In the end, only Kurosawa Hoshino, Ran, and Sonoko kept their phones. Everyone else—including Hattori Heiji—handed theirs over.
That meant the three who kept their phones were assigned to the same room.
It was a twin room. Ran and Sonoko could share one bed. Kurosawa Hoshino would sleep alone.
Inside the room, Sonoko looked up at the camera on the ceiling opposite their bed, pointed directly at them. She pouted. "This feels so annoying. Even sleeping, we're being watched. My biggest worry now is—are there bugs in the bathroom?"
"Ew~" Ran shuddered. "Sonoko, don't say that. It's so creepy."
"But I'm telling the truth."
"Sigh. What can we do?"
The two girls exchanged helpless smiles, then, as if reading each other's minds, looked at Kurosawa Hoshino lying on the bed next to them, playing on his phone.
Sonoko grinned mischievously, quietly picked up a pillow, and threw it at him.
Bang.
It hit him square in the head. The pillow was soft, so he was unharmed. He silently removed the pillow, placed it behind his head, and said calmly, "If you're bored, come over and massage my shoulders. Don't bother me while I'm on my phone."
"Hoshino, think of something. I don't like having a camera over my head. Listening devices are annoying too."
"Was that a begging tone just now?"
"Sorry. Do you have a solution?"
"Yes." Kurosawa Hoshino put down his phone, turned to look at them, and smiled. "Agree to one condition, and I'll help you."
Ran and Sonoko instinctively crossed their arms, staring at him warily.
Ran said, "Let's get this straight. No unreasonable requests."
Sonoko nodded. "That's right. And if you're lying to us, you'd better watch out. I can't do anything to you, but Ran is very capable."
"Don't worry." Kurosawa Hoshino rolled over and lay flat on the bed. "Come on. One of you massage my shoulders. The other massage my thighs. Half an hour, and I'll solve your problem."
"I feel like you're lying to us," Sonoko said suspiciously.
"Believe it or not. Up to you."
Ran and Sonoko exchanged glances, then nodded. They got out of bed and went to Kurosawa Hoshino's bedside to start massaging.
"Ah~ that feels good~ Ran, a bit more pressure. Sonoko, be gentle—I feel like you're trying to strangle me."
"We're already kind enough to massage you. Why so many demands? Ran, just press harder. Let's see what happens."
"Okay," Ran replied.
Kurosawa Hoshino's expression changed instantly. "Stop, stop, stop! Be gentle, Ran. Gentle!"
"Hehe~"
The next half hour was a mix of pleasure and pain for Kurosawa Hoshino. He enjoyed the massage, but the two girls would occasionally dig in hard, making him jolt awake.
Sonoko flopped back onto the edge of her bed, rubbing her slightly sore hands, staring at Kurosawa Hoshino without a word.
Ran, full of energy, nudged him. "Hoshino, we kept our promise. Half an hour. Your turn."
"Heh." Kurosawa Hoshino chuckled, turned over, and showed no sign of getting up.
Just as Sonoko was about to explode, he spoke. "Actually, the camera is fake. You can check if you don't believe me."
"Fake?" The two girls were surprised.
"Yes. Grab a stool, stand on it, and touch it."
Sonoko quickly left the room, brought a chair from the living room, placed it in the corner, and climbed up. She stared at the camera overhead, reached out, and touched it carefully. The texture felt wrong. It was very light—hollow inside.
"It really is fake." She touched it a few more times to confirm.
"Great." Ran looked relieved, finally no longer feeling restrained.
Sonoko came to Kurosawa Hoshino's bedside, annoyed. "You bad guy. You knew it was fake, and you still made us massage you for half an hour?"
"You reap what you sow." Kurosawa Hoshino was calm. "If I hadn't said anything, you wouldn't have suspected it was fake even tomorrow. Half an hour of massage is already cheap."
Sonoko took a deep breath but said nothing. She turned, hugged Ran tightly, and pushed her onto the bed.
"What are you doing?" Ran asked, confused.
"Hehe." Sonoko's face took on a mischievous grin. "Miss, you came to my bed. Weren't you trying to seduce me? Well, you succeeded. I'm very interested in you now."
"Hey, stop it. Haha—stop tickling me!"
"Hehe, Ran, let me kiss you. One kiss, and I'll let you go."
"Stop it—it tickles!"
Kurosawa Hoshino watched them play-fighting on the bed, his lips twitching. He said irritably, "Hey, hey, hey. Show some respect. I'm a boy. Don't treat me like I'm one of the girls. Don't ignore my existence."
"Hehehe~" Sonoko turned her head and stuck out her tongue. "Just pretend you don't exist. What are you going to do about it?"
Ran stretched out a hand toward him. "Hoshino, help me! Push Sonoko off!"
"You two have fun. I'm going for a walk."
Kurosawa Hoshino got up and left the room.
With Ran's strength, there was no way she could be pinned down by Sonoko. They were just two best friends messing around. He didn't want to be a third wheel.
The corridor outside was lit—not dark.
Every room was tightly closed. The participants were probably hard at work on those thousand questions.
Soon, he entered the living room and found Amuro Tooru standing by the window, staring intently into the night.
Amuro heard the faint noise, turned, and saw Kurosawa Hoshino. He smiled. "Kurosawa-kun, not sleeping? Or can't sleep because you've been stuck with two girls?"
"No. They're being too loud. I'll wait until they calm down before going back."
"Then would you mind helping me look for Mr. Kanaya?"
"What happened to him?"
"He's gone. Not in his room."
"Okay." Kurosawa Hoshino remembered the plot. Kanaya Hiroyuki was the first to die—though he didn't know exactly when. But if Amuro said he was gone, it meant he might have died tonight. Or something else had happened.
"I'll check outside."
Remembering that Kanaya Hiroyuki's body was in a car in the garage, Kurosawa Hoshino headed straight there.