Chapter 32
"Prisoner 002.
Verdict: Guilty."
"An-! Stop, okay?"
Akito held An back as she tried to run towards the injured Minori.
He was admittedly scared out of his mind, An had never acted like that. So… angry.
It frightened him.
He had no idea what had happened between An and her for this to happen.
But if he didn't do anything, Hanasato would die.
"Akito! Let me- go!"
An shouted at him, trying to force her way out.
"No-! Just--
"Prisoner 003.
Verdict: Guilty."
Akito's eyes widened, accidentally loosening up enough for An to be able to get away from her teammate.
He watched as An ran towards Hanasato again.
"Do something, you idiot…"
He whispered to himself, his legs not moving at all.
He forced his legs to move. He wouldn't let An take someone's life again.
He couldn't.
He ran as fast as he could to try and get Hanasato out of there.
When suddenly-
"An-?!"
His head hit the floor as the An's silhouette ran away from his sight and everything became blurry.
He could barely see what seemed like Hoshino running towards the scene.
His head hurt, his throat hurt.
Akito's eyes closed as he finally lost consciousness.
"Shinonome?"
The attack had stopped 10 minutes before Rui found Shinonome, lying on the prison's floor, seemingly knocked out from the incident.
"Rui, Mafuyu and Tsuka--- Akito?!"
Mizuki ran towards Akito, signalling Rui to help them.
"On the count of three."
Rui nodded.
"One…"
Mizuki placed their hands below their friend, Rui did the same.
"Two."
They glanced at one another, a look of determination on their faces.
"Three!"
And like that, Akito was being carried to the second to last cell in the hallway by the two.
They were quite far away from it, so Mizuki took the opportunity to ask.
"Hey, Rui…
Do you regret what happened?"
Rui looked at them.
"What happened? What do you mean, Mizuki?"
They sighed.
"Do you regret your crime?"
Rui frowned slightly, it was the same question Tsukasa had asked him in the first trial.
He didn't know then, but he had a better answer now.
"It could've gone better, for sure. I could have made much better decisions. Overall, yes, Mizuki. I do regret it."
They nodded, getting closer to Mafuyu's cell.
"Do you regret your crime, Mizuki?"
Mizuki looked to the side.
But before Mizuki could answer, they arrived at the cell.
"Guys!"
Tsukasa exclaimed, trying to stand up only to be pulled down by Mafuyu.
"Don't, you'll make it worse."
She turned to look at Mizuki and Rui, then at the unconscious Akito.
"Come here."
The two middle school friends slowly laid Akito down.
Maybe 15 minutes passed, Mafuyu ran tests as best as she could with her knowledge from cram school.
…and he suddenly woke up.
Akito coughed intensely, his eyes barely opened.
He looked around, sighing.
"Where's--
He coughed again, it sounded concerningly bad.
"Is he okay?!"
Tsukasa asked, Mafuyu shook her head.
"I don't think so. I don't know what Shiraishi did, but whatever she did to Shinonome's throat is really, really close to being unhealable."
Akito choked on nothing, taken aback by Mafuyu's statement.
cough- "What-?!" cough-
He slowly got up, Mizuki put a hand on his shoulder.
"It's still going to heal, right?"
Mafuyu nodded.
"If I'm not wrong, yes. Milgram's medical equipment should be enough for it to get better. As long as he doesn't use his voice he'll be okay."
Rui sighed.
"That's good to hear."
But Akito seemed to partially disagree.
"I'm gonna check on Minori, anyone want to come?"
"Sure, Mizuki."
Rui answered, and with that, they both went out, and Akito ran out to who knows where shortly after.
Tsukasa looked at the entrance to Mafuyu's cell, then turned to look at her.
"Hey, Asahina,"
"So you'll be unable to speak for some time?"
Honami asked him, the two of them now sitting in his cell, which was the farthest from An's.
Akito nodded, letting out a silent sigh. He was about to talk when he remembered he physically couldn't.
"Oh! Wait, I'll be right back!"
She eventually came back, catching her breath before giving him a dark red notebook, which was almost completely empty, along with a pen.
"Es gave me this, but I never got to use it so…
You can use it to communicate!"
She handed him the two items, Akito looked at them and then at her.
He opened the book, staring at the first unused page before scribbling on it.
"Okay."
He felt uneasy at that very moment.
"Are you done with yours, Akito?"
Honami held her piece of paper close to her chest, admittedly a bit embarrassed.
They were drawing together for fun, since neither of them were exactly artists.
This time, they had planned to draw one another.
Akito nodded, and Honami counted to three.
"Alright!! One…!"
Akito had two fingers up like a peace sign.
"Three!!"
…Needless to say, the two of them were not artists by any means. Akito was sure his father would probably disown him if he saw his mess of a drawing and Honami was sure even the finest, most talented artist would be confused out of their mind.
Not even a live reference in front of them would save them.
But nonetheless, it was for fun.
Akito stared at his own drawing of Honami, turning the page to write something.
"This drawing will haunt my dreams."
"My ever so dear, Saki:
Today, my second interrogation took place. I wonder sometimes if this is really you I'm writing to.
My arm's condition is still far from good. According to Asahina, it'll take months for it to be fully healed.
Nevertheless, I'm still practicing for the next show. It may be useless, given the fact that rotting here might be my destiny, but if that doesn't happen and I get to see you guys again,
I won't let you down, not again.
Your brother, Prisoner 001 Tsukasa Tenma."
Tsukasa put the pen down, sighing.
Writing his status as a prisoner only to notice it and scratch it was a habit that had started around the 41st letter he'd written to Saki.
He knew Saki would never read them, he'd die before that happened, it was completely pointless to worry about such a small detail.
What would she even say if she saw him like that? Would she even say anything?
"Are you sure?"
He looked up to see Asahina.
Just what was she doing there? It was… around 1 AM maybe?
And plus, sure about what?
"Ah, hello, Asahina. If I may ask, what exactly are you asking?"
She didn't even look at him.
"...What you said. After the incident when everyone else had left my cell."
Oh.
He remembered what she meant.
Tsukasa smiled, nodding.
"Yes, I'm sure."