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“The Final Dead Room, huh?”
Pink eyes stared at the eerie-looking door, as if it had the answers to everything that the mechanic had been worried about. Souda let out a breath – ‘I was holding my breath? Didn’t notice that…’ – as he inched closer, treading in slow, troubled steps.
He stopped in front of the door and placed his right hand on the door’s surface. Then, he recalled the events that happened so far.
The motive that was presented days ago.
‘Nobody eats until someone gets killed… That crazy stuffed bear!’
The issue regarding the traitor.
‘I want to trust Hinata! Damn it, I want to believe in him! But…’
The new burden arranged by Monokuma.
‘Aside from Nidai, that morning exercise is going to make us even hungrier!’
His breakdown at the Muscat Tower.
‘Aah, that was really uncool. But I don’t want to die in a place like this! It would be better if…’
Hinata’s resolve to not kill anyone despite the circumstances.
‘I get that. I get that, but if that happens, everyone’s going to starve to death! Do you really think that’s okay, Hinata?’
He then let out another breath he didn’t realize he was holding.
“That bear did say something about a Life-Threatening Game and an Ultimate Weapon inside this room. Maybe there will be a clue to the exit?”
He mused aloud. Then, he looked around the first floor of Strawberry Tower to see if anyone’s watching. Nobody was there, apparently, so he looked back at the Final Dead Room door.
“Haha… Nobody would believe that I went inside a room with a Life-Threatening Game at around midnight. Gah! That sounds something like Komaeda would do! Hunger does make people crazy, huh?”
He sighed loudly and a sudden wave of determination coursed through him. His uncertain eyes became sharp, conveying his decision.
‘I’m going to do it. I’m sorry, guys. Maybe… Maybe it would be better if I’m the traitor, after all… Doing something like this… Geez, what am I even saying? Okay, enough stalling!’
He shook the thoughts off his head as he straightened himself and began pushing the door.
“Here goes—“
Then suddenly, a voice interrupted him from entering inside.
“What in the devil dog’s name are you doing, Impertinent One?”
“… Huh?”
Souda immediately removed his hand from the door as he turned around and scanned the first floor. He just looked around a while ago and he was sure no one was lurking around while he was here. So then, why was he here?
Out of everyone, why did it have to be him?
“Are your ears just for show, mortal? State your business or I will be forced to seize you!”
There, he saw Tanaka Gundam standing across the floor, striking a rather extravagant pose, as if he was defending the world from utter destruction. Souda would have reacted to being called ‘impertinent’ if he wasn’t surprised at the other’s sudden appearance.
“What… what are you doing here?”
“You dare throw back my question? I asked first, mortal!”
“Stop being so loud, geez! Everyone else is sleeping, you know!”
“You’re being loud yourself, though…”
“Aah, whatever I do is none of your business, Hamster-chan! Just go back to sleep already…”
Souda waved him off as he tried his best to look calm – and failed, since this is Souda we’re talking about – and faced the door once again. He placed his right hand on the door surface and pushed, unaware of the hurried footsteps that dashed towards him.
Then suddenly, a bandaged hand grasped his right wrist and pulled him away from the Final Dead Room’s entrance.
“What…?”
Tanaka only stared at him and didn’t say anything while still getting a hold of his wrist. Souda was surprised because, for one, this hamster freak suddenly held his hand – ‘What happened to your claim about being poisoned?’ – and two, said hamster freak was staring at him so intently as if he was trying to see right through him.
‘Crap, what the hell! Why is this guy acting like he cares?!’
Snapping out of his daze, Souda clicked his tongue and pulled his wrist back from Tanaka’s grasp. However, Tanaka’s grip was rather strong and unyielding so Souda pulled even harder, sometimes using his other hand in an attempt to loosen Tanaka’s hold, resulting in a pulling match that ended with both of his wrists being gripped by Tanaka’s hands.
“What the hell are you doing, you bastard…”
Souda managed to utter those words as he looked at Tanaka with sharp, pleading, yet sad, eyes. He still forced himself to act mighty despite the weird feeling that he’s having towards this whole ordeal. He can feel that he’s close to crying, but he doesn’t even know why.
“I will not allow such selfish actions.”
Tanaka calmly replied as he continued to stare at Souda with serious, yet gentle eyes. He still held Souda’s wrists, as if he was worried that Souda would do something ridiculous if he let go.
This, of course, confused the hell out of Souda.
“S-selfish? W-who’s selfish here, you bastard?! And let go of me already!”
“Hah! If you’re this powerless against me, the Supreme Ruler of Ice, then you have no right to challenge the–”
“Just stop this already!”
Tanaka froze at Souda’s sudden outburst, his grip loosening, allowing Souda to pull away from him. He didn’t expect the other to get that furious at all. In fact, he was so furious that tears fell from his face. Sensing the tense atmosphere, Tanaka decided to be serious for a while.
“S-shit... w-why… am I… crying? The hell…”
“Souda… Do you really think that risking your life in a room prepared by that demon will be worth it?”
Souda tried to calm himself down from his sudden breakdown. He wasn’t supposed to cry in front of his rival! He really can’t understand these emotions that rushed through him as Tanaka was trying to stop him from entering the Final Dead Room, but he can’t help but think.
‘The hell, Hamster-chan? You should have minded your own business by now and left me alone!’
The mechanic averted himself from the animal breeder’s piercing gaze, as if he did not want the other to see right through him. He sighed and looked to the ground as he thought about what to say to Tanaka.
“It doesn’t matter, anyway. This room… It might have answers regarding the exit… and regarding the traitor… We’re already trapped here, anyway, so why not try it? And if I’m going to die here, at least I’m going to die fighting! Screw Hinata’s decision, I’m going to do something about it!”
Souda then looked back at the Final Dead Room’s door, resolve somehow returning after saying that.
“Hah, what a nice line, fiend. But your selfish actions are something that I cannot allow.”
‘Selfish?’ Souda wondered. Isn’t he risking his life already so that the rest of them can finally eat? Sure, he thought of this at first because he didn’t want to starve to death, but when he gets through this room, the rest of the problems will be resolved, right? It’s not like he’s the only one who gets to eat after clearing the Life-Threatening Game.
“What’s wrong with that? Isn’t it fine? And stop trying to stop me already, you’re annoying!”
‘Seriously, just stop it already! I already made up my mind!’
“What’s wrong with that? Did you even stop and think about what the others will think when they learned that you—“
“Of course I did! A-and it doesn’t matter! You know why? Because nobody cares! Nobody does…”
‘Great, now you’ve done it, hamster freak…’
Souda’s body shook as he practically sobbed those words out of his mouth. Tears streamed in his face yet again, eyes shut, as he clenched his fists in annoyance. He didn’t want to admit it. He didn’t want to say it aloud. But then again, he knew that as the truth.
'If my old man didn’t even give a shit about me, then what should I expect?’
“… That’s not true.”
“… Huh?”
“There’s Hinata…”
Hinata. Yeah, even if he got on Hinata’s nerves sometimes, he would brush it off and talk to Souda as if nothing changed. No matter how annoying he says Souda is, he was always beside him. He treated Souda as a friend, and honesltly, Souda would love to believe that Hinata was his friend, but…
‘You remember what happened the last time you believed in someone, right?’
He wanted so bad to believe in Hinata, but thanks to the traitor issue and his past experiences, he doesn’t know what to believe in anymore.
“… A-ah, that’s… HInata, he does care, doesn’t he? It would be much easier if he remembered his talent… I don’t want to doubt him, but with the thing with Tsumiki and all, I don’t know what to think anymore… I want to believe him, but…”
“Then, believe in him.”
“It’s not that easy for me, you know?”
“I had my share of mortals betraying my trust and I know how it feels, but I believe that if you hold someone dear, then what anyone says about them should be irrelevant to you. No matter how annoying or how foolish they may be, it should not matter… For what should matter is the person that you have met, the person that you found endearing despite all his imperfections… and you put your faith in that person…”
Souda suddenly removed his gaze to the floor and looked at Tanaka, who was currently looking to the side, holding his scarf all the way up to his nose, as if he was hiding his face. The mechanic was startled at what the other said, since it very much contradicts the way he usually speaks.
‘What the hell is this guy saying all of a sudden? Is he talking about Hinata? But he’s not that annoying, though…’
“Hinata’s really not annoying and stupid, you know? And why are you hiding in that scarf of yours?”
“I-it’s nothing!”
Tanaka slightly backed away as he continued hiding his face in his scarf. Souda stared at him, wondering why the heck Tanaka was acting like this.
“Heh, you say weirdly nice things sometimes, huh?”
“Silence!”
“A-anyway, I get what you mean. It’s just that – never mind. Yeah, I get it. But it’s going to take a while, though.”
Souda sighed as he looked back at the Final Dead Room, conflicted with his inner resolve to do something about their situation and his inner conscience to listen to Tanaka’s words. Tanaka, on the other hand, dropped his hold on his scarf, looked at Souda briefly, then looked at the Final Dead Room, and said something unexpected while holding his scarf on his face yet again.
“…and there’s me.”
“… What about you?”
“I-it’s not true that nobody cares about you. There’s Hinata… and me… a-and everyone else, of course!”
Souda, in his surprise, quickly turned his head to look at Tanaka, who was turning to look at him while hiding his face yet again. He most certainly didn’t expect him, of all people, to say that. It was weird.
‘It was weird, yet… comforting, somehow. This guy, just what is his deal? He’s acting funny right now…’
“Pffft—Hahaha!”
The current conversation was so weird and ridiculous to Souda went into a giggling fit, tears occasionally escaping his eyes. Tanaka, on the other hand, was unamused as he glared at the other for laughing at his expense.
“S-stop laughing, you impertinent thing!”
“I’m going to let that slide this time, but geez, you’re saying things waaay out of your character, you know? Are you that desperate to stop me?”
Souda finally recovered from his laughing episode and calm down a little and looked at Tanaka, waiting for an answer. Tanaka simply glared at him, as if he didn’t want to humor Souda any longer. Thankfully, Souda decided to give it a rest this time. As much as he wanted to pick on him, he did not want to push the animal breeder’s limits.
“Okay, okay, I’ll stop for now. You want me to believe in Hinata, right? Then I won’t enter the Final Dead Room. But… why are you stopping me?”
“Why, you ask? Fuhahaha! Your astral level is too low to even enter the doors of hell! Be grateful that I, the great Tanaka Gundam, have spared your life from its impending doom!”
‘He’s back to normal, huh?’
“… Ugh, of course you would say that, with you and your crazy overlord obsession…”
“How dare you mock the—“
“But thank you, Tanaka. Crap, I can’t believe I’m actually thanking someone like you, damn it! Just… don’t tell anyone about this.”
Souda smiled at him, and Tanaka, after he overcame his shock at the other’s reaction, hid a small smile at the inside of his scarf as he stood in a pose worthy of the Supreme Ruler of Ice.
“Fuhahaha! I shall remember this day as the day that you recognized my true power!”
“Geez, just shut up already… Come on, let’s go upstairs. We can’t be late for tomorrow.”
Souda sighed as he waited for Tanaka to calm down and the two of them went upstairs to go to their rooms, Tanaka walking behind Souda. He stared at the mechanic’s back as something crossed his mind and he suddenly stopped walking. Souda, sensing this, turned around and looked at Tanaka with concern.
“Something wrong, Hamster-chan?”
“Hmm, do not despair, Mechanical One, there is nothing that requires your concern. Rest assured that I, the Supreme Ruler of Ice, shall bring destruction to this living hell! Fuhahaha!”
“What are you saying now?! Geez, it’s hard to understand your speech patterns sometimes…”
Souda crossed his arms as he sighed, somewhat trying to understand what the other was trying to say. Tanaka, after laughing evilly, continued walking as Souda stared at him.
“It is nothing to worry about, Souda. Let us retire for now.”
“U-uh, yeah, okay. If you say so…”
When the two reached the second floor, Souda bid Tanaka farewell as he went inside his room. Tanaka merely nodded as he made his way to his room, smiling to himself.
A few minutes after the incident, someone stood in front of the Final Dead Room, placing his hand on the door’s surface.
‘Maybe if I do this in your stead, you would finally believe in the Tanaka Gundam who has believed in you all this time…’
“The truth is that I’m the selfish one, Souda. I’m sorry, but I won’t allow you to do this.”
Then the sound of a door creaking and an entrance locking was heard across the floor.