[muffled apologies playing in the distance]

"Hello." He chuckled, finding himself mimicking the Hypnotist’s grin. Propping his back against the wall for support, he tapped his fingers absent-mindedly against his glasses, kind of irritated with how they didn’t sit properly over his mechanical eye. "I cannot say that I am great… but seeing you all again makes things so much better. What about you…? I hope things have not been too… troublesome…" Grimacing slightly, he bit his lip.

He shook his head violently, trying to dispel the memories of their corpses. Perhaps what he could do now was to immortalize their memory, and gain revenge properly this time. There was only one problem… he had a good idea of who was behind this… he just needed the evidence, and he couldn’t risk it being thrown out into the open too early otherwise everything might be at risk.

Finally turning his eyes to his surroundings, he caught sight of familiar red and grey attire. Was that…?

Eyes open, he looked around the room. The dead people room, great. Wait… Dead people room? Dead people room. And he’s not dead. Wow. Really great. 

No despair. No weird feeling… He was old, hateful, detestable, Kengo. Not like it was any better than when he was dead. He would’ve preferred staying dead atoning for his sins. Whatever those preachers say…

Still blind though, no change there. Although, for some reason, he had another eyepatch on. Well, it let him feel more at peace than anything. He was the same as last time, patched up crudely, most of the hideous “fixes” covered with his lab coat and clothing, luckily enough. He moved around a bit before standing up. The other “dead” students had already left.

Without hesitation, he stepped into the hallway and called out loudly,

“IF THERE ARE ANY LOSERS NEAR ME, GET OVER HERE!”

Of course that when he got to where they were supposed to be, there was no one around anymore. Well, except one person. One person who was yelling in the middle of the hallway. Ah, yes, wonderful. It had to be Kengo. Kyo was going to be delighted.

—♧So much had been happening over the past few days, and Chiau’s mind was in a mix of complete despair and dizziness from it all. She didn’t wish to speak to anyone, or even make eye contact with anyone. She only wished to figure out the hospital’s secrets by herself. She’d get a lot more done that way, without dealing with grief, without dealing with people, without dealing with death. If anyone came to her with murderous intents, she’d know how to deal with them, she wouldn’t let herself be caught off…

guard.

Crash. Chiau’s musings were cut short by the feeling that her body had slammed into that of another person. She fell helplessly to the floor, a slight yelp escaping her mouth. She rubbed at her head, trying to get out of the daze she was caught in as she fell over, waiting for her vision to come back to her. As she looked up, she saw the figure of a boy she knew very well, yet at the same time, knew nothing about. Of course, it was Saito. Chiau didn’t move, however, she did bow her head apologetically towards the male who had fallen opposite her.

He felt like an idiot when he fell to the floor, but at least he wasn't the only one who had fallen. Looking up, he noticed the one who had bumped into him had been... Chiau? Oh no. Saito was ready to leave in case she got angry at him, but what came out of her mouth was the opposite of what he expected.

Nate couldn’t believe Trinket had talked him into this. Well that wasn’t exactly true, he’d asked for advice basically and based on what she’d told him he’d decided to do this. Whatever happened was his own fault. Nate was looking for Saito. He was checking different rooms and once he found him he planned to tell him the truth. Tell Saito he likes him. Nate couldn’t help but feel this was all going to go horribly for him, Trinket had implied Saito had a crush on him but Nate was still worried.

The male ward. He should have checked here first really, maybe he was afraid to find him. Nate walked in and saw Saito. “Hi, Saito.” Nate’s voice was shaky, hesitant. This was ridiculous. Nate had been shot at multiple times and stayed composed but right now all he was trying to do was say something genuine and he felt terrified.

“So, I’m sorry about earlier.” He was beginning to apologise as much as Saito. “I guess I must have kind of confused you? And I shouldn’t have left, I was just afraid.” He was still being cryptic, he needed to actually say something. Nate crossed his arms and stood at a distance from Saito. “You’re actually pretty cool, you know? I guess you don’t know actually. I don’t think you realise how good you are. I really would have liked to know you outside of here. Maybe we could have had a normal conversation, not had all this stuff hanging over us.” Nate looked down, feeling embarrassed. “You know before the trial when I spoke to you and then ran off, I realised I…I cared about you.” He avoided saying it at the last second. It was true, Nate did care about Saito, seeing him sad made him sad but that wasn’t what he needed to say. He looked back up at Saito and took a deep breath, time for honesty. “I realised I like you. I…I like you. You’re nice, even though things are awkward and I’m focused on other stuff I’ve liked talking to you. And I think you’re a genuinely good person and I really hope you don’t die here. And you’re…you’re hot. And cute. So I like you. Because of stuff like that and others things I can’t remember because I’m nervous and panicking. And I don’t know what happens now and I’m not sure I made the right decision I just…didn’t want to regret not telling you. So…now you know.”

"...H-Hi..." He returned the greeting. He wasn't expecting much out of this conversation, but as soon as Nate started to speak Saito found himself wide-eyed, staring at him and unable to think of anything to say. He listened to Nate's confession in silence, and after it was over, he just blinked.