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With her back resting against the support beams of the swingset, Eden could only sit down on the floor of the playroom and think back on the last couple of days.
Eden was savvy enough to know that nothing could go back to normal, after Xander’s attempt on Teruko’s life and the ensuing fallout of his actions. And now, the group of sixteen has quickly dwindled down to just twelve, leaving the group irreparably fractured as a result. Not even the emotional rocks of the group could escape from this second trial unscathed, whether physically or emotionally.
Eden avoided actually using the swings for their intended purpose, and couldn’t bring herself to even look at them. The squeaking of the chains only reminded the clockmaker of her.
The cold and lifeless body of the girl that promised to protect her and be her friend. Reduced to nothing but a silent corpse hanging from the swingset. To think that someplace as innocent and fun as a playroom could house a sight this grim.
And the more Eden continued to think about scenarios in which Arei were still alive, the more her insides continued to twist and turn.
“Oh, Eden~!”
“Oi, Eden!”
The two voices that couldn’t be more different from one another, grabbed Eden’s attention.
Looking up, there was no mistaking it: both Eden and Ace were standing in front of her.
Or, more accurately, floating in front of her.
For reasons unknown to even MonoTV, ghosts of the four dead students appeared within their living quarters. In spite of their incorporeal state, they were still unable to leave the killing game, so they were treated like any other participant. Unkillable participants, sure. But, participants nonetheless.
Both Xander and Min took to locking themselves in their respective rooms, both out of guilt for jumpstarting the killing game and out of fear of Veronika hounding them with a tsunami of questions.
“O-Oh, Arei! Ace! It’s great to see you two!”
As much as Eden tried to put a smile on her face at the sight of the killing game’s revived victims, both Arei and Ace recognized the strain that this twisted chain of events was placing on the resident optimist. And who could blame her? Having to deal with getting caught in the crossfire of a second murder, when she had barely recovered from the first murder. The unsubtle glares that the two athletes gave Eden told her everything she needed to know, as she allowed her strained smile to drop, before burying her face back into her knees.
Although neither Arei and Ace had the most savory of personalities, even they couldn’t stand to see Eden so disheartened. And, as someone who granted Eden the status of her first friend, Arei stepped forward, dragging Ace to sit alongside her.
“You’re not going to let go of me, until we perk up Eden, are you?”
Arei only smiled innocently, as she increased her vice grip on Ace’s wrist.
“Absolutely not!”
Although she was now incapable of interacting with the objects of the mortal world, Arei still put her unoccupied arm around Eden’s hunched shoulders. Although the feeling felt more ominous than needed, it got the clockmaker to look the bowler in the face. And it was a face that was more sympathetic than possibly ever.
“You know, Eden. Now that I think about it, even before all this shit happened, we never really got a chance to know each other as friends. It sucked that I’ve never really talked to you, apart from when I was being a bitch to you. But I really have been thinking about you all the time! I thought, at first, that it was just jealousy talking. Like, how dare this b*tch be cuter and happier than me! It was hard-”
“Hard?”
“It was bad-”
“Bad?”
“It was rough-”
“Kinky!”
*SMACK*
“Ow-FUCK!”
“Shut your mouth, Ace! Have you forgotten you’re here to help me help Eden? What the fuck even happened to you? You were never like this when you were alive! You sound like Whit or something!”
Surprisingly, Ace was rapidfire with pointing out Arei’s phrasing, all with a smirk on his face. It was almost uncharacteristic of the Ace that everybody else once knew. But with an immortal body that anything can pass through anything (apart from other ghosts), the jockey stopped viewing everything as something that could potentially harm or kill him. And, apparently, that translated to him bringing out his inner class clown.
“Ignore Ace. But anyways, I thought we could use this time to catch up with each other, like friends are supposed to do! Talk about life and…other stuff…”
“Real specific…”
“Hm~? What was that?”
“Nothing…”
Another sharp squeeze to Ace’s wrist gave the jockey the cue to shut up.
“That’s what I thought!”
Looking at this humorous scene before her, Eden could only crack a smile and let out a small giggle in response, which the two newly-minted-frenemies were quick to pick up on.
“What? What’s so funny? We’re trying to cheer you up here!”
“I didn’t ask to-OW!”
“Hehehe! Oh, it’s nothing! It’s just…you two have really changed! In a good way! I always knew you two had some good in you, but you really have improved! I don’t think I’ve ever seen you two so…happy…”
Needless to say, getting praised by someone like Eden, while common for possibly the only truly nice person remaining in this killing game, would warm the hearts of even the coldest beings. Arei’s smile stretched to the ends of her flushed cheeks, while Ace’s unoccupied hand sheepishly scratched the back of his neck.
“Yeah, I dunno what happened, but I’m actually feeling…kind of…chill, almost? To think, I’ve been wasting my life being some piece of shit who’s afraid of everything! Maybe Whit actually had the right idea-Pfft! Look at me! Actually agreeing with Whit!”
For once, Ace let out a laugh that wasn’t one of sarcastic mockery.
“Thank you, Eden! I know this situation is shitty, but, as long as I can stick by and protect you, I feel like things are actually going to be somewhat alright. As long as I take that advice from both you and David and make the effort to be a nice person! And cut out the whole bully bit! …At least to those who don’t deserve it…Anyways, it’s gonna be hard, but if I can bust my ass in bowling and get an Ultimate title for it, surely I can do the same with being a nice person!”
Arei’s “arm” only forced Eden closer with every promise coming out of her mouth, until the clockmaker was seconds away from having her head falling into the bowler’s lap. And much to her sapphic dismay, even if she risks falling through her new best friend’s lap, it’s a hazard that she wouldn’t mind falling into.
To bring back some semblance of normalcy to Arei’s side-hug (not that there was much to begin with), Eden sat back up as straight as she could muster.
“Well…I would love to get closer to you too, Arei! You know…we never got around to doing that clock-making activity…because…well…”
“Yeah, I know…and, again, sorry for blowing up at you like that…”
“...but I’d really love to show you some of my best works! Once you see them, you’ll become obsessed with my clockmaking expertise! The amount of work that goes into each and every one of them is absolutely breathtaking! Quite literally, I might add! I…may sometimes forget to eat or sleep when getting into the groove…”
After silently mouthing quips about the nerdy status of clockmaking, it was Ace’s turn to pipe up and show concern for what was currently tumbling out of Eden’s mouth.
“I know I’m the last person who should be talking, especially because I no longer need to eat in this form, but you need to eat and sleep! Otherwise, you’ll end up like the old me!”
Upon realizing she spilled too much, Eden’s cheeks flushed and her left hand awkwardly fidgeted with her bowtie.
“Geez…looks like we’ve all got things we need to work on…”
“No shit.”
Although it only really worked on Ace, Arei confidently pulled the clockmaker and jockey towards her body, flashing a cheerful and confident smile.
“Well, whether eating troubles or being a bully, as long as we give it our full attention, it’ll be easy for us to change and do better! Thanks for giving me another chance to better myself, Eden! Though, I guess I should kinda thank David for that too. But, you most of all!”
And Eden returned that smile back, hoping that her rapidly-reddening cheeks aren’t obvious to the bowler.
“O-Of course, I’m glad to be your first friend, Arei!”
If Eden tilted her head a bit away from Arei’s chest, she would be able to see Ace smirking at her and mouthing “Friend?” in a disbelieving manner.
“No, not just friends, Eden! We’re partners in crime! A dynamic duo! Gal pals!-”
“Girlfriends?”
Apparently, both Eden and Ace had the same idea about where the relationship was heading, for they spoke at exactly the same time, cutting off Arei’s monologue. Upon hearing what she just said, Eden blushed and buried her face back into her knees. Arei’s words snapped her out of her embarrassment.
“Yeah! Girlfriends!”
“W-What?! You want to be my…girlfriend? In that way?”
“Yeah! I’d say, out of all of the girls here, you’re definitely the cutest! I may be a ghost, but I’ll find a way to make this relationship work!”
“W-Wow…I never thought I’d have a girl return my feelings…especially not like this…but who am I to complain?”
As the two girls did their best to lovingly embrace each other, Ace wiggled his wrist out of Arei’s grip, to give the now-girlfriends some space. Looking at the heartwarming scene before him, he could only let out a soft smile.
“And to think I had the wrong idea about Arei all along. She really is serious about this whole “changing for the better” shit. Maybe it’s time I do some changing of my own.”