He realized I wouldn't listen to him so he grabbed my arms, pulled me back and let nqrse be taken into the infirmary.

And all I could do was watch.

I slomped down against the wall next to the infirmary, slowly sliding onto the ground.

I didn't know what I should do.
What if he doesn't wake up?
What if he leaves me alone?

A million questions flew through my head.
And the only way I knew to vent was to cry.

I just let the tears flow out, not giving a single damn about the others around me.
If I had to cry, then I had to cry.

It was just to much.
The abduction by Kuma, the hatred from everyone, the mistrust of my best friends, the gas-leaking-case, I can't go back to my own room, everyone is mistrusting each other, and now three of us are laying in the infirmary...

My tears started flowing faster by the second until I suddenly realized something.

... Isn't that what Kuma wanted?

Isn't that exactly what he wanted?

Everything he did, wasn't it just to break me?
To make me vunerable and eventually give in to his seducting words?

But what was his reason behind all this?
Did he want to take me onto his side?

Two feet in front of my eyes brought me back to reality.

"(Y-Y/N), I-I'm so sorry, I-I-"

"Amatsuki? Is everything okay...?"

I tried to sound as calm as possible and put on a smile, to not expose my own worries and to calm him down.

"I-I stole the card... I stole your card...! Please, I'm so sorry, I didn't know why I did that, I...!"

He fell onto his knees in front of me, crying uncontrollably.
His chest heaved and sunk with every whimper and my jeans were soon stained a dark blue.

I was overwhelmed so I just closed my arms around him, holding him closer than I ever did before.
His sobbing didn't get less, I wouldn't stop embracing him before he calmed down.

"I... I did it for Kashitarou...", he suddenly spoke up, his voice trembling with every syllable.

"I thought... Since he didn't trust you... That he'd be more comfortable knowing you couldn't and wouldn't do anything to harm him... I know you're not a bad person, and I wanted him to notice that! I don't want my friends to fight..."

I started stroking his head throughout his story, a smile forming on my lips.

"I understand, Amatsuki. It's fine, really. Everything is fine..."

With a last sob he nodded and got up, dusting off his clothing.

"I'm sorry..."

"Don't sweat it."

When Amatsuki and I parted ways I heard the others talking about the mysterious collapsing of the three males.

"It has to be Kuma. That bastard's been getting to us since the beginning.", Urata exclaimed harshly.

"Yeah, you're probably right. But what should we do about it?", Sakata asked him.

"... You don't need to do anything."

"... Huh?"

Araki encountered us from a distance, his expression deepening.

"... It was me."

"What!?"

"I poisoned them. "

"What are you saying, Araki!?"

Senra was more than overwhelmed and the other's eyes told the same story.
I could understand them-
I felt like vomiting, too.

"To be honest, I was sick of (Y/N) clinging to nqrse, so I tried to get rid of her through the gas. Sorry, un:c, that I dragged you into this."

"That was your idea, too!?"

un:c was ready to charge at and attack Araki, but the others held him back.

For now.

"You're crazy!!"

"... I know."

"Execute him! Immediately!"

"What!?"

Now it was my time to intervene.

"You can't be serious, un:c! Think about this rationally! What good would it bring to kill someone, especially in this situation?"

"I don't care! I can't live with this maniac under one roof!"

"... I'm sorry, (Y/N), but he's right. I wouldn't want to live with him either after hearing this."

"You guys... I..."

"Take him to the hall.", un:c commented.

"No!! Wait!!"

I tried my best to push everyone aside and save Araki, but I wasn't strong enough.

"Please!! At least wait until nqrse woke up!! Please..."

Not even a minute had passed and they heard nqrse yelling from the nurse station.

I got in, anxiously explaining the situation to him while everyone else waited outside, holding Araki tight so he wouldn't even try to escape.

"nqrse, I... I-I'm so sorry, I..."

"... What happened?"

"Th-They want to execute Araki..."

"... What?"

His eyes widened in shock and sadness spread over his face.

"What's the meaning of this!?"

"He told us... That it was his doing. The gas, your poisoning... He was angry that I was so close to you..."

"Araki..."

"I tried to stop them! I can't let your best friend die! I can't...!"

"... Can I talk to him one last time?"

"Are you nuts!?", un:c yelled from outside.

"He tried to kill you!!"

"... Let him talk to him goddamnit. I'll keep watch."

"He tried to kill you, (Y/N)!"

"He won't. I promise. Please, let him in."

"..."

The others parted, letting the tall male through.

"nqrse... I'm sorr-"

"Don't apologize. It's okay... We all do mistakes sometimes, right?"

A single tear rolled down his cheek as he said that.
It was obvious the circumstances under which they were talking right now were destroying both of them, but there was no way to save the situation now.

"... Do you remember how we met? And what we've been through? I'm really glad I got to meet you, Araki. Thanks for being my best friend these past years. I'll never forget you, I promise."

"... Why are you so nice to me... (Y/N), I'm... I'm sorry for doing this to you. Please, take good care of him for me."

"... I will, promise."

With one last smile exchange Araki left the room and got escorted into the hall where everything began.

And now ended.

It was silence between the two of us.

We were left with our own thoughts, trying to process what is happening and what we should do next.

"I'm sorry all this happened... If we weren't here in the first place-!"

Before I could complain further I was dragged down by my shoulders, two strong arms holding me in a tight hug.

"nqrse..."

"I miss him already..."

"... I can't let this happen."

I broke free from his embrace and ran as fast as I could to the others.
Maybe it wasn't too late yet.

When I arrived, everyone was silent and Araki's lifeless body was laying on the floor.

"No... No!! Araki!!"

I fell on my knees in front of him, holding his head up.

"You idiot! You can't leave nqrse alone! You have no right to! You need to stay by his side! Please... P-Please..."

Everyone was staring at me in pity, making no move to stop me.

I realized he was dead not too long after.
I released his body and ran back to my friend.

I locked the door behind me, panting from exhausting and crying through the pain.

"(Y/N)...? What happened?"

Shima and Soraru seem to have woken up by the time I came back.

Soraru got up and walked over to my crouching form, but as he was walking he fell over, I could barely catch him before he hit the cold ground.

"Please lay down again, Soraru. I'm fine..."

I put him onto the bed, sitting down beside him.

"Now, what happened?"

nqrse and I looked at each other and after getting a confirming nod I started explaining things to the other two males.

When we explained everything in detail the dark-haired's shook their heads in disappointment.

"How could they do this? That's definitely going too far.", Shima spoke up.

"I agree. They had no right to. On the other hand, us being here already is insane..."

We agreed with Soraru's statement, nodding in sync.

"It's getting late, we should probably go to sleep..."

Everyone also agreed with that and so I went over to a fourth bed and lay down on it.

"I'm staying here. Someone needs to watch over you. And I don't want to see the others... Goodnight."

I was about to close my eyes but then I felt the mattress shift and a warmth on my back.

"I'll sleep here with you.", he said and grabbed my hand, intertwining it with his.

I didn't complain, especially since I know how much he needed this intimacy right now.

"Yeah... Goodnight."

I could feel something wet dripping onto my cheek before I closed my eyes and fell asleep.

_________________________________________

Sorry for slow updates!!

I'm very occupied with translating at the moment, and nqrse streams mostly in the evening (in my timezone) and the evening time is also where I write
Gotta have priorities

Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this chapter and, well, the first death...

It's time to open the next voting!
Please feel free to choose whoever you think would make the most interesting or emotional death!

A: Eve
B: Sou
C: Kashi
D: Sakata