Sausage Party?

"Dice-K dear, there's always a place for you," Jun invited by making his falsetto, making the singer more jealous.

'Breathe man, breathe.' Haruki realized how what he felt for the baker went beyond the physical attraction. Remembering Jun's teasing and flirting with him, though, made him think, 'Calm down, he's into you, not into Daisuke!'

"Actually, there's room for everyone. Hinata-kun, join us too. But get us more drinks first," Haruki proposed, inviting both to join them in the jacuzzi. And soon everyone was in the bubbling jacuzzi, enjoying the luxurious private spa.

Saito came in, with a frown and pursed lips, and found the group drinking and noisily chattering.

"Should I believe my eyes? Haruki-kun, you suffered a seizure or a heart attack, and are you drinking with no worries in this world? Please let me understand what's going on. Why did you care this much about that girl? She who's only looking out for the number one? She covets for all of us. Because she's unable to choose only one. Proving that all of us are expendable. Did you ever think about worrying about who cares about you?" Saito sputtered the words sharply. "And all of you. All drinking on the high seas. Don't you think about the danger you are in? Drunk on a ship. Didn't you learn anything from Haruki-kun's catastrophic flight? Out there on their computer keyboards, someone thought a vertical dive with the Mitsubishi A6M Zero would be fun. But they didn't foresee or didn't know this airplane cockpit is not pressurized. And the sum of the high altitude plus the high descent speed is enough to stop a heart. Whoever did this caused an accident with deadly potential. Those who have our lives in their hands are not concerned about us. No help came. There was no medical team. The event hasn't been canceled. No one showed up to take responsibility. No one showed up to apologize. And now I realize not even you are aware of how your life was played with."

The scolding of the most experienced man silenced them.

"Saito-senpai, you're right," Haruki nodded after a while. "'The show must go on.' I heard it so many times... They taught me that a show has to proceed at any cost. They used to say we could rest afterward. You know, I trained with this mindset sixteen hours a day, every day. But yes, I did wrong to get up and go to the masquerade. Following the schedule as if everything was fine. It's like I'm still a member of a band."

Haruki, facing the mountaineer, looked at everyone gathered around him. "But there was one more thing that made me go to her. I have a little sister and I wondered how sad she would be if her partner didn't show up. If her prom was canceled. And I remembered everything I heard about Miyu-chan, how fragile and sick she is. I also didn't want her to suffer. But I see now that I was wrong. I should have stopped to think about what happened to me and put me first on the agenda. I know I had a heart attack, because, wow, how it hurt! I thought I was dying." Haruki stopped talking and took a deep breath, avoiding looking at Jun, and feeling his gaze burn him.

"When I woke up and saw you, I felt a lot better. There was no more pain, just the memory. I left what had passed behind. I don't like being sad. I don't think it helps, anyway. So I decided to get up and move on. Sorry to disappoint you, senpai," Haruki said as he reflected on the reasons for his behavior. He realized he didn't want to think he really was about to die inside a game. And concluded, "I'm going crazy. I thought at that moment that I owed Miyu something. But that will not happen again. Thank you for bringing clarity to my mind," Haruki bowed to Saito.

Jun squinted his eyes when he asked,

"You know, I concluded it makes little sense for the system to have locked the 'prom's prince' in the bathroom. So whoever locked it up was some rival. And I want to know now who did it. But if the culprit won't confess, I'm going to ask Honda-san to check the security cameras."

Another awkward silence followed.

"Wait Jun, it was a bug," Haruki said to ease the moods.

"No, Haruki, it wasn't a bug," Jun insisted.

Hinata stepped out of the jacuzzi and slipped into a fluffy robe. His slump face, with his chin dipped to his chest, denounced him.

"It was me. I'm sorry, Haruki-senpai. I didn't mean to cause any harm. I'm Miyu's follower and admirer. I admired her posts on the networks. She was always engaged in the welfare of other people. I wanted to come to her ball. I wanted to spend time with her. And then I learned that she was there, and I would have no chance of even getting close to her, as she would not let go of Haruki-san's arm. I understand the reasons she'd have to, though. Haruki-san's handsomeness is exceptional. I had never seen anyone so perfect. One in a Million is born with his symmetry and harmonic proportions. Most just achieve something similar after various surgical interventions and a lot of diet and exercise. And makeup and photo filters. And to top it up, Haruki-senpai has artistic and sporting talent in addition to a great personality. I was jealous, even angry at being such a loser… A fake, to be honest. I saw this chance to be alone with Miyu-chan, and I followed him to the bathroom and locked him up. I'm really sorry, Haruki-senpai. Tell me, how can I redeem myself?" The entire time Hinata kept looking at his own feet, with a cracking voice. The student finally kneeled to the singer when he finished his confession.

The singer couldn't believe what he heard.

"Hinata-kun, get up and look at me. It's not that easy, I also eat a lot of diet and exercise. And I had to train singing and dancing for years. But thanks for liking my looks. I'm not upset, man. So relax, and thanks for fighting for me." Naked, Haruki came out of the jacuzzi and went to give Hinata a hug.

"Eek!" Hinata yelped.

"Come here, give me a hug!" Winking and grinning, Haruki opened his arms to embrace the student, in a jokingly threatening way.

"No, Haruki-senpai is naked!!!"

"Come on, Hinata-kun, we were all boiling our sausages in the same water, snap it and give me a brother's hug," Haruki ran after Hinata across the SPA, causing generalized laughter. The student hid behind the mountaineer, using him as a shield.

"And were the roses petals part of the Sausage party, Haruki?" Saito raised an eyebrow, protecting Hinata, and making a feint in front of the singer.

The singer gasped, looking away and blushing.

"It's part of our deal, remember? Also, I like roses and champagne," Jun replied, shrugging as if it was nothing.

'Phew! I'm glad Jun is quick-witted,' Haruki relaxed his shoulders. Using their previous deal of faking being gay saved their face!

"Hm, got it," Saito continued, "We need to stay united, and avoid being alone, too. This environment is dangerous and an accident can be fatal."

"Yes, Saito-san. You're right. Here, can you tell us where Takashi-san is?" Jun asked.

Haruki realized that Jun was testing Saito. Their rivalry continued.

"No, I don't know. We must look for him," Saito responded, showing no irritation.

"He invited me to join him in the Casino," the singer commented before leaving for the closet where he found a beautiful pink and white jacket from his 16-piece 'Cruise Collection'. None of the fashionable clothes were special items with Abilities Enhancers, unlike the fox mask, though.

"Shall we find him? I'm ready," he asked when he returned.

***

The Casino Avidité et Temptation was as fascinating as the famous Las Vegas casinos Haruki saw only in the movies. Dazzling lights, green felt, luxurious furniture, and crystal chandeliers. Games of chance and an infinite variety of machines, with the most assorted rewards.

The group had been walking in silence because of the serious conversations they had recently. Now they dispersed, curious to see how far the illustrators' creativity had gone.

Haruki saw on a screen that showed a poker table, the artist was playing. A pile of diamonds next to Takashi showed Haruki that his friend had won so far.

His opponent was a dark man with gangster style, using an old-fashioned pinstripe suit and fedora hat. A minx beautiful woman in a red dress holding a cigarette holder stood behind the gangster.

The trio faced each other.

Haruki watched to see the outcome of this round.