Rantaro and Ahmya both wore worried expressions as Ruji and I rushed to the lodge. Rantaro had been pacing back and forth, still clearly distraught over losing the tape, while Ahmya was watching the windows. The look of relief in the ultimate arsonist's eyes once she saw us felt was like seeing a mask come down.

"You're okay," she said, throwing the doors open and waving us in. "Did you hear the body discovery announcement?! What happened?! The monopads won't tell us anything!"

I had never seen Ahmya so relieved. Rantaro on the other hand was silent. He stopped his pacing and looked at us. 

His eyes softened slightly as soon as he looked at me. 

"It's Daiki, isn't it?" he asked. 

"Daiki?" Ahmya asked. "What's going on?! Suki, you're crying!"

Was I?

I brought a hand to my face. Surely enough, there was a single tear, stuck to my cheek. Just like the one that was stuck to Daiki's. 

Just like the single tear that killed him. 

"Daiki's dead," I breathed, the words coming out of my mouth before I could stop and think of a gentler way to phrase it. "Daiki's dead, and Kichiro's lost it. We couldn't even find Yuuki."

There was a heavy silence in the air. Rantaro remained still as Ahmya placed her hand over her mouth. There was a heartbroken expression in her eyes that I wasn't used to. 

"So Yuuki did it, then?" Rantaro asked after a long pause, furrowing his brows. His voice shook slightly, but he hid his grief well. Aside from Kichiro, Daiki's death must have hit Rantaro harder than anyone else. Rantaro was the one working with him from the start. Or, at least that's what I assumed. Before me, Daiki said there was one person working with him to help figure out the secrets of the killing game. That one person was either Kichiro or Rantaro, and as close as Daiki and Kichiro were, I had a feeling the ultimate spy or detective or whatever he was turned to none other than the ultimate adventurer for help in the beginning. Rantaro was just better suited for these secretive kinds of missions. 

"Yuuki?" Ahmya asked. 

"Yeah," Rantaro said. "Ruji, Suki, and Kichiro must have discovered the body, right? So that only leaves Yuuki-"

"He set the band off himself," Ruji said, tapping his bracelet shakily. "His forbidden action was crying."

Ruji's hands shook slightly. He stifled a sob and tucked his now-dead flashlight back onto his belt. I made a mental note to get him new batteries once this was over. If the end was even near. Could we even win without Daiki around?

"Jesus," Ahmya muttered, shaking her head. "So what now, then?! What do we do?!"

I shook my head, unable to come up with any place to start. I had to explain everything we saw. I had to tell them about Daiki, but where would I even begin? Would they believe me if I told them what we saw from the tape?! If Rantaro found a way to watch the tape beforehand and told me all this, I certainly would have had trouble trusting his word. Everything we saw messed up what we thought we knew about Project Reset, the world, the killing game, and ourselves! Were we even real ultimates?

Suddenly the bracelets all powered down and fell off our wrists. I gasped and grasped at my now bare wrist, confused.

"W-what's happening?!" Ruji stuttered, grasping his own wrist as well.

"Well, we don't have a need for a trial now, do we?" Monokuma chimed, appearing with a giggle as he always did. 

I turned to face him and clenched my fists slightly. 

"You..." I whispered with as much spite and venom as I could muster. "You killed him."

The demented bear tilted his head down slightly. The lights of the lodge reflected off his jagged teeth, sending chills down my spine. Somehow, he looked even more sinister than ever.

"I did no such thing," Monokuma gasped, pretending to be insulted. I knew he wasn't, though. This was nothing more than a game to him. A show for him to watch. Something to keep him entertained for a few days. 

Was he upset, now that his favorite character was gone? Were they all upset? Or did Daiki ever mean anything to any of them? Whoever was watching, if someone was even watching, did they ever even know him? 

No, they couldn't have. They never knew or loved him the way we did--the way Kichiro did. In that recording, Daiki said that the world loved him, but that wasn't love. Not the same kind, at least. 

"Your bracelet killed him!" I cried, shaking. "Daiki's gone because of you! This was your fault!"

"Careful, Suki," Monokuma warned teasingly. "It's rude to talk to your headmaster in such ways. You don't want to be punished, do you? Puhuhuhu!"

I wanted to scream and yell. I wanted to tell him everything I really thought. I wanted to let everything out. 

But if I did and I got punished for it, Ruji would be devastated. I had to keep going. For him, for Rantaro, for Ahmya, for Yuuki. 

For Daiki, for Saikoro, for Keiko, for Bashira, for Sora, for Brittany, for Maikeru, for Seiko, for Nori, for Tora.

For Kichiro.

For myself. 

"Anyway, consider my next motive a little game. I'm not a fan of everyone feeling so divided. It's not nice to leave students out. Remember the beginning of our little outdoor school program, when you all met up in here, leaving poor Rantaro outside all on his own? That was just mean.... so, find the other two members before the time runs out!" Monokuma grinned. "You're ultimates! You can do anything if you keep hope in your hearts, right?" 

The bear disappeared.

I could hear my heart racing in my hears, like steady drums beating faster and faster by the minute. 

What happens when time runs out? 

I quickly checked my monopad for a time limit, but couldn't see anything. How much time did we have?! How would we know when it runs out?! Kichiro could be anywhere, and the same could be said for Yuuki! 

"We have to stay together," Rantaro said. 

"But splitting up would make it easier to find them!" Ahmya argued, clenching her fist. "We-"

"If things go wrong and we're apart, we'll die just like everyone else did. Alone. Where we go, we go together. If we die, we die together. It's like Yuuki said. We're a team. No more splitting up," Rantaro said, his voice firm, yet still hopeful. 

The sky was dark, but the air had turned from cool to warm. Not the same kind of humid warm it was when we first got here, though. This was different.

I shook my head. Rantaro was right. If I had to die, it was going to be right next to my closest friends. 

We weren't going to go alone. It was either all of us or none of us. 

"Let's go," Rantaro said, stepping over his fallen bracelet and pushing the doors open, only to be met with dark, smokey skies. The air smelled of fire as small white ashes floated about, stinging my nose and eyes. 

"The sun," Ruji said, rushing to the open door and pointing to the sky. 

I looked up past the growing cloud of black ash, no longer seeing a bright circle of light, but a thin ring of pure white surrounding a deep black circle. 

An eclipse. 

The darkness of the sky expanded as deep black smoke continued to rise into the air. We didn't have much time, the smoke was going to suffocate us if we just waited around. 

"Fire," Ahmya whispered.

In front of us, bright red flames suddenly surged into the air, dancing about. The fire claimed the trees, claimed our cabins. They'd claim us too if we weren't fast. 

That must have been our time limit.

"Come on!" I cried, taking the lead and running toward the east entrance to the catacombs, where Ruji and I left Kichiro. Maybe underground was safe. Maybe not. It didn't matter anymore. All that mattered was finding the others before it was too late.

"I've never seen so much fire," Ahmya breathed, her voice breathy from running. I coughed, trying to stay focused. The smoke and ash were making my head spin even faster than before. 

"Suki, look out!" Rantaro cried, grasping my arm and pulling me to the side just before a flaming branch could fall and crush me. 

I gasped and covered my mouth, black ashes covering all our faces. 

If it wasn't for Rantaro's voice telling me to keep going, I might have frozen in place and waited for the flames to make this game end.

"Over there!" Ruji shouted, pointing forward to the trap door which led to the eastern tunnels. 

I kneeled down by the trap door, grasping the handle. It was so hot that it burned my hand, filling the air with the smell of burnt flesh, but I didn't let go. 

I cried out in pain, then flew it open. We were about to rush inside when Kichiro suddenly poked his head out of it, his hair was black with ash. A thick, dark cloud of smoke surrounded him. 

"Kichiro?!" I asked as he coughed and pulled himself out, gasping for breath. Despite everything that happened moments ago, I grasped his arm, pulling him to his feet. 

He instantly shoved me away, narrowing his eyes at me as if I were the one who filled the tunnels with smoke.

Flames circled around us, knocking burning trees over with loud thuds which shook the entire world. 

"Kichiro, where's Yuuki?!" I coughed. "I know you're upset, but-"

"Escaped," Kichiro hissed, clenching his fists. I could see the note he had taken from Daiki crumpled in his left hand, which had been covered in burns. The reflections of flames and fire danced in his glassy eyes. 

"Escaped as in got out of the tunnels?!" Rantaro asked. 

"Escaped," Kichiro repeated, holding his left hand close to his chest. I could see light reflect off of something metal in his right pocket, but didn't bother wasting much time thinking of it.

From the way things looked, the tunnels were even worse off than the outside based on how much smoke was coming from them. 

What about Daiki?

I knew he was dead... but the thought of his body trapped down there surrounded by smoke so thick... I couldn't even bear to finish the thought.

"We have to get him," Ahmya breathed, turning around herself and pointing into the forest. "That way! The flames are the least thick over there! If he's alive, he'll be down there!"

I had no idea how she could tell, but did as she said anyway. Rantaro grasped Kichiro's arm, forcing him to follow along. 

"Why run?" Kichiro asked, his voice light and giggly, but different than before. This almost sounded like he was crying. 

I didn't have the strength to answer. A part of me didn't even know.

We kept running until we were cornered by large flames. "No, no, no, no!" Ahmya whispered, pushing her way to the front of the group and looking up at all the fire. "This wasn't supposed to.... we have to get back to the lodge!"

"But we haven't found Yuuki!" Ruji coughed. 

"We can't push our way through these flames," Ahmya spat back, her face covered in sweat. I must have looked the same, there was not one inch of skin that didn't feel like death from the intense heat surrounding us.

"Back to the lodge then," Rantaro said, getting behind us and pushing everyone forward. He let go of Kichiro, trusting that he'd join the group in our race for survival.

Ahmya took the lead, running faster than I thought possible for her. I picked up my pace, keeping close behind until I tripped over a root, landing into a burning shrug. I screamed as the flames ate away at my face, my skin. 

I had never felt physical pain so strong before. In that moment, I thought that maybe this was it. Maybe the game was finally over for me. It reminded me of what Saikoro said before his execution about not being able to move on to the final round. He must have been used to life being a game, being the ultimate gameshow host, only here he wasn't the host. He was a contestant, just like everyone else. Just like me. 

Maybe it was finally time to pack up and go home...

But my friends wouldn't let me quit. Not yet.

Everything else felt muffled as a strong arm gripped my shoulder and pulled me to my feet. My vision was fuzzy and all the sounds in the world felt distant.

"Suki, we need to keep going," Rantaro said, shoving me forward while keeping a grip on my shoulder to guide me. I could still see, but everything was much brighter. I could feel the skin on my face burn away, exposing deeper layers of my flesh. Warm liquid dripped off my cheeks, and I couldn't tell if it was blood or tears. 

We had to keep going. 

I blinked as three figures in front of me ran up to the large building. The lodge looked to be the only thing left not claimed by flames. 

Ruji who was up ahead with Ahmya turned back to look at me, gasping and covering his mouth. I could only imagine how disfigured I looked. 

"Suki!" he gasped, running back toward me. 

"She'll be okay," Rantaro breathed, gently pushing me toward Ruji. "Where's Yuuki-"

"Guys, I'm here," the ultimate hero's voice said, slightly panicked, but still hopeful. 

We all turned and looked as he stumbled out of the flames. I blinked a few times, hoping that would clear my vision more as he walked forward. He wasn't burned like the rest of us, despite walking out of thick fire. 

"Yuuki!" Ahmya gasped. There were tears in her eyes as she ran forward toward him. I never saw her so excited and relieved to see someone.

Or, she was happy until Kichiro shoved her back, making her fall to the ground. I frowned as the ultimate unlucky student marched up to the ultimate hero, gripping the crumpled paper he was holding.

"You killed him," Kichiro hissed.

Yuuki tilted his head slightly, his eyebrows furrowing.

"What-" Yuuki started to ask, when Kichiro suddenly grasped a pile of flaming leaves and threw them into Yuuki's face.

The ultimate hero cried out in pain and stumbled backward, trying to brush the burning leaves off as quickly as possible. The skin around his left eye was burned away, turning a deep red color as hot pink liquid dripped from his open skin.

"KICHIRO!" I gasped, frozen in terror. What was he doing?!

I went to run forward when Rantaro and Ruji grasped my shoulders, keeping me in place. 

"You did this to him," Kichiro hissed, unfolding the note and holding it up. "You gave him the tape! I saw you do it! You took him from me! You took him from himself! You and your people out there put him through game after game, just to watch him suffer! You-"

"You've lost your mind!" Yuuki gasped, his breathing frantic as he held his arms up, stepping back.

"No, I'm the only one here with a mind!" Kichiro cried. Thick tears were falling from his eyes now, sizzling as they dripped from his chin and hit the ground. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the deactivated band. Only it wasn't his. 

Crying.

"You pushed him until he broke," Kichiro laughed. "You wanted him to turn out like me, didn't you? Broken, and ready to accept despair! You wanted to make him watch people die over and over and over and over. Who's REALLY the unlucky one? Me, or him?!"

Yuuki shook his head as the rest of us held still, waiting for something more to happen. It was as if we were all frozen in time. 

Kichiro dropped the band, allowing it to fall into the flames that were drawing ever closer to him and Yuuki.

"I just... wish he and I could have met under different circumstances," the ultimate unlucky student whispered, suddenly. "When we used to have all the time in the world... I guess I really am unlucky."

He took the small note and threw it into the fire as well, watching it with wide eyes as it burned away forever. 

"Kichiro-" Yuuki begged.

"I hope you burn," Kichiro hissed, lunging forward to shove the ultimate hero into the fire.

But, Yuuki wasn't claimed by the flames. Instead, the hero stepped aside and held his foot out, causing the Kichiro to trip and fall head-first into the flames. I gasped and covered my ears. 

Kichiro screamed as the bright red and orange colors claimed his body. I watched as he writhed in pain, just inches from Yuuki. Never before had I heard such desperation and fear.

"DAIKI!" he cried out, his voice cracking and breaking as he tried to crawl out of the fire, only for more burning branches to fall and trap him. "DAIKI, PLEASE!"

"SAVE HIM!" I begged. "YUUKI, SAVE HIM!"

He didn't, though. I don't know if it was because he couldn't hear me, or if maybe he just didn't want to. He was a hero, right? Shouldn't heroes want to save people?

Yuuki remained still and silent, watching as Kichiro continued to scream out for Daiki to save him. It wasn't often that Kichiro called him Daiki. Usually, he'd call him "Spy Boy" or something like that. Back then, there was this lighter, teasing tone he always used when speaking. One that made him hard to read. 

He hasn't used that tone in a while. 

"I don't want to die..." Kichiro begged, his voice growing softer and softer. 

I could see the reflection of flames dancing in Yuuki's no longer gentle dark eyes. His appearance seemed to change, but just slightly. His eyes shifted from their once gentle color to a beautiful blue that looked familiar, yet wrong on him.

We all waited in silence until Kichiro's screams faded and there was nothing left but the sound of branches snapping and fire crackling.