Real Identity [Identity V]

The black-haired girl gritted her teeth, clenching her fists in anger as she sat herself down on the wooden chair, attempting to rub her temples from behind the thin mask.

"Cheer up, Miss Corbie,"

A tall man in a chef uniform spoke, placing a plate of white jelly-like dessert on top of the table in front of the girl.

"Have some Blancmange. Next time will be better!"

The brunette cheered, as the girl began to eat the dessert he prepared, faint smile on her pale face.

---[★]---[★]---[★]---

"Good work everyone!" Fye cheered as Ashley and Gwendolyn entered the dining room, "Is anyone hurt?" He asked, worry lacing his tone.

"D-Don't worry about us, how is Tyler and Mister Holmes? Are they sent back here?" Ashley immediately threw another question, sweating nervously.

"No worries, we had Edward to take care of their injuries. Just let them rest for a bit." Emilia answered, easing Ashley's worries.

Leaving Ashley's side, Gwendolyn made her way towards Emilia, quickly holding both her hands as she sighed softly, making the black-haired girl smile. It's cute how Emilia can make Gwendolyn feel comfortable just by existing.

"We saw the match from this big screen TV," Edward pointed at the huge TV planted on the wall in the room, "it was very intense. I'm glad you made it out safely." He chuckled, softly ruffling Ashley's already messy hair.

"For now, I suggest you two get some rest," Fye suggested, his eyebrows a bit furrowed from worry, "it must be very tiring. I was only watching but my heart beats so fast as if I was the one in the match! I can imagine how scary it is."

As much as she would like to know more about how that TV works; Ashley nodded slowly, excusing herself to go back to her room to go get some rest.

---[★]---[★]---[★]---

Ashley woke up to the sound of harsh knocks on her door.

She shot her eyes open immediately, frantically running to unlock and open the door, panting.

"Y-Yes?!" She managed to blurt out in between her panicked breathing.

"Oh, you're finally awake," Henry finally spoke up, an amused smile evident on his pale face, "we have been trying to wake you up for hours. Fye insists on making me knock repeatedly on your door because he thought you might be dead." He continued, lightly snorting in amusement at the stupidity of the self-proclaimed fortune-teller.

"Oh..." Ashley sighed in relief, relieved that she's not waking up to bad news. Maybe someone dying, or something... You never know what could happen in here.

The girl glanced back to take a look at her clock; it's 10am. She must've slept like a log...

"Ah, I guess I overslept... I suppose there's no meal left for me for breakfast...?" She groggily asked, rubbing the back of her neck softly.

"No, sadly. Howl ate a lot today. I suppose he got a sudden increase in appetite after last match," The black haired man explained, placing both his thumb and index finger on his chin in a thinking pose, "that aside, are you free for today? I got some things I'd like to discuss with you, regarding our first match." He asked, eyeing the girl in front of him seriously.

"Y-Yes... Just... Give me a few minutes, I need to get ready." Ashley nodded, asking for some time.

"Good, thank you. I will be waiting at the library." Henry passed a faint smile, making his way to the library immediately.

---[★]---[★]---[★]---

Henry immediately noticed when Ashley had opened the library door, he waved at the girl from a table near the window, signalling her to come over there.

"So, about last match...?" Ashley tried to open up the discussion, seating herself on the small chair near the said table.

"It really made me wonder..." Henry leaned forward from his sitting position, fingers intertwined in front of his nose, "The hunter last match... She brought a knife as her weapon. Yet, instead of stabbing her targets, she hit their heads with the knife handle instead..." He mumbled, eyes staring sharp at a notebook he left opened on top of the table.

"Now that you mention about it..." Ashley closed her eyes and furrowed her eyebrows as she leaned back to her seat, thinking hard, "...Back when I bandaged Miss Hastings' head in the match, I don't see any cut or stab marks or anything on her whole body... That proves that the hunter indeed doesn't use the edge of the knife to hurt us." She continued after a few seconds silence, remembering what happened inside the match.

"Right? So this made me to think of something..." The detective moved his gaze from the notebook to Ashley's figure, "Maybe... Just maybe... The psycho who held this game made a rule for the hunters to not hurt us too much, or... they are not allowed to kill us."

Ashley widened her eyes in surprise. The hunters aren't supposed to kill us? As surprising as that sounds, Henry made a good point. Thinking of it like that, it makes sense as to why the crow lady used the back of the knife to hit survivors on the head instead of just cutting or stabbing them.

"Mister Holmes, you... You made a good point." Ashley voiced out her amazement, staring at the detective in awe.

The man chuckled, "It really doesn't take a genius to figure that out, to be honest." He replied, an actual faint blush evident on his face. Well, not sure if it's actually a blush or if it's just Ashley's imaginations...

"I hope you don't mind 'hanging out' with me more often. I have so many things I want to discover about this place and the whole game system, and I don't think anyone else other than you can actually hold a discussion with me." Henry muttered, loud enough for Ashley to hear.

"I'm honored that you even want to waste your free time talking to me..." Ashley awkwardly said, scratching the back of her head nervously.

This results the taller man to chuckle, as he rose up from his seat, "Well, that's all I have to discuss for now. I need to do some more investigations. I'll catch you later, Miss Walker." He spoke, walking out of the library, another faint smile on his face.

Unconsciously, the two sides of Ashley's lips turned up, forming a small smile. She closed her eyes for a brief while, steadying her breath as she as well rose up from her seat.

Maybe she's going to be okay after all. Maybe people will start putting more trust in her soon, just as long as she keep trying her best.

With that in mind, Ashley exited the library, happily walking back to her room.