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“D...Dumbass!! If you don’t choose me, I’ll use you next and get you killed!!” Sou practically shouted at everyone as the votes were being entered. Sara being the last to finalize the decision. It was up to her to decide who to kill. Sou or Kanna. She could see how Sou continuously flashed a worried glance between her and Kanna, clearly stressed about Kanna’s life being on the line. His fingers continued to play with the end of his scarf absentmindedly.
He may not show it, but deep down he cares for the young girl. The two had a sort of sibling bond that nobody could explain. Not even the two of them. That is why Kanna so willingly threw her life out on the line in order to protect Sou. The job hopper was having none of that, though. She still had her entire life in front of her. It could easily be read on the boy’s face that he was ready to die if it meant to save the green haired girl.
The tension in the air was thick after Sara entered her vote. She thought logically. Sou has helped the group so much. They were so close to escaping all because of him. If he were to die, the group would probably miss another opportunity like that. He acts irrationally and in an intimidating manner, but it is very clear that the boy has the same goal in mind as the rest of the group. Which is why she voted for Kanna. A heartbreaking decision for her to make. She instantly was filled with regret as the realization finally kicked in. She just sent a child, no older than 13, to her death.
“Well, let me read off the results…” Safalin began. She walked over to the group, being sure to step over Gashu’s dead body which was still laying still on the ground. “The Keymaster was Keiji Shinogi. The Sage was Q-taro Burgerberg. The Sacrifice was Nao Egokoro.” She paused for a moment. Sara took one last glance over to the three she had to choose between. Nao was nervously playing with her hair. Kanna continued to stare down at her feet. She just barely caught Sou wiping his face with his scarf.
Was he crying? Sara felt her heart ache at the sight. It was rare to see the boy become so emotional. The teal haired man always seemed to have a thick wall that concealed what was earlier revealed as his true self. Having Kanna and his life on the line must’ve caused it to break. Not entirely, just enough for everyone to see his true self, Shin Tsukimi. “And the majority vote went to… Kanna Kizuchi.” Sou’s eyes widened at the floor master's words. His head quickly shot over to the middle schooler. Her eyes began to glisten with tears.
“No! NO! Who in their right mind votes to kill off a child, Sara! Why didn’t you choose me?!?” Sou’s tone was harsh. His eyes began to match Kanna’s glistening ones, yet still were swirling with rage. “I’m sorry Sou-” Her words did not get through to the job hopper. His attention now fully on the crying girl. “Thank you… Sara…” she sniffled out. Using her large sleeves to wipe away the falling tears. Sou shot a hateful glance over to the brunette.
“Let’s get on with the executions!” Safalin’s voice broke the silence amongst the group. “Nao will be first!” Sara was so caught up with the situation with Sou and Kanna that she almost completely forgot about Nao. She turned to look at the pink haired artist. She didn’t seem to be crying. She only flashed a defeated grin over to Sara. “I knew you probably wouldn’t vote for me,” she laughed to herself out of disbelief. “It was worth a shot though…” She sighed and looked down at her feet, a defeated smile still plastered on her face.
“Nao I-”
“It’s okay Sara. I understand.”
Safalin brought the girl over to where she would be executed. Her arms were bound together to ensure she couldn't escape her death. A metal clamp was put around her waist. The intentions for it were clear to everyone. The crying doll handed Sara an “instant death switch”. The switch looked exactly like the one she was given in the first main game. When… Joe was killed. The memories of her consistently clicking the same button began flooding her head.
The painful memories distracted her only for a moment. Completely missing the moment Nao’s execution began. Up until this moment, the painter was so strong. She held her emotions in well and seemingly accepted her death. Trying to not break down in front of the children. Now that said death was so near, she completely broke. She was screaming and crying out of pain. Her cries echoed through the trial room as Gin and Kanna were shielded from the sight of this girl’s death. The cries only got louder as her ribs began to crack and her organs pushed together. The clamp slowly tearing her skin open as well. Sara went to click the button until something stopped her.
“SARA! PLEASE!” Nao cried out. “I DON’T WANT TO DIE SARA! I NEVER EVEN GOT TO FINISH MY PAINTING FOR PROFESSOR!” The pain in her voice gradually increased as the metal claw began to close down on her waist. Slowly crushing her body. Sara couldn’t bring herself to press the button as Nao continued to beg and cry for her life. In fear that it would just slow down her death like it did with Joe. Blood began to stain her clothes and pour out from the bottom of the metal clamp. This continued on for a while. It wasn’t until Sara heard one final plea for her life followed by a loud crushing noise, did Nao die. Suddenly the room was silent. Not a calming and relieving silence, one that was laced with fear and sadness. The atmosphere in the room is now very eerie.
Nobody had a moment to recover from the death of an ally before Safalin grabbed Kanna’s hand. The young girl followed the doll with little resistance. “SAFALIN!” A voice called out. “You can’t! She’s just a kid!” The voice belonged to Sou. He tried to chase after the pair, causing the doll to stop. “Sou stop…” Kanna reached up to grab the bucket that rested on the top of her head. She then passed it over to the panicking boy. “Thank you, everyone.. Thank you, Sara.” The girl began to cry once again. Sara watched as tears formed in the teal haired boy’s eyes as he stood there holding the bucket close to his chest. He held onto it like his life depended on it. “Please take care of Sou,” she hiccuped as tears rushed down her face faster. “Everyone… get along together…”
Those were her final words before Safalin activated her execution. Which was named the “human flower”. Sara couldn’t move from her position on the floor as she watched the girl slowly be killed. It felt as if she was glued to the floor.
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Sou couldn’t move. He held the bucket near his chest as he watched the little girl scream in pain. “Kanna!” He finally broke down. Tears began to rush down his face as he watched vines begin to emerge from the girl. “Sou… it hurts…” Her face slowly began to lose its color as the vines grew larger. Sou ran towards the girl in order to attempt to save her. Only to be stopped by Safalin. “Don’t mess with the executions, or you can join her in the afterlife.” Sou simply ignored her as he cried out towards the girl he swore he’d protect.
His tears wouldn’t stop. They just kept falling harder and harder with each cry Kanna makes. Her screams were something that had been burned into his brain. They were loud and so heart wrenching. He reached a hand out to show Kanna that he was there for her. Her face was pale. Blood began to drip out of her mouth and nose as vines emerged from those locations. Her eyes were puffy from crying and a deep shade of purple from the sleepless nights. Her scleras were bloodshot from the internal trauma the vines were causing. Sou wasn’t even sure if she could see him anymore as a vine began to peek out from the corner of her eye.
“Kanna believes you can beat that 0 percent…” She looked directly at the boy. Her vision was blurry, but still able to make out the figure of the boy she looked up to. Slowly, she brought one of her hands out to reach him. He watched as vines began to scale up towards her fingertips. Their stems are painted in a deep crimson as they filled with her blood.
His heart felt as if it had broken into a million pieces. “I will… in your honor.” He cried. Watching as the girl began to fight for her breath. She fell to her knees. Her breaths were shaky and weak. Her body is almost a ghostly color. It was very apparent that she was close to death. Sou couldn’t save her. He felt so useless. She had a higher chance of survival and still died before him.
“Don’t cry..” She paused to cough, blood shooting from her mouth. “Kanna will always be with you!” It was obvious the girl was trying to make Sou feel better in her final moments. She brought her two hands to her heart as she fell to her knees. “Right in here!” Sou began to cry harder as he placed a hand over his own heart. Showing Kanna that he understands.
“Thank you… Shin…” she weakly smiled at Sou one last time before completely collapsing to the ground. Her breaths completely stopped as her chest stayed still. Flowers began to bloom from the vines that just killed the innocent girl. Safalin finally let go of the crying boy, allowing him to run to Kanna. He just stared at her dead body. He felt sick. His stomach churned at the sight and smell of blood. Her face was covered in blood. Her eyes were open and staring at the ceiling. Vines poured out of her nose, mouth, and eyes.. His knees grew weak as he fell to the floor.
He didn’t deserve to be thanked by the young girl. He has done nothing good for her. If anything he kept her from getting close to anyone else out of fear of either of them getting hurt. He tried his best to protect her and failed at even that. Each replay of her final words sent more tears to fall down his face.
His sobs persisted, but he had no tears to cry anymore. The teal haired man reached out a shaky hand to pick one of the flowers that grew from a vine on the girl’s hand. It was a bright shade of red and seemed to be flourishing off the blood from the girl. He looked at the rose as he used his scarf to wipe his wet cheeks. “I’ll win in your honor, Kanna” he whispered to himself as everyone began to run over.
The boy gently placed the rose into the bucket that used to belong to Kanna. He stood up and grabbed the bucket with him, turning to face Sara. His sadness was quickly turned into rage. “I’ll never forgive you for this, Sara.” He gave her a death glare. One that could set her brain on fire if he really wanted to. He then heads towards the exit doors, purposely hitting Sara’s shoulder with his own as he passes her. Before exiting, he turned to look back at the dead girl covered in vines one last time.