Yes, your hands were shaking. Your legs? Almost gave out due to the harsh impact, but you were standing. Were you in pain? Obviously, yes. But even so, the first thing you did when the bookshelf came tumbling was glance back to check if Kai was okay. Relief numbed the sore state you were in when you saw that he was fine. No penalty issued.

You were surprised by how everything turned out. You weren't sure if you would've made it on time, but you did.

"(Y/n)?! What the hell––what were you thinking?" Kai lifted the bookshelf off you. He turned you around and narrowed his eyes. "We're going to the infirmary now. "

You examined your injuries. Your arms ached from shielding your head from the collision and there were probably scratches and bruises, so you didn't understand what was the big deal––oh wait. What was the cause slipped your mind, but something had ripped open the skin on your arm. Nothing life-threatening but definitely bleeding quite a bit.

"Satoshi-san, call a teacher about the bookshelf falling. Did you get hit?"

Kai didn't suspect Satoshi one bit. So, he thinks it was all an accident, huh? You knew that was far from the truth. Satoshi's expression was...also concerned. His gold eyes fixated on your bleeding arm, his eyes unreadable as he shook his head in response to Kai's question. You couldn't hold back the split second of a glare you gave him. Feigning innocence. Great.

The chapter wasn't over yet, you couldn't let your guard down. There was also Aimi you needed to worry about.

"(L/n)-san, please take care. I'll go and inform a teacher now."

You bit back a snarky remark. God, I hate how concerned he sounds. You knew Satoshi was going to do this, it didn't come off as a surprise. But seeing it in action, knowing he legitimately tried to hurt your friend slapped reality in your face––and it really infuriated you. Just what did he gain from doing that? What was going through his mind? For someone who appeared calm and collected, you didn't think he'd act this rash. You hadn't prevented a death since the fire incident and getting back into the swing of things was not pleasant.

The brunet left the room and you wanted to run after him to make sure he doesn't hurt anyone else.

"Kai, I'm fine," you said. "I'll quickly get patched up myself."

"Like hell you are. I'll carry you."

You stared at him for a moment. Your arm was injured, not your legs. Granted you were sore, but you didn't need someone to carry you. "No I'm––"

"(Y/n)." His expression was between concern and frustration.

You conceded. There was no point in arguing. "Okay."

Kai wasted no time to literally sweep you off your feet and carry you bridal style. His arms wrapped around you securely, you could really feel his muscles here, and he was efficient but also ensured that he wasn't making you uncomfortable. The entire trip was silent and since you were close to Kai's chest, you could hear his heartbeat.

Kai opened the door to the infirmary and you noticed a female student with short orange hair. You almost scowled, mistaking the person for Hayami, but soon realised that it was her twin sister. The dark circles under her eyes gave it away. Plus, you knew she often helped the nurse out in the infirmary.

Kai looked around. "Where's the nurse?"

"Busy doing something." She looked at you and your injuries, but her apathetic expression didn't change. "Set her on the bed."

Kai carefully settled you on the bed, eyebrows furrowed in concern.

"Kai, I'm not dying."

You didn't know how your brain concluded that this was the best way to comfort him.

Kai scoffed. "No shit, but fact that you got hurt so that I wouldn't––"

"Sorry to interrupt, but I need to take care of her," Hayami's sister interrupted. "Unless she's fine with bleeding profusely."

Kai stepped to the side to allow the female student to attend first aid to you. Thankfully, the cut on your arm wasn't on the one that was burnt in the past.

I wonder if Kashi will be worried. Yusei...why do I feel like he'd make fun of me.

"You should head back now," you said to Kai. "I'm thinking of resting up here for a little while."

"I'll keep you company."

"That's great and all, but the teachers might get worried."

Hayami's sister sighed. "She needs to rest without you being obnoxious."

You blinked. She caught on quick, but damn she was blunt. Kai glared at her, but didn't say anything.

"Fine. But you better text me later to let me know you're okay."

Sending you one last worried glance, he closed the door. Hayami's sister finished up bandaging your arm and went back to doing the task before your visit. You looked at her handiwork, she was definitely good at what she does, the entire time she treated you her movements were seamless. Unlike Hayami who only knew to flaunt her family background and push people into fires, her sister mainly kept to herself and stuck to her tasks. Her indifference makes it hard to befriend her, but you liked her well enough as a peer.

Now...How were you going to get out of here? Hayami's sister was someone who didn't meddle or ask unnecessary questions, so you were hoping she would just let you out without a word. You waited for at least a minute, anxiously watching the clock, to make sure that Kai was out of the vicinity.

Alright, I need to find Aimi. I'll check the music room first, she should have club activities there.

"Thanks for taking care of me. I'll be off now."

The student hummed in acknowledgement. Sweet. She didn't question.

You stepped into the hallway. In regards to Aimi's death, there were no clues. You just pray that you could find her as soon as possible then stick by her. You had many questions pertaining as to why the heroine out of all people were targeted, but the thought of her being a potential player gave you some new thoughts. Well, regardless of your feelings, there was no doubt in the fact that you needed to ensure she was safe.

Thunder suddenly crackled and you took notice of how omnious the path looked. Dim lightning, monochromatic skies, empty hallway enveloped in darkness––the atmosphere was screaming that something bad was going to happen. You made your way over to the music room and hearing the muffled conversations inside mixed with the sound of singing and instruments brought a semblance of relief to you. You peeked to see if Aimi was there, but she wasn't. Well, fuck.

You were about to leave until you accidentally made eye contact with Kashi. His eyes lit up in excitement, he reminded you of a puppy. He was quick to step outside.

"(Y/n)! What are you doing here?" When his gaze fell to your arm, his bubbly demeanour quickly melted into concern. "Wait, are you okay?"

"Don't worry, it's nothing serious."

He frowned. "What happened?"

There wasn't enough time to explain. "Can I tell you later? I'm looking for Aimi-san right now. It's urgent."

"(Y/n)... " He sighed. "I saw her leave not too long ago."

"Did you know where she went?"

"She mentioned that she needed to go talk to a teacher. Why?"

"I have something to tell her."

"Oh! I can relay the message for you." Kashi smiled brightly and you almost fell victim to it for a moment. "By the way, do you have an umbrella? It's raining a lot and I don't want you to get caught in the rain."

"I have one." You weren't even sure if you had one. "Which teacher?"

"She didn't specify."

Back to square one, huh? "Okay, thanks."

You turned around to leave, but Kashi grabbed the edge of your sleeve.

"Wait, (Y/n)."

"What?"

You didn't mean to, but your tone came off annoyed. After all, it was clear as day you needed to be somewhere, especially to someone as observant as Kashi, so you were a little frustrated at the lack of acknowledgement.

Kashi paused for a moment. "Nevermind. Sorry for keeping you here."

Alright then, now to find Aimi. You literally had no idea where to go. Oh my god, why did I not consider getting her number? Though she may not respond, still would've been a good move. You internally cursed yourself for that. Suddenly, you heard a thud. And right at that moment, a holographic screen flashed in front of you. The text written on it made your blood run cold.

[ Penalty: 1 - Feature removed: chapter summary ]

The stairs. The sound came from the stairs. The cogs in your brain turned and, like a powered machine, you sprinted to the stairs. No hesitation, no questioning, just run. Thank god it was only a penalty, but you didn't want to waste time and see what it could escalate to.

You rushed up the stairs and saw Aimi and Satoshi. There wasn't any time to figure out what was going on, but what you did notice was that Aimi was dangerously close to the edge of the stairs. Without much thinking, you prepared to catch her.

And, just as you anticipated, she fell right into you. However, what you didn't anticipate was that you'd also end up falling in the process.

You groaned. Well, it could've gone worse.

"(L/n)-san?!"

Aimi's frantic expression didn't go unnoticed. The blonde immediately tried getting off you, but she yelped in pain and ended up falling back down. Oh, her right ankle was swollen. You stood up and offered her your hand. Hesitantly, she took it and stood up.

"Don't push yourself," you said and stood in front, putting more space between her and Satoshi. Hey, the last thing you needed were more penalties. After all, though it was a while ago, the consequences for losing all your features was clear in your mind:

"Basically, with each penalty results a feature being taken away from you. For example: I can permanently remove the chapter summary feature away from you if one person were to obtain a severe injury. You'll never be able to access it again, even in future chapters. And, if you keep on getting penalised and eventually run out of features, it'll result in you failing the chapter itself."

Satoshi came down the stairs. "(L/n)-san, why are you out of the infirmary?"

You narrowed your eyes slightly. "So, we're just going to ignore the fact that Aimi-san just fell?"

Satoshi smiled. "Your gaze is very accusatory."

How could he say that so calmly? He didn't even try to say that what happened to Aimi was an accident. Well, it wasn't like if he acted like everything was an accident you'd believe him. The penalty was enough of an indicator that he had a role in this.

"Satoshi-san!" Aimi called out, and you didn't appreciate her doing that right in your ear. "Please, just listen to me."

Listen to her? What did she want to talk to him about?

Satoshi's soft gaze disappeared when his eyes landed on Aimi. For a moment, you considered the option of picking the female student up and just making a run for it.

"There's nothing to talk about," he said.

"There is! Please, you can talk to me. There's no need to be so closed off."

You could not hide the confusion and exasperation on your face. What in the world was she on about? Even though you didn't notice a change in Satoshi's expression, the silence from him was more than enough of an indicator that he didn't appreciate her words. His gold eyes went back to you...There was something about his gaze that evoked a significant amount of discomfort.

Ah, it was probably because you felt like your every action was recorded under Satoshi's gaze.

"You seem tense, (L/n)-san."

You ignored him. "Aimi-san, let's go to the infirmary to get your ankle treated. Do you need me to carry you?"

"N-no. I still need to talk to––"

"I'll be leaving now, there's nothing to talk about." Satoshi smiled. "(L/n)-san, I hope you don't think too badly of me. I promise I had no ill intent."

'No ill intent.' He didn't confirm or deny that he was the cause of her injury. But it is definitely leaning towards the former.

Satoshi walked past you, but not before whispering in your ear.

"You know, I'd prefer it if you only kept your eyes on me."

Voice low, soft, and gentle. But his words only made your skin crawl. A sly smile touched his lips before he walked off; just like a phantom, he came and went leaving you wondering if the entire interaction even happened. Your hand reached your ear and you winced uncomfortably recalling how close Satoshi was to you.

Ugh...let's just focus on clearing the chapter. Stress about his words later. Your current priority was getting Aimi to safety. You brought her arm over your shoulder and helped her to the infirmary. Aimi's body was tense and she kept glancing back and forth at you, but you didn't bring it up.

To fill the silence, you asked, "What happened?"

Flustered by the sudden question, she avoided your gaze. "I...I just wanted to talk. Don't worry! I just fell and hurt my ankle on my own. Satoshi-san didn't do anything."

"Why didn't he offer to take you to the infirmary? Why didn't he ask if you were okay? Aimi-san, you're not fooling me. What is going on?"

Aimi didn't respond, panic evident in her expression. You had a feeling that if her ankle wasn't injured, she would've literally ran away from the conversation by now. The theory of her being a player surfaced in your mind. But what would that imply? What would be her goal? What if it was opposite to yours? You were tempted to confront Aimi right there and then, but it was probably for the best to approach the situation more delicately.

"Are you mad at me?" Her voice came out meek and quiet.

Mad? Granted, you were frustrated at her actions, but it was more so because of the lack of answers you were getting and the stress of the game weighing down on you.

"What if I said yes?"

Aimi's face paled. "W-wait, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to..." She swallowed. "What should I do then? To stop you from..."

She looked like she regretted her last words, but didn't make any moves to dismiss them. Great, now you were even more confused about the blonde. Was she trying to deceive you? Was there more to her actions than meets the eye?

You sighed and decided that getting a headache over this was not worth it right now. Thankfully, with impeccable timing, you arrived at the infirmary. When you opened the door, Hayami's sister looked at you then at Aimi, then sighed. At how tired she looked you felt obligated to apologise. The oranged haired student gestured to the bed and you carefully set Aimi down.

Then, the holographic screen flashed in front of you.

[Staged Cleared! Chapter two status: COMPLETE]

You wanted to collapse in relief, but kept the celebration strictly in your head. Well, there was no need for you to watch over Aimi anymore.

"I'll get going now," you said. "Take care––"

"Wait! (Y/n)!"

You paused. "(Y/n)?"

"A-ah. I mean, (L/n)-san."

You suppressed the urge to narrow your eyes in suspicion at the slip up. "Need me for something?"

She was silent. "Nevermind. Sorry for holding you up."

I'm way too done with everything to even bother at this point. You left the infirmary, walked away for a solid minute, made sure you were alone, and then collapsed against the wall. You buried your face in your hands and muffled out, "It's finally fucking over."

The holographic screen flashed in front of you again.

[ Hey! You finally–– ]

You looked up, and with the flattest tone you'd ever mustered, you said, "My memories."

[ Are you sure? I have some pretty spicy features lined up! ]

"My memories."

[ Ugh. No negotiation, huh? Boring~ Sure, sure. Head over to the flower shop! ]

"What?!" you whisper shouted. You did not want to face Seiji right now. "Why do I need to do that?"

[ You'll know when you know ]

You bit back an exasperated sigh. Whatever. There's no point in arguing. You stood up and glanced out the window. The rain was still heavy, but the wind wasn't as intense as before. It'll be fine. You'll just inform a teacher you weren't feeling well and wanted to leave early.

[ Don't tell me you're going out in this storm ]

"Think of it as a cool action scene you can witness."

[ Hm, when you put it like that, how can I refuse? ]

Kai would probably get angry at you, but you can deal with that when the time comes. You didn't want to wait for who knows how long and anxiously wait for your memories back. Let's just hope you actually brought an umbrella.



===



"I lived."

When you finally found shelter, you leaned against a brick wall. Fun fact, you were taking your time using your umbrella to shield yourself from the rain until the wind suddenly decided to go 50 million miles per hour and blew all the water towards you. The system was having a blast while you were fighting for your life.

So, you had wet clothes, including your socks which you were very mad about, and a messed up umbrella. At least you made it to the flower shop. You had no idea why the system made you come here, but you sure as hell weren't happy about it. You took off your blazer then checked your reflection in your phone. Okay, you didn't look that bad.

Taking in a deep breath, you opened the door. You cringed at how you'd instinctively feel comforted at the soft chime of the bell on top of the door. However, that feeling didn't last long when you were met with a dimly lit shop.

"Oh...I thought I flipped the sign to closed," a quiet voice spoke. "Sorry can you––" Your gaze met Seiji's dark blue eyes. "(L/n)-san...?"

Ah, this was not a scene you expected to walk into.

Broken vases, ruined flowers, turned over furniture––the cosy and neat flower shop you were so used to was jarringly in ruins. Seiji's white hair was disheveled, his expression that usually naturally inviting and welcoming now had a strained smile of reassurance on it, and some bruises littered his arms.

He chuckled. "Not exactly the best time to drop by, huh?"

You looked around, baffled. "What... happened?"

He was quiet for a moment, eyes focused on the broom in his hand as he was in the middle of cleaning up. "Nothing you need to worry about. I have a feeling why you're here, though. Don't worry, I won't kick you out." He chuckled. "You can sit over there while you––"

"I'll help."

"You don't need to––"

"I wasn't asking."

You took a spare broom and began sweeping the shattered vases. Seiji simply smiled softly and continued sweeping. You didn't question him any further. In fact, the two of you just silently cleaned up the flower shop. No words exchanged aside from the occasional 'where does this go?' and 'are you done with that area?'

You didn't know what you were doing, your head when it came to Seiji was a haphazard mess. First confusion, then exasperation, then confliction. Seriously, you sometimes wished you didn't need to deal with something as complicated as emotions. There was a part of you that wanted to confront Seiji right here and now, but another part of you stopped yourself from doing that because the male was clearly in a vulnerable state.

Eventually, you two finished cleaning up. Regretfully, you had to admit that you two made a really good team.

"Do you have a medkit?" you asked.

"I don't. Why?"

"Your wound." You pointed to the cut on his cheek. "I didn't bring it up before since you were so focused on cleaning."

"Ah...I'll be fine. It's not so bad. I think I still look pretty handsome."

His usual playful and carefree tone bounced back. You hated how much you almost threw all suspicion and apprehension towards the male out the window just because of something so small. Taking out a bandage from your bag––thankfully, it didn't get impacted by the rain––you curtly handed it over to him.

"I can't do much about the bruises, but here."

Seiji accepted it, a bright smile on his face. "Thanks! So, do you want to talk now? Sorry for being a bad host." He went behind the counter and gestured to the seat in front of it. "Take a seat. And don't worry, both my parents won't be home for at least another hour."

You sat down. "How did you know that I got hit on the back of the head?"

"Getting straight into it, huh? I was gonna ask how you've been but..." He glanced at your wounds and winced. "Guessing not very well."

"I bet they'll disappear if you answer my question."

"Alright, alright." He threw his arms up in mock surrender. "I'll get straight to the point––"

[ Memory unlocked: Would you like to view it now? ]

The last time you tried a feature you weren't sure of, you passed out on the streets. Unlocking it now? No thanks. Though, you didn't miss the fact that Seiji's eyes were also glued to the holographic screen. Could he see it?

"Are you going to unlock it?" he asked.

So, he can see it. God, just how much did this guy know? Who the hell was he? So many questions oppressed your mind.

"...Later." Casually talking about your features felt uncomfortably foreign. "So, an explanation."

He nodded, but his expression was conflicted.

"To start off, I'd like to clarify that I'm not a bad person."

You gave him an unconvinced look. "Mhm. Great start."

He sighed playfully at your sarcasm. "Before I met you, I had this dream––hold on, don't give me that look. I promise I have a point. It didn't strike me as anything alarming at the time, just a very odd dream that I weirdly remember in vivid detail." He paused, struggling to find the right words. "The dream showed a girl I didn't know of at the time, but soon found out that it was you."

You leaned in closer, listening attentively.

"And...I'm not sure what this means, but..." Seiji swallowed. "You had a knife in your gasps and blood on your hands. The blood belonged to a female blonde student."

A/n: hoho plottwist