The Empty Box and Zeroth Maria
Book 3: Chapter 6

Day 1 <D> The Common Area

No one else is there yet when I arrive in the common area.

I think back over my meeting with Daiya. In the end, I spilled the beans that I’m the Sorcerer, as he hoped, and now I’m not even certain he’s the owner.

In light of all that, I need to discuss what to do next with Maria. I rushed to the common area because I wanted to speak with her as soon as possible—and just as I think this, she steps through the door.

“Maria!”

I call out to her, and she gives me a stern look as she seats herself in the chair across from mine.

Maria should have had a Private Meeting with Daiya after ours ended. From the look on her face, I’m guessing he got to her just like he did with me.

“…Did something happen with Daiya?”

“……I think it might be similar to what happened with you. I’ve been basing my approach on the assumption that Daiya is the owner, but now I’ve come to consider the small chance it could be someone else. If so, it’s going to be more difficult than ever to talk to the others about Boxes.”

“Yeah, that’s what is troubling me. I would like to use this time to chitchat with the others to get a grasp on each of their personalities, but small talk has never been my forte. Probably because it’s pretty much impossible to talk about my own past without mentioning Boxes.”

Maria’s past, huh?

I know pretty much nothing of her personal history, myself. Maria doesn’t speak about herself without prompting, and knowing about the Misbegotten Happiness as I do, I just can’t bring myself to ask.

“Maria, um—”

“Yo.”

Kamiuchi turns toward us and waves as he arrives in the common area. I smile awkwardly and return the gesture.

I curl my hand into a C shape and put it up to Maria’s ear so Kamiuchi won’t overhear what I say.

“Kazuki, whispering won’t work. If we show the others that we’re trying to hide what we’re doing, it’ll just make them wary of us.”

“Oh, I see…”

“Maricchi, you don’t gotta worry so much. Coupla lovebirds like you are bound to have one or two secrets.”

“You say that, but that doesn’t necessarily apply to the others.”

“Guess you’re right. Everybody’s so scary anyway. Especially the president and Daiya.”

“…Maria, do you know Kamiuchi from before?”

I ask this because of how familiarly they’re speaking to each other.

“No, not at all.”

“Whoa, kinda harsh, don’t you think? We’ve talked a few times before, you know.”

“You’ve tried to talk to me several times in the past, but we’ve never had a conversation.”

Kamiuchi shrugs with an exasperated look. “All I’m trying to do is soothe my troubled soul a bit by speaking with a girl too beautiful for this world. No need to get all defensive. It’s not like I’m plotting to pry you off Hoshino there.”

“…Listen, Kamiuchi. Just so you know, Maria and I aren’t seeing each other, got it?”

“C’mon now, it’s a little late to be modest or humble or whatever.”

Seems there’s no point in telling him otherwise.

As we’re talking, the rest of the players arrive in the common room. At the president’s direction, we all take our seats.

“Now then, has anyone thought of a way to escape Kingdom Royale?”

With that opening question, the president smiles and crosses her arms as she waits for someone to speak up. I steal a glance at Daiya and see that he’s not even facing us, as if he’s paying no attention at all to the discussion.

If the three of us who are in the know about Boxes can’t say anything, then most likely no one will have anything to offer. —At least, that’s what I thought, but then to our surprise, someone timidly raises their hand.

“Oh, Yuri. You got something?”

“Um, it’s not a way to escape so much as a way to stop the game… Is that okay?”

“Oh, awesome! Go ahead and tell us your idea!”

At the president’s prompting, Yuri gives a tiny nod.

“Well…if I’m not wrong in assuming…we all agree that paranoia will make our situation worse, right?” Once we’ve all nodded our assent, Yuri continues, “We don’t know who is what Class. We don’t know who is whose enemy in the game. I believe that’s why everyone is so uneasy. None of us wants to proceed with the game, right? If that’s the case, then wouldn’t it be better for us all to just come out and tell one another our Classes?”

Everyone is more than a little shocked by this timidly delivered yet very bold proposal.

Though Yuri seems a bit taken aback by our reaction at first, she musters her courage again and says, “If we do that, no one will be able to get the jump on anyone else anymore. I think we’ll all be able to trust one another. If we all do it at once, then no one will be able to lie. We’ll know someone isn’t telling the truth if more than one person says the same Class. So…how about it?”

“Oh man, Yuri, you’re amazing! That’s absolutely perfect!”

Yuri smiles shyly and blushes at Kamiuchi’s enthusiastic agreement.

“We can only do this while all six of us are together in one place. If even one of us is missing, then it will be possible for someone to lie… Oh, someone being missing is pretty bad, isn’t it? I’m sorry I mentioned it.”

Yeah, that’s a good idea…I think. But I can’t agree to it that easily. We might be overlooking something.

Maria is probably in the same place. After spending a moment in thought with her arms folded, she says:

“I agree.”

She didn’t find anything wrong with it when she thought it over? If not, then I’ve got no problem with it.

But just as I’ve made up my mind to let everyone know I’m all in…

“Hmph.” Daiya snorts in derision.

A mixture of bewilderment and fear appears on Yuri’s face in response. “…You don’t like the idea, Oomine?”

“I don’t.”

“I’m sorry if I didn’t think things through enough… Would you explain why you disagree, if you don’t mind?”

“I don’t like how you’re pretending to be a Goody Two-shoes.”

Yuri’s eyes go wide, and she freezes at this unexpected reply.

“What’s with that face? Can you only comprehend language when it’s what you wanna hear? I’m saying I’m not going along with your idea because I hate you, you piece of shit.”

Tears begin to well up in Yuri’s eyes.

“Oomine. Come on, don’t you think that’s a bit much? Please apologize to Yuri here.”

“What? Me, apologize? The rest of you should be thanking me. I’m the one whose exposing her for trying to play dirty. Isn’t that right, Yanagi?”

Yuri’s shoulders jump in surprise as the tears threaten to fall.

“I-I’m p-playing dirty? Why…?”

“Well, then let me ask you this: Are you the Revolutionary or the Sorcerer?”

Yuri’s face instantly goes white.

“You’re not either, right?”

“…H-how did you know…?”

“The truth is that you’ve figured it out. You know that the risk each Class faces by revealing itself is completely different. Which means you aren’t one of the two Classes that are the biggest targets. You’re one of the relatively safe ones, right?”

Yuri’s already pale face continues to blanch, and I’m starting to feel bad for her.

“Disingenuous as you are, you suggested this plan because it helps you, not because it makes our situation any better, didn’t you?”

At Daiya’s hostile tirade, the tears finally spill from Yuri’s eyes.

“Oh, come on, do you really think I’ll let your little scam slide if you cry? Man, a woman’s tears really are a handy trick. I’m sure a slut like you can probably turn it on and off like a faucet, eh?”

“That’s horrible… How can you say that…?”

“All you want to do is find out who the dangerous Classes are so that you can keep yourself alive.”

“That’s…not… I just hate the idea of us killing one another, that’s all…”

Yuri lowers her face, unable to stop the flow of tears running down it.

…It’s true. If someone as seemingly cowardly as Yuri were the Revolutionary or Sorcerer, she most likely wouldn’t have proposed such a dangerous idea.

But despite this, she gave it her all to come up with a plan that could improve our situation. Daiya was way out of line to say what he did. Apparently of a similar opinion, Kamiuchi gives Daiya a look like he’s about to start swinging any second.

“You probably just didn’t want to have to say anything because you’re the Revolutionary, aren’t you? Sorry, but if you’re the Revolutionary, I really don’t feel like letting you run the show here.”

“Oh, so I’m the Revolutionary, am I? If so, then I’ll just have to Assassinate you during this next <E> period.”

Daiya’s reply is even more hostile than Kamiuchi’s, and the younger boy is totally speechless, probably overwhelmed. Apparently losing his desire to fight back, Kamiuchi frowns and stays silent.

“Anyway, even if I wasn’t against it, this plan would never work. Isn’t that right, President?”

Yuri raises her tear-soaked face and looks at the president, who returns her gaze with a rueful smile and then speaks.

“…Yeah, that’s true. Sorry, Yuri. I’m against the idea, too.”

“Wh-why…?”

“The idea definitely has some merit, as you mentioned. It’s just that the disadvantages are too big. For example, if that scumbag Oomine really was the Revolutionary, do you think the rest of us would be able to stay calm? If things went poorly, we might even end up more paranoid that before.”

“But that’s…”

“That would probably prompt Oomine to act, too. He might even flaunt his power and try to control the rest of us. I can think of plenty of ways things could get worse. That’s why I’m fundamentally against the idea.”

“……I see.”

Now that even her friend the president has rejected the idea, Yuri’s face grows even grimmer.

“Someone as stupid as I am should have just stayed quiet… I’m sorry for any confusion.”

Another tear wells up and falls from Yuri’s eye.

“Th-that’s not true, Yuri. I think it’s a really good plan. And see, even Maria agreed to it, too!”

“…Hoshino.”

Though my efforts to cheer her up seem a bit forced, Yuri manages to give me a little smile.

“Why did you agree with this idea, Maria?” the president asks.

“Because I think reaching a mutual understanding between all of us is more important than anything right now. No one will be able to disclose everything they feel if we don’t reveal our Classes or something similar, right? I think if we can do that, things will never reach the point where we start killing one another, but how about you?”

“Isn’t that just because you don’t feel fear that easily? Not everyone here is as strong as you. To be honest, I’ve been terrified this entire time.”

“You don’t seem like it.”

“The only reason is because I’m trying to hide it. Showing any weakness in this situation means someone might take advantage of it… Well, telling you about it kinda defeats the purpose, but I’m saying it anyway.”

She sounds completely at ease saying this… Yeah, she definitely isn’t telling the truth about being scared.

“But it’s not wrong to say we need to share our Classes if we want to reach a mutual understanding. The situation is still much too opaque now, though, so I can’t help but feel it’s too early for that.”

“But if someone dies, it’ll be too late.”

“True. So we need to make a decision soon…,” Maria quietly says and pouts her lips. That’s her habit when she’s thinking. “Well, let’s set that aside for today. I’d be surprised if we ended up with a victim today, at least.”

We didn’t come up with any ideas better than Yuri’s after that.

Though we discussed all kinds of things in an attempt to build communication among us, we were unable to find what we needed to make any progress before the period ended.

“TiME’s_up. Go_bACk_or_you’ll_DIe.”

Noitan’s announcement prompts me to look at my watch, at which point I see that it’s eight on the money. The time for <D> is over.

Daiya heads to his room straightaway, while the president and Kamiuchi have just gone through the door themselves.

Welp, guess I’d better head back soon, too, I think, and I’m just about to leave when someone grabs the sleeve of my uniform.

“What is it, Maria?”

I turn around.

It isn’t Maria who I find, but a wide-eyed Yuri. As I realize my mistake, my face automatically turns red. Yuri crinkles her eyes in a gentle smile when she sees it.

“U-um…what’s up, Yuri?”

“Mm. I just wanted to say thank you.”

“…? Thank me?”

As I tilt my head in confusion, for some reason Yuri seems even happier than before.

“If you don’t know right away…that means you weren’t being nice to me on purpose just so you could get me on your side, then…”

“…Huh?”

“Oh, it’s nothing… Do you really not know what I’m talking about? Come on, you tried to cheer me up when I was crying, didn’t you?”

“…Oh… So that’s what you mean.”

“Thanks again.”

Seeing Yuri bow deeply toward me, I hurriedly make a reply.

“C-cut it out… It’s not like I did anything special.”

“But what you did really saved me.”

“W-well, in that case…I’m glad…”

All these thank-yous are really making me blush.

For some reason, Yuri’s eyes soften into another warm smile as she watches my red-faced antics.

“…I feel like I can trust you, even in a game like this.”

“Huh?”

She seems to hesitate for a moment, but as if making up her mind, she looks directly at me and says, “If we can all trust one another, then no one will kill anyone else. I’m sure of it… Hoshino, do you think I’m naive?”

When I return that imploring gaze, I shake my head as hard as I can.

“Not at all. I agree with you.”

“Really?”

Seemingly without thinking, she joyfully grabs my right hand in both of hers. Her grip is warm and soft, which makes my face flush all the more.

“If we hold hands like this—and all the others do, too—if we can trust one another like this, there’s no way we can lose to this game. So can you and I start it by trusting each other?”

“O-okay…”

I find it hard to look directly into such an untroubled smile, so I can’t help but lower my gaze.

Yuri may be an upperclassman…but, man, is she cute.

“Kazuki.”

Someone calls my name, and I look up to see Maria watching us with a blank expression… I only figured this out recently, but that’s the face she often makes when she’s upset.

“We’re running low on time. You’d better get back quickly.”

“Oh yeah…”

I look at Yuri, and she lets go of my hand, reading my intent. Her expression is somewhat sad, or maybe lonely.

“Yanagi, you should pay attention to the time, too.”

“O-okay…”

Yuri still finds Maria frightening, it seems.

“…Hey, Yuri. You can trust Maria; don’t worry.”

“Oh, yes. If you say so…”

“Well, we’d better all get back to our rooms.”

“Yes, you’re right… Oh, one more thing.”

Yuri brings her lips close to my ear.

“I’ll come by for a Private Meeting tomorrow.”

She whispers to me, and I can feel her breath on my ear.

As Yuri almost dances away from me, a slightly impish smile appears on her face before she trots off through the door and disappears.

Still in a daze, I stare at the place where she vanished.

“…Hmph.”

Maria snorts unhappily, then follows her through the door.

Now alone in the common room, I ruminate over her name.

Yuri Yanagi.

Yanagi.

“…They are…kind of similar.”

I don’t think their faces have all that much in common. But that mischievous grin she flashed at me before she went through the door does remind me of her.

The other “Yanagi” I know.

I doubt I’ll ever see her again, though.