"Do you think he'd like it?" Ruji asked me the next morning. 

We were going to be late for breakfast, but it was worth it for what Ruji had made.

There were dozens of purple flowers, all woven together and placed in front of the cabin Maikeru and Ruji had shared. I never took Maikeru to be the kind of person who liked flowers, but I think if he were still here, he'd be smiling.

Even though he was a murderer, I couldn't see him as a bad person. I couldn't really see any of us as bad people.

"This is... it's beautiful! You did this yourself?" I asked, kneeling down and tracing my fingers over the delicate petals. They were softer than I remembered flower petals to be.

"Last night, and this morning," he nodded. "I... I know he didn't really like me, but I liked him. I suppose that doesn't really make sense... I just- I wanted to do this for him. Maybe he'll see it someday. If his spirit is still wandering in our field of reality."

I shrugged, smiling at the idea. Usually, the idea of ghosts was a scary concept to think about, but the idea of Maikeru being a ghost seemed the opposite. 

"I didn't really realize how lonely that cabin would be without him in there," Ruji breathed. 

My blood suddenly ran cold. I remembered that feeling. The feeling I felt the first time I stepped into my cabin after Tora's murder. The emptiness.

"Yeah..." I trailed off. "I wish I could say you get used to it, but..."

"I've always shared a room with my brother," Ruji added. "I'm so used to someone else being there. I don't think I could ever get used to this."

He was going to have to, though. We were required to stay in our assigned cabins. Moving into someone else's would definitely earn him a punishment.

I wondered if Seiko had felt the same kind of loneliness after Nori died. Now, their cabin was completely empty.

We started out with sixteen students. Now, we were down to twelve. That just didn't seem right. I didn't like how quickly our group was shrinking. I wanted to tell myself that there wouldn't be any other murders, but a part of me knew that this wasn't over. Unless we found an escape soon, this game would continue.

What if I lost Ruji? What if Daiki or Sora died? Heck, what if Yuuki was next? The entire group would probably fall apart without him.

We all gathered for breakfast that next morning. Even though the three of us only ate together once, it felt like someone was missing without Maikeru there to sit with me and Ruji. I think the three of us could have become really good friends. If Tora was still here, it would have been even better. We could have been like those friend groups from the movies. Maikeru could be the serious one, Ruji could be the scared one, Tora could be the sweet shy one, and I could be the one who's always dozing off. 

I wanted to sit by Daiki briefly to ask if he found anything, but Kichiro was sitting across from him. It probably wasn't safe to talk about this kind of stuff in front of people anyway. I'd have to find him during my free time or something. 

I noticed that Sora moved to sit by Keiko and Saikoro, which I thought was a fairly good match. The three of them would probably get along fairly well. Yuuki was talking with Brittany, Ahmya, and Bashira as well, which seemed like a weird group, but the ultimate hero was probably just trying to get to know everyone. 

The only person who was sitting alone was Rantaro.

A small part of me wanted to invite him over to sit with me and Ruji, but I stopped myself. Not because I didn't like him, of course. He seemed just fine. A little mysterious, but just fine. I think I didn't invite him because I was afraid. Afraid of getting attached to another person, only to lose them. I was already scared to death of losing Ruji. I didn't want to keep losing close friends. I know I told myself that I wanted to get to know everyone, but it was harder to lose someone I actually felt close to. Tora and Maikeru's deaths hurt a lot more than Nori and Seiko's.

So, I stayed silent and stuffed my face with eggs and toast, occasionally making small talk with Ruji until our meal was interrupted by an announcement from Monokuma.

"Attention everyone! We have a super special outdoor school field trip planned in exactly one hour! Check your maps and meet at the marked location, and don't be late!" The bear chimed, suddenly popping up and grinning. Each of us was too mentally drained to even react. By now, we were used to being ordered around. Not even Yuuki could match the bear's energy. 

If Maikeru were here, he would have rolled his eyes and grumbled to himself about being forced to do yet another thing he didn't want to. 

I hated that he was gone.

After we were finished eating, Ruji and I made our way to the place marked on our maps. At first, I didn't quite recognize where I was going, but later I realized that it was the same trail Daiki and I walked down when he was pulling me aside to talk about that weird spy thing. He had still yet to get back to me on that. Maybe he forgot. Or maybe he didn't have time. After all, the murders and investigations do take up some space in our schedules...

Even though we left right away, we were still not the first to arrive. Somehow, Daiki, Rantaro, and Kichiro had us beat. 

The sound of the water trickling beside us was peaceful, but none of us could enjoy it. We were too anxious about what Monokuma had in store for us. 

Yuuki and Keiko arrived shortly after. It was just the seven of us for a while after that. A part of me was anxiously waiting for Maikeru, but Maikeru would never come. 

Bashira and Ahmya arrived just a few minutes before the cutoff time. Then, Saikoro, Sora, and Brittany showed up, seconds before being too late. I couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief once everyone arrived safely.

"Alright, are we all here?!" Monokuma asked, suddenly popping up. He wore his usual sinister grin.

"I think so," Yuuki said, looking around and running a quick count in his head. "Now what's this all about? Why did you call us here?"

"For the next motive, silly!" Monokuma laughed. 

"The next motive?" Keiko asked. "What is it...?"

"So impatient, you students. We can't discuss it here! We have to take a little trip first!"

A trip? What did he mean by that?

"If you look downstream, you'll see two different rafts!" Monokuma explained. "You're all required to get in and travel down the river until you come across a large dock. Once you arrive, I'll discuss the motive with ya!"

"Wait... we're going to travel by raft?" Ahmya asked while shifting uncomfortably. I had never really seen her look so uneasy. Even when we were facing murder trials she had remained fairly calm. Frustrated occasionally, but calm.

"Yep!" Monokuma nodded. "There are two rafts, so make it six and six! Or seven and five! Heck, you can even try to make it eleven and one! I don't care. Enjoy yourselves! I'll see you on the other side! Puhuhuhu!"

With that, the bear disappeared, leaving us all on our own.

The rafts were located about a quarter mile downstream, so Yuuki and Keiko traveled down to get them and drag them up to us. 

"Um, what if we don't want to do this?" Ahmya asked. "Can't we just not go?"

"I don't think that's an option," Rantaro breathed.

The arsonist shook her head and ran her hand through her long hair.

"But... I mean, come on. This is ridiculous. He already puts us through so much. Why do we have to keep letting him push us around? I say we rise up. He can't punish all of us, right?" she asked.

"I'm pretty sure he can, unfortunately," Yuuki sighed after dragging his raft back. "Sometimes... the best thing we can do is obey and live another day-"

"What happened to the ultimate hero?!" Ahmya shouted, filled with nervous energy. "Do you even hear yourself?! You sound so... pathetic! Aren't you supposed to save us?!"

"Yes, but I can't do that if I'm dead," Yuuki breathed. "Please... we just need more time to figure out an escape. Now... has anyone ever done rafting before?"

We all looked back and forth at one another, waiting for someone to step forward.

"...I have," Rantaro said, raising his hand.

"Good," Yuuki breathed. "You'll be the captain of one of the boats. Or raft guide. Or whatever it's called. Is anyone else willing to step up?"

There was more silence.

"Fine, I suppose I can captain the second boat," Yuuki shrugged with a small smile. "I mean, how hard can it be?"

"Depends on the level of rapids we come across," Rantaro said. "The river looks calm here, but..."

I didn't like the way he trailed off. 

"Alright then, let's choose our teams!" Yuuki smiled, moving the conversation forward. "Should we just alternate? Dodgeball style?"

"I don't care," Rantaro shrugged.

"Great! You can go first," Yuuki chimed, slapping Rantaro on the back.

The ultimate adventurer nodded, then looked out at all of us. His eyes squinted slightly as if he was deep in thought. For someone who supposedly didn't care, it seemed like he was putting a lot of thought into who to choose.

"Ahmya," he finally said.

The ultimate arsonist looked up at him, completely shocked. Honestly, I was just as surprised. She was missing an arm and clearly uncomfortable with this whole rafting idea. Why would he choose her first?

"Great! Ahmya, get over here and stand next to Rantaro!" Yuuki beamed. "Now... let's see... I choose... Bashira! You're the Ultimate Daredevil, so I bet this'll be fun!"

Bashira quickly cast Ahmya a concerned glance, then walked over to Yuuki. Her concern quickly faded away as she gave him a fist bump. 

Next, Rantaro chose Saikoro. 

Yuuki chose Ruji.

Rantaro chose me.

Yuuki chose Daiki.

Rantaro chose Sora.

Yuuki chose Keiko.

Rantaro chose Brittany.

And lastly, Yuuki chose Kichiro. 

"Alright, since Rantaro has at least some experience, I think your boat should lead the way," Yuuki grinned as he pulled his raft deep enough into the water for everyone to board safely. He held it in place as his team filed in. "Unless you're uncomfortable with that-"

"We'll be fine," Rantaro breathed, turning to face us and nodding his head slightly as if silently telling us to get in. 

Rantaro held the raft still while we all hopped in. I had to walk through some of the water in order to get to the boat, but I only got wet below my waist so it wasn't too bad. It was cold, though. There was one paddle for each of us. No life jackets. It looked like we were supposed to sit on the weird blow-up rows on the inside, but Rantato explained that we were technically supposed to sit on the edge of the boat with our feet inside the raft, which felt strange. Saikoro and Sora sat up front. Brittany and Ahmya sat in the middle, and I was at the very back, next to Rantaro, who had two longer paddles instead of one. He said that he had two so he could help steer and control the boat. 

He briefly went over a few different rafting commands with us. "All forward" meant we all had to paddle forward in sync with the two in the front. (Sora and Saikoro grinned upon hearing this and decided to call themselves the first mates. I was glad that they were finding joy out of this.) "Right back" meant the right side of the raft had to paddle backward while the left paddled forward. The same went for "left back," but in reverse. "Forward two" meant two strokes forward, and so on. Most of it was fairly self-explanatory.

Ahmya had a hard time holding her paddle with just one hand, so she ended up switching seats with Brittany in order to be on her good side. Still, I could see why she was worried. 

Once we were all done, Rantaro gave Yuuki's group the thumbs up. I could tell that their group was less prepared based on the fact that everyone was sitting inside the boat instead of along the edges. It looked more comfortable, but their paddles could hardly even reach the water. 

In Yuuki's boat, Yuuki and Bashira were sitting in the front. Behind them were Ruji and Keiko. Daiki and Kichiro took up the back. Yuuki left the spare paddle meant for the raft guide behind, probably because he didn't know what it was for.

Meh... they'd probably be fine...

"Are we ready?" I asked, looking to my side, up at Rantaro. 

"I think so," the ultimate adventurer breathed, closing his eyes and letting out a slow breath. "Alright... all forward."

We all started to paddle forward, following Sora and Saikoro's patterns so we could stay in sync. Rantaro used his two paddles to steer us downstream and out of the way of any dangers, not that there was anything scary nearby yet. Yuuki's group waited a few moments, then followed behind us.

Ahmya seemed fairly tense, but the water was calm. Actually, this was kinda fun. The sky was blue, and the air seemed the perfect temperature. It wasn't as warm or bright as it was when we initially arrived at this place, but it wasn't cold either. It was what I would like to call the perfect temperature. Like a sunny day in the middle of May. 

"This is quite the experience," Saikoro started while continuing to paddle. "I've got to say, if you told me three weeks ago that I'd be rafting down a river with a boat filled with strangers, I would have called you crazy."

"We're not strangers, though," Brittany giggled. 

"Yeah," Sora added. "I mean, I still don't know many of you all that well... but maybe we can change that!"

"Change that by...?" Rantaro trailed off.

"Maybe we should just do some icebreakers," I giggled. "Or we could all just go around and say some things about ourselves. Like our favorite color and a unique fact."

"Ah, yes, like introducing new contestants," Saikoro laughed. "Well, would you do us the honors of introducing yourself first, miss Kiyama?"

Miss Kiyama? When he said it like that, it made me feel all fancy. I felt all warm and special inside, like I was speaking to a celebrity. 

"Um, alright," I smiled. "Let's see... my favorite color is dark blue. Like the ocean. And... one weird fact about me is that I've never broken a bone before."

"Whoa, really?" Sora asked. "Ha, couldn't be me."

"Yeah, really!" I giggled. "I've gotten banged up a few times from just tripping in falling, but I've never gotten any serious injuries before."

"Well, that is wonderful," Saikoro chuckled. "Now, who's next? Ah, why not our fearless captain, Mr. Amami?"

"Me?" Rantaro asked.

"You ARE the only one here with that last name, so yes," Saikoro nodded jokingly. 

"Do I have to?"

"Oh, come on," I said. "Please? It'll be fun!"

Rantaro looked forward at the river as if gauging whether or not it was safe to let his guard down and talk. Luckily, the stream seemed fairly calm still.

"Um... well, my favorite color is black" he shrugged. "And... let's see... an interesting fact... I had twelve sisters."

Had?

"TWELVE SISTERS?!" Brittany cried. "Dang, how the heck can you live with that?!"

"Well, many of them are half-sisters or stepsisters," Rantaro admitted.

"Still, that's quite a lot," Sora said with wide eyes. "You must be mighty strong."

"Yeah. Sometimes I feel like my house is crowded with just my parents and me. I can't even imagine having that many siblings!" I exclaimed.

"Aww, I bet they paint your nails and stuff!" Brittany giggled.

Rantaro seemed to roll his eyes as he shook his head and smiled. "Actually, I painted their nails."

"Really?!" Saikoro gasped. "Oh, how sweet. Were you a middle child? Youngest?"

"Oldest," Rantaro answered, looking around himself. His smile seemed to slowly fade as if a memory was resurfacing. "We... used to do things like this together. Rafting and boating, I mean."

Was he getting scared? 

"Hey, you'll be able to be with them again," I promised. "Once we get out of here."

He chuckled and used one of his paddles to keep us heading forward. We were starting to drift to the left. "It's not that simple. They're not... they're not waiting for me out there."

"Oh my god, they're dead?!" Sora gasped.

"No! No," Rantaro assured us. "Well... I hope not. They're just... lost."

Lost...?

"Let's move on," Rantaro said. "Please. Sora, what's your favorite color?"