Five minutes earlier.
"Let me eat that one called Bocchi, and I'll let the rest of you go immediately."
The demon's voice wasn't loud or quiet it was pitched just right so everyone on the entire floor could hear.
Inside the room were Hitori Gotoh, Akane, Power, and Arai. All four of them caught every word clearly.
"Bo… Bocchi-chan… did that demon just say your name?" Akane asked, her expression tense.
Hitori was lying flat on the bed, face pale, looking for all the world like a corpse.
Her guitar and the backpack carrying Pochita had been set aside.
"Yeah… I heard it too," Hitori replied. "Right now, I guess I really am the only one here being called 'Bocchi.'"
Does Pochita count as Bocchi?
Probably not.
And the "Bocchi" that demon mentioned… almost certainly wasn't referring to Pochita either.
"Why would it want to eat you?" Akane's voice trembled. "C-could it be… you provoked it in hell before?"
Hitori was silent for a moment.
There were too many misunderstandings to explain. She could only give a vague answer. "I don't think I've done anything to it…"
"Ha… hahaha." Arai suddenly laughed. "Bocchi-chan, don't worry. Betraying our companions… we'd never do something like that."
Hitori blinked at him, then nodded. "Yeah, I believe you."
"That's right, we'd never betray Bocchi-chan," Akane said firmly. "I'd rather starve to death than hand you over!"
"Really?" Power, lounging on the other bed, cut in. "I think handing over Bocchi-chan doesn't sound so bad."
"Huh?" Akane glared at her.
Power only smirked. "I just came up with a genius idea, something sure to win me a Nobel Prize. But if we can't get out of here, I won't be able to publish it."
"For a Nobel Prize, letting the Chainsaw Devil die isn't such a bad trade."
Akane shot Power a vicious glare.
If it weren't for Power's constant half-joking, half-serious tone, Akane might have actually gotten angry.
Then Hitori spoke up. "Akane… if it comes down to it, you can hand me over."
"Bocchi-chan, what are you saying?" Akane's eyes widened.
"Someone as useless as me… dying isn't a big deal. If my death can keep you all alive, then it's worth it."
"Don't say that! Bocchi-chan is not useless!"
"No need to comfort me, Akane… deep down, you're thinking it'd be easier to just kill me, aren't you?" Hitori's face darkened. "You don't have to pretend to care so much."
Akane lowered her head and fell silent, as if the words had hit too close to home.
Had she… actually thought about just killing Bocchi-chan to end this?
While they were arguing, Arai seemed oddly detached.
He glanced around and muttered, "Come to think of it, our food and water are running low."
"At this rate, starving to death is a real possibility. Honestly… I don't know what we should do."
"Of course, like I said, we won't betray our companions."
"Trading a comrade's life for our own survival never gonna happen. Haha… never."
"Well then, I'd better check how much food we have left."
With that, he started moving.
But instead of heading toward the table, he walked straight toward Hitori's bed.
Shhhk!
Before anyone could react, Arai suddenly pulled a knife from under his clothes and lunged toward Hitori.
"What are you doing?!" Akane's eyes went wide.
Clang!!!
The sharp ring of metal on metal echoed in the room.
Akane had drawn her own dagger and intercepted Arai's strike just in time. Her speed was much faster than his so much so that even acting second, she still managed to get between him and Hitori first.
Arai's expression twisted into something feral, eyes bloodshot and wild. Spit flew from his mouth as he yelled.
"Why are you stopping me?! If we kill her together, we can get out of here!"
"What's wrong with you?" Akane's voice was just as strained, her mouth opening unnaturally wide, tongue flicking out between words. "Weren't you the one saying we should never betray a companion, never harm our own?!"
"Hahaha… hahahahaha! Fine, let me ask you do you really think that thing is human? Is she one of us?!"
"What…?"
Arai roared, "She's a devil the Chainsaw Devil!
Sacrificing one devil so the rest of us humans can survive how is that wrong?
I'm telling you, I'm getting out of here!
I-I've held it in long enough! I can't take it anymore! I don't want to die! Now let me kill that damn thing!"
His words tumbled out in a fevered mess, but his murderous intent was crystal clear.
Maybe his sanity had already snapped long ago, and he'd just been pretending to be normal until now.
That demon's offer outside was the final straw.
"You want to kill her too, right? Then stop getting in my way!"
"As if!" Akane shouted. "I've never once thought about hurting Bocchi-chan. If you so much as touch her, I won't hold back!"
"What?!"
Schhk!
Arai's eyes went wide.
He hadn't even seen Akane move just felt the sudden agony in his gut.
She'd stabbed him.
Arai let out a howl of pain, clutching his bleeding abdomen as he collapsed to the floor.
Bang!
The door burst open. Aki and Himeno rushed inside, only to be greeted by the sight before them.
"Akane, what are you doing?!" Himeno shouted.
Akane, still holding the bloodied blade, turned sharply, her face twisted with anger. "What choice do I have? This was the only way!"
…She's cracking under the pressure? Hurting her own teammates?
That was the only thought in Himeno's mind.
Aki thought the same, his hand moving to the sword on his back. The moment Akane made a wrong move, he'd strike.
For a tense heartbeat, suspicion swirled in everyone's eyes, ready to explode at any second.
Buurp~
A sound cut through the tension at the worst possible moment.
Everyone turned.
Power had taken advantage of the chaos to eat the last of their food from the table and now she'd burped.
"Power… you idiot! That was our last ration!" Aki yelled.
"Wasn't me," Power said, crumbs still on her lips, utterly shameless. "Bocchi-chan ate it."
"You…!"
Just as the scene was about to spiral out of control again, a quiet voice spoke.
"Everyone… that's enough."
They turned to see Hitori sitting up on her bed, a look of grim resolve on her face.
She said, "Hand me over to the demon."