her staring at me, shut her up!"

"It's got to be a trick." The Hostess, who had stayed quiet this whole time until now, decided to open her mouth. She seemed to be trying to think rationally, but at this point, it's impossible for this to be a trick.

Shoko spun around to face The Hostess. "...It's got to be a trick."

"But that's impossible." Kaori frowned doubtfully, shaking her head.

Shoko turned to face Kaori. "...But's that's impossible."

"I'm telling you, whatever your name is—!" Kenji tried to start yelling at Shoko, until Kirumi jumped in.

"...I'm telling you, whatever your name is."

"Now, just stop it, all of you." Kirumi raised a hand, looking back at all the others warily.

Rantaro watched as Kirumi stood up away from Shoko and raised her voice as loud as she could to silence everybody, similar to when she had yelled out just before the banging had started. It had worked for a moment, but as soon as Shoko repeated again, the arguing continued.

"...Now, just stop it, all of you."

"Her eyes. What's wrong with her eyes?" The Professor gasped.

Shoko whipped around to face The Professor. "...Her eyes. What's wrong with her eyes?"

Daisuke was laughing, as if having fun in such a situation. "She can copy anything!" He laughed.

Shoko faced Daisuke. "...She can copy anything!"

"Kenji, don't just stand there, do something! Make her stop!" Ayaka wailed, tugging on her husband's sleeve and pushing him forward.

"...Kenji, don't just stand there, do something!"

"You're scaring my wife!" Kenji snapped, pointing an accusing finger at Shoko.

"...You're scaring my wife!"

"Is she hysterical?.." The Hostess muttered.

"...Is she hysterical?.."

"Six-six-six!" Daisuke said spookily, laughing as he did so, a broad smile on his face.

"...Six-six-six!"

"She's different... She's something else...! There's something inside her! Professor, don't you see...?!" Kaori gasped, latching onto The Professor's arm. However, he seemed to busy with having his own 'conversation' with Shoko to listen.

"...She's different... She's something else...! There's something inside her! Professor, don't you see?"

"Make her stop!" Ayaka cried.

"...Make her stop!"

Rantaro tried to keep his mouth shut, but it was difficult when he wanted to try and calm everyone down. However, if he spoke, he'd just be adding to the chaos and mayhem.

Just as Rantaro was about to open his mouth, the lights suddenly flickered on, shutting everybody up as they looked around, as if thinking that something bad was about to happen again.

They all stood in silence, panting as they breathed in and out to catch their breath.

The Hostess breathed a sigh of relief. "...That's the back-up system." She sighed.

Everyone turned their torches off, and Kenji scoffed. "Well, that's a bit better." He mumbled sarcastically.

Ayaka quickly made her way over to The Hostess, tugging on her sleeve. "A--And what about the rescue? How long is it going to take?"

The Hostess grimaced slightly as she removed Ayaka from her, pushing her away gently. "About sixty minutes, that's all." She assured.

"Then I suggest we all calm down. This panic isn't helping. This woman is evidently in a state of self-induced hysteria. We should leave her alone." 

Rantaro sighed. But just as he was about to agree, he realised something.

He didn't hear Shoko repeat.

"...Tojo..." Daisuke murmured as realisation dawned on him, too. He tried to catch Kirumi's attention most likely because Kirumi seems to have been the one to take charge of the situation, speaking to Shoko and all.

Kirumi turned to face Daisuke, expression pensive. "...I know."

Kirumi began to move back towards Shoko, and The Professor sighed exasperatedly. "Tojo, now step back. I think you should leave her..."

As Kirumi raised a brow and gestured towards Shoko, The Professor's eyes widened.

"...Alone..."

Shoko isn't repeating anymore.

She's talking with them.

At the exact same time.

"How can she do that? She's talking with you..." Ayaka tried to speak, but trailed off as her eyes widened as she heard Shoko copy her, too, but speaking at the exact same time... "And with me... Oh my God. Kenji, what's she doing?!"

"She's repeating... At the exact same time." Daisuke muttered, his voice being accompanied by Shoko's words, who mimicked them at, as he said, the exact same time.

Kaori gasped, covering her mouth and stepping back. "That's impossible..." She said, in a state of denial, but flinched as Shoko spoke at the same time as her, too.

The Professor adjusted his glasses, a look of mesmerised fear on his face. "There's not even a delay?.."

Daisuke huffed out a small laugh, shaking his head. "Oh, man, that is weird."

Shoko spoke at the exact same time, no stopping, no pauses, not even to take in a breath of her. Her eyes stared into their very souls as she spoke. However, Rantaro noticed that this time.. Shoko's mouth seemed to have made a small mocking smirk.

...

...No. It's probably just his imagination.

Kirumi slowly stood up from where she had again kneeled next to Shoko, and turned to look at the others. "I think we should all now remain very, very quiet, have you got that?"

"How is she doing it?" Ayaka said shakily, still staring at Shoko as if ignoring Kirumi.

"Sasaki-san, please be quiet." Kirumi said sharply, standing up straight to her full height.

"How can she do that?.." Ayaka's voice shook like a leaf, as she looked as if she were on the verge of tears, becoming hysterical. "She's got my voice! She's got my words!!"

"Come on, be quiet, hush now, hush..." Kenji moved forward to Ayaka and embraced his wife in a hug, attempting to comfort her. But his expression did turn slightly fearful when he heard, and saw, Shoko speak at the same time as him.

"Just stop it, all of you. Stop it, please." Kirumi said, a warning tone to her voice, though it also held concern for the others.

The others backed away, but Rantaro remained rooted in place, as if watching over Kirumi in case anything dangerous were to happen. Kirumi then went back to Shoko, kneeling down next to her. Shoko slowly turned to stare at the maid.

"Now then, Shoko.. Are you Shoko?" Kirumi tilted her head. "Is Shoko still in there?.. Watanabe-san??.." As Shoko continued to speak at the same time, Kirumi's eyes narrowed. "You know exactly what I am going to say. How are you doing that?"

Kirumi made a thoughtful humming sound (which Shoko also did), as she seemed to contemplate something for a moment.

"...Spiderwebs!" Kirumi suddenly yelled out, making the others flinch in surprise. Kirumi seemed to be testing something? "...Arachnids!" Rantaro can't say that he's surprised that these seem to be spider-related. Kirumi loves spiders. "The Black Widow Spider.." Another spider. Rantaro guessed right, then.

"..." Kirumi remained silent for a moment, eyes calculating and scanning over Shoko.

"BANG!" Kirumi exclaimed, louder than how she shouted the other words. "Rantaro Amami, Miu Iruma, Shuichi Saihara, midnight!" Kirumi seemed to be spouting random words, whatever came to mind, at high speed to see if Shoko could not only copy her, but keep up, too. "..." Kirumi stopped tilting her head, and sat up straight. "...I am Kirumi Tojo, the Ultimate Maid. Please let me know if you require my service." Kirumi then did her usual introduction, the one she told everybody at the beginning of the year at Hope's Peak. "'I love it when you clean for me', oh thank you, how nice of you." Kirumi smiled.

Rantaro raised a brow, as it seemed almost as if Kirumi was playing around. But he knows her real, calculating self. She's most likely just trying to lighten the atmosphere and calm down the others with humour. After all, she has tried to make jokes in the past to help Rantaro and the other students with stress.

"..." Kirumi stared at Shoko. "...A-B-C-D-E-F-G-H-I-J-K-L-M-N-O--..." In an attempt to catch Shoko out, Kirumi began to recite the alphabet, but she stopped at 'O' to see if Shoko would continue. However, Shoko stopped at the exact same time as Kirumi.

Kirumi made a thoughtful humming sound, and stood up, taking a step back, but still looking down at Shoko. "First she repeats, then she catches up.. What is the next stage?"

"The next stage of what?" Kaori frowned and sighed, standing up.

Kenji still held Ayaka close to him, as if trying to protect her from whatever had come over Shoko and caused her to get like this. As Daisuke, their son, began to speak, they turned over to look at him. "..That's not her, is it? .. It's not Shoko Watanabe anymore." Daisuke murmured, looking down at Shoko.

Kirumi turned and glanced at Daisuke, before turning back to look at Shoko. "...I don't think so, no..." She had an unreadable expression as she looked back at everybody else, observing their current states.

Rantaro still stood close to Kirumi, afraid that something may happen to her. The Hostess stood off to the side, slightly disconnected to the group, staying silent. The Professor and Kaori stood together, Kaori seeming more invested in whatever was happening whilst The Professor still seemed to be wishing they would leave Shoko alone. Kenji still held Ayaka in an embrace, as Ayaka began to sob into his chest. Daisuke seemed like your average teenager, finding joy in morbid and creepy things like this, but even now he seemed to have become more quiet.

"I think..." Kirumi spoke slowly and quietly, so quiet so Shoko's voice was perfectly clear. "...The more we talk, the more she learns..." Kirumi turned her body away from Shoko, but still turned her head to look at the woman still stuck in place on the floor. "Now, I'm all for education, but in this case..." Kirumi seemed to be contemplating something as she looked down at Shoko. It looked almost as if Kirumi longed to test out what Shoko could do more, but for the safety of the others, Kirumi shook her head, therefore ignoring the thought. "...Maybe not. Let's just.. Move back, come on."

Kirumi began to walk away from Shoko, holding her arms out to gently push the others back, every so often looking over her shoulder. Rantaro did begin to step back, but if Kirumi were to go back again, he'd follow.

"Come with me. Everyone get back, as far as you can." Kirumi commanded, leading everyone to the back of the shuttle.

Ayaka breathed in and out shakily, her eyes glued to Shoko. "Tojo, make her stop..." She mumbled.

Kirumi softly pushed Ayaka further back, trying to reassure her. "Come on, Sasaki-san, go to the back. Stop looking at her, please, you will feel better once you do." Kirumi looked up, and noticed that Daisuke was still stubbornly sitting at the front of the plane, looking down at Shoko. "You too, it could be dangerous. Everyone, come on."

Daisuke blinked and looked up to look at the others, before sighing. He turned and glanced at Shoko again, before eventually joining the others at the back.

"Fifty minutes, that's all we need." Kirumi explained, standing in front of the others, who now stood in a line at the back. Rantaro felt proud to see Kirumi take on such a leader position, even though she very often does back at Hope's Peak. But that's different. That's just for school projects, like making sure Kokichi doesn't blow up the science lab, and all that. But this, this is a situation that could very possibly turn dangerous. And she's really taking charge. Rantaro feels like a proud big brother.

"Fifty minutes until the rescue arrives, and..." Kirumi turned back around to glance at Shoko, before looking back at the others. "...She's not exactly strong, is she? All she has got is our voices." Kirumi smiled calmly, trying to put the other's nerves at peace.

Ayaka was borderline hyperventilating, breathing shaky as she turned away, ripping her eyes away from Shoko. "I... I can't look at her. Not with those eyes."

Shoko still remained rooted in place at the other side of the plane, still in that corner where she had been curled up in before. A slight smirk on her face, as she stared at everyone, eyes locked onto them and unblinking, as if she were a different person entirely. Arctic blue eyes had dulled and muddied into something darker. The smirk seemed mocking almost, but it didn't match with the emotionless eyes that dug into their souls, as if they were not-quite-human.

"..." Kaori stared at Shoko, a slight frown on her face. "...We must not look at goblin men..."

The other members of the group turned to look at Kaori in confusion. Kenji spoke up first. "..What's that supposed to mean?"

"It's a poem." Rantaro piped up, holding up a hand as you would in class when wanting to answer a question. Remembering that they were, in fact, not in class, he lowered his hand. "Christina Rosetti."

Kaori continued to stare at Shoko uneasily. "...We must not look at goblin men, we must not buy their fruits. Who knows upon what soil they fed their hungry, thirsty roots..."

Kirumi took a deep breath, tilting her head. "...My apologies, but I do not think that is helping."

"Indeed." The Professor scoffed. "She is not a goblin, or a monster, she's just a very sick woman." He whispered, Shoko's mimicry loud and clear.

Daisuke stopped leaning on the wall, taking a step forward, expression thoughtful. "..Maybe that's why it went for her?"

The Professor took a hasty step forward, sending a sharp glare Daisuke's way. "There is no it!"

"Think about it though." Daisuke leaned forward, tapping the side of his head. "That knocking went all the way round the bus until it found her. And she was the most scared out of all of us." Daisuke leaned back again, shrugging. "Maybe that's what it needed. That's how it got in."

The Professor huffed out a heavy sigh, clearly exasperated with all this. "For the last time. Nothing can live on the surface of Midnight!"

Rantaro couldn't help but sigh. This is getting repetitive. But that seems to be rather popular around here. "Professor, I'm glad you've got an absolute definition of life in the universe, but perhaps the universe has got ideas of its own, hm?" Rantaro chuckled a little, shrugging. "I think there might well be some consciousness inside Shoko, but maybe she's still in there. And it's our job to help her." Rantaro spoke with a hint of determination in his voice. No matter what, he doesn't want anyone getting hurt, including Shoko, no matter how creepy her whole ordeal is.

Kenji scoffed, taking several steps back with his wife until they were pressed against the back wall. "Well, you all can try to help her. But we're not going near."

Kirumi cleared her throat, speaking up. "Actually, I'd rather none of us approach or speak to her now. Because she started with copying us, then speaking with us, and perhaps the last stage is becoming us, and I am not sure about all of you, but I do not want her becoming me." She said calmly, looking around at everyone.

Ayaka scoffed, crossing her arms. "Like you're so special."

Kirumi turned to stare at Ayaka, eyes cold and calculating. "...As a matter of fact, I am, so that's decided. We stay back and we wait. When the rescue ship comes, we can get Shoko to hospital." Kirumi said slowly, trying to ease the approaching distress.

Rantaro nodded in agreement with Kirumi, and that silenced everyone. They all began to sit back and calm themselves down, to distract themselves from the current situation.

...Well.

Everyone except The Hostess.

"We should throw her out."

All eyes slowly dragged themselves to stare at The Hostess, the one who would've been more unexpected to suggest such a thing. The Hostess was glaring at Shoko, eyes thin as slits.

The Professor's eyes widened, as he stood up straight. "...I beg your pardon?"

"Can we do that?" Ayaka gasped, clearly inclined to the idea as she perked up, all ears.

Rantaro began to get repulsed by the subject of this conversation. No way in hell is he allowing that to happen. "Don't be ridiculous." He frowned.

The Hostess' breathing grew ragged as she shook her head, eyes still on Shoko. "That... That thing, whatever it is, killed the driver, and the mechanic, and I don't think it's finished yet. And now that it's in her..." Everyone glanced at Shoko.

Rantaro's frown hardened into something colder. "She can't even move. She's harmless. Sure, it's scary, but that's all. Just some repeating." Rantaro was used to this repeating game, as his sisters had done silly things like that all the time. Rantaro would say it's their bedtime, they would copy him, and the cycle goes on. He never would've thought that such a childish game could be turned into something like this.

The Hostess tore her eyes away from Shoko to direct her glare towards Rantaro. "Look at her. Look at her eyes. She killed Sei, and she killed Fubuki, and we're next!"

"She's still doing it..." Kenji muttered, a frown on his face as he began to step forward. "Just stop it... Stop talking, STOP IT!"

Ayaka let out a small sob, tugging on Kenji's sleeve to pull him back. "Kenji, don't, sweetheart.."

"But she won't stop!" Kenji exclaimed angrily, before sighing. "We can't throw her out, though. We can't even open the doors." He mumbled.

"No one is getting thrown out." Rantaro moved to stand in front of everyone, trying to make his point clear.

"Yes, we can open the doors." Kaori spoke up, making Rantaro sigh exasperatedly. "Because there's an air pressure seal. Like when you opened the cabin door," Kaori turned to The Hostess, referring to when she had opened the door only to find the cabin ripped away, "you weren't pulled out. You had a couple of seconds, because it takes the pressure wall about six seconds to collapse.." Kaori smiled a little. "Well, six seconds exactly... That's enough time to throw someone out."

Rantaro gritted his teeth together, taking a deep breath to compose himself. "Thanks, Inoue, just what we needed."

"Would it kill her outside?" Ayaka leaned in, getting more and more intrigued by the idea.

"I don't know." Kaori's eyebrows raised, as she gradually began to lean towards the idea. "But she's got a body now. It would certainly kill the physical form."

What is with these people and killing? "No one is killing anyone." Rantaro sighed, fighting off a disgusted grimace from how they actually seemed to be considering it.

"I wouldn't risk the cabin door twice, but we've got that one." The Hostess pointed wildly to the door that the 'thing' had originally tried to get in through. "All we need to do is grab hold of her and throw her out." She said aggressively, making a hand-motion as if to be throwing something.

"Right, listen, all of you." Rantaro said sharply, turning to gesture towards Shoko. "For all we know, that's a brand-new lifeform over there," Rantaro then turned back to the others, "and if it's come inside to discover us, then what's it found?.. Us. This little bunch of humans... What do you amount to?" Rantaro leaned in, desperately trying to sway their minds. "Murder? Because this is where you decide. You decide who you are. Could you actually murder her?" Rantaro looked around at everyone, as they seemed to be backing down. "Any of you? Really? Or are you better than that?"

All of them look at each other.

"..."

"I'd do it." The Hostess said darkly.

Hearing The Hostess step up, Kenji did, too. "So would I."

Seeing her husband also agree, Ayaka turned to glare at Rantaro. "And me."

The one that Rantaro wouldn't have expected to agree, Kaori, also raised a hand. "I think we should." She murmured timidly.

"What?" Rantaro's eyebrows furrowed, his eyes widening. It didn't work. They really want to throw Shoko out? It's--It's fucking appalling. Sure, Rantaro can undersand that they're scared, but--..

Kaori turned to look at Rantaro, taking a deep breath. "I want her out."

Kirumi took a step forward, her expression a slight glare as she looked at everybody, coming to Rantaro's aid. "You cannot say that. You can't really be saying you want to kill that innocent woman?"

"I'm sorry, Tojo, but that clearly isn't an 'innocent woman' anymore! You said it yourself, Tojo, she's growing in strength!" Kaori exclaimed, eyes wide with fear and eyebrows knitted together with worry.

"That's not what I said." Kirumi sighed, resisting the frown that began to tug on her features.

"I want to go home." Kaori whimpered, shaking her head as she resisted tears. "I'm sorry. I want to be safe."

Kirumi's expression failed to become softer, so Rantaro decided to jump in, putting a hopefully-comforting hand on Kaori's shoulder. "You'll be safe any minute now. The rescue truck is on its way. You and everybody else is going to be safe and okay." He said gently.

"But what happens then, Amami?" The Hostess said sharply, her sharp eyes digging into Rantaro's. "If it takes that thing," The Hostess jerked her head towards Shoko in a gesture, "back to the Leisure Palace, if that thing reaches civilization - what if it spreads?"

"Because when we get back there, there will be people there to contain it." Kirumi explained calmly, though Rantaro could tell that even she was doubtful. "I would even be willing to help in the operation."

Ayaka scoffed, glaring at Kirumi and crinkling her nose. "Well you haven't done much so far!"

"You've just been standing at the back with the rest of us!" Kenji snapped at Kirumi.

The Hostess was borderline hyperventilating now. Rantaro would feel sympathy for her since this is her first job, but any possible sympathy has left him since she kept pushing for Shoko to be thrown out. Though, it seems like human nature. "She's dangerous. It's my job to see that this vessel is safe. And we should get rid of her."

The Professor held up a finger, his expression seeming rather nervous. "Now hang on. I think perhaps we're all going a little bit too far." He said cautiously.

Rantaro breathed out a sigh of relief. Finally, someone with common sense. "At last. Thank you, Professor." He smiled gratefully.

"TWO PEOPLE ARE DEAD!" The Hostess screamed, eyes wide with emotions of fear, rage, and other unreadable feelings swirling within. She must've been close to Sei and Fubuki.

"DON'T MAKE IT A THIRD!" Kirumi snapped back at The Hostess, causing Rantaro to feel caught off-guard. This didn't seem like Kirumi at all. This stress and panic and frenzy is changing everyone. Rantaro swallowed. Kirumi paused, taking a step back as she seemed to have silenced The Hostess. She then turned to Daisuke. "Sasaki-san, what do you think?"

Daisuke glanced at the others, before sighing and crossing his arms. "I'm not killing anyone."

Rantaro smiled at him, nodding. "Thank you, Sasaki."

Ayaka scoffed, frowning. "Oh, he's just a boy." She huffed, clicking her tongue. "And, now that I think about it, you two, Amami and Tojo, are, too! You go to that Hope's Peak place, and all that. That's why you think you're so special, hm? Well I see that place as a mad-house!" Ayaka raised her voice slightly, directing her glare towards the two Hope's Peak students.

"Just a boy?!" Daisuke exclaimed angrily. "What, so I don't get a vote?!"

"THERE ISN'T A VOTE!" Rantaro yelled, getting frustrated with how this just went back and forth. "It isn't happening! Ever! If you try to throw Watanabe out that door, you'll have to get through me first." Rantaro took a step forward, staring at everyone challengingly.

"And me." Kirumi said confidently, standing by Rantaro's side to support him.

The other passengers and The Hostess all exchanged glances, falling silent.

The Hostess then returned to glaring at the two of them.

"Okay." She snarked.

Kenji huffed out a sarcastic laugh. "Fine by me."

"Oh, now you're just being stupid!" Rantaro blurted out, his anger beginning to get the best of him. "Just think about it--could you actually take hold of someone and throw them out that door?"

Kenji took a raging step forward, teeth gritting together. "Calling me a coward?! YOU'RE JUST A YOUNG BOY!!" He yelled.

Kirumi was visibly unhappy, and took a step forward as if challenging Kenji. "I am in charge, so YOU will listen to ME!"

Rantaro winced, knowing that that was a bad move. People don't usually like it when told that they aren't in charge or have to be told what to do. Rantaro did see Kirumi as a better leader, but with what's going on right now, it's clear that the other's won't.

Ayaka's eyes widened with anger. "Who the hell put you in charge?! You're hardly fit for a leading role, young lady!"

Rantaro watched with concern and a slight anger as everyone slightly pushed Rantaro to the side, directing the anger towards his friend.

"I'm sorry, but is a maid talent really fit for a leading role?" The Professor said in a slight mocking tone, eyes narrowing as he stared at Kirumi.

"She wasn't even booked in." The Hostess sneered, staring at Kirumi with the rest of the passengers. "The rest of you, tickets in advance. She just turned up out of the blue." She said with disgust.

Kaori seemed a little unhappy with how they all seemed to be ganging up on Kirumi, but spoke anyway. "From... From where?"

Kirumi blinked, seeming to have been slightly caught off-guard by the sudden change of pace. She composed herself, speaking calmly. "I am with Rantaro, here." Kirumi gestured to Rantaro, who nodded in agreement. "He took me on this trip."

"But still, you're just a guest. Amami still booked a ticket in advance."

"Hey!" Rantaro said in a warning tone. "I know Kirumi, she has no ill-intent. She just wants to make sure that everyone stays safe, trust me, that's always in her best interest. She always puts others before herself." Rantaro assured, trying to make his voice sound as genuine as possible.

"But do you really know her?" The Professor said warily, still eyeing Kirumi. "How long have you been at school together? Did you know each other before that?"

"We..." Rantaro frowned, willing himself to not go along with what they were implying. "...We first met in our first year of Hope's Peak, we're in the same class. We're at the start of our second year, now."

Ayaka huffed out a half-scoff half-sarcastic-laugh. "I don't think that's long enough to get to know someone."

The others chimed in their agreement, and Rantaro felt his worry for Kirumi heighten.

"Thing is, though, Tojo, you've been loving this." Daisuke mumbled, and hearing Daisuke join the arguing made Rantaro really worry.

"Oh, Sasaki, not you, too." Rantaro sighed.

Daisuke shrugged, eyes wide as he tried to make a point. "I don't know, ever since all this trouble started, Tojo's been loving it!"

"I have not, I was just testing her to... To check things." As Kirumi's speech got slower and Rantaro heard a twinge of desperateness in her voice, Rantaro felt his concern rise to the point where he felt nauseous.

"It has to be said." The Professor shook his head, further going along with whatever the others were talking about. "You do seem to have a certain... Glee." He raised a sceptical brow.

"All right, I am interested. Yes." Kirumi nodded, desperately trying to keep her composure. "I can't help it, because whatever is inside her, it is brand-new and that is fascinating." She shook her head, trying to explain herself.

If anything, Kirumi's words just seemed to anger and appall the other people even further, as they stared at her with shock. "What, so you wanted this to happen?!" Ayaka exclaimed, her voice a high-pitched shriek.

"No, of course not!—"

"And you were talking to her." Kenji gasped, as if remembering something important all of a sudden. "All on your own, before all the trouble, right at the front, you were talking to that Shoko woman. The two of you together! I SAW YOU!" He pointed an accusing finger at the maid.

"We all saw them!" Ayaka nodded, siding with her husband.

"And you went into the cabin!" The Hostess just continued adding on to all the reasons on why they should incriminate Kirumi.

"Hey, just back off!" Rantaro shouted, trying to get them to listen, but none of them even looked at him.

"What were you saying to Watanabe?!" Kenji stepped forward, grabbing Kirumi, by the shoulders, prompting Rantaro to angrily shrug him off of Kirumi.

Rantaro glared at Kenji, a fire in his eyes. "Don't you dare touch her!"

"I was just talking." Kirumi said calmly, though there was a breathy sound to her voice, as she seemed to be getting slightly nervous with how everyone turned on her.

"Saying what?!"

"And you started messing about before, making her repeat all the ridiculous things you were saying." The Professor said with disgust.

"That was after!"

"HOW DID YOU KNOW WHAT TO DO?!" Kenji yelled.

"BECAUSE I'M CLEVER!!!"

Kirumi yelled loudly, her eyes wide with a rage swirling within.

Everyone fell silent at that declaration.

Kirumi seemed to immediately regret her words afterwards, because God that sounded selfish and egotistic.

Everyone looked at each other, scoffing and huffing out sarcastic laughs. Rantaro took a deep breath. This.. isn't good.

As if that wasn't clear from the start of this mess.

The Professor smirked sarcastically. "I see. Well. That makes everything clear, doesn't it, oh great one?" He scoffed mockingly.

"And what are we, then?" Kenji snapped, fists clenched so hard that his knuckle were white and his hands seemed to be shaking. "Idiots?"

Kirumi breathed out, shaking her head. "..No, that is not what I meant." She murmured quietly and regretfully.

"If you're clever, than what are we?" Kaori frowned, hurt by Kirumi's words.

Ayaka shook her head in disgust, repulsed by Kirumi. "You've been looking down on us from the moment we walked in."

"Oh, just listen to yourselves, please!" Rantaro scoffed. "Kirumi isn't like that, I know her!—"

"What if... We throw Tojo out as well?"

Everyone fell into a shocked silence as they stared at Kenji, the one who proposed the idea.

Rantaro felt horror and disgust dwell in both his heart and mind, and as he looked at Kirumi, he watched her fall into stunned silence.

The Hostess looked off to the side, no longer able to face them. "If we have to."

"Look, just—right, sorry, yes." Kirumi stammered, stumbling over her words as she tried to recover from what Kenji just suggested. "Hold on. Just—I know you're scared. And so am I. Look at me—I am. But we have all got to calm down and cool off and think!" She spoke frantically, her calm and composed mask beginning to slip.

"She's lying, look at her face." Kenji grimaced.

"Look... Their eyes are the same. Tojo and Watanabe."

Everyone began to talk all at the same time. Accusations flew towards Kirumi, shooting at her one by one. Rantaro tried to cut through their words with his own, but it didn't help when they were all just ignoring him.

"She's been lying to us right from the start!"

"She think she's clever?! She's not only a school-kid, but a lowly maid!"

"She's not trying to hurt anyone, I know her...!"

"We don't know her true nature! For all we know, she could be a sociopath!"

"She's been loving this from the start of this mess..."

"She really just showed up out of nowhere?.. Can we trust her?.."

"She really does have an inflated ego, doesn't she?"

"Now, just listen, all of you--"

"WHY SHOULD WE LISTEN TO YOU?!"

Kirumi, at this point, had completely dropped the composed and rational mask. She had broken out into a cold sweat, raking a hand through her now-disheveled hair. "Listen to me right now, because YOU NEED ME!" She snapped, returning to an egotistic demeanor. "ALL OF YOU! If we are going to get out of this, then YOU NEED ME!" She pointed at herself wildly, eyes wide. Rantaro felt himself recoil slightly, before returning to standing by her side. He's just.. Never seen Kirumi like this.

The Professor scoffed. "So you keep saying." He murmured sarcastically. "You've been repeating yourself even more than Watanabe over there."

Ayaka stubbornly crossed her arms, gesturing to The Professor and The Hostess by jerking her head their way. "If anyone's in charge, it's them! The Hostess is The Hostess, and The Professor is the expert!"

As Rantaro turned his head, he noticed Daisuke staring at Shoko again, a frown etched onto his features as he looked down at the woman. "...Mom. Just--Just stop. Look."

"You keep out of this, Daisuke!" Ayaka exclaimed.

"No, look at her!!"

They all turned to look at Shoko, who was still kneeled down on the floor in the same position, staring at all of them with those cold, eerie eyes.

Kaori gasped. "She... She's stopped. She's not repeating or speaking with us anymore...!"

Kirumi quickly whipped around, stepping forward as if about to examine Shoko once again. "What? When did she--No, she's still doing it." Kirumi frowned, as Shoko kept speaking with her.

"She looks the same to me..." Ayaka muttered, tilting her head, before inhaling a gasp of air. "No, she's stopped! Look, I'm talking, and she's not!" She smiled, happy with what's happened. She looks relieved that Shoko seems to have stopped copying her, and honestly, who wouldn't be relieved.

Kirumi slowly began to walk closer to Shoko, and Rantaro felt his gut twist with anxiety.

"But what about me? Is she--? ..Look!" Kenji laughed joyfully, noticing that Shoko has stopped copying him, too. "Look at that! She's not copying me, she's let me go!"

"...Watanabe...?" The Hostess called out warily, before noticing that Shoko wasn't copying her, either. "Nor me."

"...Hey." Rantaro called out quietly, and Shoko didn't copy him either.

"..Shoko. What are you doing?" Kirumi said slowly and quietly, as she approached Shoko. Shoko turned her head to follow where Kirumi walked, as Kirumi looked down at, or on, her.

"Tojo, it's you...! She's just copying you...!" The Professor said, his voice a breathy gasp.

"Why me? Why are you doing this?" Kirumi asked sharply, a slight, unfamiliar shake to her voice.

"Watanabe won't leave Tojo alone... Do you see?"

"Yes, I said so! Watanabe is with Tojo, I knew it!" Ayaka boasted obnoxiously.

Kenji nodded along, still looking at Kirumi and Shoko standing together at the front. "They're together."

"How do you explain it, Tojo? If you're so clever." The Professor sneered.

"I don't know!" Kirumi snapped, turning to look at The Professor for a moment, before looking down at Shoko again. "Shoko, stop it." Kirumi demanded, but all she heard was Shoko's voice merging with her own. "I said, stop it. JUST STOP IT!"

"Look at the two of them! They're working together!" Ayaka pointed wildly, and Rantaro angrily silenced her.

Kirumi kneeled down in front of Shoko once again, as they were before, face-to-face.

"Shoko, I am trying to understand." Kirumi said slowly, her voice quiet, but loud enough for Rantaro to hear. "You captured my speech — what for? What do you need?" Kirumi tilted her head. "You need my voice in particular — the cleverest voice in the room. Why?" Rantaro ignored the annoyed scoffs and insults that sounded in the background from the others as Kirumi said that. "Because I am the only one who can help? Oh. I would love that to be true, but your eyes..." Kirumi's eyes narrowed as she looked closer. "...They are saying something else. Listen to me — whatever you want, if it is life or form or consciousness or voice, you don't have to steal it." Kirumi's eyes widened, as she tried to get her words through to whatever was inside Shoko. "You can find it without hurting anyone. And I'll help you — that's a promise.." Kirumi took a deep breath, adjusting her position on the floor, as she finally spoke. "So, what do you think?..." 

"Do we have a deal?"

"...Do we have a deal?"

Shoko just spoke ahead of Kirumi.

Shoko just spoke before Kirumi.

Oh my God.

The others merely stared at Kirumi, astonished and stunned into silence at what just happened.

"Hold on. Did Watanabe just--" Kaori spoke slowly, as she began to catch on to what just happened.

"She spoke before Tojo." Daisuke spoke gravely, swallowing.

"But she can't have..."

"She did."

"She spoke first."

Rantaro felt his heart pound in his chest as blood began to rush to his ears, and his vision looked disfigured as it looked as if he were looking through a fish-eye lens. An overwhelming sense of dread washed over in a wave, as he felt, and heard, himself start to hyperventilate. He began to sweat profusely, and it felt as if he were being choked as he blinked rapidly, feeling light-headed. Rantaro tried desperately to calm himself down and think rationally, but it felt as if he was dying. He just wanted a nice trip to go on with Kirumi, someone that he doesn't only see as a best friend, but another little sister. He can't lose her. Not like the others. Not again. He can't bear it. He can't let it happen again. Not again.

Kirumi is now just staring straight ahead, unmoving, not speaking.

"Oh, look at that, I'm ahead of you.." Shoko gasped, prompting the others to gasp in shock as she spoke freely, rather than repeating their words like before.

"...Oh, look at that, I'm ahead of you.."

Kirumi echoed in a strangled, forced voice, much more strained than Shoko's was before.

Oh my God, it's happening.

"Did you see? Watanabe spoke before Tojo did, definitely!" The Professor nodded, looking back to glance at everyone else before turning back to the two women at the front.

"Tojo's copying Watanabe."

The Professor took a step forward, trying to get Kirumi to look at him, but Kirumi just remained rooted in place. "Tojo, what's happening?"

"...I think it's moved..." Shoko breathed out, her head moving slightly, whilst Kirumi didn't move at all.

"......I think it's moved..."

"I think it's letting me go...!"

"...I think it's letting me go...!"

Kaori took a hasty step forward, frowning. "What do you mean? Letting you go from what?"

"Tojo's repeating now.. She's the one doing it, it's Tojo!" Kenji yelled accusingly.

"They're separating..." Daisuke muttered quietly.

The Professor tilted his head curiously, his eyebrows furrowing. "...Watanabe, is that you?"

Shoko nodded, eyes widening as she began to move her arms up, clenching and unclenching her fists as she was finally able to move. "Yes, yes, it's me...!"

"...Yes, yes, it's me...!"

"I'm coming back..!"

"...I'm coming back..!"

A smile began to spread onto Shoko's face, one of relief. "Listen... It's me!"

"...Listen... It's me!" Kirumi strained out.

Shoko began to slowly move her head and arms, breathing out sighs of relief.

"It's passed onto Tojo.." Daisuke mumbled, turning to look at everyone else. "It's.. Transferred. Whatever it is, it's gone inside Tojo."

"No, that's not what happened...!" Kaori exclaimed, urging everyone to listen.

"But look at her!"

Seeing that she was ignored, Kaori rushed over to Rantaro, shaking him slightly. "Amami, you have to listen...! You believe me, don't you?!"

Rantaro wanted to express his feelings for a moment, but he still felt as if he couldn't breath. All he could do was desperately breath in gasps of air to calm himself down.

"Okay, Amami, I need you to calm down for me..."

As Kaori did her best to calm Rantaro down, everyone else was still watching Shoko and Kirumi.

"Look at me... I can move!" Shoko laughed brightly, looking down at her hands.

"...Look at me... I can move!"

"I can feel again.."

"...I can feel again.."

"I'm coming back to life!"

"...I'm coming back to life!"

Shoko then looked forward at Kirumi, who was staring ahead with those haunting eyes that Shoko once had, frozen in place. "And look at Tojo... She can't move..."

"...And look at Tojo... She can't move..."

Shoko slowly tore her eyes away from Kirumi, and looked up at the others with pleading eyes. "...Help me."

"......Help me."

"Professor..."

"...Professor..."

Shoko put her hands forward for The Professor to grab, as she couldn't stand up by herself after being kneeled down for so long. "Get me away from her... Please. I'm scared."

"...Get me away from her... Please. I'm scared."

"Amami, are you okay?" Kaori asked urgently, grasping his forearms and showing concern for him.

Kaori had taken Rantaro through some breathing techniques, and had gotten him distracted enough so he could calm down. Despite there still being panic in his heart, Rantaro felt the fog in his head clear slightly, as he tried to think rationally. He nodded, and looked towards Kirumi.

As Kirumi mimicked Shoko's words, all Rantaro read it as was a cry for help. 'Please. I'm scared.' Hearing Kirumi's voice say those words just made Rantaro feel more determined to help her.

Rantaro watched as The Professor hesitated, before making his way over to Shoko and cautiously grabbing her outstretched hands, clearly trying to stay as far away from Kirumi as possible. The Professor hoisted Shoko to her feet, leading her away from Kirumi, leaving Kirumi alone in the dark corner of the bus.

Shoko let out a sigh of relief, smiling at The Professor. "Oh, thank you."

"...Oh, thank you."

Daisuke nodded confidently, looking back at his parents, Kenji and Ayaka. "They've definitely separated. Completely.

"It's in Tojo, do you see? I knew it all along. It's Tojo." Kenji scoffed.

"Don't you start." Rantaro glared at Kenji, his voice having a dark tone to it.

"Watanabe is free!" Ayaka cheered, laughing. "She's been saved!" She grinned, paying no mind to the younger girl stuck at the other end of the bus.

"Oh, it was so cold..." Shoko whimpered.

"...Oh, it was so cold..."

"I couldn't breathe.."

"...I couldn't breathe.."

"I'm sorry." Shoko murmured, her eyebrows knitting together with worry.

"...I'm sorry."

Shoko turned to look at Ayaka, who stood in front of her, clearly feeling sympathy for the other woman. "I must've scared you so much."

"...I must've scared you so much."

Ayaka seemed as if she were on the verge of tears, as she quickly embraced Shoko, wrapping her in a warm hug. "Oh, it's alright, it's okay...! I've got you, you're safe, it's all over, everything's alright..."

Rantaro and Kaori turned to look at the others, expressions pensive. "I wouldn't touch her." Kaori said quietly.

"But it's gone." Kenji shrugged, frowning. "Watanabe's clean, it's passed into Tojo." Kenji grimaced, pointing at Kirumi, still rooted in place and frozen.

"That's not what happened!" Kaori and Rantaro said at the same time, desperate to convince everyone.

"Thank you for your opinion, 'youngsters', but clearly, Watanabe has been released." The Professor said proudly. Rantaro resisted the urge to cringe a little at the word 'youngsters'.

"No!--" Kaori exclaimed, in an attempt to protest.

"Just leave her alone!" Ayaka huffed, gently tugging Shoko away. "She's safe, isn't she?" Ayaka turned to her son, Daisuke, to pressure him into agreeing. "Daisuke, it's let her go, hasn't it?"

Daisuke blinked, looking around at everyone, before swallowing. "Uh, uhm... I think so, yeah...? Looks like it..." Daisuke turned to The Professor for help. "Uhm, Professor?"

The Professor cleared his throat. "I'd say, from observation... Tojo can't move, and when Watanabe was possessed, she couldn't move, so--"

"Well, there we are, then." Kenji huffed, his expression twisting into an angered snarl. "...Now the only problem we've got is this egotistic school-girl."

"HEY!" Rantaro yelled, glaring deeply at everyone. "Don't you dare even try."

"It's inside her head..." Shoko said slowly, tilting her head as she eyed Kirumi. As she spoke, she prompted everyone to look at her, before turning to look at Kirumi, where Shoko was looking.

"...It's inside her head..."

"It killed the driver..."

"...It killed the driver..."

"...And the mechanic..."

"......And the mechanic..."

Shoko's expression darkened, something only Rantaro seemed to notice. "...And now it wants us."

"......And now it wants us."

"I said so." The Hostess nodded proudly, crossing her arms as she kept her head held high.

"Hush it." Rantaro hissed.

Shoko turned to look at everyone, now standing in front of the group as Kirumi did before. "It's waited so long..."

"...It's waited so long..."

"...In the dark..." She tilted her head.

"......In the dark..."

"...And the cold..."

"......And the cold..."

"...And the diamonds..."

"......And the diamonds..." Kirumi breathed out shakily.

"...Until you came." Shoko said slowly, almost agonisingly slowly.

"......Until you came." Kirumi mumbled, voice slightly slurred.

"Bodies so hot..." Shoko's eyes narrowed.

"...Bodies so hot..."

"...With blood..." Everyone failed to notice the self-satisfied smirk on Shoko's face as she turned around.

"......With blood..."

"...And pain..."

"......And pain..."

"STOP!" Ayaka suddenly screamed, seemingly unable to take the horrific mimicry anymore. "Oh my God, make Tojo stop! Someone make her stop!"

"But Watanabe is the one saying it!!" Kaori shouted, expression incredulous as she looked unable to believe that no one was believing her.

"And you can shut up, too!" Ayaka shouted angrily at Kaori, eyes wide.

Rantaro took an angered step forward, causing Ayaka to shrink back. "But it's not Kirumi, it's Watanabe! Kirumi's just repeating!" He snapped.

"But that's what the thing does, it repeats!" Kenji exclaimed.

The Hostess' eyebrows furrowed. "...Just let them talk." She muttered, seeming to be catching on to what they were saying.

Kenji stormed towards The Hostess glaring at her. The Hostess didn't shrink back this time, though. "What do you know?" He scoffed. "You've been fucking useless this whole trip!"

"Just let them explain--!" The Hostess tried to speak more about the matter, but her sentence ended in a frightened yelp as Kenji shoved her into the wall.

"Well, I think--I mean, from what I've seen..." Kaori quickly tried to explain before Kenji turned on her too. "It repeats, then it synchronizes, then it goes on to the next stage, and that's exactly what Tojo said would happen! Look at her, she's terrified!!" Kaori pointed at Kirumi, who still remained at the front of the bus. From the way she was facing, you could see her wide eyes, and if you looked closely, the shaking of her limbs.

None of the others cared enough to look closely, though.

"What, and you're on Tojo's side?"

"No! But I really think that Tojo is the victim here!" Kaori elucidated worriedly.

All of a sudden, Daisuke gasped, turning to face Kaori and Rantaro as realisation began to dawn on him, too. "Th--The voice is the thing, and--!"

"--And Watanabe is the voice!" Rantaro nodded, hope dwelling in his heart as he saw Daisuke agree, too. "Watanabe stole it! Look at her! It's not possessing Kirumi, it's draining her!"

The Hostess spoke softly and quietly, to the point where no one heard her. "...She's got Tojo's voice..."

"But that's not true, because it can't be!" Ayaka continued stubbornly, adamant that Tojo is the villain here. "I saw it pass into Tojo, I saw it with my own eyes!"

"So did I!" Kenji agreed, matching his wife's stubbornness.

"You didn't!" Rantaro snapped, getting irritated with how stubborn these people were getting. Why were they so determined to paint Kirumi as the villain here? Because she got a bit egotistic earlier? Is that really enough reason to cast somebody out?

"It went from Watanabe, to Tojo!" Ayaka said confidently, glaring at Rantaro. She then whipped around to look at Daisuke, who flinched slightly as she did so. "Daisuke, you saw it, didn't you?!"

Daisuke made a nervous humming sound, looking around the room. "Uhm... I--I don't know--.." He mumbled, the pressure he was getting from his parents gradually beginning to make him feel more and more nervous.

"Oh, don't be stupid, Daisuke!" Ayaka scoffed, shaking her head. "Of course you saw it!"

Daisuke sniffled, swallowing as he looked as if he were choking back tears. "Uhm... I.. I suppose they were right next to each other--"

"Everyone saw it! EVERYONE!" Kenji shouted, voice loud and roaring.

"You didn't!" Rantaro and Kaori yelled at the same time once again, glaring at all the others.

 "You're just making it up!" Kaori huffed, getting angry as she saw Daisuke get scared into silence. "I know what I saw! And I saw Watanabe stealing Tojo's voice!"

"Oh, Inoue is just as bad as Tojo!" Ayaka grimaced, waving her away. "Someone shut her up!"

The Professor sighed, raising a cautious hand. "I think you should be quiet, Kaori." He said slowly and warily.

Kaori visibly shied away as The Professor told her too, getting a little nervous. "W--Well, I'm only saying--"

"And that's an ORDER!" The Professor suddenly snapped, causing everyone to go quiet. Kaori's eyes widened with fear. "You're making a fool of yourself pretending you're an 'expert' in mechanics and hydraulics when I can tell you, you are nothing more than AVERAGE at BEST! Now SHUT UP!"

Kaori shrank back in slack-jawed terror, tears welling up into her eyes as she too was scared into silence like Daisuke.

The hope that Rantaro had been feeling was beginning to die down as he heard the two people that had believed him, Kaori and Daisuke, was silenced by the rage of the adults. Just as Rantaro was about to speak, Shoko interrupted.

"That's how it does it." Shoko murmured, her back to the them.

"...That's how it does it."

"It makes you fight..." As Shoko spoke, her words was lost in the arguing in the background, as only Rantaro seemed to be listening now, his eyes widening.

"...It makes you fight..."

"...Creeps into your head..."

"......Creeps into your head..."

"...And whispers..."

"......And whispers..." As Kirumi spoke, Rantaro couldn't help but feel as if she was fighting against whatever was happening to her. With Shoko, the repeated words just smoothly slipped out from her mouth as if it were natural, but with Kirumi's words, they sounded strained and forced out, as if against her will.

"...'Listen'."

"......'Listen'."

"..'Just listen'."

".....'Just listen'."

"That's it... Speaking to you..."

"...That's it... Speaking to you..."

"Inside..."

"...Inside..."

"THROW HER OUT!" Kenji's booming voice brought Rantaro away from Shoko and back to the frenzy of the group.

"Get her out of my head!" Ayaka screeched, covering her ears and shaking her head.

"Yeah, we should throw her out!" Kenji panted, eyes wide as he glared down at Kirumi. Rantaro's expression turned wild, as he whipped around to stare at him.

"Well, don't just talk about it!" Ayaka scoffed, annoyed. "Just--you're USELESS! DO SOMETHING!" She screamed, her yells at an ear-splitting volume.

"I WILL!" Kenji's voice roared loudly, as he took a thundering step forward. "You watch me! I'm gonna throw her out!!"

Oh no.

"Yes!" Shoko smiled, no one except Rantaro seeming to take notice to her.

"...Yes!"

"Throw her out!" Shoko said encouragingly, egging everyone on.

"...Throw her out!" Kirumi forced out, eyes wide as she broke out into a cold sweat, her body shaking like a leaf.

"Get rid of her!" Shoko said, glaring at Kirumi with a disdainful look.

Kirumi's next response had paused, as if she really was trying to fight against whatever was controlling her. "........Get rid of her!"

Rantaro hastily followed Kenji as he ran forward.

"NOW!"

Kirumi is helpless.

"...NOW!!"

Kenji suddenly grabbed Kirumi waist. Rather than picking her up and carrying her, he began to drag her, though wasn't making much progress due to being unable to drag Kirumi by himself, and also how Rantaro was trying to yank Kenji away from Kirumi.

Kirumi's eyes were wide and unfocused, glazed over as if she couldn't concentrate on anything properly. It was terrifying to look at, but Rantaro knows that Kirumi must be just as scared as him.

"Stay away from her!" Rantaro yelled, pulling on Kenji's arm and grabbing his wrist to pry his hands away from Kirumi.

"Damn it all, GET OFF ME!!" Kenji suddenly shouted, his voice echoing and bouncing off the walls slightly, as he dropped Kirumi. Kirumi thunked against the floor, stuck in her position, merely staring ahead with that dazed and hazy look in her eye. Kenji turned to Rantaro, rage in his eyes as he grabbed the younger boy's wrists.

Now, Rantaro is strong for his age, with all the travelling he does, but he can't rival the strength of a man older than him.

Rantaro made a sound of pain as he felt himself get forcefully thrown into the wall, making a loud thunking sound. His head began to throb, as if something was pounding against his skull.

"NO! Don't!" Kaori screamed fearfully, covering her mouth in shock as she watched Rantaro get thrown. She and Daisuke exchanged a scared glance.

"It'll be you next!" Ayaka snapped, eyes wild and crazed as she glared at the younger girl, causing Kaori to recoil.

The Hostess breathed in and out shakily, looking back and forth worriedly. "I don't think we should do this...!"

"It was YOUR idea!!" Kenji scoffed, expression incredulous as The Hostess, who had suggested throwing Shoko out in the first place, began to have second-thoughts. Kenji wrapped his hands around Kirumi's waist once again, trying to drag her away. "Professor, help me!"

The stars finally cleared from Rantaro's vision, and as he blinked rapidly, looking back to where Kirumi was.

"I can't..." The Professor panted, shaking his head as he sweat profusely. "I--I'm not--"

"WHAT SORT OF A MAN ARE YOU?!" Kenji roared, still yanking on Kirumi. After all, it's difficult with all her lanky long limbs and all. "COME ON!"

"THROW HER OUT!" Ayaka yelled on in the background.

"Nnh..." Rantaro grunted as he swayed, trying to get grounded. Kenji had thrown him harder than he thought. His head is still throbbing painfully, but the true pain he's feeling is...

...He can't save Kirumi.

"Come on!" Kenji urged, jerking his head towards the slumped girl in his arms, and continuing to tell The Professor to help.

"Just do it! Throw her out!" Ayaka continued in the background.

Kenji continued dragging Kirumi down the aisle of the bus, her heels digging into the floors as she continued just looking straight ahead, as if hypnotised.

Kenji grunted as he struggled to haul Kirumi down the aisle. "Damn it--PROFESSOR, HELP ME!"

"Stay off--!" Rantaro felt anger bubble in his heart and mind again, but as soon as he took a raging step forward, he felt himself begin to fall forward. The world looked as if it were spinning as the stars returned, realisation that he might've hit his head harder than he thought beginning to dawn on him. All he could do was watch through blurry vision as his best friend began to get dragged towards her demise.

Kirumi's foot hooked against a seat, preventing her of being dragged further. It was almost like... a cry for help, trying to tell everybody that it wasn't her, it was something else entirely.

"GET HER OUT!"

"Get hold of her!" Kenji ordered, as The Professor finally had gotten out of his seat and rushed over to Kenji's aid. The Professor awkwardly grabbed Kirumi's arm, and Kenji huffed out of frustration. "Not like that! Are you stupid?!"

"Cast her out!" Shoko smiled, satisfied with what was happening.

"...Cast her out!"

"Into the sun..."

"...Into the sun..."

"I WANT HER OUT!" Ayaka continued yelling, making Rantaro's piercing migraine even more overbearing.

"And the night..."

"...And the night..."

The Professor and Kenji began to argue and bicker as they tried to drag Kirumi away, not yet noticing that she had managed to hook her foot against the chair. Meanwhile, Ayaka continued shouting and telling them to throw Kirumi out.

"What sort of a man are you?!" Kenji scoffed angrily, and as he did so, The Professor managed to notice Kirumi foot lodged between the chairs, and swiftly removed it, allowing him and Kenji to continue hoisting her down the aisle.

Daisuke is now pacing back and forth, raking shaky hands through his short jet-black hair. He's sobbing now, breathing in heavy gasps of air.

"GET HER OUT!"

Rantaro tried to bring himself to his feet, but his knees kept buckling so he ended up falling to his knees, kneeling by a chair and heavily leaning against it.

God, his head hurts. What the hell?

This can't just be Kenji's doing...

Rantaro looked up, and found himself staring at Shoko.

Shoko looked down at him with a cocky smirk.

It's her.

She knows that Rantaro is a threat to what she's trying to do.

She--

Oh no.

Oh god no.

"Do it." Shoko smiled.

"...Do it."

"Do it now!"

"...Do it now!"

"Faster..."

"...Faster..." Kirumi was thrown onto the back of a chair, her head lolling lazily to the side as she half-leaned half-slumped off the seat.

"JUST DO IT!" Ayaka exclaimed.

"That's the way." Shoko grinned, satisfied with their efforts as she crossed her arms, nodding along.

"...That's the way."

"You can do it!"

"...You can do it!" Kirumi was hoisted off of the seat, as Kenji forced his own son, Daisuke, who was in a state of panic, to help drag Kirumi away.

Shoko smiled, spreading her arms around. "Molto bene...!" She said slowly yet passionately.

The Hostess frowned, blinking as she heard Shoko say that. She whipped around to look at Shoko, realisation beginning to dawn on her.

"...Molto bene...!" Kirumi echoed, though her once excitement-filled voice had died down to something dull and dead.

"THROW HER OUT!" Ayaka wailed.

"Allons-y!" Shoko smirked.

"...Allons-y!"

As The Hostess continued staring, she remembered what had happened at the beginning of the trip. Kirumi saying French phrases, and The Hostess getting confused--

...

"That's Tojo's voice..." The Hostess said quietly to the point where no one could hear, gasping.

"The starlight waits." Shoko said, in a harmonious tone.

"It's taken Tojo's voice...!" The Hostess raised her voice, but, as always, it couldn't be heard. Not above the loud arguing and yelling sounding in the shuttle.

"...The starlight waits."

"The emptiness..."

"...The emptiness..."

"GET HER OUT!"

"The midnight sky!" Shoko exclaimed triumphantly, her head raised to look at the ceiling.

"The midnight sky!" Kirumi strained out shakily.

Just as Kenji, The Professor, and Daisuke had almost made it to the door with Kirumi slumped in their arms, reduced to a helpless, unmoving vessel, The Hostess gasped, shaking her head as she stared at Shoko.

Shoko and The Hostess locked in eye contact, Shoko's smile slowly falling.

"...It's Watanabe..." The Hostess breathed out, and she turned to look at the others.

Kaori was cowering, curled up into a ball near one of the chairs. Daisuke was sobbing as his father yelled at him to be a 'real man'. The Professor had his eyes closed, muttering a prayer underneath his breath. Kenji was desperately trying to drag Kirumi to her death. Ayaka was encouraging him, screaming for Kirumi to be thrown out. Rantaro was slumped against a chair, seeming completely out of it ever since Kenji hit him, but there has to be more going on than that.

And then.. Kirumi. Kirumi was slumped into the arms of Kenji, The Professor, and Daisuke, and her eyes held fear never seen before. True terror swirling within her cold green eyes. Her head lolled to the side, as she was no longer able to move or control her own body.

"..." The Hostess turned back to stare at Shoko.

These are her passengers.

And she will always put her passengers before her.

"SHE'S TAKEN KIRUMI'S VOICE!!" The Hostess screamed out, and ran up to Shoko, hastily grabbing her. The Hostess then rushed towards the door that the others were trying to drag Kirumi to, and slammed her hand against the button hard enough to break the glass. The door slid open, and the blinding light on the planet of Midnight streamed in, causing everyone to pause and scream.

Shoko screamed, shaking her head.

Kirumi had to match the screaming, eyes wide.

The Hostess had a tight grip on Shoko, as she held her in place, teeth gritted together. "One... Two... Three... Four... Five..."

"...Six..."

The Hostess and Shoko were suddenly sucked out of the shuttle as the last and final sixth second passed, causing them to fly out, their hair blowing through the violent gusts of wind as they were thrown to the depths of the unknown.

The door slammed shut as The Hostess and Shoko were thrown out, leaving only the others.

As Shoko was now gone, Rantaro felt his head clear. He panted heavily, relief clouding through him as the stars left his vision and he staggered to his feet, breathing in and out.

The momentary relief quickly shot out, as he felt panic rise in his heart. He was too out of it to realise what was going on. Is Kirumi dead? Did they throw her out? Ayaka's words are still echoing through her head, 'THROW HER OUT! I WANT HER OUT! GET HER OUT!'. Rantaro's eyes widened. No, he can't let her be dead. He can't lose another one. Not again.

Rantaro jumped to his feet, rushing to the other side of the shuttle. He scanned the area, and his eyes quickly landed on Kirumi, who has now been released by Kenji, The Professor, and Daisuke, and was now collapsed on the ground, breathing rapidly and heavily.

The Hostess and Shoko is nowhere to be seen.

Rantaro pushed past Kenji, bolting towards Kirumi and quickly helping Kirumi to her feet. They sat up, side by side, leaning against a chair. "Hey, Kirumi? Kirumi? Are you okay? Can you understand me?" Rantaro asked frantically.

"It's gone..." Kirumi merely muttered, eyes wide, sweat trickling down her face, and her hair a mess.

Rantaro could tell that Kirumi was far into a state of distress, so he merely put an arm around her, allowing her to lean against him slightly. He could hear her muttering. 'It's gone'.

As Rantaro scanned over the shuttle once again, making sure to show his disgust on his facial expressions when he looked at Kenji, The Professor, and Ayaka, he noticed that Shoko and The Hostess was gone.

Rantaro frowned. "...Where's Watanabe and The Hostess?"

...

All the others fell silent, their expressions beginning to look like a strangled sort of sadness.

"..." Rantaro's eyes widened slightly. "...Oh."

They all sat in silence, the reality of what just happened beginning to sink in. Deeply sink in. And everyone began to process what they were about to do to Kirumi too, most of them unable to face the younger girl.

"...I said it was Watanabe." Ayaka mumbled, turning to look at Kirumi.

Kirumi merely stared at Ayaka, breathing in and out.

"...No you didn't."

"Repeat, Crusader 50, rescue vehicle coming alongside in three minutes. Door seals set to automatic. Prepare for boarding. Repeat, prepare for boarding." A female voice sounded from the speakers.

They had all scattered throughout the shuttle, having sat in silence for twenty minutes now. The Professor and Kaori sat on opposite ends of the shuttle. Daisuke sat far away from his mother and father, Kenji and Ayaka, who sat together. Rantaro and Kirumi sat on the carpeted floor together, in the same position as before.

"..." Kirumi blinked, and looked down at the floor. "...The Hostess... What was her name?"

Everyone fell silent, unable to answer Kirumi's question. Ayaka shook her head in a gesture that showed that she doesn't know. No one does.

The Hostess sacrificed herself for them.

And they don't even know her name.

Everyone remained silent.

A moment of silence, for The Hostess, and the real Shoko Watanabe.

When Kirumi and Rantaro were walking back to Hope's Peak after getting their flight back, they had mostly walked in silence. Though there would be the frequent 'are you okay?' from either of them, and each time it would be met by 'I'm fine'.

As they walked inside, Kirumi quickly left, walking down the hallway. In the hallway was Shuichi Saihara, a face that Rantaro had longed to see during the terrors that took place on the planet of Midnight. Shuichi's bright expression slowly fell, as he noticed how Rantaro looked.

Slowly, Shuichi walked forward, and hugged Rantaro.

"What do you think it was?.." Shuichi murmured, as he and Rantaro were now in the library. The silence and solace of the atmosphere felt better for Rantaro, as if it were too loud, he feels like he'd just be reminded by the arguing that took place in the shuttle.

"...I... don't know." Rantaro muttered, staring down at the floor.

"..Do you think it's still out there?..." Shuichi asked quietly.

Rantaro didn't answer.

Shuichi sighed, merely reaching forward and holding Rantaro's hand in his, their fingers interlocking. "..." Shuichi too looked at the ground. "...Did you tell them? The people at leisure palace?"

Rantaro nodded. "Yeah. Inoue and Daisuke Sasaki did. Inoue rebelled against The Professor and Daisuke rebelled against his parents. Good for them."

Shuichi nodded, and Rantaro leaned his head against Shuichi's shoulder.

Rantaro breathed in and out shakily, closing his eyes.

"Hey."

It was only later on when Kirumi was finally found. A day later, when Rantaro had explained what had happened on the trip to the people in his class and the people in his class only. Kirumi had been hiding away, though not actually hiding away. She's been doing her chores, cleaning, even managing to cook for them, without being seen. She is rather sneaky, anyway.

However, she was bound to get found eventually.

Miu stood at the end of the corridor, arms crossed as she tilted her head.

Kirumi blinked slowly. "...Greetings, Miu."

Miu snorted, beginning to walk forward towards Kirumi. "Jeez, what a sucky way to greet your girlfriend!" She rolled her eyes, before laughing. "Hah, just kidding."

Kirumi smiled a little. Miu is the complete opposite to Kirumi, but there is the saying, 'opposites attract'. At least, that's what happened with Kirumi and Miu. Miu's boisterous demeanor usually serves as a good distraction for Kirumi.

However, Kirumi can't run away from this problem.

Miu's beaming expression eventually fell, and she sighed, looking off to the side. "...You know you gotta talk about it eventually, right?"

Kirumi exhaled. She had anticipated that this would come eventually. Kirumi frowned a little, before nodding. "...Let's go to my room first."

Miu nodded wordlessly, and the two of them made their way through the corridors until they reached their dormitories. Kirumi unlocked the door with slightly shaky hands, before leading Miu inside and shutting the door behind her.

Kirumi quickly turned on the lightly, and sat on the bed next to Miu.

"...So.. Amami told us what happened on the trip." Miu mumbled, looking down at her knees.

"...I see." Kirumi muttered.

"It..." Miu sighed, struggling to find the right words. "...It sounds really fucked up. For you and Amami to have to go through that shit. And jeez, what happened to you was.." Miu shook her head, swallowing. "...Wish I could've been there, y'know? Told you it would've all been okay."

Kirumi already felt herself getting choked up with what Miu was saying, but fought to keep composure. "...It... wasn't... your fault..."

"Yeah, of course it wasn't. It wasn't that Shoko girl's fault either." Miu mumbled, but paused as Kirumi flinched at the mere sound of her name.

Miu breathed out through her nose, eyebrows knitted together as she tried to find ways to approach this conversation. "...It's not your fault that happened, okay? You're not.. weak, or whatever the fuck you've been thinking. You were just a victim, and that experience gave you..." Miu looked to the side, thinking about her next words. "...Trauma."

Kirumi tightly gripped at her dress' fabric, breathing in and out shakily. She kept fighting to keep composure, but everything was about to spill over, and she felt tears begin to drop from her eyes. "N--No, I just.." She stopped speaking when her voice cracked.

Miu felt her own self begin to tear up, but she told herself to stop because she needs to stay strong for her girlfriend. Miu leaned forward, and wrapped her arms around Kirumi, hugging her. Kirumi buried her face into Miu's shoulder, beginning to sob. Kirumi's tears got Miu's shoulder wet, but Miu didn't care.

"It's... okay. You're okay." Miu murmured, not exactly knowing how to handle such emotional situations, but trying her best.

And she'll always try her best.

For Kirumi.

After some more emotional talks and crying, Kirumi and Miu were now laying side by side in Kirumi's bed, looking up at the ceiling.

Miu turned her head to look at Kirumi, grinning a little. "...Y'know, I can't imagine you without a voice."

Kirumi turned to look at Miu , smiling a little. "...Molto bene."

Miu laughed, and put an arm around Kirumi. "...Yeah."

Molto bene.