"What is this?"
"This... this can't be true!"
"It must be that guy, Kushida!"
At the same time, some students in the class noticed a series of messages popping up in the class group chat, causing a massive uproar.
Someone's past was exposed; someone had badmouthed a classmate; and there were other secrets that had been kept hidden.
In just over ten minutes, the mood of the Class C students, who had just been immersed in the joy of promotion, instantly plummeted to rock bottom.
Chaos, suspicion, anger—all kinds of emotions instantly echoed among the crowd in the class.
Many students quickly pointed fingers at each other, and the cabin turned into a mess.
"You did curse at me before, didn't you!"
"I did not!"
"Are the messages sent on this fake?!"
The students in the class had already begun to accuse one another.
"Everyone, please calm down!"
Yosuke Hirata tried his best to maintain order, but the effect was very mediocre. He never expected such a thing to happen to the class.
Clearly, everyone was happy about the promotion just moments ago, but in the blink of an eye, they started accusing each other. This was completely different from the harmonious class Hirata imagined.
Why did it turn out like this?
Watching the increasingly chaotic situation in the class, Suzune Horikita, sitting to the side, felt somewhat helpless. She lowered her head, looking at the content displayed on her terminal, and couldn't help but frown tightly.
Horikita never expected that there would be messages concerning herself and her brother, Manabu Horikita.
This made Horikita's mood terrible as well.
However, Horikita also knew that now was not the time to worry about this. If the signs in this class were not curbed immediately, the entire class would likely collapse completely within a short time.
Just like in middle school.
Although Horikita didn't know the specific details—she had only heard about the sudden collapse of the class Kikyo Kushida was in—she had now guessed what happened back then.
It was definitely Kushida's doing.
Horikita absolutely could not let what happened then repeat itself in the current class.
"Quiet!"
A cold and powerful voice pierced through the noise.
Everyone followed the sound and saw that Horikita had, at some point, stood up on a slightly higher seat. Her posture was upright, her face stern, and her gaze swept across the room like an ice pick.
The originally noisy cabin actually quieted down strangely under her silent pressure.
"If you want to continue accusing each other, I don't care, but look at yourselves right now!"
Horikita's voice wasn't loud, but it clearly traveled into everyone's ears.
"Just because of some anonymous messages of unknown origin and dubious authenticity, you suspect and accuse each other, even to the point of almost getting physical. Does this match the achievement of the promotion we just obtained? Is this the posture our Class C should have?"
Her words made some hot-headed students feel ashamed, and they lowered their heads or averted their gazes one after another.
"That's right!"
Hirata also immediately seized the opportunity, his voice returning to its usual gentleness but carrying firmness.
"Everyone, calm down! These messages are obviously someone deliberately trying to disturb us! If we throw ourselves into disarray first, wouldn't we be playing right into the opponent's hands? We are a class; we should support each other, not be divided by such low-level tricks!"
He tried hard to warm up the atmosphere, but deep in his eyes, there was a wavering caused by the rumors touching upon his own secrets.
Kei Karuizawa tightly gripped her best friend's hand beside her, her face pale. The descriptions of her being bullied in middle school made her feel both angry and terrified, deeply afraid that the status of the small group she had built with such difficulty would collapse because of this.
She was certain she hadn't told anyone about these matters...
Not even Kikyo Kushida, whom she had been close with before.
This caused some doubt to rise in Karuizawa's heart.
Are these messages true?
Or could it be...
Just a fabricated coincidence?
Kiyotaka Ayanokoji continued to lean in the corner, appearing as if he were an outsider.
Just then, the cabin door was pushed open.
Subaru walked in.
Although he had originally left, he had just received the relevant information as well. However, Subaru didn't care.
He returned here simply to see the reactions of the others.
After all, anyone would judge in the first instance that this had an inseparable relationship with Kikyo Kushida.
His steps were steady, and his face wore its usual indifference, as if the chaotic scene before him—filled with tension, anger, shame, and panic—was just a boring stage play.
His appearance caused the air, which had settled slightly, to solidify once again.
Many students subconsciously held their breath. Even Horikita and Hirata stopped speaking and looked at him.
Subaru's gaze slowly swept across the crowd, gliding over Karuizawa's pale face, over Airi Sakura's trembling shoulders, over the gentleness Hirata struggled to maintain, over Horikita's tightly furrowed brows, and over the lingering excitement or guilt on the students' faces.
Finally, his gaze landed on the screen of his own terminal.
There, the last few anonymous messages in the class group chat were still displayed.
Including that abrupt and horrifying message:
—Natsuki Subaru, in the past, has killed people.
He didn't look to see who sent it, nor did he show any intention of acting offended or explaining.
Perhaps Kikyo Kushida just wanted to use this method to further lower Subaru's image in the eyes of his classmates.
True news mixed with false news; this was what made all the information difficult to distinguish.
However, Kikyo Kushida certainly did not know.
The fact that he had killed people... that message was not a lie.
He merely tilted his head very slightly, almost imperceptibly.
A trace of an extremely subtle, nearly joyous ripple spread out within the indifference deep in his eyes.
"Interesting."
He whispered to himself, his voice so light that only the few people closest to him could barely hear it clearly.
He made no response to the rumor, offered no comfort, and made no threats.
He simply watched everything before him, like admiring a play that had suddenly accelerated.
Kikyo Kushida's actions were faster than he anticipated, and also... more effective.
These rumors, half-true and half-false, were like giant boulders thrown into a pond. They stirred up not just splashes, but the silt at the bottom.
The expressions of the students in the class varied.
It is in times like these that the base color of the soul might be revealed slightly.
This was also the reason Subaru wanted to keep Kikyo Kushida.
She could serve as fuel, perhaps capable of stimulating the colors of others.
However, looking at it now, the others were still the same as before, possessing no color whatsoever.
And as for that rumor about him killing people...
Subaru's fingertips unconsciously slid across the edge of his terminal.
In a certain sense, this was not completely wrong.
In the world he was once in, the blood on his hands... went far beyond what the word "human life" could simply summarize.
126,702 people.
This was the number Reinhard stated when he came to attempt to subjugate him.
The number of people killed by him.
Of course, this was only on the surface.
In places Reinhard didn't know about, this number would continue to increase.
That knight was ultimately just a fake.
And in this world, Subaru had also killed people.
Haruki Yamauchi, Arisu Sakayanagi, Kakeru Ryuen, Miyabi Nagumo... and the Chairman.
However, at least in this world, in this timeline where I did not go to love you, he hadn't yet.
What did the people killed during Return by Death have to do with the current him?
But what this rumor triggered was a deeper fear and suspicion—fear of the nature of his existence as an anomaly.
This was exactly what Kikyo Kushida wanted, and also... what he, to some extent, was happy to see succeed.
"Natsuki-ku..."
Yosuke Hirata tried to speak, wanting to say something to ease the atmosphere, or at least get a confirmation of "this isn't true" from him.
"What is it?"
"Regarding the rumors, what do you think?"
"What do I think? It doesn't matter, does it?"
Subaru's answer was within Hirata's expectations. As if trying to comfort himself, he said:
"These messages must definitely be fake, especially saying things like Natsuki-kun has killed people..."
"It's true, you know."
Subaru said with a smile.
A hint of astonishment and terror appeared on Hirata's face for a split second, but he soon squeezed out a smile.
"I didn't expect Natsuki-kun to have such a humorous side. Then, next..."
But Subaru interrupted him, turning his gaze toward Suzune Horikita.
"You handled it well."
This remark, coming out of nowhere, made Horikita pause.
"At least, you didn't let the situation spiral completely out of control."
Subaru added a sentence, his tone remaining flat, making it impossible to tell if it was praise or merely a statement of fact.
Then, he ignored everyone else and turned to walk toward his own cabin.
When he reached the cabin door, he stopped and turned his head slightly. His gaze seemed to penetrate layers of obstacles, casting toward the direction of Kikyo Kushida's room.
His lips moved almost imperceptibly, making no sound, but the shape of his mouth was faintly discernible:
"Continue."
Immediately after, he opened the door, his figure disappearing into the shadows of the corridor.
After he left, the cabin fell into another kind of eerie silence.
The invisible pressure he brought was gone, but the feeling of having been observed and evaluated by him remained.
Everyone looked at each other, not knowing how to continue for a moment.
Suzune Horikita took a deep breath, suppressing the strange feeling that arose in her heart due to Subaru's "handled it well," and faced her classmates again, her voice regaining its calm.
"The anonymous person's goal is to create chaos. From now on, any unverified remarks spreading others' privacy or malicious speculation within the group will be regarded as destructive behavior against the class. I, along with Hirata-kun, will suggest to Chabashira-sensei to strengthen the management of class communications. At the same time, I hope everyone can face these despicable means with reason and unity. Dismissed, everyone cool off on your own."
This time, no one shouted objections or argued anymore.
The students dispersed silently with complex, indescribable moods, but the suspicion and unease permeating the air were like thick fog, lingering for a long time.
Yosuke Hirata rubbed the center of his brows wearily and whispered to Horikita:
"Thank you, Horikita-san. If it weren't for you..."
"It's too early to say thank you."
Suzune Horikita interrupted him, her gaze sharp.
"This is just the beginning. That anonymous person won't stop here. We must find out who it is, and... their true purpose."
Hirata nodded, yet his eyes were somewhat dim.
"I know... I just... don't want to see the class become like this. Horikita, who do you think the anonymous person..."
"Currently, there is only one candidate..."
Horikita answered.
The answer to this question didn't even require thought.
Kikyo Kushida.
*
Meanwhile, inside the tightly closed cabin, Kikyo Kushida faintly heard the commotion outside gradually subside through the crack in the door, and also "heard" Subaru's silent "Continue."
She leaned her back against the door panel and slowly slid down to sit on the floor. This time, what appeared on her face was no longer pure anger or distortion, but a complex expression mixing excitement, malice, and a certain morbid sense of accomplishment.
The light from the terminal screen illuminated the corners of her mouth, which were slightly hooked up.
"Did you see that? Subaru... This... is the 'color' I'm giving you..."
She laughed in a low voice, her laughter sounding somewhat eerie in the narrow space.
"Chaotic, filthy, suspicious... the ugliest color mixed from everyone's weaknesses."
"Do you like it?"
"This... is just the appetizer."
She picked up her terminal again, her fingers tapping lightly on the anonymous account interface, starting to conceive the next round of "information drops."
Outside the cabin, the sea surface remained pitch black as the cruise ship sailed steadily on its return journey.
And Subaru, standing alone in front of the window in his cabin, gazed at the darkness outside that devoured all light.
The ripple of interest in his eyes caused by the chaos gradually calmed, returning to a bottomless indifference.
But a vague, icy expectation quietly bred in his heart.
Kikyo Kushida's "blackness," under the irrigation of malice and revenge, seemed to be starting to display a more creative form.
Then, what about the others?
In this storm composed of lies and suspicion, will they become paler and more fragile, completely losing their color?
Or... can they, under pressure, burst forth with unexpected, perhaps... even more dazzling "colors"?
He was looking forward to it.
Looking forward to seeing what kind of scene this scroll—permitted by him, penned by Kushida, and "performed" jointly by everyone—would finally present.
Will it be a descent into completely grey chaos, or will a "color" truly worth his stopping to gaze upon be born within the chaos?
Time would give the answer.
And before that, he only needed to continue... observing.
What kind of surprise will Kikyo Kushida bring me?
Work a little harder, Kikyo Kushida.
Struggle, struggle just like I once did.
Struggle like when I was being strangled to death by Ram.
Only when drowning can the instinct to survive further stimulate the true self.
Subaru's hand couldn't help but reach toward his own neck.
In a trance, a burst of familiar red floated before his eyes.
"Are you finally ready to seek death, Barusu?"
That familiar voice also seemed to ring in his ears.
"No... not yet..."
Subaru muttered to himself.
However, the only thing that responded to him was a void.
____
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