“I thought we agreed he couldn’t walk.” Shiro murmurs, staring at the empty bed of the guest bedroom. “Did he crawl away or something?”

Tsujiko shivers. “M—Ms. Hinata was the one who said he couldn’t walk to begin with. Does she even have the medical knowledge to say something like that for sure?” The maid gasps. “Shiro. Shiro! She lied about me murdering Makoto. If she lied about that, and this, then—then it must’ve been her and the—the man! The stranger! I don’t know why, I don’t know how, but—but it’s the only thing that makes sense!”

Shiro blinks. “But, when the six men were murdered, you said you were with him the entire time.”

“I—” She sighs. “—No. Not entirely. I’m sorry. I just—I felt so bad for him. I felt responsible. And, I mean, I didn’t think he’d be in the state to—to do anything, but—”

“…Tsujiko? What did you do?”

“What? I didn’t do anything! I just… I went to take a smoke break here and there. And I… I sometimes lose my train of thought. You… know?”

Shiro’s eyes widen. “Whoa, whoa, wait a minute. So, you’re saying he could’ve—” He squeezes the shotgun in his hand. “Then… For the first murder… what happened, exactly? He just snuck off, got to the room before it was locked? And he escaped while we were busy with the bodies?”

“Kokone’s murder is easy. He would’ve been able t—to just move around. Nobody was watching him at the time.” she points out.

“You’ve gotta be kidding me.” He licks his lips. “Now he’s just walking around?” He looks at the gun. “Are there any more of these around? Where did Hinata even get it?”

“There’s… There’s an antique room, way off in the corner of the m-mansion, but nobody uses it—”

“Are there any MORE of these?”

Tsujiko covers her mouth.

Shiro exhales, his mind racing.

“Okay.” he says. “Okay. Just stay close to me.”

She nods, grabbing him by arm.

“I can’t fire the gun if you’re holding me.” he tells her.

She lets go. Reluctantly.

It will all be okay.

Shiro will protect her.

It’s how it was ever since they were kids. He’d promised to always be there for her. To help her. To hold her when she was at her lowest point. The first two weeks following her parents’ death she practically spent crying in his lap. He was the only good thing in her life. He was the one thing that made her regret running away.

He was the one hope she clung onto while on this island.

This prison.

This hell.

The laughter of the six men fills her ear. They’re dead. She saw their bodies. Yet, they still laugh. They will always laugh.

She grabs Shiro’s arm again.

He smiles. In that reassuring way only Shiro knows. “Hey. It’ll be okay. I’m right here. Alright?”

She lets go again, nodding.

“Thank you.” she says.

“Hey, still a good chance we both die.” he notes.

“Thank you for coming for me.”

He grins. “You hid well. But I was always gonna find you, kiddo.”

“You made out with this ‘kiddo’ in a janitor’s closet.”

He grimaces. “Don’t make it sound weird.”

She chuckles.

He’s too tense to follow suit.

But it would be okay.

With him by her side, nothing can go wrong anymore. If the stranger decides to attack them, he’ll die. Shiro will blow his brains out. Nothing can hurt her now. The old men can laugh all they want – now until the end of time, she decides – Shiro will be the thing that drowns them out once and for all.

Besides, they’re dead.

She is alive.

Shiro is alive.

That’s all that matters.

“Do you remember that time I broke my finger? In art class?” she asks as they wander the upper hallway.

Shiro’s finger is over the trigger. One sudden movement. That’s all he’s looking for now. The sun was beginning to set. If they don’t deal with the stranger now, things will get nasty. “Y-Yeah.”

“It was the first time you talked to me. Everyone always thought you were the weird one. I did, too. But—You really have a beautiful smile, you know that? You were really sneaky with it. The first time I realized you even smiled made me feel like I’d been initiated into a club or something.”

He says nothing.

“…There’s that flicker in your eyes, when you do it. Even now. It shows up. It goes away. But I always spot it. And it makes me happy. That’s all it takes. That one little flicker.”

Shiro stops.

“I love you.” she whispers in his ear.

“I love you too, Tsujiko.” he says.

She wraps her arms around his waist.

He doesn’t resist.

The two stand, basking in the glimmers of dying light.

“You never should’ve run away.” he tells her.

“I know.” She presses her head against his back. “I’m here now. I’m yours forever, okay?”

He smiles. She doesn’t see it, but she knows. “You’ve become a lot more romantic since then.”

“And you a lot more desperate. Your game must be terrible if you came out all this way for a childhood crush.”

“Crush? We made out. In high school, too. That’s not childhood, either.”

He looks around. He knows the stranger could be waiting for them. If their suspicions are correct, then he’s probably untied Kaede. But he can’t bring himself to tell her to let go. Not this time. Even if they died like this, it almost felt… okay?

He blinks.

He can feel her breathing.

Time passes.

The sun fades off into the distance.

Darkness takes them.

“I’ll have to write a book about this.” he whispers.

She merely continues to breathe into him.

Book.

Book?

A thought appears in Shiro’s head. It’s a small one. Insignificant one. It doesn’t change anything. Something to file away for later.

He almost forgets the gun in his hand.

Almost.

“Come on.” he says. “We should keep going.”

“Mmmm.”

“We’ll live through this, okay?”

“I’m scared.” she admits. “I’ve been so scared for so many years. You don’t even know. I just don’t want to let you go.”

“I’ll be right here. I promise.”

“I’m sorry I’m so weak. You’ve changed, but I still recognize you. One minute alone, though, and you turn me into a crumpled mess. Heh.”

“Time can only change so much. You’ll see. Once we get outta here, we’ll go somewhere nice.”

“I’ve had enough of exotic places. Let’s just… stay at home. On the couch. On a snowy night.”

“Honestly? As long as it’s not a fucking island, I’ll take it.”

“Or a remote mansion full of eccentric weirdos.”

“How about we just stay clear of houses in general?”

“I always liked high-rise apartments.”

“High-rise? How much do you think I make?”

“Whatever it is, I’m sure it’s enough.”

“Well—”

“No matter what. It’ll be enough. Everything will be.”

She closes her eyes.

She breathes so softly.