One week before arriving on the island.
"Aragi... are you sure you'll go there alone?" Tsubasa's voice sounded like a last chance to rewrite the script before the final credits rolled. "Better to think now than regret later. Well, you know... eternity, it's long."
"I've already decided," I answered, as if my decision meant anything to the screenwriter. "I won't deny that I could use your help... However..."
And here I paused to sound a bit more tragic. "I don't want to see your blood spilled before my eyes. Just wait. And hope that I can return from there with victory."
"Still, don't forget who besides you will be participating there. Our main enemy... no, not even an enemy. An enemy of all humanity. This is our last chance to defeat the Creator. It's time, after that first battle, to end this meaningless war with meaning."
"Yes..." I nodded, though she wasn't looking. "I won't let you down, Tsubasa. After all... this is our last game. How can I even allow myself to lose?"
"Did Ougi tell you about his position on the island?"
"Uh-huh. The mansion's mistress will probably block magic... or do something along those lines."
"So he'll give up his power... deliberately. What a noble move. What a foolish act. But the witch, she's no fool, you understand? She knows you can't take away what can't be taken. This is already their second game. And if she loses a second time, she'll sooner blow up the mansion than allow it."
"Remember, Aragi. In this game you can only trust yourself. Only yourself. I know your bad habit of saving everyone and everything, but the stakes are too high."
"Yes, I understand. My world's life. And... if I lose, it's scary to imagine what an enraged busty vampire will do to me. Morally, of course. Or physically. Or both."
"Kh... You just... You compared me to her?! To that old hag who sends curses?!"
"Ah-ha-ha-ha-ha... I like it when you get angry over trifles. I'll return..." I said with enough drama to probably fill an entire episode. "I promise."
...
"And also... どんな天気でも,君を愛している."
Present time - the mansion.
"Did I really fall asleep that fast..." I opened my eyes, as if there was necessity in it. Sleep felt like an instant, though... no, doesn't matter.
"Did I wake you, Aragi?"
"No, not at all. Just... a dream, quite vivid. Did I sleep long?"
"About an hour. Not much. Sleep more if you want. I'll stand guard at the door for now."
After we dispersed to our rooms, I suggested a guard system — one stays awake, the others rest. And in rotation. Sounds logical. Almost like a school project, only with the risk of dying.
"Nah, won't fall back asleep. You rest now."
"Where are you going?" Enua asked, suspiciously calm.
"To the bathroom. Quick there and back."
"Alone? Want me to come with you?"
"Don't worry. I'll be right back."
Here could be a spoiler.
I went out. The kitchen light... is on? The kitchen was nearby.
Probably Gerudo hasn't finished cleaning up yet, I thought.
Mistake.
I stepped closer. Mistake #2.
Blood trails.
A pool.
Stains.
Writing on the walls. In a language that perhaps even Satan himself wouldn't understand. Dishes drenched in blood, and nearby... a body. Rather, what remained of it.
Gerudo.
Torn apart. Dismembered.
Throat slit.
Eyes gouged out.
Intestines, well, let's say, too far outside.
"W-what the... fuck..." I swallowed, though there was nothing to swallow. Need to immediately inform the others!
First murder? The witch? So the game has begun?
I ran. Doesn't matter how many meters. Doesn't matter how many seconds. Door, "bam" into the wall.
"What happened, Aragi?! Were you attacked?"
"No. Everything's fine. Call the others! Quick!"
"Already dialing, but what happened?"
"First murder..."
"Really... a participant?"
"No, worse. They killed Gerudo."
After a brief and undramatic retelling of events, everyone gathered in the living room.
"What's this supposed to mean?!" Yahweh sounded louder than usual. Apparently the effect of shock. "He's not even a participant!"
"I don't understand either," Hov echoed. "Why him and not one of us?"
"That doesn't matter anymore," I said. "The main thing is to find the culprit."
"And how will you do that, Sherlock? We're powerless, can't go outside, the downpour outside is insane," Kamiki said.
"Let's at least start with who found the body first," Hov.
"That was me. I woke up, went out, saw the kitchen light... decided to help. And instead... found a meat constructor instead of a chef."
"He immediately informed me," Enua added. "So we both have alibis. We were in the room the whole time."
"I confirm," Aragi nodded. "He didn't go anywhere."
And then, as if on cue, a voice rang out.
"Yes, yes, Enua had an alibi... if not for one 'but'..."
Kamiki. With a smirk you'd want to wipe off with a mop. He'd clearly been waiting for this moment. Prepared for it like a graduation.
"You were sleeping. You said it yourself, fell asleep for an hour. Which means... he could've gone out, killed, hidden everything, returned, and even cleaned up after himself."
"Exactly. How can he prove an alibi if you were sleeping while he was supposedly nearby?" Yahweh.
"Ah you... I knew from the start I'd be made the scapegoat! But I'll prove it. I'll prove it good."
"And how will you do that?"
"Simple. Severed limbs. Kitchen knives aren't capable of that. We have no access to magic, so it couldn't have been me."
"He's right," Yahweh nodded. "I saw the knives. All small, not a single axe."
"But what if there is an axe after all?" Kamiki suddenly interjected, as if waiting for a dramatic pause. "On the second floor, in a glass display case. I saw it."
"What?!"
"Tiamut and I checked the house and came across it. Someone could've taken that axe and..."
(That bastard... he even planned this?!)
"Then well... Let's go and check. If the axe is in place, you're saved. If not..."
"Pf. Don't even hope. I had nothing to do with it, hearing about the axe for the first time."