Here's part 2! :) It was so bittersweet writing this... but who knows, maybe I'll somehow come up with another idea haha. Anyways, ENJOY <3

--

After each one of them finally gave their testimonies to the police, they stopped by a private onsen to clean up and switch out their clothes for new ones. Luckily for them, no one else was in the facility except for the onsen owner and they were able to warm up from the cold quickly without making a loud fuss. During this time, Rio was also able to tend to Ryosuke's wrists with a first-aid kit that the owner brought out.

Still shaken up by the events that unraveled before, the eight of them decided to talk it out over dinner at the onsen. The owner offered them private seats towards the back so that they didn't have to worry about anyone else eavesdropping on their conversation. 

"So are we going to finally talk about what happened? Because I have a lot of questions.." Ryosuke began, staring blankly at his bowl of rice. Rio on the other hand was already engulfing her own portion. "Talk about what?" She mumbled, full of food. "Ohhh that." 

"Yuto, Chii, you two didn't tell us that they were going to be there too," Daiki said, nodding his head at Satoko and Mayu. "Not that I'm ungrateful, I really am." He added with a panic, hoping that he doesn't get stabbed by either one of them here. "Just surprised.."

"It was a last-minute change," Yuto explained. "We figured that the more people we could get on our side, the safer we'd all be."

"The thing is... Yuto and I actually had no idea that they had their own plans drafted with Amu and Rio." Chinen added, glancing at the girls in particular. "When did you four come up with the idea of faking a death?" 

"Rio and I actually didn't have a plan in place." Amu chuckled.

The boys nearly stopped breathing after hearing her confession and silence immediately began to fill the room.

"So you're telling me that the two of you winged it?" Daiki asked in complete disbelief. 

"Pretty much." Rio shrugged. "I'll leave the explaining to Satoko. She was the one who came up with this idea, after all."

"Mou, can't you let a girl eat her dinner?" Satoko began to protest but quickly gave in, wiping with a napkin before beginning. "Well, Mayu and I reached out to Amu and Rio via text last night shortly after Chinen and Yuto reached out to us," She explained. "Mariya and Rei had a hunch that we were on your sides but after a ton of convincing, we finally got them to believe we weren't working with you all. Also, Mayu's new murder drama gave her access to a ton of props." 

"The fake blood cubes and knives were from the set." Mayu began. "When the right time came, we used the real knives to cut the ropes and pressed the fake ones against the blood pouches, popping them to make it look like the wound was real."

"Well, it sure looked real to me." Daiki muttered.

"You boys really believe everything you see." Satoko sighed.

"Kind of hard not to, especially when your heart is literally in this," Ryosuke mumbled. "And the police? We're they out there the entire time?" 

"They arrived when we did." Mayu explained. "But I told them not to enter until we finished taping the evidence. I had a live transmitter on me. It doesn't have recording capabilities but it did feed the conversations to them live."

"Do you by any chance know what is going to happen to them?" Amu asked, thinking back to how defeated Mariya and Rei appeared.

Mayu shook her head. "They'll definitely get what they deserve. But this time at least, they'll be able to safely reflect without harming anyone." 

"So what's going to happen now?" Yuto asked, sitting back in his chair. "Does anyone have any plans from here on out? You know, now that we don't have to worry about our lives each second anymore?" 

"I'm going to take a break from the media and focus on my child." Satoko softly smiled, patting her belly. "It's just me but my family is there to support me." 

"Let me know if you need any help." Rio offered. "I might not be the best cook but I know how to bring up a healthy child- not from experience, of course." She chuckled nervously as her boyfriend shrugged.

"Who knows, maybe little Ryota will come sooner than we expect," Ryosuke smirked. 

Rio cheeks turned red as everyone laughed and joked at his sudden statement. 

"If you're going to take a break from movies, then PLEASE pass those roles my way." Mayu pleaded. "Succeeding as an actress is my way of proving to my dad that I made a good choice not to follow in his footsteps."

"In my opinion, I think you've already succeeded, Mayu. Look at how far you've come after 3 years. Not all actresses can progress that fast." Amu smiled at her. 

"T-thanks." Mayu replied, slightly embarrassed by Amu's sudden compliment. "What about the rest of you?" 

Ryosuke glanced at everyone and nodded. Without anyone saying a word, they