Chapter 13 - Consent to Terms is Done Carefully
"Uuuuh..."
Again... the ceiling is visible. Lately, I've been seeing too much of the ceiling. Probably this is my room. Recalling my consciousness, memories of competing with Oowada while boasting about the sauna come to mind.
'I didn't expect Oowada to suddenly bring up his secret at that timing.'
Honestly, I was completely exhausted, and when my head wasn't working, Oowada suddenly went into overdrive, which left me quite flustered. But it seemed like he gave a satisfactory answer, so I'm glad. By the way, how did the match turn out?
Just as I was about to get up from my seat to find out the outcome of the match, the intercom suddenly rang. I quickly got dressed and opened the door, and it was Ikusaba.
"Ah, Kei. It's getting late at night. I have to switch shifts with the kids on the upper floor..."
Wait, it's already night? Oh, right. The result of the match isn't important right now. I hadn't even thought of how to explain my secret yet, and time has already passed like this.
"Um... Okay. Then I'll get ready and go up. You first..."
"Ah, wait! Hold on! We haven't finished talking yet. Why are you closing the door? W-Wait... Are you embarrassed to talk to me...?"
Ikusaba turned her gaze sideways and blushed. If I hadn't known her true identity, it would have been quite cute. But knowing her identity made my heart uneasy.
"...So, what is it that you want to say?"
My lukewarm reaction made Ikusaba feel awkward, so she scratched her head and got to the point.
"Well... I have to switch shifts, and I don't think it's good to be alone on the second floor at night, so... I was wondering if you could stay with me..."
This is some nonsense. The person who was camping in the middle of a battlefield can't suddenly ask to stay with someone because the school at night is scary.
Probably, this is a trick to prevent me from planning something or collaborating with Kirigiri during the night. Damn it. How do I refuse?
"Um... What about the other kids...?"
"Oowada is like a beast, and I don't like him. Seres is unpredictable, so having him around is scary. Kirigiri just rejected my request a moment ago..."
"Even if I stay with you, it won't help much..."
"Well, it won't help much, but if things get bad, I can use you as a meat shield?"
"No... What kind of..." Haa, fine.
My dumbfounded reaction was taken as agreement, and Ikusaba started rambling to herself.
"Anyway, I should say this first... I suggested we be alone, but please don't misunderstand. I'm not a sad girl? Even though I look like this, I cherish my body!"
Indeed, running around on the battlefield is my daily life, so it makes sense that I cherish my body.
"Great, it's decided! Please take care of me tonight!"
"Wait, I didn't say I'd agree..."
Ikusaba suddenly grabbed my arm and started dragging me to the second floor. I tried to shake her off, but Ikusaba's superhuman strength made it useless. Hey, you're a gal now? Using super high school level military strength is cheating...
"Hey, wait. Where are we going together?"
Just as I thought I was being dragged without escape, Kirigiri blocked Ikusaba's path.
"Haa? I said I'm scared to spend the night alone, and Kei agreed to spend the night with me, so we're going up to the second floor together?"
Ikusaba said this brazenly, and Kirigiri glared at me. No, this is a misunderstanding...
"I didn't say that..."
Just as I tried to explain, superhuman strength was applied to my arm. With tears welling up from the immense pain, I made an as aggrieved expression as possible. Kirigiri sighed and said,
"Fine, then I'll join too."
"Haa? A moment ago you said you didn't want to..."
"That's when it's just two of us. If we said from the beginning that three of us would be together, I would have agreed."
"But..."
"Why? You're scared to be alone at night, right? Then three would be better than two. What are you hesitating for?"
"Ah, yeah... I guess so...?"
In a split second, Ikusaba couldn't control her expression and made a cold face, but soon she smiled as if nothing happened and agreed.
"Then, on the second floor, we'll spend time together..."
"Hey~! Kei! It's time to go up to the second floor... Huh? What are you doing there...?"
Just as Kirigiri was speaking, Oowada suddenly jumped in from behind. Oowada looked at me, Ikusaba, and Kirigiri with a dazed expression, then immediately looked betrayed.
"Y-You... Before, when you comforted me, you said you were a lone wolf, right?! But what's this situation!?"
Butter started overdriving. No, please don't escalate the situation...
"We just decided to spend the night together as three to prepare for any possible threats."
Kirigiri said this coldly, and Oowada finally relaxed his expression and said,
"Hah! I was wondering what, then I'll join too. It'd be more helpful than that weakling."
Kirigiri and Ikusaba's expressions hardened coldly. Something was off, so I quickly shot Oowada a look to watch his back, but Oowada winked with a 'How about it? I'm the only one, right?' expression.
"Oh my, what are all of you doing here?"
Unexpectedly, Seres appeared too. Seres listened to Oowada's story and declared that since she would be left alone, she would join to avoid being the most dangerous one.
"....."
"....."
"Well, if five of us gather in one place, murder won't happen..."
Ikusaba and Kirigiri's atmosphere became even colder, while Oowada scratched his head and spoke casually.
With that, I thought it would be difficult to spend tonight, and I went up to the second floor with the kids.
.
.
.
.
We on the second floor chose the library as our base.
"So, what are we going to do from now on? Just gather here and spend time?"
"That's why we came, right?"
"No... Well, staying up all night like this is a bit...?"
"Then, how about reading the books around us?"
"Ugh... I can't stand books. At least if it were comics."
Oowada and Seres's banter continued, while Kirigiri and Ikusaba maintained a cold atmosphere. Watching them, I felt a chill down my spine, so I ignored them and turned my attention elsewhere.
Upon thinking, there was a laptop in the library. I searched everywhere to see if it was still here, but it seems it's not here now. Probably Fujisaki took it to install Alter Ego. Alter Ego is a Joker card in many ways, so I have to protect it somehow.
By the way, there are really a lot of books here. I don't particularly like books. My hobbies in the 21st century were games and community activities. Of course, I read a lot of web novels, but I haven't read paper books in a while.
Still, I can't just sit blankly in the library all night, so I reached out to read a book for the first time in a long time, but Kirigiri started speaking to everyone.
"We don't have much information about the second floor compared to the kids on the first floor. Instead of spending time gathered here, I think it's better to split up and gather information."
"That's a good idea, but how are we going to divide the members?"
"How about dividing into two teams of two and three? One team investigates while the other stays in the library, and they switch after the investigation."
"Good, then how do we decide the team members?"
"That..."
Kirigiri trailed off and shot Ikusaba a look. Ikusaba also shot Kirigiri a look, and Seres sighed and said,
"Haa... No matter how we decide, someone will be dissatisfied, so how about drawing lots?"
"....."
"Well, everyone agrees, right?"
So, we decided to divide teams by drawing lots.
"Oh my, Kei-kun. We ended up on the same team? Please take care of me."
The lot result was that Kei and Seres were on the same team, and Kirigiri, Ikusaba, and Oowada were on the other team.
"Then, would you please go first? I have something to talk to Kei-kun about."
"....."
"....."
Kirigiri and Ikusaba walked out of the library in silence. Eventually, Oowada also scratched his head and left the library later, leaving only Kei and Seres in the library.
Eventually, Seres, with a satisfied expression, sat gracefully on the chair and spoke to me.
"Kei-kun, do you like gambling?"
Gambling? I wasn't interested, but I hadn't had the chance to try it much. Well, I had done sports betting to some extent. Anyway, I told Seres that I hadn't really tried it, and she smiled and muttered,
"Hmm... I see... Nice."
Honestly, Seres is a bit difficult to deal with. With other kids, I can have honest conversations and show my human side once I get close, but with Seres, I don't know if she's building rapport or not, and she always maintains a poker face, so I can't read her mind.
"Would you like to make a bet with me?"
"What? Suddenly...?"
"Well... I like making bets... and I need Kei-kun right now."
"Um... What are we betting on...?"
"Well... How about the winner fulfilling the loser's wish...?"
"Well, that's fine, but there's no binding force..."
Since I have a wish-granting power to use on Seres, it's a very attractive proposal. But without binding force, it's just a hollow bet...
"Binding force? I can handle that!"
Monokuma suddenly popped up with sparkling eyes and shouted.
"Oh my, Monokuma-san. What is that about?"
"Simple, just add it as a school rule?"
Wait, what? Can we just add rules like that?
"I just updated the electronic student handbook, so check it! By the way, this rule only applies to and is visible to the two of you!"
The bet made with the mutual consent of Kei and Seres has binding force, and those who do not follow the result of the bet will be executed.
"Binding force is resolved too? What will you do? Are you going to make the bet?"
"....."
Honestly, making a bet with someone who has the talent 'Ultimate Gambler' is crazy. But Seres is unpredictable even in the original work, and she's the type who commits murder. Right now, I don't have any clue on how to persuade Seres, so I guess I have to do this crazy thing.
"Alright, let's do it."
"Oh my, you seem more spirited than I thought. Good. Then let's decide the subject."
Seres, after thinking about the subject, eventually smiled and spoke.
"By the way, Kei-kun has quite a lot of trust among the students, right? You get along with most of the students without pretense."
"Um... Is that so? But why suddenly?"
"If someone with that much standing has a secret they can't tell, isn't it a shocking fact that must not be revealed?"
"....."
Seres looked at my stiff expression silently, covered her mouth with her hand, and laughed.
"Hmph, how about this? Let's make it the subject of your 'secret'. When your secret is revealed, if within 24 hours, more than half of the students, or if you still have a solid position, more than 2/3 of the students excluding yourself support you, you win, otherwise you lose. What do you think?"
More than 2/3... It's definitely a heavy number...
Anyway, if I can't persuade that many people, it will interfere with winning the killing game in the future.
"Alright, decided. Might as well try it."
"Nice and clean. Then, let's apply it from now on."
"Huu... Sure."
I calmed my troubled mind and thought about tomorrow's plans... Suddenly, Monokuma popped out and started laughing loudly.
"Upurupurupuru... Kei-kun is an idiot?"
"Why are you going crazy again?"
"That's because it's natural that Seres is included in the 15 students! Upurupurupuru! You've already failed to persuade even one? Upurupurupuru..."
Ah, I see. Damn it.