"K-Kirigiri...?"
"....."
Without a word, Kyoko Kirigiri dragged me toward the beach, then pulled me into the beach house beside the shore.
"Uh... h-hey... why are you suddenly acting like this...?"
"K."
"Y-Yes."
"....."
Kyoko Kirigiri stepped right up to me, slipped off her glove, and began gently stroking my neck.
"Our good, considerate, righteous... admirable K..."
"Uh... huh...?"
"Whenever something happens, you're always the first to step forward... and even when it's someone else's problem, you throw yourself into solving it like it's your own... You're really so kind..."
"Ah... um..."
"But."
Kyoko Kirigiri cut herself off, then suddenly started tightening the cord of the personal alarm around my neck.
"Ghk..."
"Why do you keep trying to solve everything by yourself...?"
"Th-that's..."
"Why do you keep trying to bear everything alone...?"
"Ugh... ngh..."
With one hand, Kyoko Kirigiri kept tightening the cord around my neck, and with the other, she began tracing the scar on my face.
"And... why is it that there always seem to be flies swarming around you...?"
".....?"
"Is it because you look too delicious...?"
"Huh...?"
The instant she finished saying that, Kyoko Kirigiri yanked the cord around my neck, pulling me toward her, and then... and then...
"...slurp."
".....!"
And just like that, the world stopped.
"Um... I'll just step inside for a second... before we go swimming, I need to put my stuff—"
"Wh-what's going on here? Why'd you suddenly freeze up?"
"What? Did something happen—"
"W-wait, what is this? Sonia! It's danger—!"
"H-h-hwaaaah! I-I didn't see anythinggg..."
Right then, the others came into the beach house to drop off their things, only to see what was happening inside and freeze one after another.
"...slurp."
"Mmh..."
Even after everyone walked in, Kyoko Kirigiri didn't care in the slightest. She kept moving her tongue with a slow, shameless intensity so thick it made the others' faces flush red on reflex.
"You two!! What in the world are you doing in here?!"
At last, Koizumi finally snapped and shrieked at the top of her lungs. Only then did Kyoko Kirigiri pull back, wipe the saliva gathered on her lips with her hand, smack her lips once, and answer with perfect composure.
"Kissing."
"I-I know that!! Why are you doing that here?!"
"Why? We're in a relationship. Is there some reason we shouldn't?"
"....."
Looking over the speechless Koizumi and the rest of the group, all red-faced and stunned, Kyoko Kirigiri gave a faintly dangerous smile.
"Everyone, don't mind us. Go ahead and do what you came here to do. Well then..."
When Kyoko Kirigiri moved like she was about to resume her display of affection, the others hurriedly tossed their bags into the beach house and bolted back outside in a panic.
"Heeugh..."
"K."
"Heeuuugh..."
"....."
Kyoko Kirigiri stared quietly at the utterly broken K, then pressed a kiss to the scar on his face and whispered softly.
"Get a hold of yourself."
"N-noona..."
"Good K. You should listen to noona, okay?"
"Yesh..."
Watching K answer her obediently even in his dazed, half-melted state, Kyoko Kirigiri looked almost pleased, then leaned in and whispered into his ear once more.
"You're mine."
".....!"
"So... don't come back hurt, and don't go around wagging your tail at just anyone. Understood?"
"Heeuuugh..."
"Answer me."
"Y-yesh... yeshhh..."
"Good."
Kyoko Kirigiri kissed the scar on K's cheek again, then finally let go of the personal alarm cord she'd been tugging this whole time.
"Haa... haaah..."
"It left a mark... a mark 'I' left..."
Caressing the red line on K's neck with a satisfied expression, Kyoko Kirigiri murmured under her breath.
"Since we've already gone this far... maybe the next step too..."
"Absolutely not!! You two, stop right there!! Any further and it's a ratings violation!!"
"...Hm?"
Kyoko Kirigiri glared at Monokuma, who came scrambling out while holding a sign that read 'No 18+ Content,' then asked in a voice cold enough to freeze blood.
"Why? As far as the school regulations go, there shouldn't be a problem."
"No, I mean, sure, but... you know this too, right? This is being broadcast live to the Future Foundation..."
"...That works out nicely. There's someone there who's after what's mine, too."
"Upupupupu..."
Monokuma scratched his head, mulled it over for a second, then let out a sigh.
"Good grief, what even is this..."
"If you're done with your business, disappear."
"Upupu..."
Monokuma put on the face of a bear who had attained enlightenment, then vanished.
"Now then, K."
"N-noona?"
"Close your eyes."
At Kyoko Kirigiri's sweet yet firm voice, K squeezed his eyes shut while trembling all over. Kyoko Kirigiri stepped closer to him again, and then...
Smack!
"Ow!"
"...That's enough for today."
K, who'd just been flicked on the forehead, stared at Kyoko Kirigiri in total confusion. She met that look with smiling eyes and whispered gently.
"Why? Were you expecting something?"
"N-no... I mean..."
"After all this, everyone should understand perfectly well who your owner is."
"O-owner..."
"If I went this far and you still disappoint me, you'd better be prepared."
"...Okay."
"....."
"Y-yes..."
Seeing K hesitate and slip into polite speech, Kyoko Kirigiri broke into a bright smile, then suddenly pulled him into her arms and began patting his back.
".....!"
"It's been hard on you, hasn't it?"
"Heh... heugh..."
"It's okay. I'm here. From now on, I'll be the one handling your counseling."
"Heugh... heuuugh..."
"So let's hang in there a little longer, okay?"
"Heeuuuuuuugh..."
And so, while K blushed crimson and let out broken little noises as he short-circuited all over again, Kyoko Kirigiri held him for a long while and gently patted his back.
'What... did I just do...?'
K didn't see it, but Kyoko Kirigiri's face had turned red too as she continued stroking his back.
"Well then, the others are waiting... so shall we head out now?"
'Heeuuugh...'
"K? You're still not back to your senses? In that case..."
"N-no, I'm fine! I'm back to normal now!!"
If she stimulated me any more than this, I might genuinely die of shock. The moment I shouted that I'd recovered, Kyoko Kirigiri let out a small laugh and said to me,
"Don't worry. I'm not going to eat you."
'Noona, I'm gonna die...'
"...I'm going back to the others now, so pull yourself together and come out soon."
"Yesss..."
With that, Kyoko Kirigiri smiled and stepped out of the beach house.
'Wait... did Kuzuryu and Pekoyama already kill me, and this is just the final hallucination I'm seeing before I die?'
It was plausible enough that I pinched my arm hard, but all I got was a sharp sting of pain. Only then did everything that had just happened begin to feel real.
"It's not a dream... it's real..."
The instant I realized this absurd, earth-shattering incident was reality, all the stress and gloom that had piled up inside me vanished cleanly.
I felt like I could smash through anything now, whether it was Monokuma, Alter Ego, Komaeda, motives, whatever. For the first time in a long while, vitality surged through my whole body, and then I suddenly remembered why I'd come here in the first place.
'Going swimming with Kyoko Kirigiri noona...? Yeah, there's no way I'm passing that up...'
I hurried to change into my swimsuit, only to remember the rule that changing inside the beach house was prohibited. I had absolutely no idea why changing clothes would be banned in a beach house of all places, but I wasn't in the right state of mind to care, so I decided to ignore it.
Anyway, I stepped out of the beach house to change, only to find the others clustered around the entrance.
"You fraud... you lying bastard... So I was just your playmate, huh...? That's all I was, right...? You enviable son of a—"
"Kyaaaaah!! How far did you two get after that!? Spill it already!!"
"I've only ever seen things like that in dramas... but in real life... wow. That's pretty intense..."
"Y-y-y-you guys... were you really dating!? For real!? Seriously!?"
"I-I... I didn't see anything at all! Reallyyy!"
"Hey, K! You look pretty happy. Even your man's tail is—"
To escape the flood of handshake requests suddenly coming at me from every direction, I ducked into the dining hall and pulled out the swimsuit I'd prepared in advance.
'All right... finally... I'm going swimming with Kyoko Kirigiri noona...!'
Just as I was about to happily change into it, I suddenly sensed someone behind me. Startled, I spun around in the middle of taking off my clothes and shouted.
"Jeez, you scared me! Who's there—"
"....."
"Wh-what!? Pekoyama? Why are you here— mmph!! Mmphh...!!"
"...Stop resisting and go quietly to sleep."
Pekoyama pressed a cloth soaked in anesthetic over my nose, then whispered to me in a flat, icy voice.
'Th-the personal alarm...'
As my consciousness began to blur, I remembered the personal alarm hanging around my neck. Summoning every last scrap of strength in my body, I moved my hand toward the button, but...
"Not happening."
"Aaah... ah..."
Pekoyama took the knife on the table and sliced through the alarm cord. Then, as the personal alarm dropped helplessly to the floor, she mercilessly stomped it to pieces.
'K-Kirigiri... sorry... I couldn't keep my promise...'
And just like that, unable to fight off the anesthetic any longer, I lost consciousness.
"...If it's for young master."
Pekoyama stared at the collapsed K for a moment, then, careful not to be seen, stuffed him into the travel bag she'd brought along, hoisted it onto her shoulder, and muttered,
"Next... the red-haired girl, I suppose..."