Neither Sayaka nor Mukuro saw me, as they were each facing a side wall, but my legs were frozen in place. Mukuro seemed furious with Sayaka, though I didn't understand why. What did Makoto have to do with anything?
Mukuro spoke again. "You've known him a long time, haven't you? I remembered your name from Makoto. School friends, was it?"
Sayaka nervously nodded, the knife blade still under her chin.
Mukuro continued. "I know Makoto still has feelings for you."
Sayaka made a sound...a gulp, perhaps? After a few moments of silence, Sayaka responded, "Maybe? I...I guess he...might?"
"Don't lie to me, Sayaka. I don't need your mouth open to cut your tongue out," Mukuro spoke, very little emotion in her voice.
I put a hand to my mouth to cover my gasp,
Sayaka's eyes went wide, but she didn't utter a word.
Mukuro continued. "Now, listen here. Makoto is mine. I will not allow you, or any other girl, to stand in my way."
Sayaka's eyes furrowed, confusion clear on her face. "Huh? Who's interfering with you and Makoto?"
Mukuro moved closer still, the blade slightly closer to her throat. "Don't play me for a fool, Sayaka. You are."
Sayaka, fear now mixed with her confusion, carefully shook her head no. "No. No, you've got it all wrong!"
Mukuro cocked her head, her expression unchanging. "How so?"
Sayaka began nervously speaking. "I-I have never been in your way. I mean yes, Makoto and I have history together, but that was back in middle school. I have no romantic interest in him; he's just a friend! Please..." Sayaka trailed off.
Mukuro appeared to consider her words, though with her back to me, I couldn't see her face now. After several moments of silence, Mukuro spoke.
"Fine. I trust that you're not deceiving me." Mukuro put her knife away, and then stood up straight. "Also, I know someone is watching us right now, from the doorway. For your sake, I will not turn around to identify you, but I suggest you leave. Now."
A cold chill went through me, but I didn't need to be told twice. I quietly shut the door and headed for the Boys Restroom, two doors down.
After hearing two sets of footsteps go by, I waited another few minutes, then left for my dorm room. Looking at the time, it was 6:50pm.
I also had a message in my Messenger's Inbox, from Kenchikka, at 6:24pm
"Wish to speak with you. In person. You pick where. No difference to me."
I responded, "Sure. How about the Courtyard, at the round table?" I then hit Send.
A message appeared underneath the box I typed in. "Sending..."
After about 4 or 5 seconds, it changed to "Sent."
I started making my way to the Courtyard, and as I passed the Movie Room, a response came in, accompanied with a light buzzing sound. I guess I must have missed that on her first message.
"Acceptable. Meet you there." It was Kenchikka again.
I entered the Courtyard and sat at the round table, which could seat up to six people. About two or three minutes later, Kenchikka walked in, her orange blouse and stockings and blonde, almost yellow hair making it hard to miss her in the dusk.
"Bera. Good. You're here. Two questions. One about Kaito, other about Asshole Raccoon. Which first?"
Asshole raccoon? I assumed she meant Monorakun. Kaito seemed like the more interesting topic.
"Let's do Kaito's question first. What's up with him?" I asked.
Kenchikka took a deep breath, her brown right eye looking upwards while her green left eye remained focused on me. "Kaito has right idea, but wrong method. Openly defying Asshole Raccoon stupid move, end up with punishments for defiers. No, subtlety is key. Cannot be obvious, cannot draw attention. Agree?"
I was unsure if "defiers" was an actual word, but I figured she meant "those who were defying Monorakun".
I nodded. "I agree, but Kaito seems rather hardheaded. He seems the type to make up his mind and go full steam ahead with whatever plan he comes up with."
Kenchikka nodded. "Reckless idiot, will get himself killed. Says I just want to do nothing. I just want to make calculated move."
Kenchikka shook her head. "Anyway, on to Asshole Raccoon. Obviously, kept here for reason, but why? Ransom? Trafficking? Money? Brainwash into minions? What you think?"
Honestly, I hadn't given it much thought. I truly had no idea why any of us were here. I merely shrugged.
Kenchikka scoffed. "No idea? Must find out. Could be key to escape. Must stay alive long enough, though. Caution critical to survive."
I agreed with Kenchikka, but I understood where Kaito was coming from, too. We couldn't just sit around and do nothing about our situation, yet Kenchikka was right; we couldn't do anything reckless or brash.
I figured I better speak up, as Kenchikka was eyeing me. "I plan on keeping a low profile here. If anyone needs me, they can get ahold of me. Otherwise, I'm not sticking my nose anywhere it doesn't need to be."
Kenchikka regarded me for several moments. "Probably in best interest for you. Not physically imposing, girly face, could be considered easy target."
A cold chill went through me. I have a girly face? No one had ever said that to me before.
I changed the subject. "I noticed in your profile, it said your nickname is 'Chikka'. Any particular reason why?"
Kenchikka nodded, a wry grin spreading across her face. "Call me Ken, people think I am male. Not true, am female. Call me Chikka, people think I am Hispanic. Half-true, father Dominican. Easier that way."
That explained her darker skin tone. Had she mentioned that before, though? I thought for a few moments, but couldn't really remember. Ah well, it didn't really matter right now.
"Nice. Hopefully, we'll get some sort of a plan figured out soon." I had no idea, of course, what kind of plans we could even start with, but I would leave that to Kenchikka and Kaito. Honestly, I wanted no part of anything they had planned.
"Meanwhile, must resist urge to force feed Kaito his own jacket. Have feeling we'll butt heads entire time we're here. Not looking forward to it."
I shrugged. "Did you need anything else, Kenchikka?"
Kenchikka thought a moment, then shook her head. "No. Done here. We can leave. Considering teaching Celeste lesson in shutting up."
We went our separate ways, and I spent the rest of the night working on my skirt design, before going to bed at 10pm.
"Wake up, everyone! It's 7am, and Nighttime is now over! Time to enjoy another fun-filled day at The Ultimate Talent Enhancement Center!" The same message, again, woke me up at 7am sharp. Rolling over to my E-Handbook, I looked at the date. October 29th.
I got out of bed, showered to "Suicide Note Lullaby" by Psyclon Nine, and got dressed. Afterwards, I brushed my hair and started to walk towards my dorm room door.
"May I have your attention, please!" Monorakun's face appeared on the monitor. "Everyone report to the Dining Hall. I've got an announcement to make, and you're gonna be thrilled with this one!"
...Why did I have a sinking feeling that I was NOT going to be thrilled with this announcement?