Chapter Text
A few seconds after Grace leaves, Wolfgang gets up from bed. He takes the letter out of his pocket and looks at the clock. The clock shows 8:10 a.m., five minutes before the meeting time written on the letter signed by Diana he received two days ago. What’s strange about the letter is that it specifically tells him not to talk about it with anyone, not even with her in private.
Considering Diana's friendly attitude over the past few days, her suggestion to meet in the boiler room without anyone knowing seems out of character. However, when he takes Tozu’s ‘motives’ into account, it makes sense; she must have received his blackmail and wanted to exchange it with him. While she could have approached him privately to discuss it, she probably believed that if she did, people would notice her unusual behavior and pester her about it.
‘It’s still wise to be cautious ,’ he thinks. ‘ This could be a trap.’
He cautiously peeks outside his door and sees no one. Taking care to remain out of sight, he sneaks down to the dining hall to grab a knife unnoticed, avoiding any unnecessary interactions. Thankfully, Cassidy, Jett, and Mark were still grabbing equipment from the music producer’s room, so they were out of the dining hall right now.
He grabs a knife from the block but hesitates. ‘What if this is just a harmless meeting?’ he thinks, the hand holding the knife slightly shaking. ‘This killing game is getting to my head… I’m such a hypocrite, preaching about maintaining the peace between my fellow Ultimates, yet taking a knife for self-defense. What is wrong with me…?’
With a sigh, he pockets the knife inside his blazer.
‘I’m not going to kill anyone. If someone attempts on my life, I’ll just stop them with it… I’m not going to kill anyone.’
He leaves the dining hall only to be met with Toshiko who is just leaving what seems to be Ingrid’s dorm. Her eyes turn to look at him, which makes him stop in his tracks.
“Oh, Wolfgang…” she says, holding a fan up to her face as usual. “What a coincidence, running into each other like this.”
“Are you already on your way to the tournament, Ms. Kayura? It’s rather early…”
“O-of course not! A professional like myself knows better than to attend some silly party.”
Wolfgang can see right through her. She does want to, she just has this personal obligation to be a professional considering how much people look down on her for being fourteen… and being short. Nevertheless, he pretends to not pay any mind and plays along with her.
“Right. My apologies.”
“…well, what about you? Are you going to the tournament?”
“…that’s correct. I’m going to the tournament.” It's a complete lie . “I’m just heading to the laundry room right now. There’s a batch of clothes I accidentally left behind in there.”
“I see, I see… be on your merry way now, then! I must rush to the pharmacy to procure some medication for poor Ingrid’s aching head!”
He soon leaves Toshiko and goes in the direction of the laundry room… then quickly and quietly goes down the basement stairs as soon as Toshiko turns her head away.
‘It must be 8:15 a.m. by now , ’ he thinks, as he quickly descends the stairs. ‘I hope I’m not late.’
He reaches the basement floor and walks down the long, eerie corridor to the boiler room. He enters the room and finds no one in sight. He must be on time, then.
He feels a chill down his spine. The boiler room gives him an awful sense of dread. The only sounds he can hear are the whirring of the generator and the faint sounds from the dining hall a floor above. The surveillance camera doesn’t help lighten up the atmosphere with its blinking, red dot. He instinctively holds the place where he pocketed the knife, on guard for what might come.
‘This is a dangerous place to be in. Now that I think about it, why would Ms. Venicia even want to meet in a place like this? If she had to meet with me in the basement, she could have chosen to meet in one of the storage closets instead. It would have been much safer than the boiler room…’
Just then, something bright yellow near the cardboard boxes caught his eye. His eyes are now fixed on the foreign object on the floor.
“A taser gun…?” he mutters to himself and goes to pick it up when he hears shuffling behind him. Startled, he turns to see where the noise is coming from.
It was Eva Tsunaka, the Ultimate Liar Mathlete. She was in front of the boiler room door with some sort of a metal rolling pin in her hands, appearing furious with her eyes wild and feral. It was so unlike her usual cold demeanor on the first floor.
“Wolfgang…!” she spits his name in rage through gritted teeth. She goes for a swing at Wolfgang but misses as he quickly steps out of the way.
“Ms. Tsunaka? What—” he tries to say, but is interrupted by another swing from Eva.
“Shut up! Just shut up already!”
Wolfgang can’t let this murderous mania go on any longer, so he quickly grabs the knife from his blazer and blocks the oncoming swing in time. Eva takes a step back as she sees that Wolfgang didn’t come unarmed.
“Ms. Tsunaka, stop it! What are you doing?!”
He tries to convince her to stop, even brandishing the knife for Eva to leave entirely and abandon whatever she’s going to do, but unfortunately, it doesn’t seem like she’s going to stop any time soon.
“What am I doing? Isn’t it obvious, stupid?! I’m going to kill you, I'm going to get away with it, and I’m going to get out of here ! And there’s no one, nothing here, that can stop me ! Now shut up, stay still, and DIE!!! ”
Eva screams as she continues to swing at Wolfgang. He tries his best to block the oncoming attacks.
“Why are you doing this?! This isn’t right!”
“I know that! I have to kill you because I don’t, I’ll die!! Because of you, I will die! So before that happens… I’ll have to kill you first!!”
He fails to block one as the rolling pin hits his left upper arm. Pain courses through his body as he winces and cries out.
He’s backed up to the stairs leading to the water. Eva reels her arms over her head as she pants heavily, ready to end it here.
“There's still time... if I can do this quickly, there's still time! I can finally leave this hellhole! I've finally got you, Wolfgang!!”
Wolfgang sees his chance and charges at Eva, trying to push her away in a last-ditch attempt to make her stop.
“Ms. Tsunaka, stop this at… once… a-ah…?”
“H-Huh…?”
In the heat of the moment, he had forgotten he still had the knife in his hand.
“Ms. Tsunaka… o-oh God… I’m sorry-” Wolfgang backs away from her, shaking eyes fixated on the knife, his knife protruding from her stomach.
The stab was deep, the blood already pooling at the wound. It stained her white blazer with a horrible shade of pink.
“Y-You… what…”
She tries to keep her footing but she quickly loses it as she falls on to Wolfgang.
Out of pure fear and instinct, he throws her into the water where she is left to bleed out and die. She reaches her hand out for Wolfgang, but he doesn’t take it as he starts to panic.
Her pale blue eyes grow dull and her breathing slows as the blood seeps into the water.
And after a few seconds, she finally stops breathing.
Wolfgang can’t make a sound. No matter how hard he tries, he can’t do it. Nothing will come out of his mouth. He can’t scream, he can’t yell, or anything.
He slowly walks towards Eva’s body, her clothes drenched and her face frozen in fear forever. It doesn’t matter what he or anyone does, from doing simple CPR or getting her intensive care and surgery. Nothing is going to bring her back from the dead.
Only three words echoed in his mind.
‘I killed someone.’
Wolfgang's breath hitches as tears stream down his face, and he collapses to the floor with his legs losing all feeling from fear and shock. Even as terror paralyzes him, driven by pure instinct, he reaches for the knife in Eva’s stomach.
“I’m sorry…! I’m sorry! You don’t deserve this!”
He grimaces as he slowly pulls the knife out while muttering apologies under his breath. Once the knife is out, he washes the knife thoroughly in the water, deepening the murky water further. He pockets the now-clean knife back inside his blazer, hoping to hide it somewhere inconspicuous.
He takes out the letter, rips it into small pieces, and throws them into the water, hoping that even if they piece it together, it would be illegible for others to read. Wolfgang decides he’s done enough and leaves the boiler room, leaving Eva’s body floating in the water.
Wolfgang breathes a deep sigh and buries his face into his hands. What is he doing ? Why is he covering up a murder? This killing game got into his head. He tries to reaffirm himself that this isn’t his fault. He tried to defend himself. This isn’t his fault. It was all hers. Even if she didn't deserve to die, it was all her fault…
He starts walking back up the stairs slowly, cautiously looking out for anyone who might pass by and see him. He walks to his dorm room once he determines the coast is clear. There’s no evidence of him being there. No one will ever find out it was him…
That’s when he remembered that Toshiko saw him. He told her he was going to the game tournament. Realizing this, he changes his mind and walks to the dining hall.
‘If the others know that Ms. Kayura saw me, they will question my whereabouts since I have no alibi at the time. Ms. Madison would be mad at me that I lied about being sick but this will be much better than having no alibi…’
He enters the dining hall and sees Cassidy, Jett, and Mark moving the speakers around. They all turn their heads to meet the newcomer.
“Oh! Hey, hey, Lawyer man!” Cassidy exclaims in excitement. “Decided to come after all, huh? I totally get it. No one can resist the excitement of a 1v1 battle!”
“Haha, yes…” he sheepishly laughs. “However, I only wish to spectate the tournament. I’m afraid because of my lack of experience in these types of games, I would ruin the atmosphere of the tournament for all of us… but I believe Mr. DeLamer will arrive soon with Ms. Madison, an opponent worthy of his fierce spirit, though. So please wait for them until then.”
“No biggie! We’re still waiting on Damon and Kai anyway. In the meantime, wanna help us out with the speakers? Eva was supposed to help us, but she said something about going to the bathroom because her stomach was acting up…”
“Oh… that is unfortunate. Sure, I’ll be glad to help.”
Wolfgang struggles to grab a speaker, being careful not to raise his left arm too high, and puts it in the corner of the room next to the vent while the rest put a speaker somewhere either in the kitchen or near the entrance. While the others help Mark carry the speaker to the opposite side of the room, Wolfgang quickly goes to the kitchen and returns the knife back into its proper place.
“Hey! Whatcha doooin’?” Cassidy asks in a playful tone, surprising an on-edge Wolfgang.
“Ah! M-Ms. Amber. Apologies, I was just feeling parched and needed a glass of water. I’ll help as soon as I’m done…”
“That’s cool. Thanks again for the help!” she leaves Wolfgang for Jett and Mark, who were trying to figure out where to put the last speaker.
After they finish setting things up, he throws himself into the recliner chair and listlessly stares at the ceiling.
Today is officially the worst day of Wolfgang Akire’s life. He had been lured into a trap and killed his would-be killer in self-defense. If he doesn’t get away with murdering Eva, he will die. If he does, everyone else will die. Is his life worth the lives of many?
Moments later, the doors of the dining hall swing open, breaking his train of thought.
“...Eh?” exclaims Damon Maitsu, the Ultimate Debater.