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Another school, she thinks. Another? The thought is chased away by the crowd around, all blessed with Talent, kidnapped for some "killing game". She exclaims to fight back, but no one seems convinced.
"I wonder," someone asks her as people start to leave, "how you always manage to stay so optimistic for everyone. It should be even more confusing now, but you push right past it."
Kaede turns. The boy's green bangs sweep over his eyes, but she can see them staring straight out, intense as he addresses her.
"This time, you forgot your Ultimate Talent. Am I right, Kaede?"
The moment Kaede shuts the door to her new room, she spins right over to him.
"No funny business," she starts, pointing an accusing finger at him. "Who are you? How did you know who I am? And how'd you know that…"
He chuckles, hands up in surrender. "Is it too much to assume I overheard you with someone else?"
"I didn't introduce myself to anyone in the auditorium." She narrows her eyes. "And don't think you can skirt around the other questions—"
"Alright, alright." He gently pushes her finger down. "Rantaro Amami." Her heart stops. "Ring a bell?"
She stares. It should, it really should— but the name is as hazy as anything else. When she tries to put the sweet and tingling feelings with it to a place, she runs right into a brick wall— something blocking a lot more than just her Talent, apparently.
"Do I know you?" she breathes.
He grasps her hand; somehow, it feels normal. Tenderly, he runs his thumb over her knuckles. "You did," he replies. "And I knew you, but that doesn't mean we have to start over."
He pauses.
"We're going to end this cycle— or we're going to win. Again."
Rantaro feels a twinge of betrayal as he dumps Kaede's Survivor Perk in the trash. He shouldn't feel bad for stealing it, though, so he shrugs it off. All it ever was is a trap, meant to kill her off at the start; Rantaro had seen the signs last game, especially when Kaede confessed her botched plan later. He wasn't about to let Kaede go like that.
This is what he wanted, so Kaede didn't have to be the one pulling the strings— so she didn't have to be the one killing her friends.
"Make this count," he tells himself.