“What’s there to talk about?”

  His voice was empty.

  “You don’t need to act concerned. I’m fine.” I thought back to Yori manipulating Nobu and his attempt to comfort Mei after the game ended. If he was in my place, he might try to double down and show how concerned he is.

  However, I understood that in Nobu’s mind, that wouldn’t change anything.

  “Why do you think that I’m acting concerned?” He looked down, but I didn’t care.

  I wouldn’t let him run away before I got the information I needed to help him.

  “Because we’re barely friends. We’re just part of the same group.” He looked back into my eyes before continuing.

  “If no one else came to check in on me, then why would you care enough to?” His blank stare showed me that this wasn’t an emotional cry for help or an attempt to get my pity.

  He genuinely felt alone.

  “Since when did you have to be friends with someone to care about them?” It was subtle, but I saw a brief flicker in his eyes.

  “I can’t imagine how much pain you’re in, and how upsetting it must be that no one came to talk to you, but that’s exactly why I’m here.” I paused as I noticed him leaning back, but I wasn’t going to physically force my way in unless I absolutely had to.

  “Osamu told Yaeko that he couldn’t fully trust her. They have their own things to talk about.

  Yori, Hibiki and Choko are comforting Mei.

  Mei’s pain was visible. That’s why they’re all helping her instead of you.”

  I held a soft smile, making sure to keep my voice warm. “It’s not that the others don’t care about you. It’s that I’m the only one that saw your pain.” We stood still for a few seconds before Nobu opened the door, letting me in.

  I felt a bit of guilt, but I had no choice.

  I needed him to realise that everyone cares about him, even if that meant lying about Choko and Hibiki.

  Nobu walked towards his desk and slowly pulled out his chair.

  “So…” He took a deep breath as he gestured for me to sit in the chair. “What did you want to talk about?” He turned around and sat on his bed.

  I’d already thought carefully about what I needed to say.

  He feels betrayed by the group and isolated.

  Yori promised him redemption, but that promise wasn’t as real as he made it sound.

  Ironically, I was the one that forced Yori to make that promise, but I might be the only person Nobu trusts right now.

  I looked away and took a deep breath as I placed the soup on his desk, letting Nobu brace himself for an intense conversation.

  “I want to talk about Yaeko.” I watched his immediate reaction, but there weren’t any abrupt physical tells.

  I hadn’t cut a nerve.

  He just stared blankly, as if the words didn’t phase him.

  He seemed truly detached.

  “More specifically, I wanted to tell you that what she did was wrong.”

  He still showed no reactions.

  I immediately realised I had to reframe my goal.

  This was no longer about checking in on Nobu to see if he’s ok.

  It wasn’t about cheering him up.

  His emotional state is way worse than that.

  Anger, sadness, fear. They’re all easy to fix.

  Numbness is something else entirely.

  My new goal was to make any amount of progress, no matter how small.

  “What about her?” His short responses confirmed his apathy.

  I had to play this perfectly. If I make the smallest mistake that loses his trust, then he’ll completely disengage from the conversation and there’ll be nothing I can do to help him.

  “To me, it’s obvious that she’s the one who lied.” I eagerly watched, but there still weren’t any emotions in his face as he turned to look me in the eyes

  “You’re just saying that to cheer me up.” He slowly looked away as he continued to stare into space.

  I noted his critical body language.

  He turned to me not because of hope. If it was, it would’ve been written on his face.

  He turned to me because he’s convinced I’m lying to him.

  He turned to me because, in his detached state, he took my “obvious lie” as an insult.

  “No.” I made my voice firm. “I’m not.” He didn’t turn his entire head, but he did look at me. I decided to stand up as a non verbal way of asserting myself, showing my confidence.

  “Think about it. Her actions and reactions are far more indicative of guilt than innocence.” Nobu’s detachment wouldn’t be affected by emotions and caring for him.

  I had no choice but to convince him with undeniable facts.

  In truth, both of their actions could be framed as guilty or innocent, but that didn’t matter.

  I had to prove that Yaeko was the liar, regardless of the truth. Even if Nobu was the liar and this was all an act, that wouldn’t affect things. Once I showed my irrefutable proof, he’d be forced to accept his innocence.

  If he still acted broken after that, it’d expose his lie.

  “If that’s true, why are you only saying this now?” He slowly turned to look at me again before continuing.

  “You could’ve changed how things played out.” I immediately felt a bit of uneasiness as I heard his monotone voice.

  He's engaging with me while keeping his cold stance

  Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  I took a deep breath as I watched him hide the pain he buried behind his apathy.

  “No, I couldn’t have.” If I let him think I’m acting with an agenda, even if it’s a good one like fixing him, he’ll take it as a violation of trust.

  I can’t let that happen.

  “It isn’t about the timing of when I’m speaking up.” I paused so my next words would have more impact.

  “It’s about who I’m saying it to.” He silently waited for me to continue, so I kept going.

  “I’m lucky.”

  He made eye contact as I let out a soft chuckle.

  “The others aren’t as analytical as I am. I can separate emotions and logic. That’s why I’m certain of Yaeko's guilt.” I carefully watched his face.

  There wasn’t any hope, but it wasn’t entirely apathetic either.

  He watched with a certain curiosity.

  “If I made my case to all of them during the game, or even after it ended, what do you think would have happened?” I waited for a response but he didn’t give one.

  “I’d be made into a villain. Yaeko would break down in fake tears and everyone would ask how I was so confident. If I spoke up, not only would Yaeko look even more innocent, but I’d look biased. I wouldn’t be able to help you.

  That’s why I needed to wait for emotions to settle down.”

  I paused and looked him in the eyes.

  “That’s why I didn’t help you.” He took a few seconds to respond.

  “Ok then, tell me how you know Yaeko’s guilty.” He accepted my previous argument and pivoted to a new one.

  “Her initial reaction doesn’t tell us much… she’d say that as innocent or guilty. It’s what happened after that.

  She intentionally used your emotions to bait you into a rage to make you look guilty.” He showed no reaction as I recalled the events.

  “If she was innocent, she would’ve been more wary about how things looked. She wouldn’t speak with such confidence, saying things like “look at him pathetically try to cling onto his lie.” He nodded along as I made my point.

  "She’s smart enough to know what that looks like. She’d be cautious, worrying about how that looks like she’s trying to win people over.” A few seconds passed before Nobu broke eye contact as he took a deep breath out.

  “The reason she said all that was because she was desperately trying to protect her lie.” I saw his lip twitch as he started buying into my narrative.

  “She realised she should make you look guilty, but she didn’t realise that carelessness was a sign of her guilt.

  That’s not all though.”

  He tilted his head, looking at me from his bed.

  “In the fifth round, I asked who you thought should win the vote. After that, I asked what you’d think about us letting you win the vote.”

  I paused.

  I needed Nobu to relive the moment.

  “I already had my suspicions that Yaeko was guilty. That’s why I set this trap for her.” Nobu’s body instantly went rigid.

  “What trap?” During the game, I’d used Yori to push him into a pit of despair to save Mei.

  Now, I have the opportunity to drag him out.

  “I knew how she’d react. I wanted to bait her into an argument with me.” I looked away from Nobu.

  I needed to paint as vivid a picture as possible.

  “I wanted to destroy her logic to force an emotion from her. That’s why I flipped everything on its head and accused Yaeko of intentionally provoking you.” I quickly looked back at Nobu, forcing him to accept my logic. “The emotion she showed would confirm her guilt or innocence.” Nobu sat back up and leaned towards me.

  “She immediately fired back, yelling out “How dare you! I would never!”. Her emotional response was predicated on flipping my accusation back onto me. I paused, giving Nobu time to reach the conclusion himself.

  “If she was innocent, she would’ve considered how other people would perceive her actions. Instead, her response of flipping the accusation onto me was her way of doubling down to protect her lie.”

  He smiled for a second, but it instantly vanished.

  “Fine, I believe that you genuinely think Yaeko’s guilty.” He paused, looking away from me before continuing.

  “That doesn’t change things. They all still betrayed me.” This wouldn’t be as easy as helping Ren, Yuto or Osamu.

  They all had individual things I could target.

  Nobu’s problem was far more complicated, but that’s fine.

  I’d already accomplished what I wanted.

  He might still feel apathetic to the others, but he’s at least engaging in conversation with me.

  It doesn’t matter how long it takes, but I'll be able to facilitate his forgiving the others. Any extra progress I made now was just a bonus.

  “I know.”

  He tilted his head at me.

  “I’m not trying to make you forgive them.

  I just wanted to let you know that you aren’t alone.”

  I looked away, giving Nobu time to process my words.

  “There’s something else we need to talk about though.” I decided to pivot to my next concern.

  “What is it?” Nobu leaned forward, finally meeting my eyes as he spoke.

  “You only have 500 points. You could be eliminated at any time.” I watched him swallow. It’d clearly been weighing on his mind too. “I want to give you some points.”

  He immediately shot me down.

  “Absolutely not. I appreciate your support, but that’s even more reason why I can’t put you at risk by accepting your points.” I respected how after everything he’s just been through, he still remains true to his principles.

  “Ok then, how about we play a game for my points?” I smiled as I made my offer, and Nobu’s blank face slowly morphed into a smile of his own.

  I had him.