The next morning, I decided to go to breakfast on my own. Tora and I parted ways because she wanted to sleep in extra, but I didn't really eat a large dinner the night before, so I really felt like I needed some fuel for the day. 

Oddly enough, not many students were in the lodge for breakfast. Just Yuuki, Sora, and Ruji, actually. 

To my surprise, Yuuki was still handcuffed with Sora watching over him. I wasn't sure why it was so shocking, since the motive was still technically in effect, but I had hoped that we would give him a break and let him go eventually. 

Since Sora and Yuuki were together, I decided to stroll over to the opposite end of the lodge and sit by Ruji, who was eating alone, carefully poking at his food as if he was suspicious of it.

"Mind if I sit here?" I asked, grabbing a tray of food and placing it across from his. He seemed to flinch as if he didn't see me approaching. Perhaps he was lost in his thoughts. 

"Oh, y-you don't have to," he breathed. "I mean... you can sit with them if you want."

"I want to sit with you," I smiled, sitting down across from him. 

His gaze softened slightly as he took a bite out of his food. 

I briefly asked Ruji about Maikeru, since they were roommates. The ghostbuster simply shrugged and said that the security guard told him he had better things to do than get breakfast with him. 

The air felt warm and fairly calm, but I still had a small twinge of fear growing in my chest. Like something wasn't quite right.

"Have you seen any others this morning?" I found myself asking.

"I haven't seen Rantaro," Ruji explained quietly. "But Saikoro said that he was at the training center. I was going to head over myself, but it was too crowded over there."

"Who did you see?" I asked, hoping to make sure everyone was accounted for.

"Um, I didn't really keep track, but I know I saw Daiki and Kichiro in there. Well, not in there, they were kinda just standing by the entrance and observing. Oh, I also saw Brittany. Then, on the way out I passed Tora holding some more supplies. You two were building traps, right? I think that's a smart plan. I saw you guys carrying some supplies yesterday. I asked Maikeru if we should do that too, but he got kinda mad at me... I think he thought I was criticizing his abilities as a security guard. Which I definitely wasn't! I actually am super glad he's my roommate, he seems strong!"

He continued to ramble on, but my mind was stuck on what he said about Tora.

More supplies? Why was she getting more supplies? Our room was already fairly secure.

"Okay. So... that's Yuuki, Sora, Saikoro, Daiki, Kichiro, Brittany, you, me, and Rantaro accounted for then?" I asked.

"Not exactly..." Ruji trailed off. "Saikoro SAID Rantaro was at the training center... but I didn't see him there. My eyes might have just missed him, but I don't remember seeing his face."

"Really?" I questioned, furrowing my eyebrows.

"I-I'm not lying..." Ruji muttered, bringing his gaze down as if slightly offended.

"No, no, I didn't think you were!" I quickly exclaimed, not meaning to have hurt his feelings. "I just... found it weird, that's all. I believe you. I promise!"

"Oh, good," Ruji muttered. He smiled slightly, but I could hear the still timidness in his voice. I felt guilty. I didn't mean to hurt his feelings...

"I'm sorry..." I trailed off. "I really didn't mean-"

"No, no, please don't be sorry!" he begged. "I just... I guess I'm sensitive. A lot of people accuse me of being a liar all the time. Most don't believe in ghosts, so they think my talent is all a big sham. So I guess I'm just a little defensive... please don't feel bad."

"Okay, I won't," I said, hoping to move past the awkwardness. "That's understandable. What's that even like? Being a ghostbuster, I mean."

"It's super scary," Ruji said with wide eyes. "I didn't even want to do it. I used to not believe in ghosts. But then one possessed my older brother and... I had to fix it. I didn't even know what I was doing. I just read a bunch of books and tried different things. After that... I kinda got thrown into the job. I can never say no to someone who needs my help, even if it's super scary..."

"Well, that's pretty courageous of you," I told him with a soft smile. "Tora told me just yesterday that sometimes we have to be strong. Even in scary situations."

"Yeah..." he breathed. "It's usually hard for me to be strong though. Especially now..."

"Well, you don't have to be strong alone. We're all in this together," I said. "We're not going to hurt one another. Alone we're mighty, but together we're powerful. We'll get out of this."

He let out a slightly strained breath. His eyes were glassy as if he was about to burst into tears.

"I really hope so," he squeaked. "I miss my dog..."

He bowed his head once again and squeezed his eyes shut. He was shaking slightly now. 

"I'm sorry. I'm trying not to be vulnerable. I wanted to save my tears for my room, but then I got partnered with Maikeru, and I didn't want him judging me. He's not mean or anything, but he seems like the judgmental type, and I don't want to cry in front of him. I don't want him to think I'm just some scared kid, even though that's exactly what I am."

"Hey, shh..." I hushed, reaching across the table and grasping his hand with both of mine. "Here... maybe you can hang out with me and Tora for the time being. We won't judge you. Honestly, we're both just as afraid as you are. Maybe the tree of us can make each other stronger."

He paused, then lightly snorted and wiped his tears. He was wearing a different smile now.

"The tree of us?" he chuckled quietly.

"Huh?"

"You said tree instead of three," he whispered between quiet laughs. "You said, 'Maybe the tree of us can make each other stronger."

My face grew red with embarrassment as I giggled and covered my face.

"Dang it, I was trying to be all inspirational," I laughed. Keiko would probably be much better at making him feel at ease, being the ultimate public speaker and all. 

"No, no, I think it's more inspirational this way," he said, wiping his eyes again. "It sure made me feel better."

His laughter was soft, yet it showed me a kind of joy I had not yet seen from him. His eyes crinkled as he giggled and occasionally snorted. He was quiet, but that didn't make the laughter any less real.

I did that. I gave him that smile.

"Let's go find her, then" I smiled, standing up and grasping both his hands so I could pull him to his feet. He was actually almost as tall as Yuuki, despite always seeming so much smaller. Maybe it was his personality that made him seem so small before. "This'll be fun. We can be a trio. Like the Tree Musketeers!"

He continued quietly laughing as I pulled him along and away from the lodge. I didn't know exactly where Tora was, but Ruji did say he saw her around the training center earlier, so it seemed wise to check there first.

By the time we got there, however, there was only one person left.

Daiki.

He was standing in the shotgun range, though he wasn't holding one of the shotguns. He instead was using a small handheld pistol. 

The second we stepped foot into the center, he froze in place, his arm still outstretched with his gun aimed at the target. Neither of us had even said a word, yet he knew we were there. I could see the hairs on the back of his neck stand up.

In a flash, he lowered the gun and darted to the end of the range, swiftly swapping out the targets. It all happened so fast that I couldn't even catch a glimpse of where he had hit them. It seemed deliberate, like he wanted to keep his skills hidden. My guess is that he didn't want to be predictable. He didn't want us to see how skilled he was or wasn't. 

"It's okay, it's just us," I tried to say, but he didn't stop. He wore an almost frantic look in his eyes as he cleaned everything up and rushed out of the training center.

Ruji and I both exchanged confused glances. That was a little too weird for my personal liking. I understood being cautious--Daiki was the ultimate spy so caution probably meant more to him, but he was being extra weird about it. 

"It's darker," Ruji muttered.

"Hmm?" I hummed, turning to face the ghostbuster.

"The air. It's slightly darker. And colder..." he clarified, frowning. I watched as he hugged himself and looked up, his eyes still wide and alert.

I briefly looked around. Everything still felt pretty warm and bright to me. I hadn't noticed any differences. 

"Maybe I'm just seeing things," Ruji whispered, lowering his gaze slightly, though he didn't sound sure of himself. "I see things others don't a lot."

"Okay... let's just go to the cabins. Tora's probably resting. She did seem pretty tired last night."

Something wasn't right, though. I could feel it. 

I took his wrist and started walking back toward the cabins. At first, we walked at my normal pace, but I found myself moving faster and faster until we had picked it up to a jog, then a full-blown sprint.

"What's wrong? Suki?!" Ruji asked as we continued to run through the trails. 

"I don't know," I huffed between breaths. I was most definitely not a runner. My lungs burned and my calves quickly grew sore. "Hopefully nothing."

"Then why are we running?!" 

"Because-" I started when I came to a halt in front of my cabin.

The windows were shattered.

There was a trail of bloody footsteps leading away from it and into the forest, along with two bloody daggers, ripped out and left on the ground.

Oh no... oh no no no no, please no.

Ruji's face went pale and he froze in place as I let go of his arm and ran up to my door, desperately trying to throw it open while forgetting the fact that I needed to use the monopad to unlock the door. It took me a solid minute to grasp the device and unlock it because of how badly my hands were shaking.

"Suki," Ruji whimpered from behind me. "Everything's okay... right?"

"Yes! No--I don't know!" I whimpered, on the verge of tears. 

Nothing was confirmed yet. Everything could be okay.

I just had to get the door open. I had to make sure she was alright. 

She had to be alright. She was alright this morning. Just last night we were talking about strength.

Sometimes we have to be strong, Suki.

We're stronger when we're together, though. I need her with me. I don't think I can be strong on my own. Without her, I'd be afraid. She's my roommate. She's my friend. I promised her we'd get out of this together.

Why were all these scary thoughts forming?! Nothing was even confirmed yet. Maybe this was all an accident.

Not likely. There was blood. A shattered window and blood. 

This wasn't good, this wasn't good, this wasn't good.

There was no need to freak out, though. She might not have been in there. She probably wasn't in there. Ruji told me that he had seen her out earlier. We didn't spend much time in the cabins aside from bedtime and the time we spent yesterday setting up our traps. Maybe someone tried to break in, got hit by the traps, then walked away. Why would someone try to break in, though? We had nothing of value. The only reason I can think of someone breaking in is murder, but we weren't like that. We were better than that. We were supposed to all work together so we could get out of this together. I didn't know any of the students very well, but I was certain that none of us would stoop as low as murder. We weren't like that. 

Or were we? I didn't know these people. Heck, the idea of murder did briefly pass through my mind once before, even if that flame was quickly extinguished. What if the wish motive was too much for someone to handle? What if-

"SUKI!" Ruji yelled. His hand was on my shoulder. He was squeezing tight.

My door was open. I didn't remember opening it, but I must have used the monopad to unlock it while I was drowning in my thoughts.

I blinked a few times, then looked at the scene that had unfolded before me.

No...

It... it couldn't have been real.

This can't be real.

No... I don't accept this! 

NO! THIS ISN'T-

Ding Dong Bing Bong

"A BODY HAS BEEN DISCOVERED!" that voice, that terrible voice, chimed excitedly.

No... please, please no.

"After a certain amount of time, which you may use however you like, the class trial will begin!" Monokuma's continued.

I shook my head and started to heave. I couldn't breathe. My heart was racing, I felt sick. I couldn't breathe.

"Suki," Ruji whimpered, grasping both my arms to steady me. 

I could hardly hear him, though. He sounded distant as if his voice was travelling through water. 

"Tora," I quietly cried, my voice breaking.