They manage to keep the mood light-hearted at dinner, at least to the extend possible with the motive still looming over their heads. No one dares to mention it, nor the likelihood of yet another murder occuring. They make small talk. They laugh.
They try to pretend that nobody will be dead by dawn.
After dinner, Juro plays another round of crazy eights with Kaori, Ryoko, Mai and Hikaru, during which they learn that the otologist is a bit of a sore loser as she huffs when Ryoko unapologetically forces her to draw cards with a well-timed joker right before Kaori can play her last card.
After a round or two, Juro excuses himself to see if they still need to clean up the mess, when he finds Minoru taking care of the dishes.
Juro bites his lip, contemplating if he should just let the ghost hunter be, but eventually he makes up his mind "Need some help?"
Minoru flinches, his head shooting up "Oh... Sasaki-kun..." He looks back down at the dishes in the sink "Sure."
Juro allows his polite smile to falter once Minoru stops looking at him, a frown appearing on his face. He grabs the dish towel and walks up to stand next to Minoru, drying one of the cups gathered on the counter. Only nine cups.
"I hadn't expected to see you here..." Juro mutters.
"I guess..." Minoru mutters "It gives me something to do, so I won't think too much about... y'know."
Juro nods, deciding not to push it too much. He's already glad Minoru seems to be trying his best to talk about at least parts of his struggle. Eri's absence is still as noticable as every other empty spot left in the group, but it's clearly the worst for Minoru. Part of Juro doubts the ghost hunter will ever be the person he used to be again.
"Are you okay otherwise? In the sense of taking care of yourself." Juro asks, stacking the plate he just dried on top of the other one.
Minoru shrugs "I try... but I can't really sleep." He sighs before softly adding "Nightmares..."
"Those are horrible." Juro mutters, noting that there are indeed dark circles under Minoru's eyes than weren't there before.
"Yeah..."
Juro takes a breath, forcing his shoulders to relax a little "Do you really think someone's going to commit murder over money?"
"I think you know the answer to that..."
"I do..."
After a moment of silence, Minoru exhales and adds "Money can make people act in ways you wouldn't expect. It's dumb... but it's also true."
"Do you have experience with that sort of thing?" Juro asks. He doesn't want to push the topic of Eri's death, but it might help Minoru to get some troubles from his past off his chest to at least relief a bit of that hypothetical weight. Old scars are often easier to talk about than fresh wounds after all.
"Sort of." Minoru passes Juro one of the cups "I'm kinda a rich kid," he glances at Juro and smiles a little – it doesn't reach his eyes but it's still an amused smile "Don't give me that expression."
"Sorry." Juro chuckles awkwardly and tries to pass it off as him clearing his throat "It's just, uh, very surprising."
"I know I don't seem like your typical rich kid. Most people react the way you did when they find out. Eri teased me... relentlessly... about it..." Minoru's voice dies down a little, getting softer and cracking near the end. He clears his throat loudly and continues "Anyways, my parents were very absent, too busy with making money, so I was basically raised by my grandparents and a nanny."
YOU ARE READING
Cabin Fever
FanfictionHe was on his way to Hope's Peak Academy, but he woke up in an abandoned cabin near a lake in the woods. How could the life of Juro Sasaki take such a drastic turn? Well, that's what he and his fifteen classmates would like to know too. But finding...
