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Everyone's been trying to cheer up Kelly.
She's taken Detah's death badly. Like really, really badly.
Chuyo wasn't sure just what kind of relationship those two had. They seemed close, but not closer than Detah and Lare, for example, and she wasn't as depressed as Kelly was. Maybe there was something else going on behind the curtain? He couldn't tell.
It's not like he could ever figure it out now, either.
So, yeah, everyone decided to band together to try and cheer her up. They tried hide and seek, playing card games, tag, cooking together… but nothing.
But those were the 'groupal' activities. At some point, they all kind of branched off into doing their own little things.
Lare tried to cook food she was sure Kelly would like, Bee tried to offer petting and playing with Tao-la, Mako did her best magic shows, Alex tried making a tea party and being a listening ear, and Chuyo… Chuyo wanted to do something by himself, as well.
It was… weird. And definitely selfish.
Why? Why did he want this so badly? Why did he want to be her 'lone savior' who 'parted the clouds for her'? It felt evil. Except it kinda wasn't because he literally just wanted to cheer her up without any intention on getting anything in return. But it still felt evil.
Him, him, and him alone.
He guessed he just wanted to feel useful for once. Like his existence made a difference. Like he was the reason the world was a little better.
Was that bad? Did that indicate that there was something rotten within him that couldn't be cured? Did that make him someone beyond savi-
"Move"
Huh?
"I said move. You're in the way"
…Oh, right. He was right in the doorway between the living room and the bedroom hallway, wasn't he? "S-sorry, Murasaki" He moved aside to let him through.
…Hm.
He was pretty sure that, had this happened during the first days of their imprisonment here, he would've just grabbed his wheelchair handles and pulled him aside.
…
"Hey- do you know of anything Kelly likes?" He shouted before Murasaki could get to his bedroom door.
He stopped and turned towards the boy. "…Pardon?" Yeah, that face was fair.
Murasaki and Blue were the two ones who hadn't bothered trying to join their cheering efforts. It made sense to be confused when suddenly asked for any tips on how to make her feel better.
"Like- anything I could draw? Any interests or hobbies?" Everyone's individual attempts had focused on the things they were good at. Chuyo was good at drawing, so it'd make sense for him to draw something for her. He just had to figure out what.
"Why the hell are you asking me?"
"'Cause you're right there"
"…" After a few seconds, he turned away. "…Penguins"
Chuyo blinked. He definitely wasn't expecting to get a proper answer. "Huh? Really?"
"Yeah. I think someone mentioned penguins at some point and she perked up"
He thought for a bit. "…I don't think anyone has mentioned penguins at all in this killing game until you did just now"
"Well- I don't know! I just think she likes penguins. Or she'd like them"
Eh. It was as good a lead as any. He rolled over to be next to him. "Do you know if there are any images of penguins around here?"
He refused to meet his eyes. "I think I might have some books with penguins on the cover"
"Oh? Could I take a look at them? Thank you!" This was a rare sight to behold. Murasaki. Doing something nice. For him. He had to use this opportunity as far as he could take it (and for once, he didn't feel bad that he was 'using' someone, after all).
"Hmpf. Okay. Fine"
Murasaki rested his hand on the handle before opening it, not bothering to close it behind him. Was this a silent invitation for Chuyo to come in? He took it. "You're not allowed to make a single comment about my room"
He looked around the place. There were bookshelves that went from the floor to the very ceiling. He even had one of those ladders with wheels/on a rail that helped him reach the higher shelves. Other than that, there was no odd furniture or design choice that stood out. Way normaler than Alex's room, at least.
Though, there was one thing… "You know there's a washing machine in the storage room, right?" There were dirty clothes scattered all throughout the room. Honestly, hard thing not to notice/comment on. Especially when they made it kind of hard to move in with his wheelchair.
"Do you want your stupid penguin pictures or not?"
"Y-yes! Sorry" Okay, he was definitely abusing that niceness spree with that comment, he should dial it back.
Murasaki huffed, but continued to search on his bookshelves. After a minute, he pulled out a book and turned to Chuyo. "Here"
Sure enough, there were penguins on the cover, and a quick look through the pages showed him that there were also some penguin illustrations in there. "This is perfect! Thank you" Chuyo left the book in his lap and placed his hands on the wheels.
"Now get out of my room"
"Of course" He began to move towards the door, before stopping. "Ah, just to make sure, I assume you don't want me to mention this to anyone?"
He nodded.
"Not even to Kelly"
Hesitation. Then a nod.
"Got it. Thank you again"
And with that, he closed the door behind him and went to his room. He had a job to do.
"Oh- Kelly! There you are!"
The woman turned around at the calling of her 'name'.
Chuyo rolled towards her, before stopping to be right before her. "I have something for you" He was smiling.
Kelly couldn't be bothered to come up with something to say, so instead she just looked at him. She had been too tired to speak recently, and only said things when it was absolutely necessary. Why bother, after all? It's not like her words ever made a difference.
Excitedly, Chuyo pulled out the paper that he had been hiding underneath his blanket, and handed it over to her. In it, there were several penguin drawings, of different species and different styles. Some were more photorealistic, some were more cartoonish. Some were in black and white, some were lovingly colored and shaded. Chuyo had given it his all.
After all, how could he not? This was his moment. What if Murasaki had guessed wrong and she didn't care about penguins? Then yeah, other than getting some good practice at drawing the birds, it would've been useless. But what if he was right? Then he couldn't just half-ass it! If he did, and then it turned out his hunch was right, then she wouldn't have been as happy to receive it! And if he did another one, he wouldn't have the extra factor of surprise to make her feel better!
So he had to try his hardest! He locked himself in his room (except when it was dinnertime) for nearly the whole day drawing those penguin images to perfection and trying to adapt them into his style for an extra personal touch, and this was the end result! Successful at its mission or not, he could at least say that he was proud of the drawing.
And he was about to see if his efforts truly paid out.
Kelly took the paper and looked at it, mouth slightly agape. It was hard to read, honestly. Was she happy? Sad? Angry? Surprised? Confused?
"So, um, do you like penguins?" He tried.
"How- how did you-" The words involuntarily came out of her mouth.
Chuyo took that as a win. He did a small fist. Yess.
Oh wait. Right. He had to keep it secret. "You wouldn't believe me even if I told you, haha" Hey, not a lie, and he's still not exactly telling.
Kelly closed her mouth. Oh. Oh he probably just asked the Mastermind. Yeah, that seems like the most logical choice. Who else would you go to for information about her, after all? And more importantly, she was the only one who could've possibly told him that. She hadn't brought this up with anyone else, after all. Not even Detah.
Detah…
…
Ugh, it was embarrassing how stupidly simple she was. There she was, thinking about the only one in this whole killing game who she allowed herself to be mildly vulnerable with, who was now gone, and she still couldn't bring herself to be as sad as she should because she was now staring at the most adorable drawings of penguins she'd ever seen. God. They were so fucking cute.
…Was she seriously about to cry? Really? Because of some penguins? Could she get any more pathetic?
She brought up a hand to pinch the bridge of her nose and maybe not-so-subtly wipe away any tears that were starting to form. Don't cry. Don't cry now. Not like this. Not over this.
It seems she was doing an incredibly poor job at hiding it, because Chuyo got worried. "Are- are you okay?"
She didn't answer. This time, out of fear of having a trembly voice and getting him even more worried. She didn't even nod or shake her head. She couldn't say yes, and she refused to say no.
Deep breaths. Just- just take deep breaths. You're not going to fucking cry over a bunch of drawings. You are NOT.
After her breathing leveled and it stopped feeling like there was a rock lodged in her throat, she took her hand out of her eyes and looked at the paper again.
There was so much love. So much care in replicating a picture —which god knows where he got it from, but that's a question for another day— and coloring everything to be as accurate as possible. So much fun in the cartoonish penguins and the fun poses they were in. So much joy in that one drawing of a mother penguin hugging her child.
There was so, so much love in every inch of the paper.
It was intoxicating, contagious.
A small smile began to form in the corners of Kelly's lips.
Chuyo saw that and beamed.
…Ah.
This was the first time she'd smiled since his death, wasn't it?
She found that she didn't mind that fact all that much.
Yeah.
Yeah, she was fine with it.
This was something worth smiling for.