[Laura] The things I do for love...

After seeing Rachel off, there are only two girls left. As I stand in front of Kurokawa, she observes me while still bleeding from her wounds. At this point, the dark red color has smeared itself all over the floor because of our previous fight.

I notice her right arm has an extended cut from my paper knife.

Even after all of the lacerations and cuts, on her face is a neutral expression. There is no pain, no discomfort, and no grief. In fact, Kurokawa does not show a sign of giving up. With her bang still covering the upper half of her face, I have no idea what she is thinking.

"..."

"..."

An intense silence is between us.

We are both waiting for the other person to say the first word.

Whatever she is thinking, it is probably an insult. It is easy to guess despite not being able to read her facial expressions. What I did to Rachel can not be considered fair in any way. And just like Rachel said, there would be no way to be sure I would not abandon Kurokawa to the system. When her event starts, there is a chance of me letting it happen again.

But no, she will not have to do her event.

"I am sorry, Kurokawa, for doing this..." Once again, I steel my nerve.

She remains silent.

"Please understand that Rachel has to be gone if I want to be with C."

They all have the right to become free.

For any human, the first and foremost right is to be free.

We all have those rights.

Living inside this world, every single one of us is a puppet under this system. Unfortunately for Rachel and Kurokawa, I chose my happiness rather than working together to find a way out of it.

I am selfish. I want things to be between C and me only.

And because of my selfishness, I took Rachel's chance to become free.

Nonetheless, I do not regret it.

Rachel is the most unpredictable out of us three. If left alone, she will have the power to decimate us. She is one of the main heroines, while I am only a side character.

"Unlike Rachel or you, Kurokawa, I am not supposed to be living for long. My destiny is to be killed under her hands. Do you seriously think I should keep her around?"

"..."

There is one thing that I have come to realize about our nature. Even though I am free from the system, I behave similarly to my character settings. My newfound sentience is not giving me anything new to my personality. On the contrary, it gives me the ability to think for myself, and that is it.

C thinks of me as a straightforward person. I still am that person, but better.

Kurokawa will still be the same masochistic person when she gets her freedom. She was calculative in the past. That will only be the same or worse once she gets her liberation.

From my anecdotal experience, C's touch will only make the shackles disappears. The rest will stay the same.

A killer will stay a killer.

Because of exactly this reason, I can not allow Rachel to become like me. "I understand I'm putting everything at risk. Yet there is no other way. There is no other way. Never would I believe in Rachel to behave."

"..."

"Someone like Rachel is such a variation in my mind that I need to let her go. The more I keep her around, the worse my life with C will be. If she gets her freedom, she will undoubtedly aim for him. C's mind is a treasure trove of information. Someone with bad intentions can easily use that information to do harm."

"..."

"I am not cold-blooded. What I want the most is a peaceful life where C can stop worrying about this world, about everything. He should feel loved rather than all this flying nonsense about another guy."

"..."

"Who am I kidding...I am justifying my actions, right? Never mind my ramblings, Kurokawa. Those who think I am right will think I am right. And those who think I am wrong will have it the same way. There is nothing I can do to change your mind, nor should I do so."

"..."

*Gu*

I grab Kurokawa's other arm and drag her into one room. Throughout the process, not once did she fight back. The bookworm sat and let me do everything.

"For my wonderful life with C, I will eliminate all obstacles. All. Of. It. Even if that hurts me and others, as long as he looks at me and thinks I bring him warmth, it is already bliss."

"..."

Lowering my body, I put myself at the same eye level as Kurokawa.

"It's your turn. This is going to hurt."

*Rip*

I tear a big chunk of my sleeve, spread it out, and push it onto Kurokawa's arm, where the cut is.

"..what are you doing?" Kurokawa has finally spoken. Her voice sounds confused.

"I'm doing first aid if you can call this first aid. Let me stop the bleeding first. After this, I will finish everything upstairs." I explain.

The bookworm shakes her head from left to right.

"No. What I mean is why you are doing this? Why don't you just leave me bleed to death?"

This time, it is my turn to shake my head.

"It may sound ridiculous, but I never intended to kill you, Kurokawa. You know what, could I call you Kuro?"

"Do whatever you want."

"Thanks! So, Kuro, please join me in protecting C. You and I will both have the chance to become his favorites!"

There should be a smile on my face right now.

"...are you for real, Laura? After our fight, do you still think there is a chance for us to work together? How are you going to guarantee you won't throw me away? Aren't I also a threat since I am among the main heroine, too?"

Although I can not see her eyes, I can almost sure she looks bewildered.

"First, Kuro, when I used my weapon on you, I only wanted you to let go of my body. Therefore, I did not pull the knife all the way out nor attack you near your vitals. From the start, I wanted to make you a friend rather than an enemy. Rachel, on the hand, had to die."

"And why was that?"

"I was killed by Rachel when we were both charmed by Han." My mouth feels disgusted saying that sentence. "After sex, she killed me and then killed her childhood friend. What do you think if we were both attracted to C? What if I do the deed with my boyfriend and she finds out?"

"Logically speaking, she would kill you, then C. After that, she would kill herself."

"Exactly. Kuro, you are different. With my limited information about you right now, I would say you like to share. And no matter how much I hate that, I think the best way to move forward in this forsaken world is to compromise."

"You would let C be with me?"

"If C wishes to do so, yes." I nod.

"What if I don't want to?"

"Then you can be with Han. Simple as that. Be with C as a free person, or be with Han as a puppet, your choice. If you so choose the second option, I will definitely stop you from making any contact with C. Either you are on my side, or you are against me."

"You know you are not giving me a choice, right, Laura?"

Not saying a word, I stare at her face.

"Rachel was right about you being a hypocrite. Nevertheless, I will join you. What happens if I don't have any feelings for C?"

"It's good for me that you don't harbor any feelings for him, so please do as you may."

That is the best outcome.

Kurokawa then raises the other arm up.

"Want to shake hands to conclude our deal?"

"Sure."

Unexpectedly, when I grab her hand, Kurokawa pulls me down. Without any balance, my face hits the floor.

"AH!!"

*Thud*

Not just that, my back is immediately pinned down as Kurokawa climbs onto me. Using the other hand, she grabs my head.

"What is the meaning of this?! What are you..."

[Damn, that was a freaking nightmare. I had never thought Laura could murder Rachel so cold-blooded as that. It was so real, though. I felt everything happening in that room, even the smell of blood gushing out of Rachel's arteries. Was that what they call lucid dreaming?]

[Where is everyone? The kitchen is a freaking mess. Whoa?! BLOOD?!!!]

"How did he wake up!? Didn't you calculate the dosage needed?! Let me go now!!!"

"Yes, I did do so." She coldly replies.

"Then how!!!" Anxiety quickly rushes into my head.

"It's about time he wakes up from it. I guess my dose was correct, after all."

She tricked me...

SHE HAS BEEN ON RACHEL'S SIDE THIS WHOLE TIME?!

"KUROKAWA!!!!"

"To me, Laura, Rachel is not the most dangerous. It is you."

[This is bad. This is really bad. Am I still in the dream? I know I should not be looking, but I need to check up on Rachel. She should be doing the thing to him right now rather than dying. Please, Laura, do not kill Rachel.]

"No!!! He is heading toward that psycho!!!"

"He is. He will save Rachel from you. He will save her from this fucking world!!!"

[Please, Rachel, Kurokawa, be safe!!]