"Is there anything you wish you had right now?"

...

Slowly, your eyes fluttered open, but you weren't sleeping on the sofa chair like you had been before the incident. You were sitting on the floor next to where Joe laid in bed. You were confused. For a moment, you couldn't remember how you got to that position. You moved over, taking yourself further away from the sleeping boy.

Last thing you remembered was... Someone had destroyed the Mishima AI... and then...

And then... the two of you went back to Joe's room. But... When you went to sleep on the chair, Joe spoke to you.

~ * ~

"I'm scared." He said after a few minutes of sitting in the dark. You opened your eyes only to see more of it.

"Of what?" You responded, shifting in the seat.

Joe was silent for a moment, "...Joe?"

"I'm scared... that we can't trust each other." He said quietly.

You hesitated, "Is it because of the Mishima AI?"

You hear Joe shift, possibly nodding his head, then say, "...Yeah. But it's also... Kai seemed so... trustworthy. Even though I knew he was my stalker,' it seemed so obvious that he was against our kidnappers... He hit Miley. I couldn't believe Sou when he said it was Kai's laptop... and I wouldn't have, if Kai hadn't confirmed it. But since... Since then... I've been wondering if we can trust anyone, now."

"We?"

"...Our group. I don't know if anyone else is working with our kidnappers, and there's no way of knowing. I don't even know... If I can trust—" You. "—Myself."

...What?

"Why not yourself?"

"I can't remember everything. I don't remember what happened after I got to my bedroom. I couldn't remember Kai being in my life longer than only a few months. And... What if I'm the reason why this is happening? Why were Sara and I the only people Kai mentioned? ...And my name was on that paper... I still don't know what it means."

The room fell silent. You didn't know what to say.

"Y/N,"

"Yes?"

"I don't know what to do. I'm scared."

Then you stood up. You walked over next to his bed and sat down, resting your head against the mattress.

"What,"

"I'll keep you safe." You said.

"And how do I know you aren't with the kidnappers?"

"You don't. You don't know that, and neither do I. But I trust you, and I trust myself. If you can't trust yourself, I hope you can at least trust me."

~ * ~

"I already told you, I don't know anything about it." Reko barked at Keiji.

"Alright," He responded, "I believe you. I'll move on to Alice." He stepped back with his hands up, slowly stepping away.

Reko bit her lip and looked the opposite way Keiji went, leading her to look at you and Joe exiting his bedroom.

"Hey, Joe." She called, getting his attention, "Get over here."

He turned to look at you before walking ahead and meeting up with Reko. You noticed Gin sitting on one of the sofas nearby, so you sat next to him and started chatting.

"Hey, Gin. How did you sleep?"

"Not great, meow. Hey, can I ask you something?"

You smiled at him, "Of course."

"Why did you and Joe come out of the same room?"

You inhaled deeply, then exhaled upwards, making your hair fly on your face, "Great question. We slept in the same room."

"Why? You guys have your own bedrooms, right?"

You nodded your head, "Yes... but Joe was... apprehensive... about being alone, so he asked me to stay in the room with him."

"Ohhhh, meow." Gin said, "I understand, woof!! I hope big bro Joe is okay. He has a lot of pressure on him, meow..."

"...Yeah. He does. So, I'll try to help him in any way that I can."

"Is there anything I can do to help?" He asked.

You thought for a moment before responding, "Just keep being yourself, Gin."

He smiled at you, "I think I can do that."

~ * ~

After a few more minutes, Reko and Joe came back to the lobby. Gin had fallen asleep next to you, so you gently sat up from the couch and approached them. "Where have you guys been?"

"That's not important," Reko said simply, before walking away.

You watched her leave before turning back to Joe with a confused expression, "What was that about?"

"Um... I don't know..." He put his hand in his pocket and pulled out a glove, "Somehow I got one of her gloves... But she's already wearing two gloves. I think... something might happen soon."

"...Like what?"

"I don't know. Something... not good." He paused, "Do you want to do an attraction?"

"...Sure."

~ * ~

Once finished with the attraction the two of you walked out to the lobby to see Nao sitting on the couch in distress.

"Nao?" Joe called, and she turned to look at him. She immediately stood up and walked toward the two of you.

"Can I ask you guys something?" She avoided eye contact.

"Of course, Nao." You said.

"Has Reko been... acting strange, do you think?"

Joe looked at you, and you looked back at him.

"You two are so in sync," She commented, "I assume that's a yes? Or is it a no and you think I'm crazy?"

"I'm not sure... She's been a little strange." Joe said, "I've only talked to her a little, but... I did have a strange interaction with her earlier."

You cleared your throat, "Sorry, but what exactly do you mean by strange, Nao?"

She took a deep breath, giving herself a moment to think, "She's been... colder. I suppose she's always been a bit cold to some people, but like... She's been acting like Alice doesn't exist and won't even look at him. And furthermore... she's been like that to everyone, maybe not as bad, but... She doesn't seem to be acting much like herself. She's acting like such a... pardon my language... asshole."

You nodded your head, "I personally haven't talked to her much, but I did interact with her once earlier and I did think it was strange the way she responded to me."

"...Did you guys know about the wound on her hand?"

We both just looked at her in confusion.

"...Forget it. Please, forget I said anything! I'm... gonna go somewhere else." She slowly left the room and headed to her bedroom.

"So it's not just us," You said, "Who thinks something is up with Reko."

"...I guess not. I didn't say anything to Nao, but—"

Q-Taro's booming steps leading into the lobby cut off Joe's words, "Hey, you two!!" He said, "Come with me. I have something important ta show ya!"

He led the way through the ruined corridor and squeezed himself through a hole in the wall. Once you'd made it to the other side, you took in the scenery and actually couldn't because it was so damn dark. The only light in the room was a few buttons some feet away and the light coming in from the crack.

Eventually, your eyes adjusted to the dark and you were able to see the room. It was surrounded by piles of rubble and there was a giant machine in front of you that had the buttons emitting light. You assumed it was a computer because of the giant monitor on the wall.

Another person entered the room and you turned around to see that it was,

"Keiji," Joe said.

Keiji shushed him, "Watch your step but try to be quiet. We don't want anyone else to know about this spot." He cleared his throat, "Q-Taro found the laptop."

You turned to look at Q-Taro, "Did you really?!"

He smiled before grabbing something from behind a pile of rocks, "I did."

"How?" Joe asked. "The last time we had it was on the first floor. Ranger said it was going to be confiscated. How did it make it up to the third floor?"

Q-Taro shook his head, "I'm not sure, but all I know is that this is definitely Kai's laptop."

"Maybe someone brought it here, like a floor master, thinking we wouldn't find it or hoping we would find it," Keiji suggested. "Or maybe, Kai brought it here himself."

"We need to check it," Joe said firmly. Q-Taro handed him the laptop, and Joe only took a moment to find a clear spot on the ground to sit before opening the lid.

The three of you gathered around Joe, but it seems only you noticed the depleted battery, "Joe, watch the battery."

He glanced at the battery but didn't say anything about it. He instead said, "Sou said the password was my last name, so..." He quickly typed Tazuna, but froze when the bar shook and a text box stating that the password was incorrect popped up.

"Incorrect," Keiji read, then stated, "If Kai was really the one who brought the laptop up here, he probably changed the password. It's probably something to do with your family, again."

Joe went silent and slumped back for a minute. He seemed to be thinking. You wanted to suggest something to try, but you weren't sure if the laptop would lock you out if you guessed incorrectly too many times. Eventually, Joe sighed, repositioning the laptop on his lap and entering his guess for the password. After a minute, the laptop opened.

Fantastic.

A few files and folders popped up in front of the black screensaver Kai had set. "What should I check first?" Joe asked, scanning the screen.

"Emails. Let's verify what Sou said during the main game. Let's see if we can trust him at least a little." Keiji decided.

Joe flicked his finger on the trackpad and opened up the emails, only to see exactly what Sou had described.

"So he wasn't lyin'," Q-Taro said in disbelief.

"...He wasn't lying, but he read them in reverse order. Joe, check the received emails."

As Joe went through the emails between Kai and various other people, he came to the conclusion that one of the people Kai was in contact with was Joe's father, who seemed like he might've known something about the death game. He also noticed that the most recent email was from the day that you all were kidnapped.

"It seems Kai betrayed the organization... including one of his parents. He was trying to trick them, and keep Joe and his family safe, but... All his emails were going through to the organization, so he wasn't able to hide anything from them."

"I thought... He was stalking me." Joe said quietly, "I should've saved him... He was... trying to protect me..?" He turned to look at you with a worried expression, but you could only see it for a moment before the laptop screen went dark, no longer illuminating his face.

He sighed, standing up, as does the rest of your small group. Joe turns to Q-Taro and says, "I want you to take care of this. Don't let anyone take it." He said sternly.

Q-Taro nodded his head, "Will do. I'll hide it safely in my room, then go do an attraction." He took the laptop and ran off, shoving it inside of his jacket.

"Don't tell anyone about ant of this," Keiji said darkly, "I think it'd be better if we kept this a secret for now."

~ * ~

When you arrived back in the lobby, you decided to take a nap on one of the sofas. However, when you woke up almost an hour later, Joe was sitting next to you, looking disturbed.

"...What's wrong?" You said. He flinched only a little, then turned to look at you.

"...Good morning." He mumbled.

"...Joe, what happened?"

"I just... I... uhm... I saw... Sara... again."

You sat up, sitting with your hands in your lap, gazing at Joe and waiting for him to continue. You wanted to reach out and hold his hand — selfishly. Selfishly, because there was more than one reason.

Of course, you wanted to comfort him, but as well... you wanted...

"A few minutes after you fell asleep, Kanna asked me to go with her to a secret room she found..." You worried that he would follow up with something about the rubble room, "It was a first trial. Specifically... hers.

"She freaked out... and left the room so I could search alone, and I found a smartphone which supposedly has a message from her sister before she died."

"...That's sweet."

"It wasn't." He said, tone more serious than its previous somberness. "It was... horrible." He spat the word out like venom, "It was a hateful message... And then she almost came in and saw it."

"Almost?"

"Sou distracted her. Him and Alice showed up behind her at the right time. Then they walked off..."

"...What about... Sara?"

Joe looked at you, then turned away, but continued speaking, "When I walked by them, Alice said he'd heard of... a ghost in the Medical Room... it was a doll. But it was Sara as a doll.

"Safalin tried... convincing me to take her... it, back to my room so it could... give me some emotional relief."

Don't tell me you did, you wanted to say.

"Of course... I turned down her offer... I wouldn't... It wouldn't relieve me." He turned back to you, "But I'm glad... I have you here. I feel... A bit more relieved than I imagine I would feel if... I was alone."

Your heart skipped a beat,

And you hated that it did.

~ * ~

Later in the day, you and Joe went back to Kanna's first trial room to retrieve the phone, but when you arrived, it was no longer there.

"I... I swear I left it... right next to this bed..." He said, starting to get worried, "Did she come back for it?"

"She didn't." You heard someone say, then Sou entered the room with a small device in his hand, "But I did." He smiled.

"...Then you must've seen the message Kugie left for Kanna." Joe assumed.

"Her sister?" He questioned, then laughed, "Yeah, right. Joe, that message was clearly fabricated. Do you really think Kugie would spend her last moments alive trying to write a hateful message for her sister that she'd probably never see? I can see through your little façade. I know you left that message for her. I watched you place it under the bed for her to find."

"Why... Why would I do that?" Joe asked, genuinely curious as to what Sou was thinking.

"You must've known that Kanna would come back to search this room herself. Perhaps... you were planning to break her mind and lend a helping hand when she was at her worst... to force her to depend on you. Make her do whatever you want."

"Are you insane?" You whispered. It was a question, but really, you already knew.

"Since the main game, I've—"

"Stop." You said holding a hand out, "You said you lost your memories of everything... from after you had the laptop. You... You're a liar." You said. You thought about everything he'd done.

You thought about his mention of Sara yesterday.

You were infuriated.

Sou laughed, "I thought you already knew? You're dumber than you look, Y/N. The group knows of your hatred for me because of your little shit-talk yesterday. They won't believe you if you tell them. So I'll continue on!" He said, "Pretending like I've simply forgotten." He turned around, but looked back to smile at you, phone still in hand.

You furrowed your eyebrows and bit your lip. Sou began to walk away, but you walked up to him and hit the phone out of his hand surprisingly easily. He made a sound of surprise, and you ran over to where he dropped it and picked it up. You stared at the screen, "I won't let you give this to... her..."

The message left on the phone was not one of hate, as Joe had previously stated.

In fact, it was probably one of the sweetest things you'd ever read. You stared at the phone in shock — too much shock to notice Sou coming up to take it out of your hands.

Swiftly, he took it back, holding it to his chest protectively. "...Sou?"

"..." He slightly bit his lip, "...I won't... let you have your way." Then ran off into the darkness of the hallway.

"...What's wrong?" Joe said, walking over to you and grabbing your arm gently.

You weren't sure what to say, exactly, "He changed... the message, I think."

"...Really? Then why did he... put on such a show?"

"...I don't know. It said... stuff about loving her and wanting her to continue living on. I can't imagine that being the message you talked about before."

Joe's eyebrows furrowed in confusion, "...Yeah... he definitely changed the message."

...Is Sou really not that bad of a guy?

"We should follow him." Joe decided.

~ * ~

"Dammit, Q-Taro, talk to me!" Keiji shouted at Q-Taro, who was sitting on one of the sofas, looking defeated, hiding his face underneath his hat.

"What's wrong?" Joe said upon the two of you entering the room.

Keiji groaned, then looked at Joe, "The laptop was taken."

"Already?" Both you and Joe said simultaneously.

"...Sorry." Q-Taro mumbled.

"How did you lose it?!" Keiji turned back to Q-Taro, getting angrier as time went on.

"...I gave it... ta Kanna... I figured that since it was dead, it wouldn't matter!"

"You knew she was working with Sou." You said. "You knew that, and yet you handed it to ehr anyway?!" You raised your voice, "Did you think at all about this decision?!"

"That was... Kai's dying gift." Joe said quietly, "And now we've lost it. There's no way we'll get it back. Why did you... do that?"

Q-Taro stayed silent.

"And you have nothing to say about it," Keiji said coldly, "Fine. That's totally fine. Stay silent. I'm going after Kanna."

Q-Taro pointed, "She's in the Ruined Corridor." He said quietly.

Keiji looked to the entrance of the room, then back down at Q-Taro with pity, "I don't know what's gotten into you, Q-Taro, but I've clearly overestimated you." Keiji stomped off to the Ruined Corridor, and Joe looked at you.

"I'm going to go with him. Do you want to come?"

You thought, then turned to look at Q-Taro.

"...No. I'm going to talk to him."

Joe nodded his head, "Alright."

~ * ~

"You wouldn't understand." Q-Taro said for the millionth time. "It's not... none of your business."

"Yeah, and like I said, I'm not four years old. If Kanna is old enough to understand whatever happened between the two of you, then I am plenty old enough to understand the same shit. Come on, Q-Taro. Don't just... sit there."

"Then I'll leave." He said simply, standing up and walking away without saying anything more. A few moments later, Keiji walked through the room silently, and only a second after he left, Joe entered, sitting on the couch next to you.

"What happened?" You asked.

"Basically, Keiji's drawn a line in the sand. Kanna gave Sou the laptop, and Sou gave Kanna the phone with the message..."

"Was it the same one I saw earlier?"

"...I have to assume so. She didn't seem distraught. She seemed very happy about it."

"And the laptop? You said Sou has it. Is it really that big of a deal if it's dead?"

"Sou has a charger. So, yes. It does matter."

You worried. Of course, you'd been worrying the whole time, but it was more so now. "But there aren't any outlets."

"Yes there are. We have the lamps in our room that are plugged into outlets. A little dark won't hurt anyone if you have the light of a laptop screen to keep the room illuminated."

"...Fuck." You whispered.

~ * ~

"...Nao? Are you in here?" Joe called into the Monitor Room. Slowly, he entered and made his way to the Prize Exchange room, and you followed quickly behind him. The two of you found her standing in the room with a disc in her hands. "Nao?"

She turned to look at you guys, then whispered, "I bought a victim video."

"Is that what Gin was talking about when he said you looked troubled?"

"...Gin?" Her question lingered in the air, "...I suppose. Uhm, could you guys... watch it with me? I don't... want to do it alone. I figured... such a grueling tape could have... a hint to our escape in