[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/1P2n1G5.png[/img][/center]

The fireplace of the campsite was a tranquil place. None of the students ever visited it on any normal occasion, but the situation right now was far from that. Both Ayu and Hiroki sat on one of the large stones dotted around, just big enough to accommodate two people. Neither of them had said much while they were sitting there, or even at any other point in time. Earlier in the day, Hiroki had suggested to come here for some rest. Ayu was daydreaming like usual while the boy tried desperately to cope with the awkwardness of being stuck together for at least 1420 minutes in any given day. His partner’s silence didn’t help much either, not until he finally heard something come out of her mouth.

“...Hey. What’s your opinion of all this?” she asked rather cryptically. Ayu didn’t turn to look at him as she posed the question, either. Her gaze remained focused upwards, just above the treeline, as she stared at the bright blue sky.

“Uh…” Hiroki turned to look at her for a brief moment, before returning his attention to the ground, “Well,” He mumbled; he didn’t want to have to ask her to clarify, but he obviously wasn’t getting it, so he sighed and asked, “About what, exactly? The motive? Or this whole… killing game situation?”

“Hm… Yeah, most of those I guess…” she absent-mindedly muttered back in response. Her head lowered as she took a renewed interest for the unlit fire pit. “Hey… who’s skin do you think Monokuma is trying to get under?” Ayu continued to interrogate. She pulled with her arm to extend the cord, allowing her to look down at the bracelet on her wrist. “Not just the motive, either… everything so far.” 

Hiroki furrowed his brow, giving himself time to think before responding, “Well, to be honest, I don’t really know if they’re trying to target anyone in particular. Nobody seems to be handling this well. I mean, the amount of fighting that’s gone on already, and with many different people, proves it’s getting to most of us, if not everyone…” He then widened his eyes, looking almost flustered as he continued, “Not that I think anyone would kill someone or anything, I just—y’know, this whole thing is stressful, but I think they’ll persevere.”

“So that’s the way you think, huh…?” Ayu said, paused, and asked “Then, do you trust them?” She let the question linger in the air for a few moments, but not long enough for Hiroki to respond to. “Aren’t you afraid of any of them? Or maybe afraid of yourself…? Even you’re not scared, are they?” she continued to question. This time, Ayu looked back at Hiroki, almost expectantly after firing off that flurry. It came paired with one final question. “What are your honest feelings?” she asked, as if to sum it up.

Hiroki stared at Ayu, wide eyed. He let out a quick, breathy laugh, but his face was clearly panicked. What does he [i]say[/i] to that? An almost familiar sort of sickness hit him; he really hated being put on the spot like this. But, well, she wanted the truth, and he was in no place to deny that to her… “I don’t know. I don’t know if I trust anyone. And I’d like to think I wouldn’t murder someone, but I’ve surprised myself a lot with things I thought I’d never do. I definitely don’t think I’m going to last in this game if it keeps going, though. I’m… I’m pathetic. I’ll probably die here, and maybe it’ll be what I deserve,” He said, shaky after confessing his thoughts, unwilling to look at Ayu.

“Really?” the girl replied, her monotone voice a bit livelier than usual. “I don’t think you’re that bad of a person… after all, you’re strong enough to be honest. Not everybody is like that,” Ayu said to him, turning her own gaze away. “I think I trust you, though. I don’t think someone who can admit they’re afraid would do something bad.”

“I was only honest because you asked,” He muttered. That sick feeling hadn’t left him, and had somehow seemed to have gotten worse. He was overwhelmed with some emotion, or maybe several, that he just couldn’t place, “But I guess I’m glad you trust me. I have a pretty bad track record with that, though, so… proceed with caution, I guess. It’s easy for me to fall out of line.”

Ayu didn’t respond for a few seconds. It caused Hiroki’s speech to hang in the air for an uncomfortably long time. Then, Ayu let out her delayed “Huh?” as she whipped her head back around. She blinked a few times and said: “Oh... I’m sorry, did you say something? I spaced out a little...”

The girl rubbed her eyes and looked a little fatigued, but she still stood up before Hiroki could. “Hey, let’s go eat something… I’m kind of hungry,” Ayu told him, entirely tone-deaf to the situation.

Hiroki opened his mouth, as if to protest, but just kept his mouth shut and stood up, “Sure, let’s go,” he said. He just hoped she wasn’t going to make him eat in front of her...

[center][b][color=AFEEEE]Ayu and Hiroki grew a little closer today![/color][/b][/center]