Work Text:
All he had to do was keep the door shut. With the suit and chainsaw hidden away, the killer would have to reveal themself personally to the victims. So long as Gaku was never alone with anyone, he wouldn't be murdered.
Trust absolutely no-one.
Every minute felt like an hour. He couldn't sleep. Every few minutes the breeze from the hole in his wall would ruffle a few of the empty cans, and Gaku would shoot out of bed on high alert, ready to defend against an attempt on his life. He wasn't sure how, he just knew he would do it.
A loud knock at the door almost sent him completely over the edge, biting down on his pillow as if each loud noise had been a shot right in his head.
"Gaku? It's me, Takumi."
Gaku put his pillow down, and took a deep breath.
He said he wasn't going to open the door, but Takumi wasn't just anyone. Gaku cracked the door open. Standing before him was undoubtedly Takumi. Gaku sighed with relief. He would have been so screwed if he fell for a trap.
"Takumi? What's up?" asked Gaku.
"Mind if I come in?" Takumi asked. Gaku frowned.
"Why?"
Gaku could never be too cautious, especially not with the rest of the SDU dropping like flies. Eight people were now dead, and Gaku certainly wouldn't like to be the ninth. Especially not since the killer had to be one of them.
Takumi puffed his cheeks into a pout.
"It's really embarrassing…" Takumi winced and looked away. He then looked back at Gaku. "I can't sleep. I keep feeling like I'm going to be next. Every time I hear someone walk past, or the water turn on, I jump out of my skin."
Gaku relaxed his grip on the door. He cracked it open a tad more.
"That's exactly how I feel!" Gaku exclaimed. If a guy as cool as Takumi still felt scared, then maybe it wasn't so lame that he was cooped up in his room unable to use the restroom out of fear he'd get sawed in half with his pants down.
"I knew you'd understand. Maybe we could take turns sleeping, that way we'll be able to rest up," said Takumi. His words sounded almost too good to be true. Perhaps they were. Out of everyone here…
"Why me?"
"You're the one who hid the suit. If I can verify it's not in your room, then I'll know for sure you're not the killer," said Takumi.
"Of course you thought of something like that! Yeah, it's not here for sure," said Gaku. He stepped to the side, allowing Takumi to walk through. Takumi sat down on his bed, sounding a bit crinkly. Gaku winced. He hoped he hadn't left a bag of chips there, but if Takumi already sat on it then it was already too late.
Gaku opened the bathroom door, then all the drawers of his room.
"See? Nothing in here," he said. "Totally murder weapon free!"
Takumi kicked one of the cans with his foot. It hit a pile of other cans. Gaku really should have cleaned up, but he didn't exactly anticipate having a guest. He should really work on his hospitality. He walked over to one of the drawers and rooted around.
"Oh, if you want something more comfortable to wear, I think I have another shirt in here… It might have some holes but don't worry about—"
The blade against his neck was sharp and cold, perfectly freezing him in place. Gaku didn't dare so much as gulp, lest the bob of his Adam's apple bring his skin down upon the blade. Everything inside him was screaming, how could he be so stupid? Why would he let Takumi into his room, alone?! A combination of hunger and drowsiness was to blame for his poor decisions. His rotten luck truly got the best of him. He could lament about it later, as his prize for surviving.
"Show me where you hid the suit."
Gaku's teeth clattered. Takumi was behind him, carefully holding the blade against his neck. His sleeve was hidden by a raincoat. He had come prepared to shed blood, then dispose of the evidence. Gaku squeezed his eyes shut so he wouldn't feel the urge to look down.
Takumi was going to kill him.
Takumi, who had been with all of them through the death of 8 of the others. Takumi, his friend.
"Clearly you don't need the suit to kill me—"
"Clearly you believe you deserve to live, so make yourself useful so I don't just slit your throat right here."
Takumi's voice was thick with a sinister resonance. It filled the air with a malice, a bloodlust so pungent that Gaku felt the hair on the back of his neck stand up.
"The… library…" he squeaked out.
"Show me."
Gaku's legs felt like jelly as he walked down the stairs. If he wasn't careful, he'd trip, fall, and die without Takumi even needing to kill him. It would be a fitting end for a pitiful coward like him. He couldn't help it; he was terrified. Everyone had an innate desire to live, though that didn't make it feel any less shameful.
Gaku crept into the dimly lit library. He walked over to the bookshelf, and grabbed onto it. He pushed it, revealing the suit and chainsaw.
"It's here," said Gaku. "Is that good enough for you?"
"You've been very useful," said Takumi. His smugness sickened Gaku, but not as much as he felt sick with himself. He hid the suit and saw to protect the others, and all it took was one threat to reveal them. He traded his own life for the lives of his friends. Clearly, Takumi would kill again.
He would kill all of them.
Every.
Last.
One.
Not if he could help it.
"No freaking way!" Gaku shouted. He pushed Takumi backwards with all his might. "I showed you where the suit is, but I'm sure as hell not going to let you take it back!"
Takumi seemed unphased by his sudden valiance, and instead came at him with the knife. Gaku ducked, the top of his hat frayed open from the blade. He lunged at Takumi, and tried to knock him to the ground. If he could apprehend Takumi here, no one else would have to die. He'd save everyone, and they'd think he was really cool doing it. He couldn't give up now!
But he wasn't strong enough to knock Takumi down. Instead, Takumi brought the knife around to the front. Gaku blocked with his arms; crimson blood dripped from his jacket. It hurt, it stung, but Gaku persevered. He grabbed Takumi by the wrist and twisted his arm, harder, and harder, until his fingers lost grip of the blade. Gaku let go of Takumi and kicked the knife to the side. He wasn't sure he could beat Takumi in a one on one, but at least he felt better without the knife. A fight was a psychological skirmish as much as a physical one, and Gaku needed help on both fronts.
His first instinct was to save himself, to bolt out the door and run away as fast as he could. But if he did that, Takumi would have both the suit and the chainsaw. He could do a lot more damage with the chainsaw.
Takumi lurched forward and grabbed Gaku by the throat, pinning him against the bookshelf. Books tumbled off, falling around them. One hit Gaku directly on the crown of his head. He winced through the pain, grabbing at Takumi's wrists to try to pull them off his neck before he passed out.
"Aw, did you really think you could stop me?" Takumi cooed. Gaku made an incomprehensible noise as a bit of air escaped his throat. Takumi removed one of his hands. Gaku kicked Takumi in the shins, but it was too late. Takumi let go of him. Gaku leaned forward, gasping for breath, only to realize in horror that Takumi had acquired something far more terrifying than the knife.
The chainsaw.
It was over… No matter which way Gaku ran, Takumi could slice him into bits. He shivered so vigorously more books began to fall. He was trapped, cornered against the shelf.
"Why… Why are you doing this?" Gaku choked out. For the first time all night, he got a good look at Takumi in the face. Everything seemed normal, except his eyes. That crazed look in his eyes was unlike anything Gaku had ever seen before: raw, primal desire for murder as if it was something as normal as eating or breathing. He was starving for a kill, and Gaku was his unfortunate prey.
Takumi revved the chainsaw. The sound was drowned out by Gaku's heart beating in his ears.
He failed.
None of them would make it out alive.
"G'ieeeeee!"