We left the attraction and arrived at the Relaxation Room before turning to look at each other again.

Kanna turned to Sara and I with an eager smile. "U-Um! Was I...of use!?" She asked.

"Of course you were!" I picked up her bucket hat to ruffle her hair before placing it back down in place. "You did a good job!" Sara nodded with a smile of her own.

She fixed the bucket with a giggle. "Now...let's split these Clear Chips, okay?"

Sara handed me one Clear Chip and placed the other one gently into Kanna's hand. "Here you go."

"Thank you!" With that, the middle school girl skipped off happily.

I looked over at Sara. "Negotiation time?"

"Negotiation time." She confirmed and lead the way to the lounge.

[Negotiation]

Upon entering, we noticed Q-taro and Nao standing there.

We walked up to the baseball player first, who greeted us with a bright grin and a thumbs up. "Sara, (F/n), ya got time? Wanna have a chat without tradin' for once?"

"We actually haven't traded all that much ourselves." I confessed. "Hold that thought, alright?"

He nodded. "Fair 'nough. Just lemme know if ya change your mind!"

"We will." Sara agreed before walking over to Nao.

The pink haired girl was playing with her fingers nervously, seemingly on edge. "Guys, if it's okay with you... Could we trade 30 tokens?"

The ginger girl raised an eyebrow at me. "What do you think?"

I hum in thought and mull it over for a second before shrugging. "I say we trade. Might come in handy."

"Thank you very much!" Nao smiled in relief. "Even just for talking to me...!"

Sara tilted her head curiously. "You want to trade that badly?"

Nao nodded timidly and looked down at the ground. "Yes...I've hardly traded with anyone. I've got quite a lot left... I thought...it was about time I start trading these."

"Well, we're pretty much in the same boat so no worries!" I assured her with a small smile.

That seemed to soothe her a small bit. "I'd it's okay with you two...I want you guys to be who I trade with..."

"Really? Why with us?" Sara pried.

The collage student looked at her as if she just asked what 2 + 2 was. "Huh? I mean...there's no one I could feel more safe with than you two."

"You say that like it's the most obvious thing." I remarked. "Why is that??"

She rubbed her wrist and glanced around the room nervously. "If it were Sou or Alice, um...it'd be a little scary..."

That's valid. I don't think she's seen how nice Alice can be.

Suddenly Nao straightened up and gave us a deadly serious look. "But... Why, I wouldn't even be opposed if we traded our own clothes!"

EXCUSE ME??

I felt my face turn red. "W-What!? Where did that come from!?"

"R-Right..." Sara played with her bangs, her face a bit red as well.

However, our combined embarrassment vanished as soon as it came when Nao rubbed her wrist, anxious once more. "Please don't hold back on me... If you can't do it, just turn me down. It's kind of scary, but...I can consider asking someone else."

"Oh, you don't have to do that!" I interjected. "Just let us think it over!"

She nodded and stepped back a bit.

I looked over at Sara. "What do you say?"

"Personally? That's a fair amount of tokens but I'd trust her with them." She remarked.

I shrugged. "True... Fuck it." I turned my attention back to Nao. "Let's do the trade."

"Thank you so much!" She breathed a sigh of relief. "You're both very kind..." She got out her wallet and got 30 tokens before motioning for me to take them.

I did just that and handed her ours. "Here. Use them wisely."

"I will!!" She responded with a smile and left after pocketing her wallet.

As soon as she walked off, Sara grabbed me by the elbow.

"Let's go get the thing." She whispered and motioned to the Ruined Corridor with her head.

It took me a slight second to connect the dots before nodding. "Okay, let's go." I whispered back.

With that, we quickly headed of to the Ruined Corridor and into Kanna's First Trial Room.

Fingers crossed that we get that phone with no problems.

Though, that might be wishful thinking...

Snapping out of the negative train of thought, I opened the door into the empty room and walked in with the older girl.

"Alright, I don't think anyone saw us. Let's look for it." She instructed.

I raised an eyebrow. "You hid the phone. Don't you remember where?"

"I panicked a bit when Sou came in and just slid it on the ground... I didn't really look where it ended up..." The ginger girl admitted sheepishly.

"It's fine, I get it. Let's search." I assured her before getting down on my knees and looking under the bed closer to us.

I heard Sara's footsteps walk in the direction of the bed farther away and continued looking.

...

"Not here. Do you see it?" I called out as I kept looking, just in case.

"...No...?" Sara anxiously responded.

I looked up at her. "What do you mean no??"

"I can't find it anywhere!" Sara responded, panic clear in her tone.

I scowled. "Shit...Don't tell me-!"

"What're you looking for?"

FUCK

Sara and I both got up from the ground and looked at the intruder.

"Sou..." I acknowledged, narrowing my eyes at him.

Sou smirked and pulled out the phone from the pocket of his jacket. "Could it be...this phone?"

Sara ran over to me in a panic. "Sou...!!"

"Of fucking course you took it. What else was I expecting?" I remarked through gritten teeth and glared at the teal haired man in front of us.

He grinned, very amused. "Huh? Guess I hit the bullseye."

"Urk...!!" Sara glared at him as well. "What do you intend to do with that phone!?"

Sou fixed his beanie, acting way too casual for the situation. "What should I do, indeed? Maybe I'll toss it..." His eyes narrowed, clearly threatening. "Or maybe I'll go show this cruel message to Kanna."

"Don't you fucking dare, you piece of shit!!" I growled. "This isn't a fucking game!!"

He chuckled. "...As if. I wonder, was that YOUR aim?"

"What do you mean...?" I asked, still just as pissed.

He straightened up. "...Heh. Just think about it, would you? Do you think she could write that message while on death's door?" He pointed to the phone which was switched off in his other hand.

"Huh!?" Sara tilted her head, signaling for him to elaborate.

Sou did just that. "I recall there was a time limit in the First Trial, wasn't there? Would someone who didn't want to die give up so soon and leave a message? And one with linebreaks and capitalization... Ahaha." He laughed, though there was a distinct lack of humor in it.

"Get to the point!!" I barked out, not wanting to deal with his bullshit any longer.

"There's only one answer here." To my surprise, he smiled casually. Almost as if we weren't having a stand off. "This message was fabricated."

Sara's eyes widened. "Fabricated...!?"

I rolled my eyes. "Well duh!! Kanna's sister wouldn't write that shit after saving her!"

"Amazing, huh? This is definetly trying to drive Kanna into a corner..." He scowled. "Just a solid ball of malice. Some people will do anything to harass."

I raised an eyebrow at that.

Where the hell is he going with this??

His gaze turned serious. "...It was you two, wasn't it?"

"What!?" I shouted in outrage.

Sara was just as pissed. "You're saying WE wrote that message!?"

"...I saw it all unfold." He smiled. "(F/n) came over to distract Kanna and I while you, Sara, set that phone in place under the bed."

S H I T

"Yeah, but that's because we didn't want Kanna to see it! We wouldn't write that shit!!" I protested.

He tilted his head with a smirk. "Hid it, huh...? It's obvious that Kanna would search this room eventually. The feeling that maybe her sister left something behind to guide her here." His expression turned all too smug. "A message on a phone she found herself.. She'd be taking it head-on. A heaping help of despair. And this time, it'd totally destroy her."

"That's why we came back to retrieve it, you piece if shit!!" I yelled back in his face.

I do not have the patience to deal with this man, Dissociative Identity Disorder, amnesia or whatever the fuck aside!

A shit eating grin appeared on his face. "I wonder if you two intended to offer Kanna a hand in the depths of despair, to make her depend on you?"

"Cut it out already!!" Sara growled.

"You're acting as if you didn't do the same to her, trading her Sacrafice Card for a Commoner Card back in the bar!!" I pointed out.

His eyes widened at that.

"Yeah! We figured that out, you fucking prick!!" I confessed.

His eyes darkened. "It's not like you have anymore than conjecture to prove that. Besides, I can't help but be mystified by your methods if gathering trust."

He grit his teeth. "Ever since the Main Game...I've been wondering..."

Sara's eyes widened. "Since...the Main Game...?"

"Wait...you said you didn't remember that whole thing." I suddenly remembered.

He grinned. "Yep, I lied about losing them."

THIS OFF-BRAND WALMART KOKICHI/NAGITO WANNA BE-!!

"L...Lied...?" Sara was in disbelief.

"I WILL FUCKING KILL YOU!!" I threatened, losing my composure completely.

"What was I to do? Certainly couldn't let myself be singled out if I wanted to get Clear Chips." He chuckled. "Of course, I didn't expect to trick you, Sara. Much less you (F/n), who hates me oh-so-much. But as long as I could find just one total sucker, that would be plenty."

I was mentally kicking myself. "I should have known better than to give a scumbag like you the benefit of the doubt!!"

"Well, doesn't matter. You two and I aren't going to get along at this point. When I'm around everyone else... I'll act the same as before." He grinned cockily. "Ahaha...!"

Fuck, I forgot about that! The others don't know!!

"As if they're going to believe you over us, you piece of shit!!" I shouted this to convince myself more than him.

He tilted his head. "You've got a ghastly look on your face. Are these your true colors, (F/n)?"

"Alright, fuck this little charade!!" Without thinking, I lunged for the phone in his hand.

His eyes widened. "Waugh! What...!?"

I quickly grabbed the phone, hit him in the elbow of the arm that was holding it with my own and shoved him to the side.

He was surprisingly weak for an adult male.

However, what I didn't expect was...

-------------------
Live, Kanna
Even on your own

Don't cry
I'm sorry we couldn't go together

I love you,
Kanna
-----------------

"What the-?"

"Give it back!!" Unfortunately because of my shock, Sou was able to snatch the phone from my hands and step further away.

"Sou, why did you change it?" I asked.

"...Whew." He completely ignored my question and glared at me like I was the most horrible and foul creature to ever exist. "I won't let you have your way."

And just like that, he booked it down the hallway.

"GET THE FUCK BACK OVER HERE, YOU RAT!!" I ran after him without thinking twice.

I heard Sara run after us as well. "W-Wait!!" She just barely managed to catch up to me.

"No time for waiting!! We gotta get that fucker!!" I pointed out as I dashed for the longe.

How is he so fast and so weak at the same time!?!?

Suddenly I felt a pull on my hood.

"Urk!!" This caused me to stop and look back at the culprit. "What the fuck, Sara!? He's getting away!!"

She grabbed me by the shoulders and turned me around. "Listen to me!! What do you think will happen if you beat the shit out of him in the lounge?? People will just be more confused and no amount of explaining will give anyone enough evidence to believe either side!" She pointed out. "It will be just like the Main Game all over again!!"

Godamnit why does she always have a point!?

"Well it would sure as hell make me feel better!! I'm so fucking tired of that psycho messing with us and trying to get our friends killed!!" I shouted, tears of anger rolling down my face.

"(F/n)..." She looked down at me with a sympathetic look in her eyes.

I wiped my tears with the sleeve of my hoodie, more only following. "We've been trapped here for fucking DAYS now a-and I'm trying to be positive b-but it's just so hard and him doing this type of shit only makes it worse and-!!"

Sara pulled me into her chest for a hug, rubbing soothing motions on my back. "Shhh... Calm down..."

"Hah... Ugh..." Tears kept streaming down my face. "I-I just want to get out of here Sara... I'm so sick of this s-shit...sob..."

"I know... I know..." She rocked me back and forth in an attempt to comfort my outburst.

We stayed like that for a couple moments.

I had been holding back my sadness these past few days for the sake of our friends. I wanted to keep a brave face for them since I wanted us all to get out of here alive and well.

But for fuck's sake, I'm still in high school! I'm not supposed to be able to handle these situations! And neither is Sara!

The girl pulled away from me and wiped my face with the sleeve of her blazer. "You feel a bit better?"

I simply nodded.

She tilted her head. "You sure...??"

I nodded again.

"Okay..." She sighed. "Do you think you're calm enough to tell be elaborate on what you said about Sou changing the message...??"

I took in a deep breath. "I guess...??"

"Take your time." She encouraged.

With that, I shakily told her about Sou changing the message from the negative one to a surprisingly positive and encouraging one. I tried remembering the exact words but it was hard to do so since I was a ball of rage when I first caught sight if it.

She rubbed her chin. "Interesting..."

"I just don't get why he did it. I-It doesn't make sense...!" I pointed out as I finished wiping my eyes and nose. "Ugh, I wish I could just smack the shit out of him and make him make sense..."

The ginger girl snorted. "If only it was that easy."

"Yeah..." I sighed.

Sara looked down at me in concern and pulled a few stray strand of hair behind my ears. "You gonna be okay to continue?"

"I have to be, don't I?" I pointed out.

She pressed her lips in a thin line. "Just tell me if you need to take a breather at any moment, okay?"

"Okay." I nodded my head.

Sara smiled, laced our fingers together and squeezed my hand in encouragement. "That's the spirit! Let's get going."

I giggled. "Alright!"

With that, we headed back to the lounge.

--------------------
[Author's Note]

Ahhhh Sou the bitch is back everyone!!

I bet you all missed him acting like a little shit ^^

Yeah, I both love and hate that fucker.

Just a friendly reminder that (F/n) does not call Sou "Rat" with the intent of being racist. That's just what I call troublemaker characters.

The Danganronpa fan base calls Kokichi and Nagito rat bois as a joke, why don't people call them racist for it?

Sorry, just had to address this since I'm honestly getting a bit sick of reading comments with people telling me about this.

No offense to y'all of course! It just gets frustrating to read the same types of comments over and over again. I appreciate that you guys wanna shut down actually racist people.

Anyways, happy belated Easter to you guys!! Get ready for part 2 of the Sou confrontation later this week!! :D

Kaja is finished here ^^

[Word Count: 2740]