"Just breathe," Rantaro told me as Monokuma brought me to the top of the tank so me and the ultimate adventurer could switch places. "It's not that terrible. For us, at least."

For us. 

That still made it terrible for the people after us. The water had risen just below his knees. I knew it would only keep rising when I got in. For four hours, I'd be stuck.

Monokuma helped us make the switch. He pushed me in first, causing me to fall with a splash. I felt the impact from the glass at the bottom run up my spine and throughout my body, but I wasn't hurt all that bad. Rantaro was quick to help me up. 

"Alright, pretty boy. You're out," Monokuma laughed, tossing down a small rope ladder. Rantaro and I exchanged nervous glances before he grabbed ahold and climbed out. Then, the hatch was shut and I was trapped.

When being pushed in, I got a quick glance at just how thick the glass was. Far too thick for any of us to break. Even Yuuki, who seemed fairly strong, wouldn't be able to make a dent. 

I felt my pulse quicken slightly once the hatch screeched shut. What if I ran out of oxygen? What if something went wrong and the water filled faster than it was supposed to?

"Hey, look at me," Rantaro told me once he was down the stairs and Monokuma was gone. He pressed his hands to the glass.

I turned to him, my body trembling with unease. Confined spaces... ugh, the worst. I despised being locked away, even in my own room. As a kid, my parents sometimes would put me in there for a short time when I misbehaved. It was a small punishment, but it felt suffocating. Being contained in such a tiny space never sat well with me.

"You'll be okay, Suki," he promised. "Alright?"

I nodded, but I only half believed him. Logically, I had nothing to worry about, but I was still panicked.

He turned to leave, and I had to bite my tongue to prevent myself from calling out to him and demanding he stay. It wouldn't have been fair of me to ask that of him, though. Especially since no one stayed behind for him. 

So I waited, all alone in that tank as the water slowly rose. For a while, I hardly noticed it, but it became apparent once the coldness drifted up above my knees and toward my thighs. The water felt even colder than the river, somehow. My shoes and socks were all soggy. They couldn't even warm my now growing numb feet. 

I thought about Ruji and how he hated being alone. I wondered who he'd be chilling with at the moment. Sora went to work on the plane, but I wasn't sure if he had any company. I really hoped someone was there to lend him a hand. Building a plane solo would be tough, especially considering his condition...

I never did ask him about his prior illnesses. I was afraid of approaching the subject because it seemed rather sensitive. 

But he was a little pale this morning. Pale and coughing...

No, he was probably fine. He and Saikoro were both so full of life the day before while rafting. He looked as upbeat as ever. 

I allowed my mind to drift as I waited. I thought of home, I thought of Ruji, I thought of Tora, I even thought of Maikeru. Maikeru, who was guilty of murder. Yet, I still saw him as a good person. How crazy was that? Before this, murder was the absolute worst thing anyone could ever do. Now? I don't know why, but I sympathized with these murderers. A part of me would always resent Nori, but even then I didn't completely blame her. The students weren't enemies. It was Monokuma. It was-

"Suki."

I shook my head and looked up as the water climbed higher and higher still.

Daiki was standing just in front of me. Nothing separated us but glass.

"Daiki?" I frowned, tilting my head slightly in confusion. "What is-"

He held a finger up to his mouth, silently shushing me. 

"Ruji joined," he whispered.

Ruji?

Ruji joined? Joined what? This little spy thing?

"I thought you'd want him to," Daiki breathed. "Besides, I had my eyes on him before. He was just... I was unsure about him because of..."

"He gets scared a lot, I know," I breathed in a hushed tone. I was slightly worried he couldn't hear me through the glass, but it was clear he didn't want me to speak loudly. If he didn't hear me, then he certainly could read lips, because he nodded in understanding.

"He's proposed something interesting. I'm going to look into it more. Sora and Yuuki are working on the plane, but..."

He doubted it would work. I could see it in his eyes.

"And... Kichiro?" I asked.

His eyebrows furrowed.

"Kichiro?"

"Is he okay?" I clarified. "You were worried about him."

"Oh," Daiki muttered, lowering his gaze so he was looking down at the rising water. "Well, he's... last on the list."

"The tank shouldn't be completely full by then," I assured him.

"I know. But... four hours is a long time to tread water, and he's not exactly the strongest or the luckiest..."

Those were good points. If anything were to go wrong with the tank, it would surely happen the second Kichiro was thrown inside. 

There was a distant look in Daiki's eyes. It wasn't just fear or concern. It was compassion. The same look in his eyes he had after Tora's trial when he told me it was okay to be weak. 

"Sometimes we have to be strong," I told him, placing my hand on the glass. "But it's okay to be weak too, Daiki."

He nodded but looked away. Something told me that he wasn't going to let his own words apply to him. He seemed like the kind of guy who refused to take his own advice.

"I'm not disclosing the other member's name... but I just thought that you and Ruji should know of each other's involvement. The two of you work better together. The three of us should meet after the next trial," Daiki stated, readjusting his hat and turning away.

Next trial?

"Next trial?" I asked. 

"There will be a next trial," he muttered, briefly looking back at me. "There always is."

With that, he left, leaving my head spinning.

He was wrong. He had to be wrong. Sora was working on an escape. We could get out of this. Together. No one left was a murderer. Not a single one of us. We were all friends. 

Perhaps he was just the cautious kind of person. He wasn't an optimist. He prepared for the worst, but he didn't hope for the best. 

A few hours later, Yuuki came to take my place. He was a fresh slice of positivity, which I desperately needed after the conversation I had with Daiki. He didn't seem afraid in the slightest as he jumped through the hatch and splashed into the water. He even helped me grab ahold of the ladder and hoist myself out of the watery tank. 

"Sora's making some real good progress," he told me. "Eight hours in and we're already getting close! I can feel it!"

Night had started approaching. Would some of us be forced to go into the tank during the middle of the night? Maybe that was why there was no curfew.

My shoes squeaked and left watery tracks with each step I took down the stairs until I was safe on the ground again. I turned to face the hero, who was watching me intently.

"Suki?" he asked. "We're going to get out of here."

"I know," I agreed.

"There's doubt in your eyes," he noted. "But we're going to escape. All of us."

I sure hoped so.

He grinned, then placed his closed fist against the glass. He gave a slightly crooked smile that was almost childish. It was different from his usual heroic, inspiring grins. Yet somehow, this one felt warmer.

I giggled, then placed my fist against the glass where his was, giving a mock fist bump. 

"Good luck," I told him.

"It's not a luck game," he replied. 

Oh, but he was wrong. It absolutely was a luck game.

All of life was a luck game. If this killing game taught me anything, it was that we didn't always make our own futures. It was luck. Good luck, bad luck, that's what shaped our lives. We could try to fight for control, but at the end of the day, everything was up to lady luck. 

I missed the time when I used to believe that luck had nothing to do with good or bad fortune. I missed feeling like I had that control over myself.

Maybe this was how Kichiro felt all the time... did he ever even try to control his own life, or did the bad luck follow him too closely?

"Both," Kichiro answered from behind me as I was walking back to the cabins, making me flinch.

I turned around to see the small boy standing behind me, all alone. This was one of the only times I saw him without Daiki close by. Beforehand, I assumed that he always hung around Daiki because he was his roommate and he had nowhere else to really go, but now I was starting to wonder if Daiki had become more of a shield to him.

"He's not a shield," Kichiro answered, sighing and walking toward me so we were next to one another. "Well? Are you going to keep walking?"

I swallowed, then started slowly walking again.

How did he keep doing that? Was he a mind reader or something?!

"Mindreaders don't exist, Suki," he chuckled, though there was a weight with his laughter. 

"And an ultimate unlucky student does?" I asked. Honestly, the idea of that seemed almost equally unbelievable.

"Yep," he shrugged. "Despair is real, so I am real. Good luck, bad luck, it all exists in the same world. Do you mind me walking with you? Daiki's not here to heroically save me, so I suppose that responsibility falls to you!"

"Just how often do bad things happen?"

He tapped his forehead in thought and looked up at the sky, which was overcast now.

"Too often," he answered.

Vague. Not that I was surprised. Getting a clear answer out of someone like Kichiro was practically impossible.

He didn't seem as light-hearted as usual, though. It was like... for the first time, his bad luck was weighing down on him.

"What is it?" I asked.

"I'm not selfish."

"I didn't say you were."

"But I've been," he breathed, looking up at me. "Bad luck... it spreads to the people closest to us."

I frowned. What was that supposed to mean?

"Storytime, Suki. When I was younger... my parents were driving me and my first pet to the vet. Our car crashed. My dog died. Later, we were going to the river with my friends. A flood came. They all died. My parents both died a few years after that when our house caught on fire. Bad things happening to anyone I care for," he answered. "So, you better keep acting like an idiot. Otherwise, I'll start caring for you, too. 

I shook my head, then looked away from him.

Where was Daiki?

"I've been avoiding him," Kichiro said. "Our cabin had a chandelier. When he was carrying me in it fell. He threw me aside, but he got cut up pretty badly."

He had? 

I didn't even notice. He looked just fine to me earlier when he checked on me.

"That's why I've always been alone before this," Kichiro explained. He was still smiling, as if he was about to start laughing. "I distance myself, but here? I can't. He's my roommate. And for some reason, he decided to stay my roommate here, even though he didn't have to be. Aha ha... it's like he's trying to get himself killed."

"He's trying to keep you safe," I corrected.

"Same difference."

"No." 

I had always thought that it was Kichiro following Daiki around. Never would I guess that it had been the opposite.

Kichiro wasn't staying close to the spy to use him as a shield. Daiki was the one following and protecting Kichiro. 

Kichiro shook his head, then quietly continued laughing.

"I like him," Kichiro giggled, hugging his stomach and wiping a tear. "Aha ha ha ha, hee hee hee, I told myself I wouldn't, but I do! How unlucky."

"Kichiro-"

"You should go before I start to like you too," the unlucky student laughed. "Go on, Suki! Get lost! Bye!"

He pushed me away and started shooing me, so I left. I didn't really have the willpower to keep talking to him. 

But I was filled with a new kind of feeling for him. More of an understanding. 

I was filled with a new kind of feeling for Daiki too. 

. . .

I found Ruji soon after Kichiro and I parted ways and decided to spend the rest of the day with him. He had been hanging around Keiko and Saikoro, but I could tell he was getting a little overwhelmed by all their energy when I arrived. His eyes practically lit up upon seeing me, and we spent the rest of the day together. I wanted to check on Sora, but Ruji informed me that the pilot didn't really want many visitors. Apparently, Ruji tried to hang out with him and Yuuki earlier, but Sora was super talkative, so the pilot got easily distracted and ended up making less progress on the plane than he planned to. 

Ruji wouldn't have to go into the tank until the next day, so we stayed out to see the stars that night as well.

Even with the motive, it had been a whole day without any murders. In fact, it had been a couple of days since anything bad happened. Maybe Yuuki was right, maybe things were really turning around. It was easier to believe him than to believe Daiki. 

"Daiki approached me this morning," Ruji breathed as we both lay down to look at the stars again. "He said I could talk to you about it. But only you."

"Yeah," I nodded. "He talked to me too."

"He wanted me to share what I... uh... discovered," Ruji murmured, bringing his hands together and fidgeting with his gloves slightly.

A part of me was impressed. Daiki had approached me right after the first trial, yet I hadn't discovered anything. From the way it sounded, Ruji was approached by the spy this morning, and he already had information.

"I actually noticed this a long time ago," Ruji muttered, seeming to answer my thoughts. "But... I was a little scared about saying something."

"What is it?" I asked. "Have you told Daiki?"

"I have," Ruji nodded. "And... I think he believes me."

Believes him? About what? 

"What is it?"

"Possession," Ruji answered. "There... the machine on my back, it helps me track certain things. I can't narrow stuff down to specific places because there isn't anywhere to recharge my devices, so it's on low power mode, but... I can tell there's a spirit in the area. A dangerous one. And I haven't seen any of the normal signs, so I think it must be possession."

It made sense that he couldn't recharge his ghost-hunting stuff. I mean, we had nothing that needed to be charged, so of course there were no outlets. I barely even noticed the lack of power. 

Wait, how did the monopads stay powered? Did they use solar energy or something?!

Eh, it probably didn't matter.

"So... you think one of us...?" 

"Yes," Ruji answered. "One of us is possessed by a dangerous spirit. And... I think it's the same spirit that's controlling Monokuma. Daiki told me the bear is a machine. Like a robot. It's being controlled."

"Really?" 

"Yeah. Which makes sense. My first theory was that it was some kind of possessed stuffed animal, but the way it speaks... his voice comes from everywhere. It's not natural."

Possession...

If what Ruji said was true, then one of us couldn't be trusted.

But how could we tell who? Were they always possessed, or just sometimes? Did they even know they were being possessed?

What if it was me? 

What if I was possessed, and I didn't even know?!

"How does possession work?" I asked. "Like... say I was being possessed. Would I know?"

"That's the scary thing," Ruji replied. "It's different for each ghost. So whoever's being possessed could be totally aware and in on it... or they could be completely oblivious and innocent. We've no way of telling, and no way of finding out who it is."

Yikes...

I shivered at the thought.

What if it was me? 

What if it was Ruji? Or Daiki?! What if Monokuma was always watching us through the eyes of one of us?! 

"Daiki also found some more files," Ruji breathed. "But... he'll probably want to discuss those in person. They have to do with that thing you and Maikeru found. Project Reset."

Project Reset... 

I had almost forgotten about that empty file waiting to be found in the hangar.

Oh geez, this was starting to get big.

Big, complicated, and interesting. If Saikoro were with us, he'd start talking about how risks led to entertainment, which made good television. I didn't know who the last member of the small spy team was, but it surely wasn't him. He'd share everything and make a show out of it. It couldn't have been him, and I doubted it was Yuuki. Yuuki was trustworthy, but he had a different way of operating than Daiki. I doubted it was Sora either. Sora was too similar to the ultimate hero. Too outspoken.

I decided to turn in and go back to my cabin with the thoughts of the mysterious other member of the little spy group on my mind until I drifted off. That night, I dreamed of possessed dolls coming for me. 

I woke up in the dead of the night sweating, then fell back asleep. Next, I dreamed of ghosts trying to possess me and force me to do unimaginably terrible things.

There was no morning announcement to wake me the next morning, so I slept in.

For a very long time. I continued to sleep until there was a quiet knock at my door and I saw Ruji there, making sure I was alright. It was probably close to noon or so because when we passed the tank, Saikoro was in there. The water was too deep for him to touch, so he floated on his stomach with his head in the water, occasionally lifting it to take a breath. In a way, he looked a little funny.

"I'm next..." Ruji muttered.

I could practically feel his nervous energy bouncing off of him. 

He still had time, though. Saikoro had only been inside for thirty minutes or so. So, Ruji and I decided to get some lunch. Especially since I missed breakfast. When we sat down to eat, I helped coach him through surviving the water tank. Saikoro was onto something with the floating thing, but I suggested that he float on his back instead, that way he could get more air. I also told him that conserving energy was key. He was nervous, but luckily he and his brother used to take swimming lessons, so he was fairly well trained. Not the greatest swimmer, but he was likely to do just fine. 

I was with him when Saikoro's four hours passed and Ruji's monopad gave him the announcement that his time was up. I placed a hand on his shoulder to try to calm him, but my pulse was rushing as well. He was going to experience something completely different from what I did. He was going to have to actually swim the whole time. He couldn't just stand there and wait for his time to be up. His life was actually at risk.

I stood outside the tank as Monokuma took the ghostbuster's hand and led him up to the hatch on top of the box. Ruji fell in with a small splash, then resurfaced, his clothes and hair completely drenched. I could only assume all his gear was waterproof. It had to be if it made it through that rafting trip. 

"Sweet! Is my turn up?" Saikoro grinned once Ruji joined him.

"Sure is," Monokuma beamed, tossing the ladder down to him. Ruji seemed to reach his arm forward as if he was debating grabbing the ladder. He didn't though. Instead, he backed up and allowed Saikoro to be rescued. 

Once the ultimate gameshow host was free, he took his jacket off and used it to dry his hair. (Even though his jacket was just as wet as the rest of him...)

"Wow, that was quite the swim," Saikoro gasped, still grinning. I could tell he was secretly exhausted. I couldn't even imagine staying afloat for four hours with nothing else to do but think about surviving.

"Here to watch the show, or are you going to head out?" Saikoro asked, winking at me and offering his arm. "You can hang with me if you'd like, M'lady."

I rolled my eyes and shook my head. I could tell by the terrified look in Ruji's eyes that he needed me there. I couldn't leave him on his own. Not with the water this high. I needed to be here in case things went south. You know, to help talk him through it. It was all I could do at this point.

"Alright, alright, I see how it is," the gameshow host chuckled. "If you change your mind, find me. My offer still stands! Good day!"

He bowed slightly, then turned away and was off. I giggled slightly, then sat down with my back to the tank.

After a few moments, there was a quiet knocking behind me. I jumped slightly, then turned around to see Ruji underwater. He wasn't in distress, though.

He smiled and waved at me.

I smiled and waved back.

He put his gloved hand on the glass.

I chuckled, then did the same, putting my hand where his was. His hands were just barely bigger than mine.

He seemed to laugh, then swam up to the surface, shaking his head to get the water out of his ears.

"I thought I told you to save your energy!" I called up to him.

"I know," he replied, making his voice louder so I could hear him through the thick glass. "Sorry. Got bored."

He went back to floating on his back and just staring at the sky. I copied his movements and did the same, lying on the ground instead. 

I don't know why he was so worried. He seemed like a natural. He wasn't even tired, yet. I think all his nerves were starting to disappear. He was probably the kind of guy who was more nervous before doing something than he was actually doing it. I couldn't really blame him for that.

Four hours moved by slowly, but eventually, Keiko came to take his place, and that was it.

We spent the rest of the day exploring the parks. 

When night came, I tried to keep Daiki out of my thoughts. Still, I couldn't help but feel a little... afraid. What Kichiro told me earlier stuck with me.

What if his bad luck had spread to the spy? Daiki was next in line after Keiko...

And after him was Ahmya...

Bad things were bound to happen sooner rather than later. If Daiki was right, then this peaceful stretch could only last so long. 

I was suddenly filled with a looming sense of dread like something was wrong.

It was the same sense of dread I felt before finding Tora's body.

The same sense of dread I felt when we were heading into Maikeru's trial.

"Someone's dead," Kichiro said from behind the two of us, making both Ruji and myself flinch.

"Kichiro?!" I gasped. "Where did you come from?!"

"Well, when a mom and dad fall in love-"

"That's not what she meant," Ruji interrupted, his face paling. "N-Nevermind. What did you say?! Someone's dead?!"

He nodded.

I felt all the warmth leave my body.

"Who?! Did you see?!"

The boy shook his head.

"No," Kichiro answered. "But... someone's dead. I can feel it."

....By then it was Daiki's turn for the motive.

Kichiro's eyes seemed to widen the second the thought crossed my mind.

"The tank," I whispered, taking Ruji's hand and breaking into a sprint.