(A/N: It's been a while, huh? I'd just like to wish you all the best in these hard, unprecedented times. It's been hectic for me, I had to move back home and stuff. I honestly have still been writing; in fact, I've been writing more than ever, but I've been getting distracted by AU oneshots that I never end up finishing. Somehow I managed to finish this one, though. But I promise that Part 06 is still on its way!)

(Anyway, this AU is basically what might have happened if Tyler confronted Sky about the coins way back in Part 01. Hope you enjoy.)

Tyler's first day of high school was not going well. He'd woken up later than he was supposed to and gotten a little lost trying to find his first class. When he finally found the right room and opened the door, the whole class stared at him. He tried not to look at anyone as he walked in and sat down in the closest empty seat.

Things got even worse when he opened his notebook and started to write down what the teacher was saying, only to realize he had run out of pencil lead.

Oh, great. And I can't get up because the teacher's going over stuff.

Tyler stared at one of the people sitting next to him. Maybe he could ask them? But this was a total stranger, and he didn't want to bother them.

Suddenly, he felt a tap on his shoulder and turned to see his other neighbor.

"You need a pencil?" the teenager asked, handing him one.

"Oh, thanks," Tyler mumbled, his face turning red as he took it.

"Don't worry about it, we may be trapped in this terrible place but I got your back," he whispered, grinning. "My name's Sky. What's yours?"

"...Tyler."

AROUND TEN YEARS LATER

When Tyler heard the sound and froze in shock, he thought he was just being paranoid. After all, the slight jingling when Sky stood up to leave the cafeteria could have meant anything. It could have meant his keys. Just some loose change, even.

But, given that Seto had just been attacked by the thief earlier today, the thief who had most likely also threatened Dave the day before... Tyler couldn't help but feel suspicious. He couldn't explain why, but the sound had reminded him of MonoCoins.

A lot of MonoCoins.

No, what was he thinking? Sky wouldn't be the thief. He wouldn't threaten Dave, he wouldn't attack Seto, he wouldn't steal people's coins in a terrible plan to commit...

...to... commit... that.

...But didn't he have every reason to? Sky was separated from his wife and child, and now that Tyler thought about it, his motive video probably involved them. He shuddered. He couldn't imagine what Sky was going through.

But Sky was his best friend! Tyler could trust him, couldn't he? Sky would never try to do something so awful. Plus, that sound could've been so many other things.

But in any case, whether Sky was the thief or not, Tyler couldn't deny that Sky needed him.

Tyler hesitated before making up his mind. He would get to the bottom of this. Even if he was wrong, he would help Sky no matter what.

Tyler's heart pounded nervously as he stood in front of Sky's door. Night Time was about to begin.

Just ask him how he's doing and go from there.

Tyler had never felt nervous about talking to Sky before. He shook his head. Sky was his best friend. He could do this.

He finally knocked on the door. A few moments later, it slid open by a crack.

"Tyler?" Sky asked in confusion, opening the door wider.

"H-Hey Sky-!" Tyler stammered out, smiling instinctively.

"What's wrong?"

"Oh, uh, nothing..."

Were all those improv classes for nothing? Get it together, Tyler!

Tyler cleared his throat. "I need to talk to you about something."

"Really? It can't wait till tomorrow?" Sky yawned. "I'm kinda tired..."

Tyler was tempted to relent, but he steeled himself.

"...It'll be quick."

Sky stared at him before moving aside. "C'mon in, then."

Tyler entered the room. His body was shaking.

"So what'd you want to talk about?" Sky asked.

"...How have you been?"

Sky raised an eyebrow. "Uh, I mean, same as everyone else, I think. I just wish I wasn't in here."

"I see..."

"...You doing okay? You look kinda pale."

Tyler clenched his fists. "I'm just worried."

"Oh. About what?"

"...The thief." That wasn't a lie.

Sky sighed. "Yeah, crazy, isn't it? Who would do something like that?"

Tyler tried not to stare at Sky for too long. He was already regretting this.

"Is that what's bothering you?" Sky asked.

"Not just that."

"What else, then?"

Tyler took a deep breath. "...You."

Sky blinked. "Me?!"

"...The motive video," Tyler admitted. "I don't know what you saw, but if I had to guess-"

"I don't want to talk about that."

Tyler almost flinched at how hard Sky's eyes looked now. His mind screamed at him to drop the subject, but a strong feeling in his gut pushed him on.

He needed to be more direct about the real issue.

"Uh, okay then. So who do you think the thief is?"

Sky laughed awkwardly. "G-Geez, who knows? MonoWither, probably. They're just messing things up for the drama."

Tyler felt faint. "S-So then... You aren't looking for the hidden prize?"

Sky stiffened. "What?! Hell no! Why would you even think that?! Do you think I'm the thief or something?!"

Tyler couldn't respond.

Sky laughed in disbelief. "Wow. You- You actually think I'm the thief. Me."

Why did I do this? I messed up. It could never be Sky.

"I-I'm sorry, I just... I thought I heard something when you stood up earlier and-"

"You're probably just imagining things!" Sky yelled. "Seriously, you think I'd do something like this?!"

"No, that's why I wanted to ask-"

"Well no, no I'm not looking for the prize. I'm not the thief."

Tyler stared down. Sky was still wearing the same pants from earlier. "...Then show me your pockets."

Sky's eyes widened briefly. "Uh- No, I don't have coins." He patted his pockets. "See? No weird sounds, right?"

Tyler wanted to feel relief. Clearly, Sky didn't have a ridiculous amount of coins on him as he'd thought. But what if Sky had spent them already? And wasn't it a little weird that Sky hadn't just turned his pockets inside out?

"...Please just show me," he mumbled, wanting this whole thing to be over.

"What the hell is wrong with you?!"

Tyler flinched hard as Sky stormed over to him. He backed away in a panic as Sky kept approaching. "I-I'm sorry-!"

"I'm not the thief, okay?! Are you- Are you trying to make me look suspicious-?! Are you the thief?!"

"No! No I'm not-!" Tyler backed into the wall. The door was right next to him. Was this the time to bail?! "Sky, please listen to me! I'm just worried about you!"

Sky got up in his face, his whole body shuddering in fury. "And you're the one who's being weird!" he shouted, jabbing his finger into Tyler's chest hard. "Showing up at a time like this, suddenly accusing me of shit I didn't do- What the hell-?! I thought we were friends!"

Tyler saw Sky reach for his pocket. What he was trying to do, Tyler didn't know, but he was suddenly struck with the feeling that if he didn't get out of there now something terrible was going to happen. He shrieked as he shoved Sky back before lunging for the door, fleeing the room.

"Tyler, wait-!" Sky yelped behind him.

Tyler reached his door and frantically fumbled for his key.

"Tyler!"

Footsteps were rapidly approaching him.

He finally managed to get inside and tried slamming the door shut, but Sky's shoe blocked it. Tyler yelped as he pushed against the door just in time to stop Sky from shoving his way in.

"Let me in-!" Sky yelled, slamming his body against the door. "I'm sorry, okay?! I just- I just want to talk! Just like you wanted, right?!"

Don't let him in!

Tyler stomped on Sky's shoe, making Sky shriek and reeled back. He then shut the door and locked it.

The rooms were soundproof, so he couldn't hear if Sky was yelling anything, but he whimpered as Sky started pounding his fists against the door.

What had he done...?

His legs shaking, Tyler stumbled to his bed, wincing with each hit. He climbed in and curled up under the blankets, covering his ears with his hands and shutting his eyes tightly. This was all just a bad dream. He would wake up and everything would be okay.

Finally, the sounds stopped as Sky gave up.

Tyler's chest heaved as he tried to breathe properly. Bad dream... This was just a bad dream... None of this had actually happened...

He told himself this over and over again until he fell into a restless sleep.

Seto woke up the next morning groggy and tired. His head still throbbed from yesterday's attack, but he was feeling a lot better now.

It didn't change the fact that he was attacked, but at least nothing worse had happened.

When Seto went out to the dining hall, he was instantly swarmed by everyone else, who were all relieved to see him okay. All the attention made him very flustered, though he did his best to thank everyone as he finally managed to snag something to eat and sit down.

The pleasure he felt being cared about faded as he realized something awful.

One of them had attacked him. One of them was the thief. One of them was planning something terrible. Irreversible.

Seto felt his gut twist at this fact and looked up, observing everyone. For the most part, people were a little more chatty than yesterday (trying not to think about Seth's death, most likely). Bodil was still isolating himself in his room, though Ashley had said he'd let her in finally. Jordan was quiet, though he was far more put-together than anyone else would be in his shoes. And Tyler...

Seto couldn't help but stare.

Tyler looked... nervous. And not in his usual awkward-but-confident way, but in a genuinely scared way.

This wasn't like him. Then again, this situation was far from usual. But for some reason, Seto thought something was up.

"You're feeling better, right?"

Seto blinked as he turned to Jade, who was sitting next to him.

"Yeah, I am."

She smiled briefly. "That's good. I'm glad to hear it..." She trailed off.

"...But?"

Jade stared down at her lap. "...The thief attacked their friend," she murmured softly. "How could they do something like that?"

Seto looked away. "...I don't know."

"Ah, sorry," Jade murmured. "I probably shouldn't have brought that up."

"It bothers you though, right? You wanted us to trust each other."

"I mean, yeah it bothers me, but you're the one who got attacked. If anyone should be bothered, it's you. And it's true, I want us to trust each other. I still think it's possible. I just... wish someone could talk to them. Or rather, they could talk to someone. I might not know who they are, but I'm sure they're just scared. Though, no matter how scared you are..." Jade's face darkened. "Friends shouldn't hurt each other."

A clattering sound filled the air, silencing everyone as they looked at Tyler. Tyler burst out in awkward laughter as he leaned over to pick something up. "S-Sorry! Just- Just dropped my fork, don't worry about it-!"

The silence ended as everyone resumed their conversations. Seto watched, frowning as Tyler got up on shaky legs to put his plate and silverware back in the kitchen.

"Seto?" Jade asked softly, watching him as well.

"Yeah?"

"...Do you have any theories about who the thief is?"

Seto sighed. "No, I haven't really been able to think about it. Why, do you have any?"

"No, not really. I don't want to suspect anyone. Plus, I'm kinda the stranger here. You know everyone way better than I do, I was just asking."

"Right."

"And..." Jade bit her lip. "Am I a hypocrite?"

"What? No, why would you think that?"

"It's just, I'm the one who keeps saying we should trust each other, but..." She sighed. "It sounds cliche, but I've read enough murder mysteries to know that nighttime is when crimes usually happen. Is it bad that now I feel like if someone knocked on my door, I wouldn't answer it? Like what if I open the door and I get stabbed like- like someone's dad did in an anime I watch. He literally had no time to react!"

"Attack on Titan, right?" Sky suddenly cut in.

Jade's eyes brightened as she looked at him. "Yes! Attack on Titan! You watch it too?"

"Oh yeah, I don't think I'm caught up, though."

"Yeah, I only watch the anime..."

Seto's face turned red as he looked away. He knew nothing about this show, so he couldn't say anything. Just then, he noticed Tyler leave the kitchen, having finished washing his dishes. Tyler locked eyes with him before suddenly averting his gaze and speed-walking out of the cafeteria.

"Anyway, sorry I randomly interrupted you guys like that," Sky said sheepishly, glancing at Tyler. "I just couldn't help myself when I recognized what you were talking about."

"Oh, it's fine!" Jade replied. "Nice to know someone else here watches it, though."

Sky chuckled. "Yeah. Anyway, I'm gonna get going. See you guys later. Hope you feel better soon, Seto."

"Thanks," Seto mumbled.

With that, Sky left as well.

Seto didn't know why his heart was racing. Why did something feel wrong? Sky was just like that, so eager to start conversations. So why...?

Jade turned back to him. "Anyway, what I meant was, it sounds wrong trying to get others to trust each other more while being distrustful at the same time. It's like I don't practice what I preach. Do you think so?"

"No, that's just being careful. Please keep your door locked at night." Seto's stomach twisted at the thought of Jade or any of his friends being murdered. The thief wouldn't go that far, right? But then again, they'd shown they were serious by outright attacking him.

Jade sighed. "Yeah, I have been, don't worry. Thanks, though."

"It's nothing. You're not being a hypocrite."

"No, I meant... Thanks for talking with me and looking out for me in general. It's... hard being surrounded by people you technically know but you really don't. I'm glad you're here."

"O-Oh, it's no problem..."

"Really, it means a lot."

They sat in comfortable silence for a moment as Jade finished her meal. Seto, on the other hand, didn't have the appetite anymore. He stood up. "I'm um, I'm gonna go."

"Oh, that's cool. What are you gonna do?"

"Probably try and find the thief. Carefully this time."

"Of course, of course. Like I said, I'm sure if anyone can find the thief it's you!"

"Thanks. I'll find them, I promise. I have to..."

Jade smiled. "See you, then."

"See you."

Jade was right; knowing his friends, whoever the thief was, they were probably just scared. Someone needed to talk them down and make them see reason. And if he had to be that person, he would try his best.

First, he needed to talk to Tyler. He made his way back to the bedrooms, only to see Sky standing outside of Tyler's room.

"Oh, hey Seto!" Sky exclaimed.

"Hey. Do you need something from him?"

"Not really, I just... thought something was a little off from him this morning. I'm kinda worried."

Seto frowned and looked at the door. "...He's not answering?"

"No, he kinda did. We talked a little bit just now, but I think he's not feeling too well. Said he was just tired." Sky sighed. "Then again, I can't blame him. This whole situation is crazy."

"It really is."

Sky patted him on the shoulder. "Maybe you should get more rest. You did get knocked out just yesterday."

Seto blushed. "Thanks, but I'm fine now. Really."

"Alright, well, take it easy at least."

"You too, Sky."

Sky flashed a grin before heading off to his own room.

Seto sighed. Things were all sorts of wrong, but at least Sky was here.

He looked at Tyler's door again, wondering if he should try and talk to him. But if Sky already talked to him, then he didn't know what more he could do.

Perhaps he needed to find the prize before the thief could. Surely the thief couldn't have found it already, right? And if he had the prize, then no one else could use it for a terrible reason.

Seto cursed himself for getting knocked out like that. The thief already had a whole day to find the prize. He needed to get on with it...

Tyler could barely breathe as he read the note in his hands over and over again. Sky had tried knocking on his door again after breakfast before finally slipping the note under the door, and it was making him more anxious than ever.

Hey Tyler,

I'm so sorry about last night. I shouldn't have freaked out on you like that. You were only trying to help me, and I blew up in your face. I'm an asshole.

I understand if you can't forgive me, but could we talk more about this tonight when everyone else is asleep?

-Sky

What was he supposed to do? Was this a trick? Despite everything that had happened, he couldn't imagine Sky writing this note and not meaning it. That would be... a new level of deception. But at the same time, things were already so bizarre...

"I want us to trust each other. I still think it's possible. I just... wish someone could talk to them. Or rather, they could talk to someone. I might not know who they are, but I'm sure they're just scared."

No matter his fear, he... needed to give Sky a chance. He needed to help Sky no matter what. Because he was Sky's friend.

He briefly left his room to grab lunch and dinner, immediately going back to his room to eat. Fortunately, he didn't bump into Sky either time.

He was being ridiculous. There was no need to be afraid of Sky. He'd known Sky for almost 10 years, hadn't he? Sky wouldn't actually hurt him.

The hours crawled by. The Night Time announcement rang out. Tyler waited, but no one showed up.

Maybe he changed his mind? Should I go knock on his door? But for some reason, Tyler was half-hoping he wouldn't have to talk to Sky.

He was just being a coward...

Tyler had almost fallen asleep when he finally heard someone at the door. He rushed to his feet and readjusted his glasses before going over to open it.

Sure enough, Sky was there. "...Hey Tyler," he said, his smile a little tight.

"...Hey." Tyler forced a smile back.

"You're okay with talking to me, right?"

"Y-Yeah. Of course." Tyler stepped aside. "Come in."

Sky entered his room and Tyler shut the door with shaking hands. He turned around.

"So what did you want to talk about-?" Tyler started to ask, before freezing as he noticed Sky's cold stare. "Sky-?"

Tyler didn't even have time to process what Sky was doing before his body was leaping to the side. Glass shattered behind him against the door, right where he had been standing. He turned back, staring at Sky in horror.

"Wh-What are you-?!"

"Fuck!" Sky cursed before lunging at him. Tyler shrieked as he ran for his life, leaping onto the bed and crawling over to the other side as fast as possible. He needed to circle around Sky and escape his room, the bathroom wasn't an option since there wasn't a lock-he needed to get out somehow, he needed to avoid Sky-

Tyler cried out as Sky grabbed his arm, pulling him back. He struggled desperately, trying to wrench his arm away, but Sky grabbed his other shoulder and hauled him away from the door before slamming him against the nightstand. Pain exploded all over Tyler's side and head as he also collided against the wall. In the process, he knocked over the glass of water he'd had on the nightstand (which shattered all over the floor) and the lamp.

Tyler heard Sky growl as the man rushed at him again. Fueled by pure desperation, Tyler grabbed the lamp and swung it as hard as he could, smacking Sky in the face. Sky yelled, staggering to the side from the blow. Seeing an opening, Tyler ran for the door again. He managed to push it open, but Sky grabbed him from behind again. Tyler shouted as he elbowed Sky as hard as he could and shoved him back for good measure before fleeing into the hall.

"HELP!" he shrieked, running out. "SOMEONE HELP!"

That was when he remembered that the rooms were soundproof.

Tyler could hear Sky approaching behind him. His nerves were on fire.

Seto- Seto could protect me-! Tyler thought frantically before rushing to Seto's room and hammering his fists on the door.

Tyler looked back at Sky, who had stopped chasing him. He had a wide-eyed look of horror on his face before he rushed back into his own room.

He's giving up?

Tyler didn't even notice the door open in his confusion.

Seto hadn't had any luck that day finding the hidden prize nor any clues about the spy. He felt like the thief must have already found the prize; he'd even skipped lunch as he scoured the entire first floor, all to no avail.

He couldn't let this happen. He had to find the thief as soon as possible before someone else ended up hurt, if not the worst-case scenario.

But right now, he was doing a terrible job.

Seto had been tossing and turning in bed, unable to let his mind rest, when he heard it. The loud knocking got his heart racing immediately.

Don't answer it! was his first thought. But for some reason, perhaps because of how frantic the knocking was, he felt like he had to answer it. What if someone was being attacked?

Seto didn't even bother to put on his cloak as he ran to the door. He silently cursed MonoWither for not giving them peepholes, braced himself, and opened it.

Out of all things he expected... a scared, terrified Tyler missing his glasses was not one of them.

"T-Tyler?!" Seto exclaimed.

Tyler was staring at something down the hall, shaking like he was freezing cold. Seto hesitantly got closer and peeked in that direction, but saw nothing out of the ordinary.

"...What are you looking at?" he asked in confusion.

Tyler finally seemed to notice him and turned his head forward. Seto's face paled when he saw the absolute fear in Tyler's wide eyes.

"Tyler, what's going on?" he asked softly.

Tyler whimpered, tears welling up. He looked like he wanted to say something but didn't know how. What the hell had happened to make Tyler this petrified?!

Seto gently pulled Tyler inside and shut the door, locking it. He turned on the lights. "Here, sit down," he murmured, guiding him to the chair.

Tyler sat down, trembling.

"Tea?" Seto asked.

Tyler ever so slightly shook his head.

"Okay." Seto's heart was pounding as he tried to think of what else he could do to help. He had never seen Tyler this shaken up before, and he couldn't figure out why this was happening...

"Just... take your time. Whatever happened... You're safer now, I'm pretty sure. I'm here for you, okay?"

Tyler still didn't respond as he stared at nothing. Seto bit his lip and sat down on the corner of his bed, watching him. He felt so helpless...

Tyler's mind just couldn't process what had just happened. He didn't understand Seto's questions. How could he answer them if he didn't know what was going on himself?

Sky... Sky had... attacked him... Maybe even tried to...?

Tyler flinched as Seto draped one of the blankets over his shoulders.

You're safer now, Seto had said. Perhaps he was right for now. But Tyler had a terrible feeling Sky wouldn't give up here.

I'm here for you, okay?

This... This, Tyler was unsure of. He knew Sky meant a lot to Seto, perhaps even more than what Sky meant to him. If Tyler revealed the unthinkable, would Seto even believe him? Wouldn't he take Sky's side over his?

Now he knew why Sky had given up so quickly. He needed to seem innocent still in front of the others. MonoWither had said any murderer couldn't be caught, right? Being innocent was definitely the highest priority. But why would Sky choose Tyler of all people to kill?

Unless...

...Oh. It made sense now. Sky had been planning to kill someone else, but when Tyler had confronted him, he'd changed plans to kill the only one who'd noticed something suspicious.

Tyler clung onto the blanket, feeling a little calmed by the pressure and warmth. Seto was still watching him, concerned and worried.

Had he put Seto in danger too? Maybe he'd stay silent, then...

"Did MonoWither do something?" Seto asked.

Tyler almost laughed. MonoWither... That would make far more sense than the truth.

He shook his head slightly.

Seto frowned. "Then... What happened? Where are your glasses?"

His glasses?

Tyler reached up in confusion, only to find that his glasses were gone. Had they been knocked off his face when Sky had hurled him at the nightstand? His side still stung fiercely from that.

He then noticed his face was damp with trickling tears and wiped his eyes with the back of his hand, sniffling.

"Are you... hurt anywhere?" Seto asked.

Was he? Besides his aching body... Tyler shrugged and started to zone out. Hopefully Seto would give up or something.

"What does that mean? Are you hurt or not?"

Oh, dear, Seto was worried. He shook his head again.

"Tyler, please, just tell me what's wrong. You can't just wake me up in the middle of the night like that and not explain why. I know something bad happened."

That... was true. He had forced Seto to technically save him from Sky. He wasn't completely sure if there were any reasons other than "Seto is a powerful sorcerer" and "Seto saved Ashley that time, so he can save me too".

Tyler slowly looked up at Seto. His vision was blurry without his glasses, and the tears didn't help, so he couldn't really gauge Seto's expression.

"I..." Tyler mumbled.

"...Yeah?"

Tyler closed his mouth. He couldn't do it. He was scared to say it. Because the moment he said it out loud... he would be admitting that what had happened was the truth.

"Are you afraid to tell me?" Seto asked.

Tyler nodded.

"...Oh."

To Tyler's surprise, Seto sounded a little hurt by that.

"Then, um, maybe I'll wake up Sky and you can tell him-"

It was like a bolt of lightning shot through Tyler as he flinched in a panic, making the blanket slide off him. "NO!" he shrieked without thinking.

Seto's eyes widened in shock. "Tyler-?"

Tyler breathed heavily, his body shaking all over again as he stared at Seto with pure terror. "P-Please don't- Please don't tell Sky-"

"Wh-Why not-?" Seto choked out. "Sky's been worried about you all day, he told me so, he'll want to help-"

Sky had been worried about him. Is that what he'd said? Sky had really said a lie that bold?

The fact that Sky could pretend to be concerned about him... to the man Sky must have attacked, now that Tyler thought about it...

Tyler started to laugh.

An unusually scared look crossed Seto's pale face. "Tyler, what-?"

It wasn't funny at all. It was so unfunny, yet Tyler couldn't stop the laughter from bubbling over, even as he clamped his hand over his mouth. Then he closed his eyes and the next thing he knew, he was sobbing.

It hurt. Everything hurt. Not just his body, but his very soul.

"Though, no matter how scared you are..." Jade's face darkened. "Friends shouldn't hurt each other."

Sky, his best friend, had hurt him. Not even just that...

Seto wordlessly handed him a tissue box as he finally wracked every last sob from his weak body. Tyler took the tissues and slowly wiped his face and eyes and blew his nose.

"...Seto...?" he finally asked, his voice hoarse.

"Yeah?"

"...I don't think you'll believe me if I tell you what happened..."

"Just tell me, please. I'll believe you. Why wouldn't I?"

Oh, you'll see.

Tyler sniffled. "...I was... I..."

The sobs started to come back. He tried to fight them, but all he could do was let out choked whimpers.

Tyler heard Seto scoot forward and he gently pulled him closer so they were both sitting on the edge of their seats. Seto hesitated before embracing Tyler, rubbing his back.

Oh. This felt nice. Tyler didn't realize how tense his muscles were. He also didn't think Seto was usually a hugger. Why were his hands so warm? Was he using his magic?

"Breathe," Seto murmured.

Tyler gasped for breath, his body slowly relaxing. "S..."

"...Hmm?"

"...S..."

"...Yeah? I'm here. You can tell me anything."

Tyler shook his head.

"...S... Sky just... tried to kill me..."

The hands rubbing his back stilled. Tyler winced, closing his eyes.

The truth was finally out.

Seto let go of him, staring at him in disbelief. "Sky tried to kill you?!"

Tyler nodded.

Seto shook his head frantically. "N-No-! No that can't be- You're just mistaken, you misinterpreted something, you must've- you-!"

Tyler's heart sank. He'd known this would happen. Of course Seto wouldn't believe him over Sky. Though to be fair, if he and Seto's roles were switched, he could see himself denying it too.

Seto was hyperventilating. Tyler wasn't even sure if he'd seen Seto this panicked when Ashley went missing as Seto grabbed his shoulders and shook him a little. "Tell me what happened! What happened that would make you think something like that?!"

Tyler told him everything. The confrontation, the note, the meeting, the thing Sky had tried throwing at him (Poison, Tyler now realized), Sky's vicious attack and his attempts to subdue Tyler for what could only be another murder attempt, Sky going back to his room when Tyler had knocked on Seto's door...

There was a long, long silence. Seto just... stared at him. His eyes were so wide.

"You don't believe me," Tyler murmured, shaking a little.

"Tyler, I..." Seto trailed off helplessly.

He stared down at his lap. "I knew you wouldn't."

Seto didn't reply to that. "...You said you hit your head against the wall?"

Tyler nodded.

Seto delicately held Tyler's face and raised his head up, peering into his eyes. "No signs of a concussion yet," he murmured. "Head still hurt?"

"...Just a little."

"Hmm." Seto looked at the clock. Whatever time it was, Tyler didn't care.

"...You should get some sleep," Seto said softly.

Tyler wanted to say no, but he suddenly realized how heavy his body felt with exhaustion.

Seto guided him onto his feet. "Bed," he ordered.

Tyler shook his head. "I'll take the floor."

"No you're not. I'll sleep on the floor."

Tyler kept shaking his head as he shrugged Seto off and laid down on the floor next to the bed.

"Tyler!"

Tyler turned away from him, curling up. The carpeted floor was a little hard, but he didn't mind. He just wanted to be left alone.

Soft warmth enveloped him as blankets covered him. He was too tired to object by this point as he curled up tighter and buried his face under the blankets, sniffling quietly and trying not to shake so much.

Before he knew it, he was fast asleep.

Seto watched Tyler bury himself underneath the blankets, his heart racing in his chest.

Sky... had tried to murder him? The idea was so unthinkable, Seto couldn't accept it.

Maybe it really was a misunderstanding. Maybe Tyler just thought it was Sky attacking him when it was someone else. But how would that happen? Tyler hadn't mentioned anything about the person wearing a mask or something else shielding their face, he'd stated outright that it was Sky himself.

But if Tyler wasn't mistaken, then that meant either Sky or Tyler was lying. According to Tyler, Sky had essentially deceived them all. Sky was the thief who had threatened Dave with Steven and Bart's safety for coins. Sky was the one who knocked Seto out. Sky had only pretended to be concerned for Tyler when he'd just been planning to kill him once he got Tyler's trust back.

Sky was impulsive, Seto admitted. But was he someone willing to kill his own close friend to escape? Seto couldn't see it.

But if Sky wasn't the thief, then Tyler was a flat out liar. And Tyler, though not as close to Seto, never seemed like the type to deceive someone like this.

If he was, then he was a far better actor than Seto ever thought was possible.

Also, what reason would Tyler have to lie? Did he want Seto and the others to suspect Sky so he could frame him for someone else's murder? But... It was so outlandish... If anything, that would make Seto suspect Tyler instead...

Seto laid down, his head hurting from all the stress going on. Maybe he would wake up and everything would be back to normal.

He peeked at Tyler again, whose pitiful figure was hard to look at. He couldn't stop thinking about how he'd never seen Tyler so shaken up before. Tyler was usually so casual and easy-going, seeing him like this just... hurt.

Something had happened to Tyler, that was for certain.

I'll get to the bottom of this somehow... he thought to himself before drifting off to sleep.

Seto woke up to the morning announcement. He hated how he was getting used to this. He sat up and swung his legs off the bed, only to shriek when he saw the body lying there.

Suddenly, everything came back to him.

Seto watched in mute horror as Tyler's face scrunched up for a few moments before he mumbled vaguely and relaxed. He sighed in relief, glad that he hadn't woken Tyler up.

Now that he was awake, Seto wanted to get started with his investigation as soon as possible. But where to begin?

Oh right, Tyler's room of course, assuming it wasn't locked. Seto got up and watched Tyler for a few more moments, making sure he really was asleep, before leaving his room and locking the door. Fortunately, no one else was around. Seto quickly found Tyler's room and turned the handle, relieved to see that the door was unlocked.

Seto wasn't sure what he had been expecting when he entered the room. From Tyler's description, assuming he'd told the truth, it seemed like the scuffle had knocked over a bunch of stuff and made a huge mess.

But Tyler's room looked... normal.

Seto closed the door behind him, looking around at all the things that were definitely not knocked over. Tyler's glasses were even sitting on the nightstand next to the lamp, his room key, and his e-Handbook. His jacket was draped over the chair.

Seto cursed himself for not immediately checking Tyler's room last night. If something had (or hadn't) happened, then Seto could've known for sure. But Seto had been so focused on Tyler and how terrified and upset he'd been, he hadn't thought to check. And now, if an incident really had occurred, Tyler's attacker had already cleaned everything up.

Seto grabbed the room key and locked the door from the inside. He couldn't have anyone walking in on him now. He then looked at the door and the ground before it, not finding any glass shards.

Though... there was a slight stain on the carpet.

Seto frowned. The odds that there would be a stain right in front of the door was very low. But was this enough to verify Tyler's claims?

Seto examined the room and its bathroom a little more but found nothing else unusual. He sighed and grabbed some of Tyler's belongings before leaving, making sure to lock the door again.

Tyler woke up to the sound of the door closing. What was going on? Where was he? Why was he on the floor?

It all came back to him so fast, he gasped and sat up with a jolt. So it hadn't been a weird dream? That was real?!

Keep it together. Panicking's not going to fix anything.

For whatever reason, Seto had left the room very early. Tyler thought about going back to sleep, but he felt like he was overstaying his welcome. Should he go back to his room, then?

Tyler hugged his knees to his quivering chest. But what if Sky broke in his room somehow? And he couldn't stay inside forever. He needed food, but going out there meant a high chance of running into Sky, and the thought of seeing him now just...

Just...

Tyler gasped for breath as he tried to quell his panic. Sky wouldn't give up, would he? Tyler was the only one who knew what he was planning, and Sky had shown that he would stop at nothing to get rid of him. He had no other choice. Tyler was the one person who could ruin his plans after all, and Sky crossed the point of just being able to apologize it away the moment he tried to kill Tyler.

Sky... wanted him dead...

Tyler flinched as someone unlocked the door and opened it. To his relief, Seto stepped inside, holding some items to his chest.

"H-Hi, Seto," Tyler murmured, looking away.

Seto bit his lip. "Hey, Tyler."

There was an awkward silence.

"I found your stuff," Seto said, giving Tyler the things he was carrying.

Tyler's eyes lit up when he saw that they were his belongings. "Oh, thanks!" He pocketed the key and e-Handbook and rubbed his glasses with his shirt before putting them on. "Phew, it's not broken... I'd be blind without them..."

Seto smiled sadly at him.

It took Tyler a few moments to realize. "...Wait, did you go in my room?!"

"...Yes."

"Oh, um, okay then. I mean I guess that's fair. It was a total mess though, right?"

Seto frowned. "Actually... It looked fine."

Tyler almost choked. "WHAT?!"

But- How could that be-?

"Wh-What do you mean 'fine'?!"

"Everything was fine. Nothing was broken or knocked over."

Tyler opened and closed his mouth like a dying fish before stammering, "I don't- I don't know why- M-Maybe Sky went back and-"

Seto didn't respond.

Oh no, oh no...

"Please- Please believe me-!" Tyler cried out. "I know it sounds completely unbelievable but it's true, what I told you happened last night did happen, please-!"

"I don't know," Seto mumbled.

Tyler looked away, hurt. Any slim chance he'd had of getting Seto to believe him was gone. He probably looked like a huge liar now...

"...I'm not saying you're a liar," Seto clarified, as though he had read his thoughts. "But I need to look into it myself. I'm sure there's a reasonable explanation for all this."

"...Oh." Well, he guessed that it was better than nothing.

More awkward silence.

"...Thanks," Tyler murmured.

"Thanks?"

"You saved me last night. You stayed up with me when you didn't know what was going on." Indeed, Seto could've easily just turned him away once he heard him accuse Sky...

"...I just did what anyone would've done?" Seto replied in slight confusion.

"Sure," Tyler muttered under his breath. "That's what you said with Ashley."

Seto let out a squeak and cleared his throat, flustered. "N-No I didn't-! Anyway, I'm going to get breakfast. Are you also coming?"

Tyler's face paled at the thought. "Um... I don't think I can go out there..."

"You need to eat, though."

At this point, he didn't care.

"Yeah, uh, it's fine. Don't- Don't worry about it-!" Tyler said, laughing nervously.

"...I'll bring you food, then," Seto murmured.

WHAT-?!

"Ah- You don't have to-!"

"If what you said is true, then it wouldn't be good if Sky knew where you were, right?"

Tyler gulped. "Y-Yeah, but-"

"Then you should stay here. I already locked your door so it looks like you're inside your room."

Tyler's gut churned with guilt for making Seto deal with this, but he nodded. "Th-Thank you, you really don't have to..."

"It's fine." Seto headed for the door. "I'll see you soon."

"...See you."

"Did something happen?" Jade asked upon seeing him.

"Um, why do you ask?" Seto responded, confused.

"I don't know. You look a bit more tired than usual, I think."

Seto trusted Jade. But at the same time, it was probably best if she didn't know about it. "No, nothing happened. I just didn't sleep well."

"Ah, I see."

"...Maybe I should ask if something happened to you?"

Jade sighed. "Nothing in particular, I was just... thinking about the thief again."

"Look, just let me handle it. You don't need to worry about it."

"I can't just do nothing, though. Everyone's lives could be at stake, including my own. But I have a bad feeling that the thief already spent their money on something."

"...I do too," Seto murmured. "I tried looking for the prize yesterday, but I just couldn't find it. The thief had a headstart since I got knocked out."

"That's what I was thinking too, that the prize is gone," Jade replied. "I tried asking MonoWither about it, but they were being really vague about it."

Seto scoffed. "No surprises there..."

He waited for everyone else, watching as they gradually started making their way to the cafeteria.

"Hey, Seto!" Seto heard Sky call out.

Seto stiffened for a moment before forcing himself to appear calm. "Hey."

Sky sat down next to him. "How's everything going?"

"Alright..."

"Yeah? That's good."

Sky sounded so normal, Seto wanted to dismiss Tyler right away. He didn't, though.

"How about you?" Seto asked.

"Uh, I'm alright too, I guess. Just..."

Sky trailed off. Seto looked at him hesitantly. "Just what?"

"Nothing. Sorry, I don't think I slept well last night. Kept having bad dreams."

"...So was I," Seto murmured.

Admittedly, Sky seemed a little more off than usual, but... given the situation, he was bound to be off. There wasn't anything implying what Tyler said was true yet.

"Bodil?!" Husky cried out, making everyone turn to the cafeteria entrance. Seto was pleasantly surprised to see Ashley and Bodil walking in together.

"H-Hey...!" Bodil said awkwardly, waving. "S-Sorry I haven't been showing up!"

"Oh, that's okay!" Steven said, smiling at him.

Bodil suddenly tensed up. Ashley put her hand on his shoulder.

"N-No, it's... it's not okay," he murmured. "I actually, um, owe you all an apology."

"...An apology?" Mitch asked, confused. "Why?"

"I... I've been hiding something from you all. That's the real reason I haven't been showing up. But after talking with Ashley, I realized I shouldn't be such a coward anymore." Bodil looked around. "W-Wait, is everyone here?!"

Everyone also looked around.

"Tyler's not," Annie said finally.

"Huh, I haven't seen him since yesterday morning," Ryan murmured.

"Me neither!" Bonks said.

"...I saw him last night," Jordan recalled. "But he only grabbed a snack. Pretty sure he went right back to his room."

"Do you think he might still be asleep?" Jerome asked.

"I think so," Sky said. "I tried knocking on his door earlier, but he never responded. He did tell me yesterday that he wasn't feeling too well, though."

Jason looked alarmed. "Do you think he's sick?"

"I hope not..." Sky replied.

Seto finally cut in. "We're getting off-topic. Bodil has something to tell us, right?"

All eyes went back to Bodil, who was clutching his tie. "R-Right, I guess someone will have to tell Tyler later. Anyway..."

Bodil took a deep breath.

"So I was... upset the last time you guys saw me. And later, I... had a really bad idea. Uh..."

Bodil's mouth closed as he clammed up again.

"By the way," Ashley spoke for once, giving everyone a cold stare. "I don't want anyone interrupting Bodil until he's done, no matter what he says."

"...Of course," Husky said quietly.

Bodil cleared his throat. "I um- I- I wasn't thinking at all. I just wanted to know what happened to my friends, so I..." He clenched his fists. "So- So I went looking for the prize to use it!"

There was a stunned silence.

It wasn't that people weren't expecting it after how Bodil had said he'd had a "bad" idea, but to hear it voiced out loud was still jarring.

Bodil finally summoned the courage to face them. "Y-Yeah- That's what I did! And I regret it, but that's not important right now!"

"...We understand, Bodil. Keep going," Jordan said.

Bodil looked down again. "Th-Thanks," he mumbled. "So I- I went and tried to find the prize, and I found a chest behind the fireplace."

Seto frowned. He was certain he'd checked the fireplace already...

"I put the flames out and opened the chest, but..." Bodil breathed deeply.

"...It was already empty."

"Wh-What-?!" Mitch stammered. "So that means-!"

"He's not done!" Ashley snapped.

Bodil sighed. "Y-Yeah, MonoWither showed up and said I was too late. The thief already got it. But then they..." He clenched his tie tightly. "They said that they knew who the thief was targeting, and... they winked at me and said maybe if I stayed in my room and locked the door, I'd stand a chance..."

The thief had been targeting Bodil? Was that really the case?

"Th-That's why I was a coward and hid from you all. I know I should've told you all sooner, but MonoWither also made me think you guys wouldn't believe me and that the thief would go after me sooner, so..." Bodil shook his head. "It's no excuse! I'm sorry! But I'm telling you now, the thief has the prize! They've had it for two days now!"

The horror in the room was palpable as everyone started talking all at once.

"Who the hell is the thief?!" Ryan cursed. "Whoever you are, you need to stop this before you seriously get someone killed!"

"This really is unbelievable..." Sky mumbled.

"And they've had the prize for two days now, they've probably bought something already!" Jason said, horrified.

"W-Wait, Bodil, you said the thief's targeting you?!" Annie asked in alarm. "But why you specifically?!"

"I- I don't know-!" Bodil stammered out. "Did I do something wrong-?!"

"I don't think Bodil's the target," Jade suddenly said.

Everyone went silent as they looked at her.

"MonoWither really wants someone to murder for some reason. They even... showed us terrible faked videos to make us want to do it. But if that's what they want, then... wouldn't they not tell the target to hide so the thief would succeed in killing them?"

"So... MonoWither was just messing with Bodil?" Ashley asked.

"Probably... And I mean, because he was scared, he didn't tell us the thief found the prize. So there's also that."

"I see now," Jerome murmured. "MonoWither didn't want Bodil to interfere with the thief's plan."

Bodil blinked. "So- You're saying I hid for no reason?!"

"...Sorry, but it seems so," Bonks said. "I can't really blame you though."

"Wait but- now I really pissed the thief off-!" Bodil started to hyperventilate. "Oh god, I just made myself their target-!"

"Relax, Bodil. No one's going after you," Sky said reassuringly.

"Y-You don't know that-!"

"Well, if my theory is right, then I do know it."

"...What's your theory?" Seto forced himself to ask.

Sky sighed. "Okay, it might sound ridiculous, but I'm pretty sure this thief thing is all made up by MonoWither."

"Made up?!" Jason exclaimed in shock.

"Yup, I mean, think about it. No one's caught the thief yet. It's been two days since they supposedly found the prize, but no one's been killed yet. Plus..." He laughed in disbelief. "You really think anyone here would actually kill someone?!"

"But then who attacked Dave?!" Steven asked. "That was definitely a person!"

"I don't know. Maybe it's whoever's controlling MonoWither!"

"If that's true, then... We've just been going around being paranoid for nothing," Husky said, slightly disturbed.

"But that does sound like something MonoWither would want us to do," Jordan admitted.

"Maybe they wanted someone to feel scared about the thief and..." Jade shivered. "...try and get the first kill?"

"Exactly!" Sky said. "It's all MonoWither's trap! Just like the fake videos, this thief is definitely fake too!"

"Fake?!"

Everyone flinched as MonoWither appeared.

"You think we made up the thief?!" MonoWither cackled. "The audacity of you to say such a thing, Sky! Well, you may not believe us, but the thief is certainly one of you guys! Just because Bodil might not be their target, doesn't mean any of you are safe..."

"Like I could ever trust you!" Annie snapped. "You're the asshole who put us here in the first place!"

Seto couldn't focus as everyone else started to argue against MonoWither as well, venting all their anger and frustration out on them. He completely understood, wanted to do the same, even. He wanted to believe Sky. It was so much like Sky to say something like this. Was Sky even capable of such manipulative deception?

But... He couldn't stop thinking about the pure terror in Tyler's face last night...

After Tyler was alone for a few minutes, he was able to calm down and tell himself that Sky wasn't going to find him. However, he was now struck with boredom.

He couldn't leave because Sky could be out there, but now it felt awkward just sitting in Seto's room by himself.

He looked around, trying to see what he could do. He put the blankets back on the bed as neatly as possible and went to go wash his face. As he did so, he thought about taking a shower, but this was technically Seto's bathroom, and he could be back any minute now...

He stared at his own reflection in the mirror. His eyelids were still swollen from crying last night, and his face was pale.

He looked like shit.

Well... Now wasn't the time to get vain. Tyler scrubbed his face clean and tried brushing his unruly hair by running his fingers through it. It didn't make much of a difference, however. Then he left the bathroom, now really unsure what to do.

However... that was when they showed up.

"How scandalous, Tyler!" MonoWither exclaimed, appearing out of the blue.

Tyler screamed and staggered back, hitting the bathroom door. "What the hell?! MonoWither?!"

"Can you imagine what the others would say if we told them you slept with Seto last night?"

Tyler felt his mind crash under the weight of all the chaos going on in his life right now. "E-Excuse me? What are you- That didn't-?!"

MonoWither cackled. "Oh, we're just messing with you! After all..."

Suddenly they flew up to Tyler inches away from his face, peering into his eyes.

"You're just the poor fool who made himself Sky's target."

Tyler flinched.

"Yup! If only you had stayed quiet, your life wouldn't be in this much danger!"

As scared as Tyler was, he felt anger start to boil in his gut at this asshole who killed Seth just a few days ago. "He would've just killed someone else anyway!"

"Someone else? How do you know he wasn't aiming for you all along?!"

Tyler felt his heart skip a beat. He hadn't even thought of that as a possibility...

"Y-You're lying-!" Tyler choked out.

"But you must admit, you're far from the strongest. You'd be pretty easy to take down. Sky almost had you last night, but he just made the mistake of not having a knife out. Imagine if he did! You'd be a goner so fast! Let's face it Tyler, you don't stand a chance against anyone!"

"Shut up!" Tyler yelled.

"Oh, but that's not why you're such an easy target, no, no! You're just so trusting! Even when Sky gave you that suspicious note, you tried to give him a second chance anyway because, 'Oh no, Sky's my best friend and I have to trust him!' And look where that got you. You were so close to being the first murder victim!"

Tyler opened his mouth to deny it, but the sinking feeling in his gut stopped him.

"...F-Fine," Tyler mumbled. "You're right. It was stupid of me to trust him. But I won't make that same mistake again."

"You sure about that?"

Tyler's eyes widened as MonoWither scoffed.

"Clearly, your naivety is your true weakness. Don't you see you're making the same mistake right now?"

"Wh-What are you talking about?!"

"Seto, of course! How do you know he's not trying to kill you now?!"

No no no no no no no-

"He saved me!" Tyler yelled.

"Maybe it was just to gain your trust," MonoWither said with a devilish smile. "In your most desperate time, he saved you. He said he'd help you. But what if he's just biding his time, trying to get you to lower your guard around him before he makes his move? We mean, he did say he would make sure no one knows where you really are..."

Tyler was starting to hyperventilate. "No- Seto wouldn't do something like that-"

"That's exactly what you thought about Sky, isn't it?"

"Shut up!" Tyler shrieked, shutting his eyes tightly and turning away.

"How much do you think your friends even like you, anyway? Would they really be that conflicted at the thought of killing you? We mean..."

MonoWither's voice turned emotionless.

"...even Sky wouldn't hesitate to kill you. And if Sky wouldn't... who would?"

Tyler tried to fight it, but he couldn't help choking out a sob as tears overwhelmed him. "G-Go away-! Shut up-!" he wailed, trying to hide his face with his arms.

"Aw, what a crybaby! No wonder people think you're the weakest one here! You haven't even considered the one solution to saving yourself for good! Come on, you know what it is!"

Tyler was too broken up to even ask what they meant.

"You seriously don't know? Don't be so shy, say it!"

Tyler didn't respond.

"Ah, Tyler, we just can't help but feel bad for you when we see you like this. So here, we'll tell you. Sky's hell-bent on killing you now, right? Since you could expose him and all. And you know full well that exposing him to everyone before an actual murder will be quickly dismissed. Just look at how Seto reacted! Plus, you can't keep hiding forever. Even if Seto doesn't kill you, you'll overstay your welcome. So you really only have one option."

MonoWither's red eyes gleamed.

"Kill Sky."

Tyler sniffled. "Wh-What...?"

"Kill Sky before he kills you, duh! Then you won't be in danger anymore. No one will think poor, weak, crybaby Tyler would ever kill his best friend Sky. As for Seto? Well, he might be your only risk, but we're sure you can pull it off. Not many other options, honestly."

"N-No-!" Tyler choked out. "I can't kill Sky, that would never be right..."

"Ah, you're hopeless. Still clinging to that weak naivety of yours, huh? Well, don't say we didn't warn you! If you want to get murdered so bad, then good riddance! Anyway, we gotta go cuz the others are mentioning us and accusing us of stuff we didn't do, but don't forget what we said!"

MonoWither disappeared, and Tyler was finally left alone. He sat down and hugged his knees to his chest, rocking back and forth as he sobbed again.

Was... Was this place really kill-or-be-killed? He wanted to say no, but...

...was he doomed to die no matter what...?

Seto headed to the shop, ignoring all his thoughts screaming at him that this was unnecessary.

He opened the door and heard bells jingling as it closed behind him. He couldn't suppress his horrified shudder as he saw all the weapons again.

To his surprise, MonoWither showed up immediately. "Hello, hello!" they chirped. "What can we get you today?!"

Seto stared at them. "I thought you were still arguing with the others."

"You gave us the perfect excuse to leave! Told them we had some business to attend to and made our way here!"

"...I see."

"They're quite amusing, thinking we faked the thief. But you're smarter than that, aren't you? You've sensed something afoot..."

Seto glared at them. "What's your point?"

"Oh, nothing, really! We're just grateful someone believes us! Anyway, what would you like?"

Seto's heart pounded in his chest. "...Can I take the 30-coin reward you offered me a few days ago?"

"Oh, you want the reward, huh? Well too bad, you're outta luck! Reward's gone."

Seto's heart stopped.

"Wh-What do you mean, 'gone'?!"

"What else could we mean? There's no more reward for you! You lost your chance!"

Seto took a few shaky breaths. "You... You initially offered it to Sky, Tyler, and me for us to split it, right?"

"Yeah, why?"

"And did you offer anyone else this reward?"

"Nope! You guys were the first to enter the shop, so it was only for you!"

"Was there a time limit to when we could accept it?"

"Hmm... Do you think we'd do something like that?"

Seto's eyes widened as MonoWither chuckled. "N-No-" he stammered out in horror. "That can't be possible-"

"Aw, sad you missed out on the coins? That's your fault! But we did say you guys could split up the money, so you could probably ask whoever took it!"

"...Then who took it?"

"Hmm... Tell you and really ruin the surprise? Nah... We mean, you only have two options, don't you? Figure it out for yourself..."

Seto fought to keep his breathing steady as he tried to process what this meant. Only Sky or Tyler could have taken the reward. No matter what, one of them was involved. A friend of his really was trying to murder, whether Tyler was telling the truth or not.

Maybe he was getting ahead of himself. After all, someone taking 30 coins didn't mean they would attempt murder. Nor did it mean they were the thief. But...

...Tyler had said Sky had thrown a potion bottle at him. He had suspected it was poison, given how Sky had reacted to missing his target and wasting the potion. MonoWither did sell Potions of Weakness and Harming, but...

"...Is your one-and-only special potion still for sale?" Seto asked softly, terrified to hear the answer.

MonoWither grinned.

"Sold out!"

Tyler didn't process how much time had passed until he heard the door unlock. He tried to wipe his tears away before Seto walked in.

"Tyler?!" Seto called out in alarm before seeing him crouched by the bathroom door. "Oh. Are you...?"

Tyler sniffled. "I'm fine."

He couldn't see what face Seto made to that.

"...I brought you breakfast, er, lunch. Brunch." Seto handed Tyler a water bottle and something warm wrapped in aluminum foil.

Huh...

Tyler curiously unwrapped it and saw a ham sandwich with lettuce, melted cheese, and tomatoes.

"S-Sorry it's not much, I made it just now."

Tyler felt like crying again, but he held it back. For some reason, something as simple as Seto taking the time to make him a warm sandwich was making him really emotional.

"No, it's perfect. Thank you," he mumbled before biting into it. It was delicious.

"Sorry it took me so long to come back," Seto murmured, sitting down on the bed next to him. "Bodil finally showed up."

Tyler swallowed. "Oh, he did?"

"Yeah... He had something to tell us, too."

Seto told Tyler about how Bodil had tried finding the prize, only to find that the thief had beaten him to it. MonoWither had tried to get Bodil to hide the truth by convincing him he was the thief's main target.

Tyler wanted to laugh bitterly at that. Bodil was probably safe the whole time...

"...I also did a little bit of investigating just now," Seto murmured.

"...You did...?"

Seto nodded.

"...Did you... find anything?"

Seto was silent for a few moments. "I'm not sure," he admitted. "I'm actually going to go back and look some more. Would you like to come with me?"

Tyler didn't know why, but he was suddenly struck with a twinge of fear. "Um..."

"Y-You don't have to if you don't want to, I just thought that it might be... boring being stuck in here all day. If you're scared of Sky, I doubt he'd try and do anything with me around."

...That wasn't what Tyler was afraid of, he realized, as he stared down at the mostly-eaten sandwich in his hands.

"In your most desperate time, he saved you. He said he'd help you. But what if he's just biding his time, trying to get you to lower your guard around him before he makes his move? We mean, he did say he would make sure no one knew where you really are..."

...The sandwich wouldn't be...?

"Tyler?"

Tyler snapped back to the present. "Oh- Huh-?"

"I asked what you were planning to do later."

"Um..." Tyler tried to quell his growing nausea as he swallowed. "I was actually... thinking of going back to my room."

Seto raised his eyebrows. "You're not scared about Sky?"

"I mean I am, I just... If I keep the door locked, I should be fine..."

"Yeah, that's true. I take it I should get you dinner too, then."

"N-No, you don't have to."

"You need to eat, though."

"It's fine!" Tyler snapped. "Just leave me alone!"

Seto's eyes widened before he looked away. "...Sorry."

Tyler bit his lip, also feeling ashamed. Why was he listening to MonoWither at a time like this? "No, I'm the one who should be sorry. You're just trying to help."

He stood up and headed for the door. "...Thanks, though. You really helped me a lot without needing to."

"You don't need to thank me-" Seto said right before he closed the door.

Seto froze as Tyler left abruptly. Had something happened while he was gone? The fact that Tyler had been crying...

...

...Perhaps he'd just had more time by himself to process whatever happened last night.

Seto sighed and laid down on the bed. He felt guilty for it, but he was slightly relieved Tyler was no longer stowing away in his room. Now he could think in private.

If MonoWither's Special Poison had been bought already, then it could only have been by the thief. It had cost 100 MonoCoins, after all, and that was the only poison sold in the shop.

Tyler's story was... starting to add up...

Seto shook his head. No, what was he thinking? No matter the evidence, nothing could change the fact that Sky wouldn't do something like this!

But the evidence showed that no matter what, either Sky or Tyler was the thief. If Sky turned out to be innocent, the relief Seto would feel would be completely overshadowed by the anguish of Tyler's betrayal.

...

...He realized it now. He had told himself he was just trying to stay objective, but in reality, he was just scared of the truth.

He needed to figure things out once and for all. He couldn't keep hiding from reality.

Tyler took a shower, dried his hair, and then promptly took a nap. He felt like he was spending most of his time sleeping nowadays, but he couldn't find it in himself to care. Hell, he was exhausted all the time. He needed this sleep.

When he woke up, it was already evening. He sat up, blinking the drowsiness away.

His stomach promptly growled.

He sighed. No, he couldn't go out. He just had to be patient. Maybe he could sneak out later and stock up on food so he wouldn't have to leave for days. Maybe Sky would give up by then.

He got up and froze when he saw a piece of paper on the floor by the door. Tyler looked around before approaching it and picking it up.

Tyler,

I hope you are feeling better when you read this. I have a favor to ask. I may have found something important, but I need your help. If you can, please meet me in the main hall in front of the entrance at midnight. Please do not tell anyone else about this; you are the only one I know who cannot be the thief.

I understand if you find this suspicious, but this is very important and I am begging you to trust me. At the very least, take the sandwich I made you so I know you read this.

-Seto

Tyler... froze.

Meet Seto alone...? At midnight...?

At first, Tyler wondered if Sky had written the letter, but the sandwich was pretty much something only Seto would know. To make sure, he opened the door just a little bit and saw a familiar item wrapped in aluminum foil.

He took the item and closed the door. His stomach grumbled as he unwrapped the foil and smelled another delicious sandwich.

...It wouldn't be poisoned, right? If Seto wanted him to meet up, he didn't want him dead right now.

Tyler hesitated before giving in to his hunger.

At least if I die, I'll die eating something tasty.

As Tyler ate, he mused over the note. What was Seto's plan? Was Seto... trying to kill him?

He tried to imagine Seto as a murderer. The thought seemed a little ridiculous. But then again, Sky as a murderer had been even more unbelievable.

Then again, wouldn't Seto have killed him already if he wanted to? Seto had all the chances in the world to kill Tyler when he had hidden from Sky. Perhaps he had just changed his mind, but...

...

...Tyler was tired of not trusting his friends.

He didn't want MonoWither to be right.

And if they were...

...he didn't want to live in that kind of reality.

Tyler waited for midnight, his heart pounding in his chest. Should he bring some sort of weapon? But he didn't have one, and he couldn't think of anything he could use to defend himself against a sorcerer of all people.

He was just going to have to trust Seto.

When there were only about a few minutes left, Tyler left his room and headed over to the main hall.

It's so quiet, he couldn't help but think. There were only his footsteps, his labored breaths, and his heartbeat throbbing in his chest.

He finally got there and looked around. The bulkhead with machine guns dangling from the ceiling loomed over him. Seto wasn't here yet. Well, he was a little early.

Tyler couldn't help but pace around in an attempt to soothe his nerves.

Any minute now.

He paced and paced, wondering why Seto wasn't showing up. It wasn't like Seto to be so late. Maybe something happened to him? Maybe-

"Hey, Tyler."

Tyler let out a shriek and staggered back as Sky entered the hall.

"S-Sky-!" he choked out, wondering if this was just some hallucination. It had to be, right?

Sky raised an eyebrow. "Why are you so surprised to see me? What, did you think I'd be too scared to show up?"

He laughed, a cold, broken laugh that seemed so unnatural coming from him.

"I'm sorry Tyler, but I'm not backing down. I need to get out, no matter what it takes. My family needs me."

Sky stormed over to him, pulling out a sharp knife from his pocket. Tyler gasped in horror. "SETO!" he shrieked desperately, backing closer to the wall. "SETO, HELP ME!"

Sky froze in horror, looking behind him.

Tyler whimpered as he silently begged, prayed for Seto to show up. There was no running past Sky, no fighting him, he was cornered, he was trapped, this was the end...

Sky laughed again, sadly this time. "You almost got me there, but I'm not falling for it. I checked already; no one's around to stop me."

Time, he needed to stall for time-!

"Why-?" Tyler asked. "Why are you doing this to me? Do you hate me?"

"It's not personal!" Sky cried out. "It's not! You just know too much, okay! I have to get rid of you or else I'll never get out! I promise I would never do this in any other situation, but I'm sorry! I'm not missing my chance again!"

And then Sky lunged at him, the knife aimed straight at his chest.

Tyler screamed and fell backward, raising his arms in a desperate attempt to shield himself. He collapsed to the floor and cowered there, sobbing as he braced himself.

It took him a few moments to realize Sky wasn't attacking him. He looked up warily.

To his utter shock, Seto had Sky pinned to the wall, one arm pressing against Sky's neck while his other hand was grabbing Sky's wrist to keep the knife away. Sky was struggling to push Seto off, glaring at him, but it was no use.

Seto stared back at him... shaking. His breathing was ragged, like he was crying...

"Drop it," Seto hissed through his tears.

Sky's eyes narrowed as he grit his teeth, straining even harder to push back against Seto.

Seto retaliated by shoving Sky's hand against the wall and digging his elbow further into his neck. Sky gagged.

"I SAID DROP IT!"

Sky let out a few choked sounds before letting go of the knife, which clattered to the floor.

Seto immediately released Sky and snatched the knife. Sky hunched forward, gasping for breath.

"...Tyler...?" Seto asked, walking over to him and kneeling down.

Tyler looked up at him, still shaking to the core as he tried to process what was going on.

"Are you hurt?"

"...No," he whispered. "Thank you."

Seto gently helped him up and looked him over. "I shouldn't have waited so long, he could've killed you if I was any slower. I'm sorry."

"It's fine," Tyler mumbled as he looked down at Sky, who was staring at the floor in defeat. "At least you came here just in time."

Seto wiped his tear-stained face with his hand. "No, I was here all along."

Tyler looked at him. "What...?"

Seto's gaze was focused on Sky now. "...I was the one who got Sky to come over here. I pretended you wrote a letter to him, saying you needed to talk to him. I was using my powers to remain invisible, watching you both the whole time. But even still, when Sky pulled the knife out, I... froze."

"Oh..."

Seto sniffled, tearing up again. "Sky... How could you do something like this...?"

Sky hunched further over instead of responding.

"...You were scared that video was real," Seto said. "Weren't you?"

Still no response.

"But- But how could you...? How could you try killing someone?! Not just anyone, but Tyler?!" Seto choked up. "H-How...?"

Sky finally stood up straighter and rubbed his neck where Seto had pinned him, though he was still looking at the floor.

"...It wasn't going to be Tyler until he confronted me. I couldn't risk going through with it and him accusing me. He'd put me right on the suspect list. I had no other choice."

Tyler had figured that was the case, but hearing Sky actually confess it...

"...Who were you originally going to kill if it wasn't me?" he asked faintly.

Sky sighed. "...Jade."

Seto tensed up next to him. "She's- She's just a kid!"

"A kid who I don't know as well and can't fight back," Sky muttered. "I know it's a terrible thing to say, but it's not like anyone here deserves to die. I had to pick somebody."

"N-No you didn't-!" Seto cried out. "We can get out of here another way-"

"Like hell I'm waiting that long!" Sky yelled, finally glaring at them. There were tears streaming down his face. "I need to know if my family is okay! My wife, my kid- You wouldn't understand, Seto!"

Seto flinched.

"I need to get out of here no matter what, do you hear me?! I don't care what I need to do- I- I have to- I..." Sky trailed off, clutching at his throat again before coughing. "I don't... care..."

Tyler... didn't know what to feel. On one hand, Sky had done all these horrible things to them. On the other hand... he was just a desperate husband and father sacrificing what he could to get back to them. It wasn't like Sky was naturally like this. This whole situation had pushed him over the edge. And somewhere in there, Tyler knew that Sky hated to do all this.

But it didn't change the fact that Sky had hurt Seto and tried to kill Tyler numerous times. The absolute terror that had plagued Tyler these past few days, that wasn't something he could just forgive.

Tyler glanced at Seto, who was staring at the floor in absolute misery. He was probably thinking the same thing.

"...Wow. Wow, I fucked it all up, huh-?" Sky coughed out before giggling. "I- I really fucked it all up-! I knocked you out and bought the poison and the knife and tried so hard to kill Tyler this whole time and in the end- In the end, I fucked it all up and it was all for nothing!"

All Tyler and Seto could do was watch in silent horror as Sky kept laughing and laughing until he was out of breath and wheezing. His body was shaking violently, wracked by hysterical laughter and sobs.

Finally, Sky caught his breath. "...You're going to tell the others, huh?" he said softly.

Tell the others? Tyler was so out of it, he hadn't even thought about it.

"...Of course we have to," Seto replied.

Sky bowed his head. "Yeah. I... I deserve it. I did so much stuff that I can't take back. The least I can do is... admit I was the thief all along..." He looked at Tyler. "...admit I was the piece of shit who lied to everyone and tried to betray them."

"...You won't try again... right...?" Tyler asked. For some reason that was his main concern right now.

Sky scoffed. "Of course not. Not only would Seto know it was me, but... I can only try killing you so many times before I can't take it anymore. It was hard enough the first time..." He crossed his arms over his chest, holding himself. "...I'm so sorry. I know I can never be forgiven."

Tyler didn't know what to say to that. Because as much as he pitied Sky... he was right. He didn't think he could ever forgive him.

"The same goes for you, Seto," Sky murmured. "I lied to you and attacked you, and I'm sorry. But I've made up my mind, I promise I won't do this again. I won't do any of this again. I know you have no reason to believe me, but I can't do this anymore. Not after this. I just can't... I don't have the strength..."

Tyler glanced at Seto again. Seto couldn't even look at Sky.

It was up to him, huh?

His heart pounded as he slowly approached Sky. Sky stared at him hesitantly, tensing up. (Oh, how the tables had turned.)

"...You're right. I... I can't forgive you. But we can work things out, all of us," Tyler said finally.

"...You really think so?"

"Do you want to?"

"Of course I do, but I just don't know if I can. Once everyone else hears about this, they'll never trust me again. And they shouldn't." He sighed. "I just wish I could take back everything. But that's impossible."

"...You can't control how they react," Seto said, finally gaining the courage to walk over to them. "But you can only control what you do now. Nothing else. And if you stop what you were planning now, that would be so much better for you and everyone else."

"...I can't believe after everything I did to you, you guys are actually trying to make me feel better," Sky muttered. "What the hell..."

"I just don't want MonoWither to win," Tyler admitted. "They're the ones pushing us to distrust each other and kill each other."

"Yeah, that's true. I can't blame it all on them, because it's still my fault, but they definitely... messed with me these past few days."

Tyler could only imagine what MonoWither had said to Sky. MonoWither had only tried manipulating Tyler once, and it had almost broken him. If Sky had been forced to hear them say those kinds of words over and over again...

"We'll all get out of here somehow without resorting to murder," Seto murmured finally. "I'm sure it's possible. But in the meantime, it's getting late. We should all head back to our rooms."

The three of them left the main hall.

"...You're a genius, you know that Seto?" Sky asked suddenly.

Seto jolted. "H-Huh?!"

"The thing you did with the notes. I can't believe you actually..." He laughed a little. "I totally fell for it."

"I did too," Tyler admitted. "It was very convincing."

Seto turned red and looked away, hiding his face in his hood. "L-Look, I just needed you two to meet up alone so I could figure out the truth once and for all. That's not anything special."

"Sure..." Tyler said, rolling his eyes. "You always say stuff like that."

"N-No I don't-!"

"Yeah you do," Sky said.

Seto couldn't look at either of them anymore.

They stopped in front of Sky's room. "No, but seriously. Thank you for stopping me," Sky said quietly. "I think... even if I somehow escaped and got back to my family, I could never have lived with myself knowing you were all dead because of me. You guys... you're like my family too. I'll try and make up for what I did no matter what."

"...I'm glad to hear that," Tyler murmured.

"...So am I, but, you don't have any more weapons, right?" Seto asked.

"Nope. Just the knife you took." Sky even turned his pockets inside-out to prove it.

Seto sighed. "All right. Well... good night, then."

Sky unlocked his door. "Good night. I'm so sorry about everything, but I'll do better from now on. I swear."

Tyler felt relieved that for once, he genuinely believed Sky without any doubts. "Yeah, we know. Good night, Sky."

Sky smiled sadly at him before closing the door.

"Tyler?" Seto asked.

He turned to face the sorcerer. "Yeah?"

Seto stared down at his feet. "I'm... sorry."

"F-For what-?!"

"For not believing you earlier. The truth was right in front of me and I just... kept doubting it."

Tyler shook his head. "No, don't apologize for that. I'm pretty sure I would've done the same thing."

Seto stared at Sky's door. "Even now, I still can't believe he actually did all this."

"Neither can I..."

"And what do you think will happen tomorrow once everyone else hears the truth? It's not going to go that smoothly, I'm sure."

"Yeah, probably not." Tyler could only think of how pissed some of them would be. "But I guess it is what it is."

"Yeah, you're right." Seto looked back at him. "Thank you for trusting me back there. I know it can't have been easy."

"W-Well, I guess it wasn't, but you were the one who literally saved my life twice, so I should be thanking you."

"But I'm really starting to regret putting your life at risk like that just to figure out the truth."

Tyler sighed. "It all worked out though! Seriously, stop worrying about it. Here, why don't we just say we're even? I trusted you, and you saved my life. And made me great sandwiches to eat."

Seto blushed. "...Fine. We're even."

Tyler reached his room. "...Talk to you tomorrow, then?"

"Of course. Good night, Tyler."

"Good night, Seto."

And with that, they parted ways until the next morning.

Tyler brushed his teeth and climbed into bed, sighing as he sank into the mattress. He still had leftover anxiety after everything that had happened, but at least Sky didn't seem willing to kill him anymore, so he could breathe a little. He was relieved that he could trust Sky again to a certain degree.

No, he still couldn't find it in his heart to ever forgive Sky. Their friendship, if it still existed, would never be the same. It was forever tainted, poisoned by what Sky had done, and the thought of that ached horribly. Seto probably felt the same way. But maybe he could move on from this eventually. It hurt like hell, but just maybe...

He had no idea what would happen tomorrow, but for now, Tyler let himself drift asleep.

He dreamed of simpler, happier times that were long gone.

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