Chapter Text
“I don’t need you to forgive me. If Kamimura can forgive me, that’s enough.”
That’s where it should’ve ended. Hasegawa didn’t care whether he lived or died anymore. Not even when his limbs were being twisted around until they snapped. There wasn’t a point anymore. A part of Hasegawa’s mind, the part that wasn’t currently processing the excruciating pain he was in, was quiet. God, how he missed Kazutoshi, his parents, Mao…
“Welcome to the bonus round!”
Hasegawa could barely hear the announcement over the blinding pain. He blocked out the final question they asked him. It doesn’t matter anymore. The segment his head was attached to lit up and snapped around faster than he could even blink.
•~•
Hasegawa’s eyes fly open. He wasn’t sure what he was expecting. Nothingness, clouds, hellfire? Whatever it was, it certainly wasn’t this. The laundry room. Hasegawa nearly forgets how to breathe at the sight before him. He’s back in the damn laundry room, and everyone is alive. His vision is wider. Hasegawa hesitantly reaches up towards the right side of his face, and finds no bandages or any sign of injury.
Sasaki is getting Ojima to help wake everyone up. Chiba is wailing about wanting to go home. Harada is consoling Sawa, who’s trying to escape his backpack. Kazutoshi. Hasegawa’s heart nearly beats out of his chest when he sees him, alive and in one piece.
“Everybody stay calm. Please, don’t panic.” Sasaki quickly takes charge of the situation, just as she did before.
“Yes.” Everyone jumps as Monomoko appears. “Please just breathe. I’d appreciate a moment of your attention.”
Hasegawa’s mind is running a mile a minute. How is this possible? He died. He was executed, and then he died. How the hell is he sitting here in the laundry room with all fifteen other students. Eleven of them should be dead. Hasegawa looks around the room as Monomoko continues her welcome speech, and Hasegawa feels a slight wave of relief when Hayashi storms out of the room. Even if she hasn’t confronted him for what he did, he knows he can’t face her. Not now.
Everyone looks freaked out, understandably so, but their reactions don't seem much different from the first time. Sasaki asked for Ojima’s name. Tamba glanced at him without any recognition. Everyone was reasonably startled by Harada taking a baby tiger out of his backpack. Everyone’s treating each other like strangers.
No one remembers.
This must be a dream or a vision of some sorts. Hasegawa tries to reason with himself. A strange phenomenon, like how your life flashes before your eyes when you’re dying. There is no possible way to time travel. Yet, here he is. Hasegawa looks round the room again, looking at everyone, waiting for them to disappear and leave him alone in the voided afterlife he’d been expecting.
“This can’t be real,” Hasegawa mumbles to himself in disbelief.
“I assure you, it is,” Monomoko responds, clearly thinking he’s referring to the killing game that had just been announced. Hasegawa doesn’t react as she vanishes.
Sasaki is quick to demand they thoroughly search the basement for any possible exit. Hasegawa silently watches Kazutoshi wave the group off as he leaves on his own. Hasegawa wants to run after him, but he’s rooted to the floor.
“You seem pretty on edge.” A voice from behind causes Hasegawa’s heart to wrench. Isono. He turns to face her, trying not to fall at her like she’s back from the dead. As much as he wishes it hadn’t, the image of her dead body slumped over against the kitchen counter flashes in his mind. “Why don’t we stick together?” She smiles, trying to provide a bit of comfort in an awful situation. Hasegawa nods, unable to find his voice.
He silently follows Isono out of the laundry room and down the hall. It’s been a month since he’s seen her alive. Even in such dark circumstances, she carries herself with an air of positivity. Hasegawa might’ve found it comforting if he wasn’t trying to keep himself from vomiting.
They enter the medbay, and Hasegawa’s eyes linger on a certain corner. He’s the only one who knows…
“Oh wow, it’s pretty chilly in here.” Isono’s voice draws Hasegawa’s attention. She rubs her arms, glancing over at him expectantly. This time, instead of awkwardly agreeing, he pulls off his suit jacket, draping it over her shoulders. “Aww, you’re so sweet, Hasegawa!” Isono’s face lights up.
“I-it’s no trouble,” Hasegawa croaks out, forcing himself to finally talk. Isono’s expression falters when she sees how tense he is.
“Are you doing okay?” Hasegawa tenses, glancing at the curtain that hides the cold lockers.
“I’m not sure,” he mumbles. “This is a lot to process.”
“I understand. This is a pretty scary situation, isn’t it?” Isono opens a few cabinets, looking at the different medicines. “Don’t worry, I’m sure we’ll find a way out of here.” She smiles at him again. “Or someone will find us!” Hasegawa nods, but the pit in his stomach doesn’t ease. He knows no one’s coming. Isono turns to the curtain, reaching for it. “What do you think’s behind the curtain?”
“Cold lockers,” Hasegawa answers before thinking. Isono stops just before her fingers grasp the sheet.
“What?”
“I-I mean,” Hasegawa stutters, “it’s cold in here, a-and the rabbit did say we’re supposed to… you know. Logically, this is the best place for them, right?”
Isono looks unnerved, but she still hesitantly tugs back the curtain. “You’re certainly perspective,” she laughs nervously. “Let’s go check out the elevator. I don’t think we’re going to find anything in here.”
“Yeah, probably not.” Hasegawa follows Isono out of the medbay.
•~•
Hasegawa stands in the auditorium with the others as they all discuss ways to get up to the vent. He keeps his mouth shut this time. It was pointless last time, and only led to Chiba dying later on. It would be best for them to just ignore it.
“I’m calling a meeting in the dining room,” Sasaki announces. “We can all discuss what we found there.”
“Who put you in charge?” Hayashi looks annoyed with her bossing us around. Hasegawa looks at the floor. She has no idea what he did, he’s just another stranger to her, but he can’t even look at her without seeing that panicked expression she made when she fell right into his hands. The way she tried to pull out the sword. The way she mumbled Yanagi’s name on her dying breath.
Sasaki leaving the auditorium pulls Hasegawa out of his thoughts. The others are trailing after her. His gaze lingers on Kazutoshi. He’s a stranger to him as well, and that hurts more than the guilt of Hayashi’s murder. Despite knowing it makes no real difference, Hasegawa followed the crowd to the dining hall. There’s no reason to single himself out just yet.
For the most part, Hasegawa found himself spacing off during the meeting. Everyone has this desire to escape, a hope that there’s a way out without needing to kill. Hasegawa knew better. He’s been in and out of these rooms for the past month, and since no one knows about the hidden pathways, there’s nothing notable. It wasn’t until he heard his name that he tuned back in.
“Hasegawa, we don’t need two people spacing off!” Sasaki sounded a bit annoyed, and he grimaced.
“S-Sorry, I just don’t feel good right now.” It wasn’t entirely a lie.
“What did you investigate?”
“Oh, right.” Hasegawa looks over at Isono, who’s still got his jacket in her arms. He’d forgotten to ask for it back once she removed it at the elevator.
“He was with me,” Isono speaks for him. “We investigated the medical bay. There’s a bunch of supplies, like medicines and first aid, and stuff like that, but we also found cold lockers.” Everyone falls quiet for a moment, letting her words sink in. Isono continues, “We have a lot of resources in case someone gets hurt. So that’s a positive.”
They continue to review, and finally go over what to do with the vent. In a way, Hasegawa wishes he could have the same hope they do. Maybe the universe decided to give him a second chance, and maybe he can change the outcome of the killing game this time, but it’ll never erase what he’s been through. Isono is alive, but for how long? She’ll be dead in a few days if nothing changes. Kazutoshi is alive, god, he’s alive, but Hasegawa will never get the image of his dismantled body out of his mind. Every time he looks at the guy, he can only think of how he failed him.
Sasaki splits them up, giving them jobs to do so they can reach the vent. Hasegawa’s tempted to just go to his room, but he begrudgingly follows the group going back to the auditorium. To no surprise to him, Monomoko interrupts the group as they’re thinking aloud to tell them the auditorium will be locked up for the night, and if they don’t leave, she’ll lock them in as well.
Hasegawa feels like he’s on autopilot as he silently walks to his dorm. Getting sleep is important, especially before the first motive makes that impossible. Yet, as he lies in his bed, staring up at the ceiling, his mind races. There’s no way he’s going to sleep tonight. How is this happening? He’s thought about that question so many times already, but he’s no closer to an answer. Why is he the only one who remembers? Why does the universe hate him so much, that it’s forcing him to relive this hell again?
Hasegawa shuts his eyes tightly, begging for sleep to find him. It doesn’t. What did he do the first night here? He couldn’t sleep then either, so he went to the dining room. Hasegawa’s eyes fly open, and he practically throws himself out of bed. He bursts out of his room, and dashes down the hall, one thing on his mind.
Kazutoshi.
“Well well well.” Kazutoshi smiles faintly when Hasegawa enters the dining room. “Looks like I’m not the only one who couldn’t sleep.”
“Yeah.” Hasegawa has to hold back tears at the sight of him sitting at one of the tables. He never thought he’d be able to talk to him again, but now that he can, he can’t even pour his heart out the way he so desperately wants to. “I don’t know how anyone can sleep right now.”
“Yeah, I’m with you.” Kazutoshi sits up a bit straighter in his seat. “I’m not letting my guard down around any of these people.”
“You’re sitting alone in the dining room in the middle of the night.” Kazutoshi rolls his eyes.
“You’re here,” he responds matter-of-factly, “so I’m not alone.”
Hasegawa can’t help the faint trace of a smile that appears. “You’re not worried I’ll kill you or something?”
“God no.” Kazutoshi smiles a bit more. “You’re not a total goddamn freak like Hama or Okazaki.” Hasegawa’s heart lurches at the mention of Okazaki. Hearing Kazutoshi label her as a freak, knowing what’ll happen in two short weeks… No. That’s not going to happen again. He’ll make sure of it.
“Did you hear me?” Kazutoshi’s smile is gone, replaced with a look of mild annoyance.
“Oh, uh… I-I’m sorry, what did you say?”
“Hm.” He studies Hasegawa for a moment before continuing. “You’ve been kind of out of it since we got here.”
“I-I suppose. This is a lot to take in, I guess.” Kazutoshi seems to accept that, and doesn't push further. A pause of silence engulfs the two of them before Kazutoshi breaks it again.
“So, what do you do for a living?” He nods towards the seat in front of him. Hasegawa smiles again, and sits down. It feels strange having this conversation again, but he doesn’t mind. He knows better now to not take things for granted. Even if he’s basically reliving an old memory, at least it’s a good one.
“I promise not to let anybody murder you.” The way Kazutoshi says it so casually, makes Hasegawa’s stomach turn. His face must’ve shown it, because Kazutoshi’s smile fades into something more earnest. “Seriously, I’ve got your back.”
“R-right, thanks, Kamimura.”
“Kazutoshi’s fine.”
“Then you can call me Ken.”
“Sounds like a deal.” Hasegawa missed the way he looked at him with the faint trance of a smirk on his lips. Kazutoshi stands up from his chair.
“I think I’m gonna go lie down for a bit, my head’s starting to feel swimmy.” Hasegawa quickly rises to his feet as well.
“Want me to sit by your room? I’ll make sure no one breaks in.”
“That’d be great.” He turns to walk back to the dorms, motioning for Hasegawa to follow. “If someone does show up, just bang on the door and we’ll take them together.”
“I will,” Hasegawa says, following him to his room. Kazutoshi fishes out his key and unlocks his door.
“Goodnight, Ken.” He steps inside his room, closing the door behind him. Hasegawa lets out a breath he didn’t realize he was holding when he hears the click of the lock. Sinking down to the floor, he leans back against the door. He’s not going to let Okazaki, or anyone for that matter, kill Kazutoshi.
Not this time.