I quickly walked towards our rooms, being careful not to spill any soup. I gently placed the bowl on the floor as I pulled out my phone and opened up the in-built map function on the game app. I thought the complex layout of our rooms was a bit over the top, but it made sense given they wanted to track who’s going into each room and having private conversations.

  Now that I had some downtime, I took the chance to calculate everyone’s points after the game of Democracy. I recalled their point totals before the game:

  Yaeko - 17000 points

  Yori - 16000 points

  Nobu - 7500 points.

  Choko - 14000 points.

  Osamu - At least 8000

  Mei - At least 4000

  Hibiki - At least 4000

  Hibiki lost 5000 points. Everyone then lost 2500 points. After that, Hibiki was given 7500 points back. Keiko confirmed that Mei ended the game on 4500 points and Nobu lost those extra 4500 points to save her.

  Yaeko - 14500 (told the truth) or 9500 (lied)

  Yori - 13500

  Choko - 11500

  Hibiki - At least 7500

  Osamu - At least 5500

  Mei - 4500

  Nobu - 500

  That left Hibiki, and deducing her point total wasn’t a matter of simple arithmetic.

  Keiko told us that if anyone’s point total reaches zero, they’d be eliminated from the game. Hibiki lost 7500 points back to back before she gained her 7500 points in the seventh round. Since she wasn’t eliminated, she must have started the game with at least 7500 points.

  After I realised that, her losses and gains cancelled each other out, so I knew she had at least 7500 points.

  I also had 11500 points.

  “Hello again, Akira.”

  I instantly recognised the voice.

  It was Keiko’s boss.

  “What’s up?” I didn’t want to entertain him, so I stripped any emotion from my voice.

  “You shouldn’t try so hard to keep a straight face.” I smiled at him as he used a sarcastically caring voice.

  "It’s not very good for you.” I stared at the camera as he teased me, giving him no other reaction.

  “Is that for Nobu?” I looked down at the bowl of soup before glancing back at the camera. I didn’t answer as I oriented myself and started walking to his room.

  "I’m disappointed, you know.” He gave a dejected sigh. I stopped walking, but I didn’t turn around.

  "Really? Why’s that?” I could feel the soup slowly losing it’s warmth.

  "You can’t even figure that much out?” I turned around to face him.

  "The longer you dodge the question, the more convinced I am you’re just trying to test my reaction.” I stared at the camera, waiting for his response.

  “I’m disappointed because you let your emotions get the better of you.”

  I stayed silent.

  I wasn’t going to take his bait.

  “You want to give that soup to Nobu because you’re worried about him, yes?” I waited for him to continue without replying, but he just waited. He understood the soup was getting colder.

  I was on a timer, and he wasn’t.

  “Yeah. I need to check on him, so let’s try make this quick.” He laughed as I finished speaking.

  “How noble of you.”

  He laughed again.

  “The white knight Akira cares so much about his friends that he’s going to bring Nobu soup!”

  His reaction test was starting to work, but I did my best to hide it.

  I didn’t care about his words or his tone, but I was getting frustrated at how he was using Nobu’s emotions to try and mess with me.

  “Are you saying that my empathy is a weakness?” I redirected the conversation away from Nobu.

  If he wanted to get to me, I wouldn’t let him use my friends to do it.

  I’ve always questioned my empathy. I intellectually understand how people think, but I’ve grown numb to what those emotions actually feel like.

  Sure, if I discarded my empathy and went fully numb, then I’d be able to manipulate people whenever I wanted.

  I could be stronger.

  But empathy is what makes us human.

  It allows us to form genuine, real connections.

  Even if I can’t truly feel like others can, I’d never give up the empathy I have.

  I can’t afford to throw away the small amount I have left.

  “Of course it is, but that’s natural. I can’t blame you for that.” He paused again.

  It’s difficult reading him when I can’t use any physical tells. He kept his composure too well for me to analyse his speech and voice.

  “You’ll learn to throw it away one day, but that’s not my point.” I couldn’t tell if he genuinely meant that, or if he was trying to get me on edge. “I’m disappointed because you were so driven by emotions that you made a simple tactical mistake.” He waited.

  He wanted me to ask, but I wouldn’t take that bait.

  “I take it that you threw your empathy away? Do you stand by that decision?” I tried looking for any nerve to cut, but he answered instantly.

  “Are you asking because you’re too scared to do it yourself?” He laughed as he threw my question back at me and solidified his control of the situation.

  “If I regretted throwing my empathy away, I wouldn’t be telling you to do it yourself.” I masked my surprise as he carelessly answered and confirmed something important.

  He had empathy at one point.

  He chose to throw it away.

  If I choose to throw mine away, then I could end up just like him.

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  “Let me guess, you’re thinking that I messed up and told you that I once had empathy I threw away. Now you’re thinking that if you throw your empathy away, you’ll end up just like me.” I took a sharp breath in and he started laughing.

  He realised he’d read me perfectly.

  “Aren’t you going to ask me about the mistake I’m referring to?” If I ignored him and walked to Nobu’s room, he could just keep following me with the different cameras.

  “What mistake did I make?” I looked at the camera with a blank face.

  It wasn’t an act.

  I wanted this conversation to be over and done with as quickly as possible so I could get to Nobu.

  “You went through the effort of bringing a bowl of soup for Nobu, but in his emotional state right now, there’s absolutely zero chance he’ll let you in his room.”

  His tone shifted.

  It wasn’t casual or teasing anymore.

  His words were sharp, designed to rattle me.

  “You once said that it seems you’re quite like me.” I looked away for a brief moment, taking a deep breath.

  “I’m starting to think that’s an insult.”

  I stared at the camera.

  “I already know Nobu won’t want to open the door.” I paused again.

  “But I don’t care. I’ll do whatever it takes to make him open it.” He started laughing again, but this laugh felt different.

  It wasn’t an engineered laugh to mess with me.

  This was real.

  “But of course, we both know that forcing him to open the door would be easy - I’d expect nothing less from you. I never once thought you made a mistake.” I turned around and he started laughing again. I was done wasting time while Nobu was in pain.

  “Akira, it seems like I hit a nerve when I said you made a mistake. You haven’t insulted me before, not even when I was trying to annoy you.”

  I started walking away.

  “You must misunderstand. It’s fine thinking you’re the smartest person in the room, as long as you are the smartest. Don’t get cocky.” I ignored the comment as I kept walking.

  “One last thing. I saw your eyebrow twitch when I said you let your emotions get the better of you.”

  He wasn’t lying.

  I felt it happen.

  “Be careful. You’re not as powerful as you think you are.”

  I smiled to myself as I realised the irony of the situation.

  He’s trying to manipulate me just as I manipulate others.

  It’s the exact same method.

  He didn’t just show me that I’m weak. He baited me into giving him proof that I’m weak. He used that proof to make me doubt myself.

  In other words, he completely played me, and that’s why we both knew it’d be effective at getting to me. Even if I wanted to ignore it, I wouldn’t be able to.

  Luckily, I had one advantage.

  I know what he wants to manipulate me into.

  He sees glimpses of me in himself.

  He talks as if I’m a younger version of him. A raw talent that needs to be refined.

  He thinks that “refinement” will be when I learn to throw away my empathy. That’s why he said my empathy was “natural” and that he “couldn’t blame” me for it.

  He was trying to show me how I could get rid of my empathy and become stronger, just like I told Yuto to let go of his pride.

  But I don’t care what he throws at me.

  I’ll never let it go.

  The better I understand it, the less effect his manipulations had on me. But there’s one thing that still hasn't changed.

  He successfully showed me my empathy is a weakness.

  Even though it didn’t cost me anything here, he showed me that I care about my friends enough where I can lose sight of the bigger picture.

  He wants me to realise that I should stop caring about them so that never happens again, but that wasn’t my takeaway.

  I just had to become stronger so I can care about them without making mistakes.

  I pushed those thoughts aside as I approached the door to Nobu’s room. Getting him to let me in was already going to be a difficult task. I needed to create an effective plan, so I couldn’t afford to be distracted by those thoughts.

  I approached the door and put the bowl down. I listened and I could hear some footsteps. I took a deep breath since I wasn’t sure what to expect.

  Tears?

  A silent anger?

  “Hey, it’s Akira.”

  I waited for a few seconds.

  “I didn’t know when they’d stop serving food, so I brought you some soup.” I let out a soft chuckle as I realised he wasn’t opening the door.

  I didn’t want to do this, but I didn’t have much choice.

  I grabbed some soup in my hand and rubbed it against my shirt and leg.

  “I tried running here to get you the soup while it was hot, but I ended up spilling it all over myself,” I laughed again. “So even if you don’t want to talk, please at least take the food. I also brought you a spoon.”

  I could have just spilled it on myself, but he would’ve noticed the soup on the floor and seen through the lie.

  My plan was multi-layered. I wasn’t just trying to make him open the door.

  I was also gathering data.

  I didn’t know how he’d respond to feeling betrayed. Even if Nobu was upset or angry, he’d give into the idea of feeling like he owes me since I went out of my way to help him.

  However, if he didn’t open the door, that would tell me just how bad his headspace was.

  I heard his footsteps approaching the door so I picked up the bowl. He opened the door and smiled, but I could tell it was forced.

  “Thanks, Akira.” He took the bowl and started closing the door, but I refused to let him shut the door on this conversation before it even started.

  I put my foot in the way, blocking the door. I saw Nobu’s blank stare, but I didn’t let it deter me.

  “Nobu, I’m worried about you.”

  He silently looked me in the eyes.

  “Let’s talk.”