I sat in the room I was provided, a million thoughts rushing through my mind. I hadn't been able to sleep that night, and even know I couldn't believe that Akio was gone. After everything I'd been through looking for him, I didn't even get to say goodbye.

It was still early morning, and by now, I had stopped crying. That didn't mean it hurt any less.

The room was small, consisting of a bed, a small table and two chairs. Everything was very plain, but it was still better than my old apartment.

I heard a knock on the door, and I quickly got up to answer. Pulling it open, my eyes met a familiar face.

"Akiyama-chan..." I spoke quietly, a small smile growing on my face. "You're here...."

"Yup!" Mai said with a smile. Her curly brown hair was up in a ponytail like usual, and she wore a dirty looking jean jacket and shorts. In her hands was a tray with toast and eggs laying on top.

I stepped aside, letting her walk into the room before closing the door behind her. Mai placed the tray on the table, sitting at one of the chairs. I sat across from her, still shocked at her sudden appearance.

"This is for you, so you better eat!" Mai said, pushing the tray towards me. "I'm also gonna try to explain what happened. Everyone thought it would be best if someone you knew told you... I'm just starting to get my memories back, but I do know I came to your house a few times."

I nodded. "Yeah, you and Akio were friends..." I picked up the fork on the tray, pushing around the eggs. "Wait... did you lose memories?"

"Yeah... the whole class did- except one... or two. Should I count the mastermind? I dunno." Mai shrugged. "I'm probably just confusing you so just eat and I'll explain."

"Okay..." I responded, beginning to eat the food she brought me.

Mai seemed to think for a moment before starting. "It started when we all woke up in some strange city, and the last thing all of us remembered was going to Hope's Peak for the first day. So, yeah, our memories of the whole school year were gone. Then we were told the only way to get out was to kill someone, and we kept getting all these motives. When someone died and we were able to find out the killer, the killer got executed too."

"How many people... died?" I asked hesitantly.

"Um.... nine and a cat. It was pretty terrible..." Mai answered, then continued. "It turned out that the mastermind was one of our classmates that we all trusted, and he even tortured one of our friends... he escaped, so now us survivors are looking for him. We're gonna stop him so he can't hurt anyone again!"

I nodded. "I see... that sounds really terrible... I'm so sorry you had to go through that....."

Mai shook her head. "It's okay, I mean... I still have Willow, she was the only one I really got close to there."

"Who are the survivors?" I asked. "I mean, I've met a few people but I don't know if they were from there or not."

"Me, Willow, Kazuki, Katashi, Ji- uh, Toki, and... Satchiko." Mai replied. "I know you met Kazuki... he helped a lot in getting us out. Without him we might not have made it."

"Oh, yeah... he did seem really nice..." I felt suddenly embarrassed at the way I acted in front of him. I had just met him and was already clinging to him and crying....

"Oh! I should probably mention, when you meet Satchiko, don't be surprised if she acts... off. I mean really off." Mai said, now holding a slightly sadder expression. "She was the tortured one... honestly I don't know if I should say she's better or worse than when we escaped."

"Okay..." I said, then thought of something. "I think I met her brother... is her surname Kobayashi?" Mai nodded. "Poor kid... he was so upset he couldn't see her."

"Yeah... I wanted to let him, but Toki and Willow were against it." Mai replied. "Anyways, do you have any questions?"

I slowly nodded, not if sure I wanted to know the answer to what I was about to ask. "I know Akio died wherever you were trapped, but..." I hesitated. "I know he suffered, that's obvious... but was he killed by someone else, or... did he kill someone and get executed?"

Mai bit her lip, avoiding my eyes. "Crap... do I have to answer? Why me...?"

"Please." I said, "I just want to know... I think I have a right to know."

Mai let out a small sigh. "F-fine... Akio killed Kaiya Minami... he was really guilty about it after and didn't even try to defend himself when he was accused."

"O-oh..." I never would've thought that Akio was capable of murder, but if the situation was so insane that he would... "Thanks, Akiyama-chan... for telling me."

"W-well, you should finish up your food and be ready to go in a few hours." Mai said awkwardly, standing up. "Kazuki and Hoshiko-chan are gonna take you to get your stuff."

I gave a small nod, and Mai left the room.