Crying and Then Laughing
Upon entering the boiler room, immense dust and mold greeted us.
"Wow... It's pretty filthy..."
"When will it all be cleaned up...?"
The three of us stood there, staring at the boiler room that would take us all day to clean properly, at a loss for words. How on earth had Kokichi Oma managed to clean this place all by himself and even set up traps?
"Well... then... let's divide the areas and clean them. It'd be better than cleaning randomly."
"Then, I'll clean the rooms except the banquet hall."
"I'll clean the banquet hall."
"Then... I'll clean the hallways...?"
I persuaded Nanami while making sure to prevent any traps from being set up by saying I'd clean the rooms except the banquet hall, Kirigiri would clean the banquet hall, and Nanami would clean the hallways.
"...Alright, then let's start!"
Nanami energetically declared the start of cleaning, grabbed cleaning tools, and began scrubbing the hallways corner by corner.
"Why did you volunteer to clean?"
"Uh... I actually kind of like cleaning..."
"....."
Kirigiri glared at me sharply. A chill ran down my spine, and I started making excuses.
"I... I just have a feeling something's off here... like something bad might happen..."
"But there was a reason, right?"
"U-um..."
"From now on, just say you have a reason. I trust you."
Kirigiri declared firmly. Her cool demeanor was so captivating that I found myself staring at her with my mouth slightly open.
"...Stop staring at me like that and go do your own work."
"Y-yes..."
Kirigiri was so cool. I committed that image to memory and headed back to grab my cleaning tools.
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"As expected, something's weird. Why have you been acting so anxious since earlier?"
Kirigiri muttered worriedly, watching my retreating back as I tried to hide my unease.
"If I leave you like this, you'll probably end up getting hurt somewhere... I can't allow that. I need to fix it before it gets any worse."
Kirigiri fiddled with something in her pocket, vowing that she'd teach a lesson to anyone who hurt what was important to her.
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"Haa... This is tough..."
After cleaning the office for a while, I stepped outside and saw Nanami sighing heavily as she diligently scrubbed the hallway.
"How's the cleaning going?"
"Huh...? Kei? Ah... I'm trying hard, but... it's harder than I thought... In games, these events are over with just a few taps..."
"Don't push yourself too hard. We're all doing this for everyone's sake. Take it easy."
"Yeah... Thanks for worrying about me..."
Nanami answered with a bright smile, but a strangely gloomy atmosphere clung to her since earlier.
Probably because she was still worrying about the fact that she was a 'Watcher' she didn't even understand.
Maybe I should share some information about the Watcher with her right now. I took a deep breath and whispered softly to her.
"Nanami, you seem really down lately... Is something wrong...?"
"A-ah... t-that..."
"Um... I think I can guess why you're like this..."
"W-what are you talking about...?"
"Actually..."
"Ah! Nanami and Kei, you're here!"
Just as I was about to tell Nanami that I was a Watcher too, someone interrupted our conversation in the hallway.
"K-Kokichi? What are you doing here...?"
"I drew straws to help with the food preparation, and I got the short straw... What bad luck for an Ultimate Lucky Student... Hahaha..."
Damn it. He showed up here somehow, didn't he?
"Ah, I see. Then..."
"Ah, Kei! There you are? I need to use the kitchen, but it's so dirty. Can you help me?"
I was trying to come up with a reasonable excuse to get Kokichi out of here when Nanami's voice called out from afar. Damn it. This wasn't the right time.
"Kokichi, then I'll come help too..."
"No, I was supposed to move the ingredients... I'm sorry I can't help..."
"Well... I guess I have no choice..."
Since I had to stop Kokichi Oma's murder attempt anyway, I might as well give him a counseling session this time.
"Then, I'll head to the kitchen to clean."
"...Yeah."
I left Nanami with a troubled expression behind and headed to the kitchen with a heavy heart.
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'That line just now... Could it be...?'
Chiaki Nanami felt her heart racing as she recalled the situation from earlier.
'He introduced himself as the Ultimate Counselor and talked to me while I was cleaning, then suddenly gave me a strange look and said he could tell my secret.'
Startled, I stammered, but when the other students entered, he stopped talking, glanced at me, and left.
Based on everything, it seemed he had overheard my secret about being a Watcher.
I tried to stay calm, but the anxiety only grew.
'What exactly is a Watcher?'
No matter how I thought about it, there was no reason for someone who had forgotten their memories from the same perspective as the other students to be a Watcher or a traitor. But then, what were the rules in that student handbook?
'I don't know... I don't know anything... This is too hard...'
Struggling with an incomprehensible situation and now bearing the stigma of being a Watcher I didn't understand, my heart felt like it was breaking.
'I can't think only negative thoughts. If I just hold on a little longer, help will definitely come...'
Suppressing the tears threatening to spill, she tried to maintain a positive mindset while continuing to clean, when someone suddenly spoke to her.
"Nanami, can I talk to you for a second?"
"...Ah, Kokichi? You're not gone yet...?"
"Yeah, I have something I want to say to you..."
"Something to say...?"
"You're a traitor, right?"
At Kokichi's sudden declaration, Nanami was so shocked she dropped the cleaning tool she was holding and shouted.
"W-what...!"
"Haha, I hope you don't get too flustered..."
"I-I don't know what you're talking about...!"
"That's harsh... You don't have to be so wary with someone on the same side..."
"What...?"
"Actually, I'm a traitor too..."
".....!?"
Looking at Nanami's panicked expression, Kokichi smiled quietly and began to speak.
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"The kitchen is this dirty? How did you manage it!? This is an insult to cooking!"
"....."
"First, let's wash these dishes... Ah, you can wipe the floor. Make it as white as new panties...! Ehehehe..."
"U-um..."
Kokichi tossed out his usual lewd comments and started humming while scrubbing enthusiastically.
At first glance, he looked like a carefree gag character who couldn't possibly be capable of murder, but his heart was probably quite heavy right now.
But since he wasn't showing his true feelings outwardly, blindly accusing him could backfire. So, I decided to play along with his jokes for now and subtly probe his real feelings.
"If we clean properly, we can still cook well, right...?"
"Um... Honestly, the space is too small to store my amazing dishes... but if I pour my overflowing passion into this cramped, tight space..."
"Uh... Kokichi, what are we cooking today...?"
"Well, something that can easily send two or three people to the afterlife with just a taste... I mean, 'send to the afterlife' in this context..."
"No no, that's enough. If it's food made by an Ultimate Chef, it must be amazing. By the way, can you cook alone...?"
"Don't worry, don't worry! These dishes are so easy I can do them with one hand tied behind my back..."
What's going on with this guy's brain that he connects everything to lewd jokes?
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"So this kitchen tool is basically a sex toy for teasing food! The more vigorously you stir, the softer and tastier the dough becomes..."
"....."
"Huh? Kei, why do you have such a drained expression? Like you just had a wild night and lost all your energy..."
Hearing Kokichi's mindless lewd comments made my brain feel like it was rotting. Since I couldn't endure it, I stopped thinking and silently continued cleaning. Then Kokichi asked me.
"By the way, Kei... how far have you gone with her...?"
"...Huh?"
"What? You know! You can't just be holding hands with her, right...!"
"No... what are you talking about..."
"I was secretly following you around and watching since you got close, but nothing happened, so you must have had secret meetings at night..."
At the mention of 'secret meetings,' old love letters from my school days flashed through my mind, triggering PTSD. When I frowned, Kokichi scratched his head and continued.
"Did I go too far...? But I have to know everything, especially about this kind of thing...!"
"No, even if you say that..."
"If I tell you, I'll do anything...! By the way, 'anything' here means what you think..."
With a disgusted expression, I tried to ignore Kokichi's nonsense, but then I realized this was a good opportunity. I looked at Kokichi seriously and began to speak.
"If you really want to know, I can tell you a little..."
"...gulp."
"In exchange, tell me about your recent worries. I don't mind what it is."
"...Suddenly?"
"Uh... I'm an Ultimate Counselor, after all? I get restless if I don't counsel kids... Lately, things have been hectic, so I haven't had time, but since we're here, while cleaning, I can listen to your worries."
"Counseling too..."
"Not that. Serious worries."
"....."
At my firm tone, Kokichi's playful demeanor changed to serious, and he began to show a troubled expression. This guy was cheerful on the surface but had a lot on his mind.
"Hey... If you didn't know how your precious person spent the last few years, how they lived, what would you think?"
"...Precious person."
"Yeah, parents or friends... In your case, your girlfriend would count too. What would you do in that situation?"
When I closed my eyes in silence, Kokichi sighed and said what I expected.
"Yeah, even as a counselor, these questions are tough..."
"I don't care."
"W-what...?"
"I said I don't care."
"W-what do you mean...?"
Kokichi started using dialect in his confusion. I looked straight at him and said.
"Even if you can't know how they're doing for years, even if you worry about what they're doing now, you can't know right now anyway. What can you do? If you worry, it only hurts you. So I won't worry."
"Y-you... you don't care about your precious person...! Even if your girlfriend is in that situation, you don't worry!?"
"Of course, I'd be extremely worried."
"R-really! You say you're worried too, right? Honestly, I'm so worried right now I might go crazy!"
"Yeah...?"
"Yeah! If only I could... right now...!"
"So, right now, what?"
"D-do it... right now..."
Kokichi started sweating profusely. He was probably worried about his mother, who had gone mad trying to find out what happened to her and ended up committing murder. He looked quite anxious. Good, let's give him a little shock.
"Worried enough that you just kill a convenient person, hide the fact, make all the other students die too, and escape alone?"
".....!"
"If you escape and meet your precious person, that would be wonderful. The 17 sacrificed for that meeting won't even be remembered. Right?"
"A-ah, no, that's..."
"Of course not. You're not that selfish, are you?"
"....."
Kokichi calmed down, sat on the floor, and started sobbing.
"B-but I... I have to go back... My mother... My mother who isn't in good health... Alone..."
"...You're not the only one in that situation. Everyone is in the same situation as you right now."
"Everyone... people..."
"I'm the same. I have 14 friends who were the only ones I became close to while living my life. But because their memories were erased, I don't know what happened to them or what they're doing now."
"You... you too..."
"Yeah, honestly, every night when I go to bed, my friends' faces flash before my eyes and I go crazy. They were the kids I went through life and death with just recently. Without them by my side now, it's so empty, right?"
"B-but... then how..."
"I already said I don't care."
"H-how can I not care...!"
"To overcome this situation and meet them again, you can't let your emotions consume you. Even if it means being cowardly and ignoring it, you have to grit your teeth and not care. That's the only way to have hope of overcoming this situation."
"....."
"The other students are in the same situation as you, but they're trying to overcome it in their own way, right? Holding this party is part of that effort."
"....."
"But if the most important person in charge of this important party shows such weakness, what are you trying to do? You have to show the best cooking for everyone's unity and add warmth and hope."
".....!"
"Kokichi Oma. You always make lewd jokes and lack common sense, but even you are precious to the kids. There's nothing else that can comfort and make them happy like food."
"Comfort... make happy... Yeah, food is... that kind of thing..."
"Yeah! So stop pretending to be weak and get up and finish preparing the food. If you keep slacking off, you'll ruin the party!"
"...Ha, I guess I'm really an Ultimate Counselor."
Kokichi brushed himself off and shouted.
"Great!! I'll show you the best food that will make everyone speechless! Mom, I'm coming! I have to escape here... and show you the best food...!"
Even though tears were still streaming from Kokichi's eyes, he was smiling brightly instead of crying.
There's a saying that if you cry and then laugh, you'll have hair on your butt, but if you can laugh like that so refreshingly, it shouldn't matter at all, right?
Thinking such a pointless thought, I too smiled brightly, happy for once.
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"B-but... Kei, you have to keep your promise, right?"
"Huh? Promise...?"
"T-that...! How far have you gone...!"
"Ah..."
Damn it. I thought he changed because he was being serious earlier, but apparently his true nature didn't change. All I had done was hold hands... What could I say...
"Kei, is the kitchen cleaning done?"
"Ah, Kirigiri... It's almost done anyway... What about you...?"
"...I'm almost done too."
"I see... But why are you suddenly here...?"
"Close your eyes and stick out your neck."
"Huh...?"
"Hurry."
Following Kirigiri's instruction, I closed my eyes and stuck out my neck. Kirigiri started putting something around my neck.
"...What is this?"
"A panic alarm. Wear it from now on."
"Uh... Thanks, but why..."
Kirigiri came close to me and whispered in my ear.
"It's a collar."
"....!"
After saying that, Kirigiri calmly walked out of the kitchen.
"...You don't have to tell me. I roughly figured out how far you've gone with that just now."
Looking beside me, Kokichi was bleeding from the nose.
...Mmm.