“A… novel, a novel?”
Baka tilted his head, and immediately, Kaito began to spin a series of excuses.
“I’m writing a novel. As a hobby. Since it’s a hobby, I have no intention of making it big with it. I know that’s not the role expected of me… and besides, killing people for that is ridiculous, right? Actually, after participating in this Game, I’ve come to think it’s utterly ridiculous. So now, I have no intention of killing anyone to fulfill my wish. Ah, but…”
“A novel!? Awesome!”
…However, Kaito’s excuses were drowned out by Baka’s cheers. At times like this, Baka doesn’t listen to what people are saying!
“Awesome! Awesome! So Kaito’s really smart! Hey, hey, what kind of stuff are you writing?”
“Something that’s half autobiographical… no, but I’m keeping up appearances to the extent that it could be considered pure literature…”
“Half autobiographical!? Pure literature!? I don’t really get it, but it’s awesome!”
“…I figured. Well, it’s a type of literature that’s difficult for you to understand.”
Baka was so excited that Kaito seemed to find it ridiculous. He sighed, then lay down on the grass and began to talk.
“Kabashima. You asked me, ‘Are you going to be a company president in the future?'”
“Huh? Yeah.”
Baka nodded, remembering that he had asked that, and Kaito made a bitter face.
“If I were to answer that… it would be, ‘If I do nothing, I probably will.’ Unfortunately… well, my birth is that of a president’s son.”
“Huh!? A president’s son!? That’s awesome!”
Baka’s eyes sparkled as he looked at Kaito again.
At the same time, he was reminded of the president of Cutie Lovely Angel Construction. The president didn’t have any children, but if he did, they might be like Kaito.
“My father wants me to take over the company. But… I don’t think I can live up to his expectations. I’m not suited for it. I know my own limits by now. And unfortunately, I’m neither ambitious nor optimistic.”
Baka thought, ‘Your limits aren’t that small, are they?’ but he wasn’t so presumptuous as to say that. So he just listened to Kaito in silence.
“…Actually, I wanted to study literature, not business administration. But, that wasn’t an option. And yet, somehow, I felt suffocated… I wanted to live a different life… and that’s why I started writing novels.”
Kaito smiled faintly, then rolled over on the grass, looking somewhat amused. Baka followed suit, rolling over as well.
“I wish I could just do this for the rest of my life. I wish someone else would take on the heavy burden of running a company, and I could just keep writing my own world into words.”
Since Kaito had rolled over and was facing away, Baka couldn’t see his expression. Baka just stared at Kaito’s back.
“…But, well, that’s not how it’s going to be. I’ll study business administration, join my father’s company after graduating from university, and eventually take over as president. And then, I’ll probably be criticized as a ‘spoiled brat’ or an ‘incompetent second-generation,’ and end up ruining the company.”
“…I see.”
It sounded painful, he thought. The tone of his voice sounded so painful. ‘I wish I could help him,’ he thought, but unfortunately, Baka didn’t understand anything about being a president or literature.
“That’s why writing novels is fun. I can write whatever I want that’s different from reality, and I can forget about reality… well, it’s an escape, if you want to put it that way. I’m just pathetically struggling to forget the wall that’s coming and the emptiness of just waiting for it, by throwing myself into something that’s completely useless.”
‘I could break down any wall for you,’ Baka thought. But, probably, the wall in front of Kaito was one that Baka couldn’t break.
“But… it’s true that I wanted to be recognized. I wasn’t just negative about my novels. I wanted to be recognized. Well… maybe that was just an illusion, though.”
Kaito said that, then sighed, pausing his words for a moment. At times like this, it would be good if he could insert some witty remark, but unfortunately, Baka couldn’t do that.
“Well, that’s when the devil appeared. He tempted me to participate in this Death Game… and I fell for it. Ah, I was really out of my mind back then. Really…”
“Huh, the devil came directly!”
While Kaito was lamenting, Baka was impressed, thinking, ‘So the devil comes directly…’
“Yeah. I don’t know about the others… ah, you were ‘here before you knew it,’ right?”
“Yeah… I’ve never talked to a devil, probably…”
“Oh, man… well, since it’s you, it’s possible that you didn’t realize it was a devil…?”
Kaito was dumbfounded, but Baka was worried, thinking, ‘I came here without being invited by the devil… I wonder if I’ll get scolded!’ It was an important issue for Baka!
“…Well, putting aside the fact that you’re too much of an anomaly, that’s all about my wish. So, I don’t intend to kill anyone to fulfill my wish anymore. …However, if I could have my wish granted, I would definitely like to live by writing novels.”
“I see…”
But for now, that was the end of Kaito’s story. Baka finished listening, feeling a little down… and then, he thought.
“But, I want to read the novel that Kaito wrote.”
“…Can you even read?”
“D-Don’t make fun of me! I can read, too! I’m not good at it, though!”
“You’re not good at it… Then, what I write would definitely be too difficult for you.”
Seeing Kaito’s dumbfounded expression, Baka felt a little frustrated again. He had learned that there was a novel written by his friend in this world, but because Baka was Baka, he couldn’t read it!
“Aww… but, if I try hard, maybe I can understand it. I want to read the novel that Kaito wrote. It’s frustrating…”
Baka was honestly frustrated, and then, he rolled around on the grass. Baka was covered in grass. The Sheep watched Baka from a distance, frightened.
“…If that’s the case.”
But, Kaito, who had raised his upper body, called out from above Baka, so Baka stopped rolling and looked at Kaito.
“…Someday, if you lend me your Pokémon, I’ll write a short, simple one that you can understand.”
…And then, Kaito smiled without any hesitation.
So Baka was overjoyed. He was overjoyed that ‘Kaito will write a simple, short novel for me!’ and rolled from one end of the room to the other. The Sheep ran away.
Seeing that, Kaito laughed heartily. Baka was laughing too.
And then Baka came back. He was completely covered in grass. He was practically a lawnmower.
“…We got off track. The second thing you need to do is to find out the truth about Amagi’s death. Why did he go into the Game room with Hibana? Find that out.”
Kaito said, looking a little distant at the sight of Baka. This was something Baka could understand. And Baka was also curious about Amagi.
“Got it! I’ll investigate old man Amagi!”
“And the third thing… is about Yo and Tama. I think those two are dangerous to trust without reservation.”
“Huh?”
…But, Baka was confused by Kaito’s next words.
“Huh, but, Tama and Yo are good people…”
“Even if you think so. Actually, they’re suspicious. They seemed to be talking about something they didn’t want Tsuchiya to hear. Besides, even if they’re good people, they’re just people you’ve only been with for a few hours, right? Is it okay to trust them so easily?”
Hearing Kaito say that, Baka became dejected. ‘Even if you say that, I trust Tama and Yo…’ As Baka was feeling down, Kaito started to look awkward.
“…Well, if I say that, I’m pretty suspicious too… no, but, I showed you my Unique Ability, and I don’t have anyone I’m working with alone…”
“Yeah! I trust Kaito!”
“…That’s worrying in its own way.”
Kaito seemed to have given up on persuading Baka. He sighed, saying, ‘Maybe that’s how it’ll work out.’
“Well, fine. Anyway, in the next round, you need to ‘investigate the wishes of others,’ ‘investigate the truth about Amagi and Hibana’s deaths,’ and ‘be wary of Yo and Tama.’ Got it?”
“Yeah! I’ll do my best!”
“And, don’t forget? Don’t throw away your collar! You can tear it, but take it with you! Also, break the safe properly! And then…”
“I’ll go see Kaito first! I know!”
Baka nodded at Kaito with a full smile. Kaito looked like he was thinking, “I’m worried…” but such worry was completely useless when it came to Baka.
After all, Baka is Baka. He can do things when he can, and he can’t when he can’t. And, with a fair amount of frequency, he does things that are way above or below everyone’s expectations! That’s Kabashima Tsuyoshi for you!
“Well then. With that said, Kabashima. Isn’t it about time for a do-over?”
“Huh? Can we do a do-over now?”
“If you’re okay with it. …Honestly, I don’t like this situation either. If we’re going to do it, let’s just do it quickly.”
Hearing Kaito say that, Baka smiled, thinking, “Kaito’s a good guy after all! I believe in you!”
And then.
“Ah… I’ll tell Tama and Yo before we do it. I want to say goodbye.”
He said that, making Kaito look dubious.
But, Baka had been firmly taught by his boss, “Greetings are important!” Greetings are important. Greetings are important! Saying goodbye without a word is not good!
“…Oh, and also, Yo said he’d ‘look into Amagi’! Maybe Yo knows something!”
“I see… Well, in that case, it might be more efficient to gather all the information we can before we do it over.”
Kaito said that and started walking to leave the Sheep’s room. Baka was about to follow him, but then thought, “It’s not good to be covered in grass!” and started brushing off the grass stuck to his body, making himself mostly clean. But, the grass on the top of his head and back was untouched. He couldn’t reach it, and he couldn’t see it!
…But.
“Kabashima! Don’t come this way!”
Kaito’s voice came from the direction of the Antidote Device room… in other words, from the exit leading to the Great Hall.
“Right now… do it o…”
…And then, Kaito’s voice was cut off.
Baka hesitated for a moment.
But, in the end, Baka started running towards Kaito.
…And then.
“…Kaito!”
There, near the exit, was Kaito, collapsed and spitting up blood.
“Kaito!”
Baka was stunned for a moment, but immediately tried to rush to Kaito.
…But.
At that moment, a sea-blue light rose up and formed a human shape. It was Kaito’s figure, from just a moment ago.
Kaito’s shadow was looking at Baka, even while spitting up blood.
And, he was covering his mouth with his hand.
That pose was similar to the one used during fire drills, to avoid inhaling smoke.
Kaito’s shadow was desperately trying to tell Baka… to tell him to “hold his breath” and then, pointing repeatedly in the direction Baka had come from, to “go quickly” back to the Sheep’s room.
…And then, he spat up blood, collapsed, and stopped moving.
Baka understood what this was.
It was a message left by Kaito using his Unique Ability, before he became unable to move, for Baka’s sake.
Suddenly, Baka felt a stinging sensation in his eyes.
The moment he felt that, tears started to well up in Baka’s eyes. Baka immediately realized, “Ah, this is a bad gas.”
Baka held his breath instantly, as Kaito had taught him, and then, slowly, started to retreat.
The bad gas must be spreading, because more and more tears were flowing from Baka’s eyes.
It was like when you chop a lot of onions. If he stayed like this, it would be dangerous.
Baka left the fallen Kaito behind and ran back to the Sheep’s room.
…At the end, he glanced back at Kaito, who seemed to have a somewhat satisfied look on his face.
And so, Baka did it over.
He had to do it over. Kaito dying was unacceptable. He would never let him go through that again!
And then… and then.
“Next time, we’re playing Pokemon together!”
Baka shouted that while crying, and then, he started to glow faintly… 90 seconds later, Baka’s consciousness was cut off with a pop.
Number of times the word “Baka” appeared in Chapter 2: Approximately 840 times