We were delivered right back to our old cabins once the trial was over. I slept through breakfast the next morning, past the morning announcement. It took me a long time to find the strength to get out of bed. Nightmares of Bashira's execution played in my mind over and over again. 

I also found myself thinking of Sora's friend. JD, I think his name was. Yeah, I think that's what Sora told me at one point. Was he even still alive? If he was, what would he do if he found out what happened? Would he be devastated, or had he prepared himself for this already? Where even was he? Did he know what really happened to his best friend?

I wish I could find him and tell him how much he meant to Sora. 

There was knocking on my door a few hours back, but I didn't answer. I figured it was probably Ruji checking up on me. According to the monopad, a new area had opened up. The map made it look like nothing more than more forest area and a meadow, so I didn't particularly feel like exploring. I just wanted to lay in my bed forever. Yuuki could lecture me about missing breakfast later. 

It seemed much darker outside. I could even hear the occasional rain shower pattering against my roof. Sometimes a leak or two would fall from the ceiling. Not that I minded. 

By the time 3:00 p.m. rolled around, I finally decided to get out. To my surprise, quite a few people were in their cabins. Daiki and Kichiro were gone; as was Rantaro, according to Saikoro, who was sitting on the steps of his cabin so he could be outside while still being covered by the roof. Apparently, they were all exploring the new area. 

"Suki, are you alright?" Ruji asked, running up behind me after my brief conversation with the ultimate gameshow host. "We've been worried. We haven't seen you or Ahmya all morning."

That made sense. If I was feeling uneasy, then I could only imagine what Ahmya was going through. 

I nodded and groggily replied, though I couldn't even remember what I had said. My head and stomach both hurt. I didn't feel hungry despite missing two meals. I just felt done. I wanted this all to be done. I was over it. 

Ruji talked about the new area that had been opened up. He was invited to go with Daiki and Kichiro, (meaning Kichiro yelled at him to go while Daiki silently watched,) but refused so he could wait for me. He felt more comfortable with me than them. Not that I could blame him. It was easy to get uncomfortable around Kichiro. 

However, after the last round, I was starting to have a little more sympathy for him. 

As Ruji and I walked off to explore the new area, I couldn't stop shivering. 

I hadn't even noticed that were were in the new area until Ruji pointed it out to me. The trees felt more lush, more dark. They were thicker and harder to push through. They seemed easy to get lost in. On top of that, it was hard to see very far due to the fog that had set in. 

"It feels familiar..." Ruji muttered. I don't know if he was talking to me or himself. 

"Really?" I asked. "How?"

"It just does..." he breathed, his voice soft. "I-"

He was cut off by a bright flash and a loud boom. He let out a shrill squeak and grasped my arm tightly. Classic Ruji, so mouse-like. I giggled and gently patted his shoulder.

"It's just lightning," I assured him as small drops of rain slowly started to fall from the sky. "See?"

"We should get inside," he said quickly.

"Oh, relax. It's just sprinkling," I smiled.

"Not for long," a smoother voice said from behind me. This time, both Ruji and myself jumped and whirled around. 

"Rantaro?!" I asked, shocked to see the ultimate adventurer standing behind us.

He pointed to the sky and narrowed his eyes just slightly. "Cumulonimbus clouds," he explained. "A storm is coming. Follow me."

Without another word, he turned and started pushing his way through the bushes. Now; Rantaro was fairly secretive and I still didn't know him that well, so it was hard for me to trust him, but I knew that he wouldn't kill me. Not with Ruji around, and not without a motive. So, the ultimate ghostbuster and I followed.

Rantaro moved fast, so it was hard to keep up. A few thorns caught on my clothes and arms, but nothing too serious. Ruji was lucky in that his arms and legs were pretty much covered with his jumpsuit, so he was unscratched while I had a few cuts and scrapes on my legs. I didn't mind too much, though. If anything, I was impressed that Rantaro was unscratched. He was the one moving the quickest, yet nothing got him. It was incredible. He was probably used to this kind of stuff. 

After a while, we finally made it to a small hatch in the ground. It looked like a wooden trap door. But it wasn't in plain sight. Rantaro had to move some sticks and dirt aside to even make it visible. He yanked it open, revealing a sketchy-looking ladder leading down. He then looked at us and silently nodded.

Ruji and I looked at one another, neither of us wanting to go first. 

"I promise, it's safe," Rantaro stated.

I trusted him, but a troubling idea popped into my head. What if someone was killed down there? Would we even be able to find the body? And if a murder occurred, but no body was discovered, what would happen then? Would there be a class trial? Would Monokuma force us to search for the missing body?

"I'll go," Ruji said, interrupting my train of thought. I shook my head in surprise as the ultimate ghostbuster scooted his way toward the trapdoor and started climbing down into the darkness. 

I smiled slightly at his bravery, then followed closely behind. I counted fifty-two rungs before I finally reached the dark room at the bottom. It was completely pitch black aside from the light coming from the top. Things got even darker when Rantaro hopped in and closed the trap door behind him. Though I couldn't see, I could hear him hop down and walk across the room. 

We each waited in silence for something to happen. I could hear Ruji's worried breathing beside me, but nothing else. What were we even doing down here? Waiting out the oncoming storm? What if water got through and this place flooded? Would there be time for all three of us to get out?

"BOO!" Kichiro's yelled, making Ruji shriek once again. Maniacal laughter followed as a match was lit, revealing another person hiding in the dark. 

Daiki held the match in front of himself, just barely illuminating his face. I watched as the flame crawled down the small piece of wood, creeping closer and closer to his fingertips until he finally lit a lantern hanging from the low ceiling. 

"What's going on?!" Ruji demanded, still clearly shaken up. He reached for the flashlight attached to his belt, but didn't grasp it. "Th-that wasn't cool!"

"Sorry about him," Daiki muttered. "We need to talk."

I frowned slightly, then turned my attention to Rantaro. Was he the secret member of Daiki's little squad? The spy mentioned there being more than one person he reached out to, but I thought he didn't want us to know who each other were.

Was Rantaro working with him this whole time? 

"What's going on?" I asked. "Why are we all-"

"Adventure boy found something," Kichiro teased, walking across the room and nudging Rantaro with his elbow. "Right?"

Rantaro nodded, then pulled out what looked to be an old VHS tape. It would have been nothing special if it didn't have Daiki's name written on it over a white piece of tape. 

"There's nothing to play it in, though," Rantaro breathed. 

"Do you think it has something to do with project reset?" I questioned.

Rantaro shook his head. "No... I think this is something different. It's something they want him to see."

"But we've got no way to watch it," Kichiro shrugged. "So, it's pretty pointless. Why would they have a tape with his name, but nothing to play it on?"

"That's the thing," Daiki explained quietly. "There IS something to play it on. We just need to find it. That's why we needed to meet up. We need to make plans. Some of us need to focus on learning more about Project Reset while others need to focus on finding a way to watch the tape."

That was probably the most I had ever heard Daiki talk at once.

"Why don't you just focus on the tape while the rest of us keep focusing on project reset?" Ruji asked. 

Daiki and Kichiro immediately paled, acting as if Ruji suggested they both kill themselves or something. 

"Yeah, that's not going to work," Rantaro breathed. "Since Daiki's name's on it, the game makers clearly WANT him to watch it. We don't want to play into their hands. It could be a motive, or something personal. They could see what he's trying to do and be using this to mess with his head."

"Yes, so we wanted to give the tape to Rantaro," Kichiro chuckled. "Because he's soooooo trustworthy and secretive. He's almost as good as spy-boy himself! Heehee!"

"We just needed to make sure you all knew I had it," Rantaro explained. "Just in case it messes with me or makes me do something crazy."

Wow, they were really taking this tape thing seriously...

Not that I blamed them. Knowing what we've been through, it was definitely better to play things safe. 

Daiki explained that it probably wasn't good for us all to disappear for long amounts of time, so he dismissed me and Ruji, telling us to keep focusing on trying to learn more about Project Reset. They apparently had more to talk to Rantaro about, so we left on our own. I liked being kept in the loop, but I was starting to feel a little useless. After all, I hadn't really discovered much regarding the project. Still, it was nice to be included.

"I didn't get to tell them..." Ruji muttered quietly under his breath as we walked back through the light drizzle. 

The rain was enough to get us wet, but we weren't getting soaked yet. The trees provided fairly good cover. I almost enjoyed the sound of the droplets pattering against the large, jungle-like leaves. 

"Tell them what?" I asked.

"About the eclipse."

"Eclipse?"

"Eclipse," Ruji repeated. "When the sun is covered by the moon. It's been happening, over the past few days. But... not at a natural pace. Most solar eclipses happen fairly quickly. Not like this. It gets darker after murders and after class trials. It's not slowly happening at a constant rate, either, it happens at random times. By all accounts, it doesn't make sense."

I hadn't noticed that before. Yes, I did notice the darker, colder weather, but I never thought it would have to do with the sun being eclipsed. How was that even happening?! There was no way gamemakers could go as far as controlling the sun and the moon! That was impossible!

"I hate eclipses," he continued. "They're a time when the dark covers the light. Ghosts go crazy. They get stronger, which makes them harder to catch. It's like they thrive off of all the evil energy that fills the air. Can't you feel it? The chill running through these woods? When Daiki lit that match, it flickered like crazy, even though the air was still."

Had it? I didn't even notice...

I was half convinced that Ruji was just freaking himself out with all these ghost stories, but there could be truth behind them. It wouldn't be right of me to just dismiss him. 

"Let's get some food," I told him. "We can talk more when we're working on a full stomach."

It took a while, but we eventually found the dining hall once again. Surprisingly, Daiki, Kichiro, and Rantaro were already there, as were Saikoro and Keiko. I debated taking Ruji and sitting by Rantaro because he was the only one sitting alone, but I didn't know if that was the smartest idea. After all, I wasn't supposed to let anyone else know that we were all a part of this weird spy thing. 

The rain really started coming down when we were eating. By the time we were done, it was absolutely pouring with the occasional rumble of thunder. I can't speak for everyone, but I certainly didn't want to walk back to my cabin through that.

"Looks like we're stuck here," Keiko muttered, when Saikoro suddenly pushed past her and ran out into the rain, holding his arms out and spinning around. 

He raised his nose to the sky and started laughing as the water drenched him from head to toe. His soaked hair flattened out, but he didn't care. He just continued laughing and happily kicking the forming puddles around. 

"What are you doing?!" Ruji exclaimed. "You'll get a cold!"

"Dancing in the rain," Saikoro answered, his usual game-show-like voice fading slightly. For the first time, he wasn't the host of a show. He was just a kid. A kid having fun. 

He continued spinning around, taking in all the rainwater as it turned his clothes a slightly darker shade of purple. He then ran to the rest of us, who were watching from the doorway. 

He held his hand out to Keiko and bowed his head slightly. "May I have this dance, m'lady?"

She giggled, then did a mock curtsey and nodded. "You may," she beamed. 

Then, the ultimate gameshow host took the ultimate public speaker's hand, and the two started dancing in the rain. Not one of those cheesy slow dances you'd see in teenage prom movies, but really dancing. They were having fun. They both looked ridiculous, but it didn't matter. 

He took her hand and spun her around, making water droplets fly off her and toward us. Their shoes had become muddy and brown. They were probably soggy, too, but neither of them cared. Their smiles reached their eyes. For a moment, I forgot we were even in a killing game. 

"May I have this dance, Suki?" 

I turned around to see Kichiro, holding his hand out to me and grinning mischievously. I frowned, then looked over at Daiki, who had turned away. 

"Ugh, so lame, am I right?" the ultimate unlucky student laughed, just loud enough for Daiki to hear. "Spy boy rejected me, so I guess you'll have to do."

"Hmmm, I don't know how I feel about getting this wet," I admitted with a small smirk. "But... I bet Ruji will dance with you!"

"Ruji will what?!" Ruji asked. "No, no, no, I don't dance-"

"Okay! He's cuter anyway," Kichiro giggled while taking Ruji's hand and dragging him out into the rain before the ghostbuster could even protest. 

After not even five seconds, Kichiro had already tripped and fallen into a puddle, soaking himself with water and mud. I could hear Daiki quietly snort from behind me before calmly walking out and helping him up. Ruji could only stand back and cover his mouth, clearly startled. 

"Sorry!" Ruji cried out, as if Kichiro tripping was his own fault, which it wasn't. 

Daiki gave the ghostbuster an apologetic glance, then helped Kichiro back to the dining hall, despite the smaller boy's protests. Meanwhile, I couldn't help but smile. Not just at Ruji, but at everyone. Saikoro and Keiko, Ruji, Daiki and Kichiro. 

Even Rantaro who was standing dry right next to me wore a soft smile. Who knew such cold rain could make us all feel so warm?