Your POV:

    With a determined expression on my face, I opened the door of my dormitory room, slowly stepping out of it. I could see that the area was still pretty silent, mostly everyone else in their rooms.
    Normally, there was an exception to that though. Kaito, Shuichi, Maki, and I normally trained during the nighttime, so we always were out of our dorms for at least a little bit. The last exception as of now was Kiyo, who was tied and handcuffed Ryoma's Ultimate Lab.
    My mind drifted to the last time that we trained together. It has been a little bit, and a lot has happened since then. Ryoma was recently brought back, and honestly... I was still glad that I was able to save him. Even if the circumstances seemed very unlikely and impossible... I still didn't know how it worked.
    That's when I started thinking about the night I brought Ryoma back. I made an offer to him that night. I invited him to train with Kaito, Maki, Shuichi, and I to work on his confidence. I honestly wondered if he'd be there, or if he would want to be there.
    I turned my attention over to Ryoma's dormitory door. I had one of two choices. I could either just leave him alone and head over to train, or I could ring his doorbell and formally invite him to come train with us. While my mind was telling me that I should just leave him alone, I was still worried about him.
    I wanted so desperately to help him find his reason to live, and to be honest, this is one of the ways that I would be able to make sure that he stayed safe.
    With bated breath, I walked over to Ryoma'a door, and with a nervous look on my face, I rang the doorbell to his dorm, and I waited a few second. It felt to me that time was going by slow at that moment. It was almost like I could hear a clock ticking in the background of my mind. That was normally how my anxiety treated me.
    I soon saw the door open, revealing Ryoma. He seemed to let out a small sigh as he popped his classic candy cigarette into his mouth. He looked like  he didn't really want to see anyone, and honestly, I could very much understand that. It would take some time to get him to open up.
    "It looks like you were actually serious about your offer, huh?" Ryoma asked, "I didn't think that you were actually serious, but I guess I was wrong."
    My mind instantly went slightly blank after that. I honestly didn't get why he didn't think I was serious. The way he cried that night... it was genuine... so why did he think I was lying...?
    "I want to help you Ryoma..." I muttered, "I don't want to force you to come with me... but I formally invite you to come training with Kaito, Maki, Shuichi, and I..."
Ryoma seemed to look to the side in response to that. I knew very well he probably wasn't used to hearing words like that. I knew that in the past, he wasn't opposed to escaping together, and being friends once that happened. Since he died though, it was awhile before I was able to even save him.
    "Why should I say no?" Ryoma asked me, "I mean after all... you never gave up on me, so I shouldn't just say no."
    My eyes widened slightly in response. A smile formed on my face when he said that. The emotions that were shed that night... the tears that were shared. The realization that he was starting to find his reason to live, slowly but surely. It made me truly happy.
    "I think that a good reason to live would be to be able to be friends with you and everyone else," Ryoma explained, "I know it may not be much, but that's enough for me..."
    "Ryoma," I told him, "you are already my friend..."
    That was the truth. My mindset on meeting others was a mindset not many had. I recalled explaining my thoughts on how I looked at others with Rantaro many times. I thought it would ease Ryoma's mind if I told him what my thoughts were. That's something I felt like he deserved to know, because I cared about him.
    Another reason I wanted to tell him how I looked at others... was because no matter how much time went by, he still reminded me of myself. Not really having a reason to live in the beginning. Suffering from depression. I still suffered from that, and it was going to take a lot of time to truly believe the good things others see about me. It was going to be the same case for Ryoma most likely.
    "Ryoma, I don't judge others based on their past..." I told him, "I know it may sound cheesy or something like that, but my opinion is that I look at a person based on who they are now... not what they were. Yes the past is the past, but it shouldn't define you. I know that you were in prison for single handedly taking down the mafia... but I know you had a good reason for that. I won't press into details about it. You can tell me whenever you are comfortable with sharing it, but my point is... that doesn't define you... you aren't some cold-hearted murderer, and I know that... so don't call yourself a murderer."
I knew every single word coming from my mouth was most likely cheesy in some way, but that was how I truly felt. If I judged someone based off of their past, then I would be judging Maki too. I don't want to treat anyone any differently due to their past, and I feel like some of the others should try and think the same way.
    I knew very well that both Maki, and Ryoma did murder, but I knew that they didn't want to be that way. While I knew that Maki grew up in an orphanage, I didn't know how she became an assassin. That was one thing she never told me, but I had a feeling that it was forced.
In any case, I knew that some of Kaito's mannerisms were rubbing off on me in some way. That was based off of believing in anyone, but that feeling did get stronger. No matter how someone's past was, it didn't define them. I knew that very well.
"That's your opinion though," Ryoma explained, "not many share the same opinion as you."
"I know that," I replied, "but I prefer to see the present in others, not the past."
"That's nice of you," Ryoma replied, "but we should quit the chatter right now. If we are doing this training thing, we should probably head there now."
I knew Ryoma was right about that. He was right about what we should be doing now. Kaito and Maki never really liked it when people arrived late to training. I could feel myself growing nervous on what they'd say when we showed up.
To be honest, I was more scared of Maki's wrath, because I knew when she gets angry, it wouldn't be fun for anyone. Just remembering how she reacted when Kokichi revealed her talent to everyone... it resulted in him almost getting his neck snapped. Chances were though, she wouldn't do that to me.
I knew I was getting into my head again, so I slapped my cheeks to get my head straight. Sometimes I needed to give myself a little boost to think straight. I looked over at Ryoma as a small smile formed on my face.
"Alright, let's go," I told him.
"Lead the way," he replied.
With Ryoma following behind, we made our way out of the dormitory building. I was honestly glad that Ryoma agreed to this. He normally never wanted to get involved with the others here, but that was slowly changing. I was so glad that I never gave up on him. If I would've given up, none of this would be possible. That was the truth in this case.
The walk to the courtyard was silent as I saw Kaito, Maki, and Shuichi waiting. I knew that I had to be there for them to start. Hopefully Kaito wouldn't be opposed to Ryoma joining the nighttime training. Kaito knew that Maki needed help with confidence as well, considering her background. He probably would see Ryoma the same way.
"Hey guys!" I called out, "I have Ryoma with me to join our training!"
After saying that, we approached them, and I had a smile on my face, doing so. Shuichi looked slightly shocked that Ryoma was with me, and Kaito had a similar expression.
"(y/n), you're late!" Kaito announced, "but now I can see why. You want Ryoma to join us, right?"
I nodded in response to Kaito's words. I knew that at least Shuichi and Kaito would be shocked, so I felt like an explanation was needed for this. I'm sure he knew that this would be beneficial to him in any case.
"You remember after the second trial when we saw Ryoma's motive video...?" I asked, "well, I want to help Ryoma have a reason to live... to get his confidence back up, so would you be okay with Ryoma joining us?"
Kaito seemed to smile in response to that. He gave a thumbs up to me as he had his usual carefree smile. Almost instantly, I could tell what his answer was going to be. He was going to say yes, and help Ryoma as well as Maki, Shuichi, and I.
"It looks like one of my sidekicks is starting to take after me," Kaito said with a smile, "of course Ryoma can join. He has the same potential as the rest of you, so he will now join us from now on!"
    "Thank you, Kaito!" I exclaimed in response, "it's actually been a little while since we all trained together!"
    "Yeah... it's been so long since the four of us trained together," Shuichi replied with a smile, "and (y/n) even brought a new member which is amazing."
    "Might I ask, why haven't you guys been training together for a little while?" Ryoma asked in response.
    I wondered how I could tell him the reasoning for that.... because I knew it would be embarrassing for Kaito if I was the one who said it. I knew very well the reason why he skipped out on training so many times during the time that the Necronomicon was the motive.
    That reason was the fact that Kaito was scared of ghost. That actually reminded me about something... I was kinda surprised that Kaito agreed to Ryoma joining us, considering he was brought back, using the Necronomicon. I was surprised that Kaito didn't think about that...
    "...It's because Kaito was scared of ghosts," Maki replied, "and I'm a bit surprised that Kaito hasn't realized that the Necronomicon was used to bring Ryoma back..."
    'She didn't even hesitate...' I thought nervously.
    Maki didn't even show the slightest sign of hesitation when saying that. I knew Maki was one to speak her mind, and I guess that was what she was doing. She even brought up the point that I was thinking about.
    I could instantly feel the sweat rolling down my face with the accompaniment of a nervous smile. I wouldn't have been able to say that to Kaito because I didn't want to insult him in any way, but she didn't even stutter.
    "I wasn't scared!" Kaito exclaimed with a terrified expression on his face, "don't make me think about it! And plus, Ryoma isn't even a ghost!"
    "Calm down, Kaito," Ryoma stated, "if any of you doubt my state of life, I can prove it to you."
"N-No Ryoma, don't do anything like that, I know you're alive," Kaito stuttered in response, "a-anyway, let's get started! First off, 100 sit-ups!"
At this point, I basically sighed in relief from those words. I most certainly sucked at push-ups. It was to the point where I didn't even know how I was able to do fifty or one hundred of them each night we did training. No we were starting off with sit-ups.
I knew that sit-ups were easier, but they would still take a lot out of at least me. I looked over at Kaito. There was one thought going through my mind as I looked at him.
'You better not procrastinate on your routine either...' I thought.
"You guys better get pumped up!" Kaito exclaimed, "especially you, Ryoma! You better give this your all tonight!"
"I guess that's fair," Ryoma replied, "just warning you all, I was pretty athletic."
"Ryoma, I would think that you would still be athletic," Shuichi replied nervously, "I mean you managed not to get caught by Gonta that one time, so you have good stamina and flexibility."
"I guess you're not wrong about that, Shuichi," Ryoma replied, "well then, let's get this started before I change my mind."
I nodded lightly in response to that. The five of us lined up on the grass to start the usual routine. It would normally be Kaito, Maki, Shuichi, and I, but now Ryoma was here, and soon enough he would see how Kaito got people out of their shells.
Kaito managed to help Shuichi and I, and he even got Maki to hang out with us more, to show us the real her. I knew Kaito would do the same for Ryoma, and that's what made him such a good friend. He never stopped believing in others, and while I had a similar mindset, Kaito strengthened that emotion and feeling into my soul.
With those thoughts on my mind, I started doing my sit-ups. I looked over to Shuichi, and it seemed like we both had a similar pace in terms to sit-ups.
"One... Two... Three... Four!" Shuichi and I exclaimed out.
While Shuichi and I were counting our reps together, I knew that Maki would get done way before us. Chances were, it would be the same with Ryoma too.
"Twenty-five, twenty-six, twenty-seven, twenty-eight..." Maki and Ryoma counted.
I was looking at both of them with shock. Ryoma was managing to keep up with Maki, and it basically told me how much stamina the both of them had. In a way, those two did have some things in common with their pasts... hopefully Ryoma and Maki could become friends too.
Even though Maki and Ryoma were moving faster, Shuichi and I were doing our reps while watching them. We were still way slower than Maki and Ryoma, but we were going at our own pace.
"M-Maki, Ryoma... you two are way too fast..." Shuichi breathed.
"S-Shuichi," I breathed, "we have to focus on our own reps..."
    "R-Right," Shuichi breathed in response.
    It seemed that a few moments of silence went by as we did our reps. It had probably been about fifteen seconds since I had last talked. In that time, I did around five reps total, but it didn't compare to Maki and Ryoma's speed in that regard. I kinda felt envious of them that they were actually able to go that fast, but I also remembered that I wasn't used to much physical activity.
    "When you really think about it, the universe is impossibly vast," Kaito explained, breaking the silence.
    I turned my head slightly as I continued to do my reps. I noticed something. Kaito was just laying on the ground, having his arms over his head as if he was going to be doing his sit-ups, but he wasn't. All he was doing was staring at the sky, not a muscle moving aside from his mouth when he spoke.
    This was honestly normal for me now. Whenever we trained together, Kaito always seemed to just do some of the workout, and then stop it all together. I honestly wondered what the reason was for that. I didn't have time to worry about that now. I needed to say something.
    "Kaito, less talking, more working," I told him, "you need to stop only doing *some* of the workout..."
    "Yeah," Shuichi replied, "that means you should be doing your sit-ups!"
    Kaito seemed to stay silent for a moment after Shuichi and I confronted him about what he was doing. We still did our sit-ups regardless of not getting a response right away from Kaito, but we were still waiting nonetheless.
    "...Kaito?" Shuichi asked.
    A few moments later, Kaito stood up slowly, his body hesitant. After standing up, he expressed to everyone that he needed to use the bathroom. After that was said, Kaito slowly began making his way back to the school building. I was slightly confused about that.
   "There are bathrooms in our dorm rooms," I explained, "so why is he going to one of the school bathrooms?"
    That wasn't the only thing that was confusing to me. Watching Kaito head over to the school bathroom... he didn't seem in too much of a hurry to get there. Many things were going through my mind... was there something bothering Kaito?
    "It beats me," Ryoma replied, "but he doesn't seem in much of a hurry, that's for sure."
    "...I agree with that," Shuichi told Ryoma in response, "...I wonder what's up with him..."
    "Do you guys want me to go check on him?" Maki asked, "I just finished doing my one hundred sit-ups, and Ryoma just finished too."
    "Don't you think that might be a little too sudden?" I asked nervously.
    "I kinda agree with (y/n)," Shuichi replied nervously, "maybe you shouldn't go... Because it's... the boys bathroom..."
    Maki seemed to be slightly in shock after Shuichi brought up that fact. I didn't seem to think about that either. Since Kaito was obviously headed to the school, there was a girl's bathroom, and and a boy's bathroom.
"...Did that not occur to you?" Shuichi asked in response.
Maki's expression soon turned from shocked to a piercing glare. Maki's glare intimidated me quite a lot, but I was honestly used to it more than I was before.
"...Do you want to die?" Maki asked Shuichi.
"Ah, sorry!" Shuichi exclaimed in response.
"Well, it's fine..." Maki replied, "by the way...this seems like a good time to ask, but..."
Maki seemed to grow silent for a moment. I wondered what she was going to ask. Whatever it was, it was obviously directed at Shuichi. I knew that for a fact. However, I didn't expect what was going to happen next...
"Do you... like Kaede?" Maki asked.
(Notice how instead of "did" it's "do"... Kaede is still alive XD)
"Huh?" Shuichi asked in response.
Shuichi seemed to have a shocked expression on his face when Maki asked him that question. His face seemed to grow a bit red in response to that as well. Just by looking at his expression, I believed that he had a crush on Kaede.
"Well... I assumed you didn't, because that would be weird," Maki explained, "but then I realize it wouldn't be so weird. Don't get me wrong, liking someone you just met, and in this situation nonetheless is strange... but then I realize that (y/n) got into a relationship with Rantaro, despite the strange events of this whole ordeal..."
I was wondering why Maki brought this up in the first place... she even mentioned the fact that I got into a relationship even though this killing game was happening. I had no idea why Maki was bringing this up.
"Just forget I asked, I honesty don't even understand why I'm taking about this..." Maki muttered, "just a word of advice. If any part of you likes Kaede, you should tell her..."
"I-uh... appreciate the advice," Shuichi replied, "but I am curious... why are you bringing this up...?"
"...No reason. I was only curious," Maki replied.
"Maki, you're being a bit cruel... you ask me a personal question, give me advice, but then you act like you don't care—" Shuichi said before...
"Hey!" I heard Kaito exclaim, interrupting Shuichi, "were you guys making out while I was gone!?"
    I couldn't help but think about how perfect Kaito's timing always was. He always seemed to pop up at the right moment, no matter what happened. In any case though, this was probably the best time to ask if something was going on with Kaito.
    "No, nothing like that happened," Ryoma explained, "so please relax."
    "*Anyway*, what's wrong, Kaito?" Shuichi asked, "why did you leave all of a sudden?"
    "I was wondering that as well," I muttered nervously, "are you alright, Kaito?"
    "Nah, I drank too much water before training," Kaito explained, "but I emptied myself out, so I'm good now."
'I don't think we needed the detail...' I thought in response to that.
I honestly would've just been happy hearing that he just drank too much water before training. That was easy to understand. I shook my head to get my mind off of that.
"So let's continue where we left off!" Kaito exclaimed, "Let's get pumped up for sure this time!"
"Kaito, I don't even recall you doing even one sit-up yet," I replied, "so you have no room to talk..."
"So, from the beginning!" Kaito exclaimed, "of course, you guys are going to restart with me!"
"...I already finished doing my one hundred," Maki explained with a sigh, "and so did Ryoma..."
"Heh, don't be so cold! *no road is long with good company,* right?" Kaito asked.
"I honestly don't think that phrasing applies to this, but okay..." I replied with a sigh, "my back is going to be killing me tomorrow."
"This is nothing," Ryoma muttered, "I normally did way more than this to stay in shape."
Once again, we started doing our sit-ups again. We had to start from zero, so I knew my back was going to hurt in the morning. I knew my muscles would be sore. We normally started at around fifty, but now we were doing one hundred. One of the things I noticed was the fact that Kaito still wasn't doing his sit-ups.
"Let your sweat wash away all your sadness, fear, worry, and hardships," Kaito explained as he once again stared at the sky, "just start moving your body and your pain will become memories before you know it."
"...Then you should train, too," Maki explained.
"I'll be honest, your words are inspiring, but if they say you need to train too, then do it," Ryoma muttered.
"Well, I don't have anything to worry about," Kaito replied, "cuz, I mean...I'm Kaito Momota! Luminary of the Stars!"
"H-Hey, Kaito! That's no fair!" I exclaimed.
In the end, Kaito convinced us to do the rest of our sit-ups. I somehow managed to do all of them, but Shuichi sadly didn't finish. Maki and Ryoma did go neck to neck again. It was honestly nice to see Ryoma actually giving something a chance.
We all soon went back go our dorm rooms, but as I got back, I was still honest to god bothered by the Flashback Light. Everything about it still bothered me, but in all honesty... what could I possibly do to solve it... it was just a mystery after all.
With a small sigh, I could feel the tiredness wash over my exhausted body from the training. In a way, I always enjoyed it because I could fall asleep right after. I collapsed in bed, without much thought, and after that... sleep consumed my very soul. I was honestly hoping things would get better, but honestly no one could be to sure about that...

Hello all! I'm here with another chapter, and guess what! I'm publishing early because I wanna be nice! In any case, I kinda thought that this would be a nice surprise for all of you!

Fanart competition is still on for any of those who are interested. In any case, if you all want, I'll switch the premises to be the prediction for chapter five, because chapter five is where shit actually hits the fan.

If I'm switching to chapter five, you all will have at least 2 months to create Fanart for your predictions, and the prizes stay the same! Since chapter five is when things get very very interesting, I want to see what you all think will happen!

One more thing! YALL TURNED MY COMMENTS SECTION INTO TIKTOK! I SWEAR TO GOD I DIED LAUGHING AT THAT! AS A TIKTOKER, I HAD TO JOIN IN!

It's a lie!
3 to the 1 to the 1 2 the three
Entertain me peasants
Nah, neeheehee.
What's wrong, hey hey!
You got some balls lying to me.
I lie a lot, so you'll need to jog my memory.

Y'all get the jist. In any case, I hope you all enjoy this chapter! I'll see y'all next week. Ciao- yuki_no_fuyu