The Best Actor Ever Seen

Just before I enter the laboratory room, Yukawa and Manabu continued talking about the killer's trail.

"I told you… I've never killed anyone… other than Kino…" Manabu stuttered as he periodically hisses.

"Liar! You're the only suspicious here!" Yukawa shouted.

"I… I thought it… was you…"

"Dude, I'm leading this group. Everyone has their eyes set on me. How can I kill in such a situation well, in fact, I didn't even touch a single weapon."

"I only… have knife… and I told you… in chemistry classes… my notebooks… are blank… How can I… create such… high IQ poison?"

"Even the dumbest person can be poisoned if he drank an ink of a pen."

"I really thought… it was you… that is why… I'm angry… that you touched Ryo…"

"Ryo's still alive as of now. Don't be so negative."

"But if… the murderer… is still there… then all of… them might… be dead…"

"Wait… is the knife already in there when you woke up? Are you sure that the knife isn't yours?"

"Yes… I don't have… this cute design…"

"Why the fork are you calling that cute!?"

"It's light… and seems expensive… You don't… have a knife… with you?"

"No. Saori didn't give me one," Yukawa replied with deep thoughts.

"Just as I thought… We're being played… Can you… reach my pocket?"

"I'm not here to let you escape."

"That's not it!! If we're… too late… everyone will die…" Manabu exclaimed with force thinking with a voice that loses its tone unconsciously. He starts shaking while trying to get out of his bind.

"What do you mean!? Hey, stop it! It hurts! Why are you panicking!?"

"The real murderer… she's lurking… out there!!"

"She?"

Just seconds later, I opened the door while holding a torch. Manabu's chin and lips trembled as his body shakes in extremities.

"Oh, God… There she is…"

"Yukawa… there's something I would like to confess," I said with my voice that he knows. He is looking at me with a wrinkled brow of suspicion.

"C… Confess? What are you talking about…" Yukawa stuttered. He tries hard not to lose his composure but even in the darkness, his cold sweats are visible.

I went near him and touch his face gently. I shake to mimic my nervousness and appeal with innocence in front of him, but when I did, he averted his eyes away from me. His chest puffs in and out quickly.

"Is… is there something wrong, Yukawa?"

"N… no! Really… Don't mind me… I'm just curious about what will happen to us," he replied with a half-smile.

"Really? Yukawa, you look… pale," I said with my eyebrows drawing together.

"Don't mind me… I'm really okay, Saori. Moving on, what are you confessing about?"

I looked away with my red face and shaking lips. I paused for seconds and swallowed. "I… I don't know how to say this but…

"It's been days since we've been together. Even after the hardships that we've been through, and all the friends that we've lost, I still find it hard to believe that I… am still breathing at this point.

"For the first day, I've been so obsessed with negativity that I can't think straight, nor can help everyone to clear this game. I'm nothing but a hindrance," I quaked.

"N… No… You're not, Saori," Yukawa replied, not only with his eyes directly looking at me but also with his vigorous head shaking. "In fact, without you, we'll never catch the real culprit. We will never reach this point without you."

"But you… after this… all of us will disappear from each sight… and I don't know what will happen to us after then. Without you, who will lead us?" I whined.

"There were many others there capable of doing the same thing as mine. I can see that they are all great leaders. Just believe in yourself, Saori. I'm sure you can continue to live through this hell…"

"But you… I need you… we needed you… Yukawa…" I cried. "You're the only one that could help us through this… could help me… because without you… I'm all alone.

"I'll be left out standing in front of the window again… all by myself… I can't reach anyone even if I tried… that's why…"

"W… What are you saying…" Yukawa tilts his head with dilated pupils and a much red face.

I faced him with flooding tears on my face and the courage to tell him what I really feel. "I LIKE YOU, YUKAWA! I like you… so please… don't leave us… don't leave me…"

"They really forget… that I'm here…" Manabu stuttered and hisses in pain together with a poker face while staring at our drama.

"Shut up, Manabu!" Yukawa shouted. I expect him to be romantic even for a single bit, but his calmness dominated it. What I've done, might be brave and at the same time, the most embarrassing thing that I've done.

"You're… calm… or am I…" I cried as I cover my face with my inability to look at his face. "I'm sorry… I shouldn't have… said that…" My chest tightened, knowing that he rejected me through his response. My body shakes as I flood the floor with my tears. I wanted to flee that time, but Yukawa called my name.

"Saori… I'm sorry. I can't reciprocate the feelings that you have for me."

"Why… Why can't I… stay by your side? What did I do wrong?" I whined.

"I don't know how to react to this situation. I'm just a person who learns by experience, and I've never experienced a love confession before. I don't know what it means to fall in love. I don't know how to respond…" Yukawa stuttered.

I put away my hands from my face to touch both his cheeks as we connect our eyes. "Then let me… let me give you the missing hole in your heart. I will make sure you… you won't live in solitude anymore."

"Usually, I will respond if this is a normal confession, but it isn't."

"Normal confession? Is this not?" I sobbed.

"I'm sorry, Saori. I don't know how to respond to a fake confession. It's just lately that I realized what an ideal princess would be and how imaginary they were. They are too kind, too innocent, and too good to be true.

"Stories about those princesses won't exist if they do in the real world. And those stories, those imaginary princesses are portrayed by actors. It's just this day that my memory told me that no one in this world is perfect.

"Saori… you're the best actor I've ever seen."

The air becomes silent for seconds. I stopped crying and continue after I cover my face, but then, that cry has no tears and gradually turns into a giggle, and that giggle turned into a laugh darker than what surrounded us.

I can feel the two extremely shaking as they saw the other side of my wall. It's like I can read 'we're doomed' in their minds. I responded with a psychotic voice to Yukawa's compliment.

"You bet!?"