❀ 〰〰〰〰〰〰 ❀ 〰〰〰〰〰〰 ❀

"Hey, Prairie Dog, what are you thinking so hard about to make you do an ugly face like that?"

I jerk back from Kokichi in surprise as he materializes right next to me, but I school my tense muscles so I don't immediately scurry off towards Rantaro like I normally would. I stutter a little, before slapping both hands over my mouth to try and start over so I can speak like a normal person.

Since it takes me a bit of time to cohesively prepare my words, Kokichi just crosses his arms and watches me with an amused hum. I can practically feel him thinking about ways to make fun of me...

"Uh..." I start, fiddling with my pearl white tie that contrasts my maroon red uniform, feeling the weight of his gaze practically tear at my nerves bit by bit. "S-so..."

"...Sooo...?" Kokichi annoyingly mimics me playfully, stepping closer. At that, I take a considerate step back to let him know exactly where my boundaries are. When he smiles wider and takes another step forward, I get the gist he's telling me I have none and I shoot him a look.

"...Were you shoved in the back of a van like me before you woke up?" I ask out loud, my voice much less meek than it had come out thus far and a bit sharper as a result of Kokichi's behavior.

Kokichi's smile drops suddenly, morphing into a flat expression that I can't identify at all.

"Wait, Small Prairie? What you say? People...shove you in back of van?" Gonta pipes up from behind me, prompting me to turn away from Kokichi to nod at him.

It isn't until Gonta has spoken that the rest of the gym falls silent, processing his words at my statement. Rantaro walks back over to me with Kiibo and Korekiyo, the three other girls also joining Kokichi, Gonta and I.

"Oh! Gonta remember being tied with net! They drag Gonta into back of white van with strange picture. Something about 'Dango'...?" Gonta agrees with me, while I quickly scan my memories and... Right, I saw a logo on the van when I was trying to kick them off from dragging me in.

"'Dangan...ronpa'?" I repeat as the logo becomes a bit clearer in my mind.

"...Oh!" The other girl, the one as short as me with red hair, jumps as if remembering as well. "I remember! It did say 'Danganronpa'! I read it on the side of the van too, they caught me while I was walking to the ice cream shop!"

"Hey, I remember they grabbed me while I was out grocery shopping, but that logo sounds familiar to me too!" The girl with weird pigtails chimes in.

"So all of us were kidnapped in the same manner by the same kind of van with the same logo? Hm... Curious," Korekiyo comments mysteriously, a hand pressed to his chin. "I'm glad you managed to recall the name on the van, I never saw it clearly when they got me. Wonderfully done, Prairie."

Even though he's a bit creepy and a guy, I can't help but feel just a little proud when he rubs the top of my head gently, prompting a smile from me.

"That just leaves the question of, what is Danganronpa?" Kiibo queries, causing the lot of us to share looks with one another to see if someone has the answer. Now that's something even I can't remember for the life of me. For arguments sake, I can't even remember ever hearing it before the memory surfaced in my mind.

There's a long silence as we all ponder the conundrum, but it's eventually broken when Kokichi comments, "Uh, okay. I get how they can throw the rest of us in a van and stuff, but they managed to nab a guy like Gonta? That's too fishy for me!" He walks forward so he's next to me and looking right at Gonta with a studious leer. "Say, you're not secretly part of this 'Do-dango-mango' gang that's kidnapped us all, are you? Speak now or forever hold your peace!"

Gonta actually jumps a little at Kokichi's accusations, shaking his head vehemently as his face falls.

"No, no! Not nice to trap people in school! Gonta would never! Gonta honestly captured too! Big net and blanket make very hard to see and then Gonta wake up inside a locker next to Kiyo!" He insists while I catch Rantaro frowning in Kokichi's direction.

Standing next to the target of Rantaro's glare prompts me to shift away from Kokichi a bit, but the purple urchin seems to notice and looks my way to grin. Without batting an eye, he shifts closer to regain the space near me. I don't blame Rantaro for disliking Kokichi, the guy isn't even batting an eye at the situation. Doesn't he care that we're stuck with those giant mechanical killing machines?

"For someone not taking this seriously at all, you've got some nerve throwing accusations around. That's pretty suspicious, if I do say so myself," Korekiyo makes a point to reprimand the shorter teen, who looks away from me to train his purple orbs on the long haired male with the mask over his lower jaw.

Before Kokichi can make a smart-mouthed retort, Rantaro cuts in.

"Okay, how about we don't start blindly bickering and throwing accusations at one another. We're all trapped here at the moment together, whether we like it or not. The least we can all do is get along until we find a way out of this mess. If you're somehow unable to control yourself from behaving immaturely, then stay quiet. Simple as that," Rantaro explains, causing everyone in the gym to nod in agreement.

You know, save for Kokichi, who simply sighs dramatically and turns to face me as everyone else breaks away into groups again. I notice Rantaro shoot me a concerned look when he notices Kokichi directing his attention to me. I just wave Rantaro off, giving him what I hope is a somewhat confident smile to abate his worries before I mentally prepare myself to deal with the violet eyed boy.

"I guess you're not as boring as I thought you'd be," Kokichi comments with a smile, one admittedly more charming than his usual Cheshire cat grins. Actually, looking at him now, I'm secretly horrified to realize just how cute of a face he has, ranging on the high handsome boyish levels rather than the high handsome pretty-boy levels Rantaro's face unfortunately sports.

...Thinking more, Korekiyo and Gonta aren't half bad themselves. They're different, but they're pretty handsome now that I think about it. Kiibo is up for question, only because he's been hiding his face since the beginning and because of that earlier thing of him mentioning he's technically not a "boy"...whatever that's supposed mean.

Why am I surrounded by attractive boys? I wonder in dismay, feeling my cheeks dust red as I look away from Kokichi to gather my bearings. I can barely make eye contact with him now that I've noticed- I'll never unsee his good looks now...!

"I-I don't know what you want from me, but...you're wrong 'cause I'm painfully boring," I correct him, finally forcing myself to meet his gaze as he watches me struggle to speak to him. "You'd fall asleep around me."

Kokichi balances playfully on his heels and responds, "I'm not falling asleep. So you're the one that's wrong. Besides...!" Kokichi steps even closer and grins when I scramble backwards to regain some space, only to be followed by him when as he attempts to close it. Eventually, we continue this to the point we're further away from the other teens and I curse my nerves for allowing Kokichi to play with them so easily. "The way you get so nervous around boys is super funny! Hey, stop walking. I won't do anything, I just wanna hold your hand~! Pleeeaaase?"

"I don't want to hold your hand- I don't want to be anywhere near you...!" I complain meekly. "Y-you're mean and weird!"

"Aw, that's a mean thing to say..." Kokichi stops advancing immediately and I freeze when I see this utterly crushed looking expression on his face, followed by a pout as he hangs his shoulders and head in a solemn manner. "Alright, I won't bug you anymore..."

He actually sniffles as he turns away, making my chest ache with sudden guilt at the idea that I might have actually hurt his feelings. After all, I don't know why he behaves the way he does- maybe I hit a sensitive nerve by calling him weird. It's just hand holding, I guess, it's not that bad...

In my haste to make him feel better, I step towards him as he moves to leave, boldly taking his hand in mine to see if it makes him happy again.

"Ah! Glad you decided to see it my way!" Kokichi whirls around with my hand in his and tugs me close to him with a big grin, any signs of his previous disappointment and emotional state having been completely wiped away. One might even say he wasn't actually sad to begin with...and that it was just an act all along.

When he wraps an arm around my waist to hug me to him I yelp out loud in horror, feeling my face turn bright red before I push away from him and unhook his arm from around me. Kokichi just laughs at my response, holding his stomach as he tries to stay upright.

Oh, so I'm just the butt of his joke then, huh? He thinks it's funny I get easily flustered around guys? Well...! I think, frowning at him and letting my eyes flick around the gym where the others are. No one is looking our way- even Rantaro is busy talking to the others.

I'm still close enough to Kokichi, so with my mind made up on vengeance, I lift up a foot and stomp it down as hard as I can on one of Kokichi's feet shamelessly. His laugh cuts off abruptly and I watch as the first chill of pain visibly runs up his body.

It. Feels. Great.

I already know this action isn't without repercussions and panic when Kokichi lets out a loud profane curse at the pain, scurrying to the others and making a beeline to hide behind Rantaro. Kokichi hops around on his good foot and babies his toes a little before racing over towards the rest of us.

"Oh, you brat!" Kokichi snaps, his expression that of something more demonic than boyish and cute like before. I yelp at the sight, ducking further behind Rantaro as he shifts the two of us back from the visibly agitated Kokichi.

Before he can take any steps closer towards us, Kiyo, Gonta, and the girl with the weird pigtail chains steps in his path, prompting Kokichi to come to a stop.

"How appalling, trying to pick on a girl. What in the world has gotten into you? You weren't behaving at all like this earlier," Korekiyo speaks up, standing his ground.

"Me? She stomped on my foot! I'M the one getting picked on here, get with the program! She's guilty!" Kokichi argues, pointing straight at me. All eyes follow his finger towards me, prompting my stomach to swirl anxiously not only in shame at my childish behavior, but because of all the eyes on me. I shrink back from everyone's gaze automatically.

Just when I think it's all over for me and I'm about to suffer a social death...

"Um, Gonta no can see small Prairie doing that," Gonta speaks up, with the pig-tailed girl nodding eagerly at his side.

"Nyeeh, yeah, she's too timid looking to be the kind of person that does that..." The red haired girl pipes up in a slow voice, casting me a look from where I'm hiding behind Rantaro.

"Yeah! She's too small, cute, and shy to antagonize somebody! Look at her, she wouldn't harm a fly!" The pig-tailed girl agrees, turning to give me a friendly smile despite me using Rantaro as a shield.

"Tell that to my throbbing foot! The foot she outright assaulted! You can't seriously be falling for that Bambi face, she's lying! I should know! I know my kind!" Kokichi exclaims heatedly, stomping his bad foot and wincing at the slight pain the action brings him.

"Oh, so you are a liar," Kiibo comments off-handedly, blue eyes narrowed on Kokichi from under his hat and jacket collar. "So how are we to know you aren't lying right now? After all, Prairie hasn't given us any reason to doubt her. You on the other hand..."

"Nyahahaha~! Besides, didn't I see you bothering her in the first place? Maybe you deserved it!" The white haired girl with pigtails points out as cheery as ever, a dark shadow curling over her smiling face as a result of her last accusation.

Kokichi makes a noise of annoyance, growling things quietly under his breath and shooting me one last glare. I feel Rantaro's arm drape over my shoulder, directing my attention up to him.

"Don't worry about him," Rantaro reassures me with an easy going smile, even turning us so we face away from Kokichi and walk towards the other end of the gym. "...Next time, just walk away, Prairie. Stomping on people's feet is hardly the reaction someone our age should be resorting to," he adds in a low murmur, prompting my eyes to widen a fraction as I resist a squeak of shame. Rantaro saw right through me...?!

"I-I-!" I start to fish for some kind of excuse, until he glances my way again with his piercing gaze. The moment his reprimanding green eyes meet my blue orbs, my resistance completely falls apart and I crumble under the pressure. "...I'm sorry...!"

Rantaro stops us and chuckles when I grab my hair and cover my face up to hide my shame. "I'd normally suggest you go back and make an apology, but...something tells me that Kokichi is more the type that gets even rather than accepts apologies, so stay close to me," he suggests, making me uncover my face a little to smile thankfully despite feeling I don't deserve it.

I can still feel Kokichi's glare laser into the back of my head, but soon my attention is completely focused on something else I only then notice- that being Rantaro's arm still hanging over my shoulders. I want to remove it, but at the same time I don't want to. The attention is both nice and a bit nerve wracking, but I also don't want to offend him by removing it myself either. What if he thinks I think he's some kind of perverted fiend? Especially after what we've been through already!

Thankfully, Rantaro removes his arm from my shoulders just by chance, prompting me to blow out a small breath of relief that's nearly imperceptible.

I flinch suddenly in surprise as the doors to the gym are thrown open, two more girls storming in on quick feel like everyone else had with the mechas that chased us. Quickly proceeding after the girl with red eyes and the olive green haired girl beside her is a short guy with pink cheeks and a pair of sharp round eyes that narrow on everyone in the room he enters.

It's when I notice the new trio's eyes turning towards Rantaro and I that I end up half hiding behind Rantaro again sheepishly, feeling my cheeks turn red when he fishes me out from behind him so he can maneuver me towards a wall of the gym with him.

Once we reach the mossy vine covered wall, Rantaro takes a seat, patting the spot on the ground beside him until I follow suit and sit down as well. Both of us then quietly observe as the most recent arrivals are given a brief rundown of things so they aren't so confused.

Those three make it twelve of us so far... I think, before looking down at my skirt and smoothing it out so I'm not accidentally showing too much of myself off.

"How many people do you think will show up?" I find myself asking Rantaro, half surprised I'm comfortable enough to have blurted out the question unplanned like that.

Rantaro crosses his arms as he glances at everyone in the gym with a thoughtful hum. His eyebrows are furrowed, and I almost can't help but stare at him a moment too long. He's... He's so handsome- almost too good looking. Did Rome lose one of their city's statues or something?

"Well..." He begins, snapping me out of my stupor with his deep laid back voice. "I'd say maybe an even sixteen would be reasonable."

"Sixteen...?" I breathe with slight confusion, frowning and look towards the other students. I pucker my lips a little and then direct my attention up towards the ceiling in consideration. Now that I'm looking up though, this gym has a really high ceiling... What is that, twenty meters or something? Sucks to be the guy that has to eventually go up there to change the lights when they finally burn out...

I'm getting sidetracked again, stay on topic, Prairie, I think to myself. He said sixteen students, didn't he? An even sixteen? Why is he choosing such a specific number? ...Does he know something the rest of us don't?

"Yeah. Eight boys and eight girls probably. Not that I have anything to base that thought on though, I'm just making a bit of an educated guess at this point," Rantaro blushes a little, holding up his hands in mild embarrassment.

I want to ask what he's basing that educated guess on specifically, but seeing his sheepishness and doubt almost immediately makes me scold myself for my skepticism in him. He's not Kokichi, he's Rantaro. The person that helped wrap my wounded arm and has been nice to me from the very beginning.

"O-or you could be right!" I chirp, making Rantaro smile just a little more when I catch myself talking again before I can think of what else to say. It's obvious I have no sort of reason for why he could be right- painfully obvious- but I still fumble to say at least something that will raise his confidence a little. "I, uh- um... Well... It'd be cool if you actually guessed right..."

In the end, I'm a victim to his gaze and I stutter an apology, yanking my brunette locks over my face as it floods with heat. I feel Rantaro rub the top of my head gently in an attempt to calm me down. Although it feels nice, my body begins to slide down the wall like a noodle until I'm curled up on the floor and totally lightheaded.

"You shouldn't lay entirely on the floor like that, it's dirty," Rantaro says, half chuckling while I try to stop my head from spinning so much.

"I just need a moment, or I'm gonna faint..." I mumble weakly, before feeling Rantaro right me up himself so I'm sitting up properly. He brushes my hair out of my face until he can see the disaster that is my scarlet features, letting out an amused sigh of resignation and keeping an arm around my back to keep me from toppling over.

Once I'm finally released of the shackles of over stimulation from my embarrassment, I can sit up without Rantaro's help- completely avoiding looking at him since I'm so mortified he had to see me in such a pathetic state. I don't think I could manage eye contact after being so weird...!

More time passes in which Rantaro and I relax against the wall (mostly Rantaro, I'm still nervous sitting so close to him), watching the other teens chatting or relaxing along the walls around as well. The gym is actually a bit chilly, but with Rantaro sitting next to me, he's like a human heater. I gladly leech off of his body heat, glad I don't have to say anything awkward like ask him to sit closer.

...

My arm throbs suddenly and I press down on the area of pain, wrinkling my nose at the sudden feeling. I can feel my muscle twitching under my fingers and under the wound- it's been doing that for a little bit, but now the twitches are hard enough to stretch my gash more...

It's at the moment I'm holding my arm that the doors to the gym are thrown open and a girl with long blue hair and glasses stumbles in, nervously looking around at all our faces. The force in which she throws the door open startles me despite the fact I'd come to expect that more people would be arriving, and I reflexively squeeze and pull on my left arm as a result.

I stiffen up as pain blossoms once again at my bicep- this time worse than the pain from my muscle twitches. Rantaro gives me a curious look at my flinch, but I just smile nervously and look away from him. Once his gaze is off of me, I let my eyes flick down to my arm, watching as the color of my blood slowly begins to seep from under the sleeve of my uniform.

Oh no, I think, biting my lip and clutching my arm in an attempt to staunch the blood flow with pressure. I don't want to trouble Rantaro again, he's too nice...! What if he gets annoyed with me? Or worse, thinks I'm doing it on purpose to get his attention?! Yeah, it's better if I just stay quiet. I'll just pretend I don't see any-

"Whoa! What happened to your arm, it's gushing! Who did this to you?! Was it a degenerate male?! Point your finger, sweetheart, I'll beat them up for you until they're unrecognizable!" The girl with those strange chain-link pigtails howls when she sees the mess of my arm, falling hard to her knees beside me. When Rantaro sits up at her words and moves to take my wrist so he can examine my bleeding arm, the girl's head slowly turns towards him in what resembles a weapon locking on to a target.

"I-It wasn't him, don't worry!" I squeak defensively, positioning myself so I'm in front of Rantaro where the girl won't be able to grab at him. "Rantaro's nice, I swear!"

The girl eyes Rantaro after my statement, the green haired teen obviously surprised by my little outburst to defend him. There's a dry look in the girl's eyes, like she could never believe my words, but after the two have a bit of a stare down (mostly one sided on Tenko's end), the girl eventually looks back to me and offers me a lovely smile.

"I'll stand down this time, but don't let your guard down, okay? Remember, all males are degenerates and can't be trusted! Be wary for the nice ones, they're the degenerates that you really need to watch out for!" She exclaims before pointing at herself brightly. "The name's Tenko Chabashira! Feel free to scream if you ever need me!"

"Uh, yeah... O-Okay," I answer, realizing there's no way a girl like Tenko would ever change her mind about boys. Even if the boy happens to be sweet or kind hearted like Gonta or Rantaro. "I'm Prairie Marble and this is-"

"Oh! That's such a pretty name for a pretty girl like you!" Tenko very obviously interrupts me, making it clear she's not concerned about learning Rantaro's name whatsoever.

Meanwhile, Rantaro is working on using that old sleeve of his that was wrapped around my arm to soak up most of the blood that had gushed out, patting my arm from the top to the bottom. As I lift my head to look at him for his verdict on this girl, I can see he's wearing a strange but amused expression on his face. As if he thinks she's one of the more odd ones around.

I don't blame him. She is kind of weird... Not terribly so at least.

"Well, I'll leave you to it then!" Tenko brightly comments, before casting a warning glare towards Rantaro on her way back to the others in the gym. I hear Rantaro muffle a slightly nervous laugh behind me, allowing my nerves to relax after Tenko's departure. Good to know he was able to get away unscathed without her going for his throat...!

"Prairie..."

I wince at his tone, turning to face him and shrinking back slightly as he lets out a sigh of disapproval that only serves to make me shrink back even more.

"If you're bleeding or in trouble, please let me know. Don't worry about me, helping you doesn't bug me or anything. And even if it did, I'd rather you bug me than pass out from blood loss, alright? I'd be more annoyed if you put yourself in a position where you could hurt yourself, even accidentally," Rantaro chastises me. I make a small noise and nod in understanding, despite not planning to keep the promise since I still don't want to burden him.

When Rantaro doesn't look away, staring me down with this look of expectancy that tells me he's not fooled at all, I realize he wants me to say it out loud and frown a little.

"Fine...I'll let you know if I'm in trouble," I mumble reluctantly. Now that I've said it, it almost feels like I'm tied to my word. I don't like it, but it at least makes Rantaro smile. It's then that he doesn't hesitate to rip off his remaining sleeve abruptly out of nowhere, making me jump in surprise.

Looking over his outfit now, I can't help but feel my sour mood spoil with amusement when I giggle at the result of Rantaro's attire.

"Now it's just a vest," I laugh, making Rantaro look down and chuckle in agreement as he ties the ripped sleeve around my sliced bicep.

"Don't worry about that, fashion is the last thing I'm worrying about right now," Rantaro reassures me, causing me to snicker in amusement and immediately respond, "Yeah, but you could wear a garbage bag and still look good since you're so hans-"

Realizing what I'm about to say, I look straight down and shut my mouth- not even giving Rantaro a chance to see my face when I cover it up with all my hair I possibly can. Nope, nope, nope- I'm a disaster of a person! I shouldn't be allowed to socialize with others!

Thankfully, the doors are thrown open again and unlike the last girl that came running in with no little to no sound, the duo that race in come screaming at the top of their lungs in such a comical fashion that the majority of us are left speechless. I even drop my hair to sort of gape at them, watching as the magenta haired guy and this blonde haired girl with a startlingly low bust cut hunch over to catch their breath from all their running.

"Christ! What the hell was that thing?!" The guy shouts, before spinning around to look at the rest of us as we silently stare at them. "Why are you guys just sitting there?! Something just tried to kill us!"

...

"H-Hey! The fuck is with all those looks, didn't you hear him?! We almost got shish-kebabbed by this giant ass fuckin' machine! At least say something!" The girl beside him barks, startling me even more with just how profane her language is. Someone needs to wash her tongue with soap...!

"Uh, maybe we're staring because it's totally old news? Being chased by mechas is soo cliché and out of season now!" Kokichi doesn't hesitate to pipe up, arms folded casually behind his neck in a laid back fashion. "Hey, hey! Was it just the two of you running here, or did anyone happen to die on the way over?"

Most eyes drift over to Kokichi's grinning face this time, exasperation on the collective faces around him at the subject he's decided to entertain.

"Don't even joke about that!" Kiibo complains, despite that Kokichi's words have clearly shaken him- if going by his visibly shivering form. "Have you really no sense of tact?!"

"'Tact'? ...Hm, sorry! That word's not in my vocabulary! Sounds boring anyways... Oh! I have an idea!" Kokichi grins and turns to face the direction of Rantaro and I, a wicked glint in his eyes that makes my spine go straight as a result of his eyes locking with mine. "Heeey, Prairie Dog! Be a good girl and go out there to see if the coast is clear, yeah?"

"N-no way!" I object, shrinking back closer to Rantaro.

"Aw... Well, it was worth a shot~" Kokichi easily forfeits in his efforts, looking down at his nails and picking at them casually.

I feel Rantaro shift to put his arm around my shoulders again, immediately distracting me from Kokichi so I'm persuaded to peer up at him. 

I'm a lot less cold with his arm is slung over me, I dare to notice as I look up at him and try to ignore how close we are. Unwilling to make my discomfort obvious, I force myself not to look away from Rantaro.

"Ignore him. I've got your back, don't worry," Rantaro reassures me. Just when I'm about to grab my hair and pull it over my face, I feel this fiery burning glare on us, prompting me to blink and look back at the crowd.

Kokichi is staring straight at me with an unnerving unreadable expression. If anything, he doesn't even seem concerned I've caught him looking at all, his expression remaining unreadable as our eyes meet again. However...

When I shift my gaze to the other end of the crowd, I'm mildly surprised to see Tenko glaring daggers at Rantaro- likely about the arm he has slung over my shoulders specifically. She doesn't seem to notice I've caught her glaring at him though, so I look down and half cover my face with my hair to hide my red cheeks.

"Oh, jeez..." I mutter under my breath, embarrassed by the attention from both individuals.

"Yeah, it seems we've both managed to attract a bit of negative attention, huh?" Rantaro laughs quietly beside me, appearing both embarrassed and amused by our unique conundrum.

Before I can say anything else, the doors to the gym fly open again, giving leeway for a blonde haired girl with white hair pins and a blue haired boy with a cap on to skid into the gym away from the mechas in the hall.

"OH NO!"

The sound of metal scraping metal makes me look up and scramble out from under Rantaro's warm arm, jumping to my feet with him as we stare at the doorway to the gym with the other teenagers.

Everyone gapes at the machine that is now conveniently stuck halfway inside the gym and halfway outside into the hall, wriggling a little before it slouches in place and the voice from it's speaker lets out a nervous laugh.

"Uh... Guys? We may have to start over..." The voice in the red accented mecha stuck in the doorway speaks up, while pieces of rubble from the warped doorway drops on the machine with metallic little 'tinks'.

"Oh no, Monotaro's been trapped!" This comes from a mecha in the hall that sounds like the same one that had chased Rantaro and I. Obviously, I can't see it, but the voice is definitely a familiar female sounding lilt.

"Haa, somehow I know this has gotta' be Monodam's fault!" Another mechanical voice shouts, audibly more rambunctious than the others.

"Well, let's just reset then! We're already behind schedule as is, use the light thing, Monodam !"

"..."

I blink, looking at Rantaro who doesn't look away from the mess at the gym doorway. I can't tell what he's thinking, but he's got this serious frown on his face, hand slipping down to hold mine despite his attention being elsewhere. What's going on?

"What? What's the hold up?!"

"YOU! You musta lost a few too many screws gettin ' yourself in this mess, huh?! You're the one that has the flashlight, damn it!"

"Let's not get so rowdy, this isn't too big of a dent we can't fix. Monotaro , just get on with it."

"Oh! Oh, right! Okay, let's get to it then!"

The red accented machine stuck in the doorway flips open a metal pane at the front, and from inside... A red and white dual colored bear leaps out, cape billowing behind him as he holds up his "thing" his friends were talking about.

"Aand..." The bear moves to point the device at us in midair, my eyes quickly registering the item as a square shaped object resembling a flashlight. "Thanks for bearing with us~!"

There's a clicking sound and a flash hits my eyes, causing my world to go a piercing white that swallows me up.

 ❀ 〰〰〰〰〰〰 ❀ 〰〰〰〰〰〰 ❀