I hate that I don’t hate you

by Ohhh_Sugarcubes

Summary:

Arisu and Chishiya hate each other, so when they’re mysteriously transported to a strange new world together, they are both very unhappy with the situation. Will the stress of this new world bring them closer together or push them further apart?

 

(Where Arisu is about to start his residency to become a psychiatrist, and Chishiya is in residency for pediatric cardiovascular surgery and they both get transported to the Borderlands together.)

Notes:

Hi, thank you for clicking onto my fic. This is the first fic I’ve ever written, so I would appreciate any feedback!!

The characters in this may be quite out of character but I’ve tried to write their personalities in a way that will fit what I have planned for the story later on.

Context:
In this fic Chishiya and Arisu are the same age and started med school at the same time but Chishiya graduated 2 years earlier than Arisu and moved on to residency beforehand.
I have not been, nor do I know anyone in medical school, so I don’t really know how it works/what you have to do to actually become a qualified doctor so I’m trying to be as accurate as possible.
The games are going to be mostly canon compliant, with games from both the show and the manga being included. The characters in some games may change from what they are in the show/manga and there will be some games I come up with and add in.

Chapter 1: Reunion

Notes:

Edited 29/01/2025 - fixed some grammar mistakes

Arisu hated Chishiya.

When he first met him, at the start of medical school, he could not stand him. He had this arrogant attitude and a smug smirk plastered on his face every hour of the day. Arisu wouldn’t be surprised if he wore the same expression while he was asleep. He treated everyone in the class as if they were beneath him, just because he got the highest test scores and his father owned every hospital in the city.

This attitude was especially worse with Arisu, who was always the second highest in the class. Every time grades were published, Chishiya would wear his trademark smirk and just say ‘Second place is the first to lose Bambi, you’re going to need to work harder than that if you even want to think about beating me’ or a snarky ‘Don’t go giving up on me now, I’ll miss having you as the little puppy biting at my heels.’

That infuriating nickname pissed Arisu off so much, which, of course, made Chishiya use it more. Arisu could count on one hand the number of times the other used his actual name.

According to one of Arisu’s seniors that worked at Tokyo General Hospital, this attitude only worsened when Chishiya started his pediatric residency. He was officially the youngest resident the hospital ever had and was constantly praised by the other surgeons and admin staff who wanted to kiss up to his father’s ass. This further fueled his superiority complex and made him even more insufferable.

In all honestly, Arisu wished he could blame Chishiya’s success on nepotism but Chishiya’s mind was truly brilliant, he could excel in any field, connections or not. Which may or may not be part of the reason Arisu hated Chishiya. He was beside himself with jealousy, not that he would ever admit that to the shorter man. He made everything look easy, he didn’t have to study, and he aced every test, whereas Arisu would work himself half to death to only ever get second and he was always at least 10 points behind.

Because of this, Arisu was less than pleased to find out that his psychiatric residency was in the same hospital as Chishiya’s. Which is why he was currently nursing his 5th beer at Karube’s bar

"Karube you don’t understand, I can’t work at the same hospital as Chishiya!’’ Arisu exclaimed.

‘‘Why not, it’s not like you’ll see the guy anyways, the hospital is massive, and you’ll see him like 3 times a year, I don’t see what the big deal is.’’

"Yeah Arisu, Karube’s right!’’ Chota said as he grabbed another beer off Karube "You’ve worked so hard for this, it’d be a shame to throw it away over a petty rivalry.’’

"It’s not a petty rivalry Chota, he’s my worst enemy and I’ve never hated anyone more than I hate him.’’, Arisu shouted angrily, "I hate his stupid attitude and his stupid voice and his stupid attractive face and the smirk that he does! That stupid smirk, I just want to wipe it off his smug face!’’

"More like kiss it off his face,’’ Karube whispered to Chota, who was trying not to laugh. "Anyways Arisu, shouldn’t you be heading home? You don’t want to be hungover for your first day tomorrow.’’

"Yeah, yeah I’m going,’’ Arisu said then downed his beer, "see you both later, don’t miss me too much.’’

The second Arisu stumbled out the door, Chota and Karube burst out laughing.

"Ohhhh I can’t wait for their wedding, I think I’ll wear a blue suit’’ Karube wheezes out trying to contain his laughter. "He better make me his best man after all the whining I put up with. Honestly, I swear they’ve both been in love for years they’re both too stupid to realise it.’’

‘‘Hey, I wanted to be the best man!’’ Chota yelled back.

After about 15 minutes of waking Arisu stopped in the middle of the street and stared at the sky. It was a full moon tonight and it was so bright it lit up the whole sky. Nights like these were Arisu’s favourite, when he was a child he used to sneak onto the roof, just to stare at the moon and escape the suffocating atmosphere created by his father.

He really didn’t want to go home.

Arisu’s father was elated when he got into medical school, he had always wanted Arisu to apply himself so when Arisu finally ‘pulled his head out of his ass’, a direct quote from his brother, and got into medical school his father was the proudest he had ever been in Arisu’s life.

It quickly devolved into disappointment again when Arisu would continually place second to Chishiya. Naturally, his father was convinced Arisu was slacking off and decided to show up unannounced at his university to catch him in the act. When he discovered him hunched over his work at the university library he seemed even more disappointed than he was before. At least if his eldest child was slacking off, there was room for improvement, but even trying his hardest he was still only second best. "I have low expectations of you Ryouhei and somehow the only thing you manage to always succeed at is failing to meet them." His father said coldly, prompting Arisu to look up from his notes, "Look at Hajime, he got full marks on his midterms and he’s looking at a full scholarship to Harvard next year. I expect better from you Ryouhei, honestly, you are an embarrassment to this family and I’m ashamed to call you my son."

Before Arisu has a chance to defend himself and make his father understand that being second in a class with hundreds of people is hardly embarrassing, he sees Chishiya walking over to his table with his trademark smirk on his face.

Arisu shoots up and tries to shoo his father away, before Chishiya can make his way to them, apologising, promising he’ll try harder and that they can finish this conversation when Arisu gets back home but it’s too late. Chishiya is already right in front of them, introducing himself to Arisu’s father, who invites Chishiya to sit with them. This devolves into a 3-hour conversation about Chishiyas residency plans, politics, and other topics. Arisu tried to block out, he spent the 3 hours trying and failing to get work done while his father looked like he was about to adopt Chishiya right then and there.

From that moment on, his father treated Chishiya like the eldest son he wished he had, he would invite him for family dinner every Friday. A dinner that Arisu wasn’t invited to despite actually being a member of the family, and Chishiya would show up every Friday because he knew how much it annoyed Arisu. His father once even asked Chishiya to tutor Arisu and to this day the shorter man hasn’t let him live it down.

Suddenly, a sharp pain in his calf jolts Arisu out of his thoughts, and when he looks around to see the cause of it, he sees none other than Chishiya Shuntaro himself.

"Hey Bambi, it’s been a while."Chishiya takes one of his hands out of his pockets to wave at Arisu. He’s wearing his white hoodie and his ever-present smirk is still annoyingly present, although he seems more subdued tonight than normal. "I heard you start your residency tomorrow. I didn’t expect you to make it this far so congratulations! You have exceeded my expectations, I should get you a well-done sticker."

"What do you want Chishiya?"Arisu responds venomously. It might have been a rude response but Arisu was 5 beers in and was in no mood to deal with the other man right now.

"Ouch, that was rude, you wound me Bambi,"Chishiya puts his hand over his heart and pretends like he’s offended. "I’m just here to offer you some friendly advice, that’s all."

"Friendly, you?"Arisu retorts "You can save it, I don’t need your advice, I’m perfectly fine without it.’’

Chishiya’s expression remains almost the same, but his brow furrows slightly, showing how serious he is about this, ‘’ "You should pull out of the program, and reapply somewhere else next year.’’

"Are you kidding me?’’ Arisu shouts at Chishiya, "You’d rather me damage my application and potentially never get into another residency program again than work in the same building as me, we’re in different departments we won’t even see each other that often! You don’t seem to mind me being around when you’re having dinner with my father every Friday, so why are you so bothered about this?’’

"I’m being serious Arisu.’’ Chishiya doesn’t raise his voice but there is a hint of anger there. Something else too, protectiveness maybe, but Arisu can’t help but think he’s imagining it.

"That hospital isn’t meant for someone like you, you need to find somewhere else.’’

"I don’t know what your problem-"

A loud bang in the background cuts Arisu off. He looks for the source of the noise and sees fireworks in the distance.

"Fireworks?"Arisu asks out loud

"Wow you are so observant Bambi, here’s an idea, you can quit your residency program and become a detective instead, seeing as that will fit you so much better.’’ Chishiya responds sarcastically.

Arisu wasn’t going to dignify that with a response, instead focusing on the fireworks, they were beautiful. He wondered what they were celebrating to be setting fireworks off on a random Sunday night.

Suddenly, every light that surrounds the pair goes out, leaving the two with only the moon to illuminate the world around them.

Notes:

I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Feel free to leave any feedback in the comment, it's always appreciated!!!

If any of you are interested, you can follow this link to my Tumblr account! Feel free to DM me or ask me any questions on there!

Chapter 2: Welcome to the Borderlands

Summary:

Chishiya and Arisu explore this new world and encounter their first games.

Notes:

Hi, I want to thank everyone that read my last chapter and left kudos/comments, they are all really appreciated!!!

I hope you enjoy this new chapter!!

 

Edited 29/01/2025 - fixed some grammar and formatting mistakes

They both stand there for what feels like an eternity until Arisu breaks the silence.

“Do you think there's a power cut or something?”

Chishiya makes a noncommital noise before saying "Don't you think it's a little quiet?"

"It is quite late," Arisu responds nervously, "maybe everyone went home?"

"Everyone went home at the same time, despite the city being full of people just minutes ago?" Chishiya questioned. Arisu hated when he used that tone when asking things. It was Chishiya's way of implying the comment was stupid without saying it directly. Chishiya continued "I don't have the figures on me or anything but I find the probability of that happening to be very low."

"Maybe it's a coincidence?" Arisus says, he's starting to panic now and Chishiya being patronising was not helping.

"Arisu you aren't that stupid so stop acting like it. Hundreds of people don't just disappear from the street all at once."

"Well, what else could it be then?" Arisu snapped back, annoyed at Chishiya's comment.

"That's what we need to find out. Contrary to popular belief, I don't know everything, despite what everyone thinks." Chishiya responds jokingly, breaking some of the tension between them. Arisu will never admit this to the shorter man, but the fact that his attitude hasn't changed all that much, despite their situation, helped Arisu calm some of the panic bubbling up inside him. Although, Arisu gets the feeling that Chishiya is hiding how he's really feeling about the matter.

Chishiya speaks up again, "I suggest we head back to the main areas of the city, maybe towards Shibuya crossing, if people will be anywhere they'll be there."

They walk in comfortable silence towards Shibuya crossing. Looking back, Arisu thinks this is the most pleasant interaction he's ever had with Chishiya. Their earlier argument is completely forgotten and for once they can enjoy each other's company.

As they approach the Shibuya crossing, it is becoming more apparent that they are completely alone. Every street is empty. Cars are sitting in the middle of the road with no drivers in sight.

How does an entire city if people just disappear? Or was it not the city and they were the ones that disappeared? Were they the only ones left alive? That last thought makes sadness well up in his chest. He thinks of Karube, Chota, his brother, and even his father. At that moment, Arisu promises himself that he won't stop until he finds them again. he refuses to believe they are dead.

He refuses to give up hope.

To prevent himself from spiraling further, Arisu glances over to Chishiya. Everyone in Tokyo disappeared and Chishiya is stuffing his face with cheap convenience store biscuits. The world could be ending and Chishiya is eating. Arisu wishes he could be surprised but this is pretty on-brand for Chishiya. It doesn't make it any less absurd though.

"You can't seriously be eating right now!" Arius says disbelievingly, "The world could be ending and all you can think to do right now is eat!"

"It's not like me eating is going to change anything and I'm hungry" Chishiya retorted.

They arrive at the center of Shibuya crossing. There is not one other person in sight. A feeling of dread from earlier has truly settled in Arisu now. He doesn't know what to do.He tries to pinch himself to make sure he's not dreaming. He's sure he learned about something like this in his psychology classes, when you're dreaming your reflection looks distorted. It would be great information to have if there were any mirrors near the pair, so that wouldn't work. Something about being unable to tell the time? That sounds right, now he can just check the time on his phone, see he can't read it, and wake up from this awful nightmare. Oh, how Arisu wishes this was a nightmare.

Wait his phone.

"That's it!" Arius shouts excitedly, "My phone!"

Chishiya looks over at him with one eyebrow raised slightly, he's looking at him like he's gone crazy but Arisu can't bring himself to care.
He grabs Chishiya by the shoulders and shakes him back and forth excitedly.

"We have phones Chishiya, we can use them to get help and find out where all the people in Tokyo have gone."

Only then does Arisu realises he's still holding Chishiya. Embarrassed, he quickly let go of the other man and digs around his pockets for his phone. When he finally finds it, he's already preparing to phone Karube and finally see what's going on. This hope quickly reverts to dread when his phone doesn't turn on though, it's not like he's run out of battery, he checked it when he left the bar, and he is sure he had at least 60%. He turns his attention back to Chishiya who is watching him very intently with an almost amused look on his face.

"Chishiya, you should try your phone, mines not working," Arisu says desperately.

Chishiya just looks at him and laughs.

"Jesus Arisu, you should see your face right now, you went from excited puppy to kicked puppy in the space of 10 seconds, what an emotional range you have, I'm almost jealous. Seriously what's the first thing you think I did when everyone went missing, you should pay more attention to what's going on around you."

"You what? Why didn't you say anything when you found out the phones didn't work? You didn't even interrupt me when I got all excited" Arisu ran a hand through his hair and quietly added, "I feel embarrassed now."

"I wanted to see how long it would take you to figure it out" Chishiya snorted.

"You're such an ass!" Arisu responded, turning away from Chishiya, resigning himself to not talk to him for the rest of the night unless absolutely necessary.

As Arisu was off sulking, Chishiya was looking through the window of a cafe. It looked as if the place was evacuated mid-service. There were still plates full of food, bags, and coats remaining at tables and the door remained open. Was there an evacuation they didn't know about? Highly unlikely. When everyone else disappeared it was around 10:00 pm which means the store should have been closed by then anyways, so why was it in such a state now?

How unusual. How interesting.

Chishiya's thoughts were interrupted when the whole crossing illuminated. Every screen near them said the same thing.

Game.

'Game?' Arisu questions.

Chishiya doesn't respond, instead continuing to stare at the large screen in front of him.

"Chishiya, what do we do?" Arisu asks nervously, he hates everything about this and he just wants to crawl into bed. He's still feeling slightly buzzed from earlier but this entire situation has caused him to sober up quite quickly.

"Isn't it obvious? We go play the game." Chishiya responds nonchalantly, although there's a tiny hint of excitement there.

"The fact that there's no power on except to show the game signs clearly shows that the people running this world want us to play these games."

"Well yeah so isn't that the exact reason we shouldn't go."

"Whoever is running this world has gone to great lengths to ensure we play these games, I imagine there will be unpleasant consequences if we were to just ignore it." Chishiya says "There are two sets of arrows on the game screens, one pointing left and one pointing right. I'd suggest we split up. I'll go left you go right. We can reconvene later and share what we find."

"You can't be serious Chishiya! Have you never seen a horror movie? Splitting up is the stupidest thing you can do."

"No, I haven't because some of us have more important things to do with our time than waste it in front of a screen." Chishiya responds snidely. "Seriously though, we don't know what these games entail, what if they pit us against each other? I say we both enter separately and meet up back we've finished."

"Your reasoning makes sense but I want it to be known that I don't like this. Surely there's a better plan we could come up with?"

"Awwwww is Bambi too scared? Does he need me to hold his hand?" Arisu let out a cry of indignation at that and Chishiya continued, more seriously this time. "I'm interested in what this game could be. You can either go to your own game or stand here and wait for me to get back Arisu. Either way, I'm playing this game."

"Fine, I'll go." Arisu says exasperatedly as he heads in the direction of the arrows.

"I have a really bad feeling about this."

"Are you worried about me?" Chishiya says mockingly "Don't be, it'll take more than a game to kill me."

"As if I would be worried about you!" Arisu scoffs, "Well at least you've gone back to your normal self, I was starting to think you were a human being for a second there, silly me."

Chishiya was slightly taken aback, he thought he'd disguised his true feelings quite well. He can't have both of them freaking out after all. How interesting that Arisu noticed.

"Yes, that was very silly of you Bambi, now go away. You wouldn't want to miss out on all the excitement, would you?"

"I think excitement might be the wrong word for it." Arisu mutters to himself as he walks away.

Chishiya remains where he was, watching Arisu walk away.

"Don't die on me." Chishiya whispers to himself. He waits until Arisu is completely out of sight before putting his hood up and making his way toward his own game. If nothing else, this world truly is interesting.

Arisu finds himself standing in front of a large office building. It is the only building in the immediate area that has any power on it and the arrows he followed all pointed in this direction. So he feels safe in his assumption that this is where the game is taking place. He tries to look around the building for any hint of what this game may involve but the only thing he can see is five window-cleaning lifts suspended from the top of the building. Arisu hopes that whatever this game is, it doesn't involve them.
Arisu slowly heads towards the lobby of the building, where he can see the silhouette of about four people.

"Finally!" Arisu says to himself, "Some people, maybe they can tell me what's going on"

Arisu walks through the doors to the building and hears a soft ping. He sees a high school student looking around frantically and three other people who seem strangely calm about the situation. They continuously glare at Arisu as if they're sizing him up. The thing that stood out the most about all of them though was that they had working phones, which was very strange seen as neither himself nor Chishiya had been able to get their phones to work.

Just then one of the older men spoke up. "You'll want to grab a phone and register soon Newbie, the game starts in less than a minute and you don't want to know what happens to those that cross the threshold but don't register in time

"Threshold? Register? I-...What's going on?"

"It doesn't matter right now" A woman spoke up this time, she walked over to him and shoved him in the direction of a table with one phone remaining on it. "You'll find out soon enough, It's too late to turn back now.". The other man spoke up again. "If you don't want to die, you have to play the game"

This seems like all the information the others are willing to divulge, so Arisu grabs the phone. When he looks at it, the phone makes a soft ping, similar to the one he heard when he entered the building.

"Registration is now complete"

A female voice announces. Arisu whips his head around to figure out where it is coming from.

"All players please make their way up to the roof of the building."

The elevator doors open and all the players rush to make their way inside. When everyone is ready, the doors close and the elevator shoots upwards. The tension is so thick you could cut it with a knife.

All Arisu can think is that he has made a terrible mistake.

Chishiya wasn't expecting the game arena to be a restaurant, and he certainly wasn't expecting to see nooses hanging above chairs surrounding a blackjack table. The games in this world must be very high stakes for people's lives to be on the line. Which makes the potential prize of this game all the more enticing. Three players, including himself, were waiting at the front desk. The other two had clearly been here a while. If these two players were anything to go by, Chishiya would bet that the prize for winning would be more than worth it if these players were willing to join death games for it. Either that or there's an outside incentive for players to join these games.

Only time will tell.

Given the setup of the game, it's fairly obvious they'll be playing blackjack, and given there are five seats at the table they are waiting for two more players to join their little group. Chishiya has never played blackjack before, and he is painfully aware that he knows very little about the game. He just hopes the game explains the rules before he starts, at least learning as he goes will make the game more interesting. Although The part that intrigues Chishiyas the most is the guns that are present at every seat. Perhaps that's the key to winning this game.

Deducing all he can from the game setup, Chishiya decides to shift his focus to the men around him. One of the men is on the older side, he has a cigar hanging from his mouth. He has his arms crossed and an overconfident smirk on his face that could put his own to shame. No wonder Arisu gets so annoyed with him, Chishiya thinks to himself. This man is obviously very wealthy and his arrogance practically radiates off him. That's good, Chishiya thinks, men like that will always be the first to fall apart when their pride is damaged. That will be good to keep in mind for late. The other man is standing off to the side, pushing his glasses further onto his face. His hands look as if they have oil or some other dark fluid on them, indicating he works with vehicles in some capacity. His face is passive and shows no signs of fear or weakness. Chishiya half considers talking to him but ultimately decides against it. He can find out what makes the man tick later, right now he is content to just observe.

Bored with his musings, Chishiya turns his attention back to the front door to see two people approaching from a distance. One was a very tall and fidgety man who opted to keep his hands in his pockets. The other was a short, old woman dressed very formally as if she'd come straight from a black-tie gala. She was smoking a cigarette and glared at the man next to her as if he was the dirt beneath her shoe.

These players swiftly enter the building and registered for the game.

"Registration is now closed. All players please take a seat around the table. The game will commence shortly."

Notes:

Hi, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Feel free to leave any feedback in the comment, it's always appreciated!!!

If any of you are interested, you can follow this link to my Tumblr account! Feel free to DM me or ask me any questions on there!

Chapter 3: 4 of Hearts: Survey

Notes:

Hi! Just a few notes about this chapter.
This game is from the manga, not a personal one I have created. So, the game itself, the characters in the game and the questions used in the game were all created by Hara Aso, the writer and illustrator of the Alice in Borderland manga. I am no way in claiming these to be my own, I have just expanded on the game’s premise and altered dialogue and some of the events that take place in the game. I also altered the timeline of when this game takes place. In the manga, Arisu participated in the 4 of hearts after he’s joined The Beach but I think it fits my story better to have it as his first game.

Anyways, just wanted to clear that up. I hope you enjoy this chapter. Thankyou to everyone that has bookmarked/commented/kudosed my fic, they are all greatly appreciated.

"All players please enter a window cleaning lift." Arisu’s stomach sank. He really didn’t like heights and those lifts look incredibly unstable.

It was at this moment that the high schooler chose to speak up. "Listen, I didn’t choose to play any game and I don’t know what’s going on, I’m just going to go."

"Wow, I didn’t know there were still newbies left in this world." One of the women chuckled. She was wearing heavy makeup and an expensive-looking sequined dress.

"Just get in the lift, kid" the man that guided Arisu earlier said, "I have no obligation to help you but I’ll tell you this." The man paused. An action that made the high schooler even more nervous. Arisu could empathise with his situation because he was equally as uneasy.

"If you don’t clear this game tonight, you will die. So shut up and follow the rules. Don't bring the rest of us down with you."

The finality of the statement made the high schooler silent and quickly hurry over to one of the lifts. Arisu followed suit, praying the man was over exaggerating.

As the final player entered the lift. The sounds of machines starting up filled the air and suddenly all 5 of them dropped 10 floors down.

"Difficulty: 4 of hearts"

"Hearts", the woman with shorter hair shrieked, "No! No! No! No! It's not fair!"

The other 2 experienced players had a grim look on their faces. Arisu wished he knew what the woman was panicking about but there was a large gap in context that Arisu is missing.

“Hearts” the high schooler asks “What does that mean?”

While the shorter-haired woman looked as if she was about to tell him but the lady with the sequined dress interrupted her. "Don’t tell him." She chided, "It’ll be easier to clear the game if he doesn’t know what is going on."

Well, that can’t be good. Arisu thinks to himself.

Arisu has always prided himself on his ability to read people. He’s always had a sixth sense for people's motivations and feelings that they don't outwardly express. It was part of the reason he wanted to become a psychiatrist in the first place.

It’s at this moment that the atmosphere shifts. It’s almost like a rift is forming between the three more experienced players and
Arisu and the high schooler. The high schooler seems oblivious to this but Arisu knows better than to ignore something like this. The three other players are looking at the two as if they are easy targets. Like they are sacrifices.

If Arisu knows one thing about this whole situation it’s that in this game the other players aren’t his allies. They’re his enemies.

‘Game: Survey. To clear the game, reach the top floor.’

‘Rules: A question will appear. There is a time limit of 60 seconds to answer each question. If you reach the bottom floor it’s game over.’

“What happens when it’s a game over” the high schooler asks timidly. No one answers him.

Oh, how Arisu wishes he made Chishiya come with him. Stuff like this is Chishiya's speciality, not Arisu’s.

‘Question: Asked of 100 housewives, how many teaspoons are in a tablespoon?" A screen displayed 2 possible answers, the majority answer was 4 tsp and the minority answer was 3 tsp.

‘What are these questions?’ One of the women asked.

Arisu tried to tune the others out. He didn’t trust these people and didn’t want them to have any influence over his decision. Everyone seemed really on edge. While they were in a stressful situation, there was another unknown factor contributing to their nervousness. Arisu was sure of it. The man mentioned death earlier, was it something to do with that? He had thought the man might be embellishing, but the more he observes the others, the more Arisu thinks the man was telling the truth. A terrifying prospect, that Arisu wants to dismiss as a prank, but deep down Arisu knew that there is a possibility he wasn’t walking away from this game.

Forcing himself to refocus on the game, Arisu decided to go with the majority, he had no idea what the real answer was but he’d trust the 83% of housewives, if anyone knew, it would be them.

This seemed to be the same thought process everyone else had as they all placed the majority.

“Correct answer”

All the lifts moved up one level. No one said anything.

‘Question: Asked of Shinjuku Mahjong Parlour workers, how many points in this following line up?" This time the screen displayed 14 mahjong tiles. With the minority option being 2000 points and the majority option being 2600 points.

Arisu was in way above his head with this. He has no idea what the answer is. What the hell is he supposed to do now?

Arisu felt a dull throb in his cheek as he slapped himself. He was spiralling and at this rate, he wouldn't answer at all. He needed to calm down. If he kept freaking out like this he was going to lose this game and given how the other players are acting he does not want to learn what happens if fails.

Arisu repeated the question to himself, trying to think each part through. They interviewed Mahjong workers, which means they are more likely to know the correct answer about the mahjong tiles. Therefore, it's most likely that the majority answer is correct.

It seems the other players had a similar line of thinking if the man's yelling is anything to go by. All 5 players answer the majority and they move up a floor. Arisu lets out a sigh of relief. This relief is short-lived though, as the announcer's voice speaks up again.

"Question: Asked of 100 businessmen in Shinbashi, which governmental official introduced the consumption tax?" This time, the majority answer was Nakasone Yasuhiro and the minority answer was Takeshita Noboru.

He knew this one. He had never been so thankful for his father and Chishiya's relationship up until this point. When Arisu's Father met Chishiya they spent a considerable amount of time discussing politics. Well, he wouldn't class it as a discussion. It was more Arisu's father interrogating Chishiya on his political knowledge and of course Chishiya knew all of the answers and in this case, the answer is Takeshita Noboru. So he chooses Minority.

For the first time since this game started, Arisu finally feels confident in his answer.

It seems the others don't have a Chishiya in their lives to feed them useless information. Seriously how does he know all of these things anyways? Arisu shakes his head, he's in the middle of a game, he can't be thinking about Chishiya right now.

Arisu is the only one that answers correctly with minority and moves up 2 floors. The other players move down a floor, which isn’t a bad consequence considering all the man earlier could talk about was death. This helped alleviate some of Arisu’s nerves but he didn’t let it lower his guard.

The others are incredibly angry at Arisu now. Screaming at him about not sharing the answer. Arisu chooses to ignore them. He doesn't think any good can come from interacting with the other players in this game.

Their angry shouts turn into screams of pain. Arisu almost falls out of the lift in his haste to see what's happening. He looks down and sees the others getting electrocuted. Seriously, what kind of game is this?

This electrocution is over as soon as it began and the next round of the game began.

"Question: Asked of 100 college students in Ueno, which composer was known for his romantic school of music with works like 'Mazeppa' and 'Will-o'-the-wisp"

"They can't be serious!" cries the high school student "How do they expect us to know this!"

Arisu agrees with that, there can't be a single person on this earth that knows all the answers to these questions.

"Well, there might be a certain blonde-haired someone that could," Arisu muttered to himself, not even realising he was speaking aloud.

This thought caused a revelation in Arisu. The questions truly are absurd, and whoever created this game must be well aware of that fact. This means there is another way of figuring out the answers.

Arisu tries to think logically about this, creating a mental list of all the information he has learned since the game began. One, to clear the game, you must reach the top floor. Two, correct answers with a majority move you up one floor, while an incorrect majority move you down one floor. Three, a correct minority moves you up 2 floors, but what happens with an incorrect minority? Based on the earlier trend it would suggest you'd move down 2 floors. However, that would be quite presumptuous and Arisu isn't willing to take that risk for the sake of 2 floors. He is currently on floor 14. If he goes wrong with the majority he'll be on floor 13 and the worst that will happen is an electric shock. He doesn't know the secret to figuring out this game yet and he doesn't want to get a game over before he has the chance to find his feet. In the end, he plays it safe and chooses the majority.

Three of the other players, alongside Arisu, choose the majority and are correct. The lady in the sequined dress chooses the minority. She's panicking now, screaming curses at all of them.

"A player has chosen a minority incorrectly, it is now game over for that player."

The woman lets out one final shriek before the cables holding the lift snap and she plummets towards her death.

Arisu's legs give out from below him. He knew that this was a possibility when he first saw everyone get electrocuted. Hell he knew it was a possibility from the second he spoke to the man in the lobby. Yet, he still finds himself unable to get up, unable to overcome the overwhelming emotions from watching someone die.

The high schooler isn't faring any better, he is leaning over the side of the lift, throwing up. The short-haired woman is hysterically crying and the man looks deep in thought.

"If you go incorrect with a minority, it's game over instantly," the man says grimly.

"Question: Asked of 100 hostesses in Ginza, who is the president of Tunisia?"

Arisu looks at the screen, the minority answer was Moncef with 37%, while the majority answer is Abdelaziz with 63%. Arisu knew logically he should choose the majority. He wouldn't die and should play safe. He knew that.

So he surprised himself when he chose the minority anyways.
The answer being a minority makes sense. If he were the game master, he'd wait to reveal the consequence of choosing wrong with a minority and then place the answer directly after that as a minority. Fear is an excellent tool to get people to act how you want and in this situation, the game makers clearly don't want everyone to survive this game. This means that if you played safe and chose majority for every answer, you would most likely fail.

In short, the only way to win this game is to take risks. Arisu is relying heavily that his assessment is right, he is taking the biggest gamble of his life.

Arisu listens in to the others, he can hear the high schooler shouting something about phones but the other 2 are suspiciously quiet.

“Correct answer: Minority”

Arisu almost cries he is that relieved.

In the end, Arisu was the only one that chose Minority and the other players were moved down a floor and electrocuted. Once over the shock of the electrocutions, Arisu could feel the others looking at him in disbelief. Arisu himself can't believe he did that.

"Hey look at him." the man says to the others warily "He's gone up again."

"If you knew the answer why didn't you tell us" the crying woman shouted up at him.

"He probably didn't know the answer, he made a gamble," the other man said, regaining some of his earlier composure, "He probably decided no one would pick minority after watching someone die because of it. He made a bet against the question itself"

"Unbelievable," the woman said "A gamble like that for just 2 floors isn't worth-"

“Untrue” the man interrupted “Have you forgotten this is a hearts game? If we don't take risks and only choose the majority we will be stuck in a loop and it will be game over anyways.”

"Question: Asked of 100 kindergarteners in Shinagawa, what does "cœur" mean?"

It's times like these that Arisu wished he was more academically inclined and pushed himself more. He had the option to study French as an extra in high school but declined to go play video games at home instead. He's never hated himself more than he does right now.

He decides to choose the majority this time. He is not feeling brave enough to risk the minority a second time.

"I propose we all work together," the man says loud enough so Arisu can hear him "We will never know the answers alone, it'll be easier if we pool our collective knowledge"

Arisu considers this for a moment and decides against agreeing. Part of him wants to shout down and accept. Promise that they can all work together to make it out alive. However, his earlier conversation with Chishiya comes to mind. Specifically, the "Arisu you aren't that stupid so stop acting like it" and the "You should pay more attention to what's going on around you". At the time Arisu was offended by these comments. He thought that Chishiya was just saying them to insult him. But the more Arisu thinks about it the more he feels the advice resonating with him.

At that moment, Arisu decides to take a mental step back and observe the three remaining players closely. The woman seems to have calmed down and has a strange expression on her face. It's not sadness or fear. If anything it's a smug expression. He's spent enough time with Chishiya to know what that looks like. It’s almost as if she's amused. Like everything that's happening is a joke and she's the only one in on it. That unnerves Arisu even more and he makes a mental note to not interact with this woman at all.

"I know the answer," the woman says sheepishly, "I studied French in university, the answer is minority I'm 100% sure of it"

The man seems to be happy with this and presses the minority. Arisu on the other hand is horrified. That woman just lied to the man. She's just sentenced him to his death.

There was a running joke amongst his trio that Arisu was the human lie detector. Karube would always whine about playing poker with him because Bluffs never got past Arisu.

“Teach me your ways, Arisu!" Karube hiccuped out, woozy from all the alcohol he had that night, "The thing you do with the lies, how do you always know? It's not fair! You're stealing all my money here."

"I don't know how I do it, It's just a feeling, almost like a gut instinct." Arisu responds, truthfully answering the question. He had always been like this. He had always just known. It had gotten him into some unpleasant situations before but Arisu wouldn't change his unusual gift for the world.

"What like you're psychic or some shit. That stuff isn't real Arisu"

"No not like I'm psychic you idiot, it's more that I just know. I researched it a while ago, something about your subconscious processing things faster than your conscious brain. My brain must just work faster than yours.” Arisu giggles at the insult at the end. It will never stop being funny how offended Karube gets at being called slow.

"Fine keep your secrets, not like I care that much- HEY ARE YOU SAYING IM AN IDIOT"
"Hey I'm not lying I just don't know how I do it and yeah, you just now noticed”
"Yeah yeah sure I believe you. 100%" Karube responds sarcastically, choosing not to respond to the idiot comment.
Arisu rolls his eyes and they continue their poker match.

This woman was without a doubt lying and the man fell for it. She'd lied with a minority, meaning she had just sent that man to his death.
The high schooler looked too panicked to even function right now, Arisu saw him press the majority button, so he was safe, for this round at least. He was probably too scared at the prospect of dying he couldn't bring himself to press the minority button despite what the woman said.

"A player has chosen a minority incorrectly, it is now game over for that player."

"Wait what!" the man shouted angrily "You said you were sure!"

"Well I was sure but after you pressed the button I started to think it might have been the majority and went with that instead."

"You bitch! I'll kill you, you hear me, I'll kill you!"

The cables to the man's lift snapped and he fell to his death. Screaming insults the entire way down.

The woman's lift shot upwards, except she didn't just move up one floor, she moved up six.

Wait, six? That's not right. She went correct with a majority so she should have only moved up one floor. Was it because she tricked the man?

It seems the others came to this conclusion at the same time as Arisu did. The mood in the game had once again shifted. This time into something terrifyingly sinister. The woman was 3 floors from the top now. if she tricked either of them again she'd clear the game. The high schooler also has a strange look on his face now, Arisu is certain he can't trust him either.

He makes a mental plan. If he doesn't know the answer he'll pick the majority and deal with the electrocution. He will only choose a minority if he is certain of the answer, and he's not going to let the others influence any of his answers.

Looking at where the players are positioned, Arisu is in the best place, 2 floors from the top, followed by the woman who is 3 floors from the top. The high schooler is in the worst position being on floor 12. He would have the most to gain from a betrayal, he seems aware of this fact too, as there's a strange sort of manic determination in his eyes. The woman looks as if she's having some sort of psychotic break now. She's still hysterical and panicking but she's giggling to herself. She wants to end this game quickly so she'll likely try to trick them as well.

"Question: Asked of 100 foreigners in Shin-Okubo, who wrote the amorous work "Ejima Kiseki"?”

"Hey now, I know what I did before was wrong but I was scared and flustered. I didn't mean to kill him, honest. This time the answer is Minority. I promise " the woman said, breathing heavily.

Observing the woman, Arisu concludes that she doesn't know the answer. She is just hoping for the minority to be wrong so she can trick the high schooler and win.

Objectively speaking, this entire game has more been about emotions and betrayal influencing your decisions, rather than the actual questions themselves. So, looking objectively at the situation, the action that would cause the most emotional turmoil would be for the correct answer to be the minority. it would mean the woman wouldn't get her swift victory like she wishes, which will ensure her psychotic state worsens and the high schooler gets the answer wrong, putting him in an even worse position. The desperation to get to the top will encourage him to betray the woman.

Arisu knows this is a risky plan but he doesn't care. He doesn't want to manipulate anyone into dying just so he can survive. And if he plays it safe he will never win.

He chooses the Minority.

"Correct answer: Minority"

"Congratulations, one player has cleared the game, you may now exit the building, 4 days have been added to your visa."

He walks over to a white table and sees the 4 of hearts playing card laying face up. He doesn’t know the significance of the card, but if it’s important enough for the game makers to leave behind, then he feels as though he should take it. Maybe Chishiya will have figured out what they mean in his game.

Arisu is not proud of what he did next. Part of him felt like he needed to stay behind and help, but what could he do? He just stood back and watched as those people died. He didn't even try to intervene. He didn't know what to do. He didn't know how to help. The questions were ridiculous and he didn't know the answers. The way thought of a solution may have been a coincidence. It's not like he had enough time or evidence to explain it to the others. If anything, Arisu felt as though he was guessing.

But he couldn't just leave, could he?

Arisu is frozen in place due to his indecision and all he does is watch as the next round begins. The two have stopped trying to trick each other now and just silently chose their answers.

Arisu doesn't know whether they thought their answer was right, or they just wanted to end the game, but both the remaining players chose the minority.

"2 players have chosen minority incorrectly. It is game over for these players"

Arisu heard a hysterical laugh from the woman and the high schooler quietly cried before the cables snapped and the game was over.

Arisu's legs gave out and he let out a bloodcurdling scream. He knew one thing for sure. He wasn't meant for this world and it was going to eat him alive.

Notes:

I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Feel free to leave any feedback in the comment, it's always appreciated!!!

If any of you are interested, you can follow this link to my Tumblr account! Feel free to DM me or ask me any questions on there!

Chapter 4: 6 of Diamonds: Blackjack (1)

Notes:

Hi!!! So sorry for the late update, work has been kicking my ass.

Just a few notes, similar to the last chapter, this game is from the manga and I am in now way claiming that I came up with it. I am merely expanding on the concept. I absolutely love this game and I was so sad they didn’t put it in the show. I also copied these rules straight from the AIB wiki page for this game, as there are a lot of them and I didn’t want to butcher the explanation, so I figured leaving the rules as they are presented in the manga/on the wiki is for the best.
I’ve also split this game into 2 parts, so this is the first part and I look to have the 2nd part posted by tomorrow afternoon/evening.

Thank you to everyone that had read, kudosed, bookmarked and commented on this fic. It means the world to me!!

As always, feel free to leave an feedback in the comments, it is always appreciated.

“Difficulty: Six of Diamonds”

“Game: Blackjack”

The noose sat uncomfortably around Chishiya’s neck. It was more irritating than scary but Chishiya can see why it’d be used to intimidate weak minded players, so he can understand why it was chosen by whoever created this game. The other players don’t seem outwardly bothered by the nooses further cementing the fact they are experienced players.

In front of Chishiya was a page full of rules that stated:
1. A hand closest to or equivalent to 21 wins. Hands with the same points end in draw. Face cards (J, Q, K) are considered 10 points. Ace cards are considered 1 or 11 points, depending on what best suits the player's hand.
2. The non-dealers places chips as their bet. The maximum bet is equivalent to the dealer's maximum number of chips.
3. The dealer deals two cards to all non-dealers. Once dealt, the dealer will flip one of his cards open and leaves the other face down.
4. The non-dealer will be able to stand (stop drawing cards) or hit (draw one card). A double down, split or a non-dealer Blackjack can double the winnings.
5. The dealer must hit if they are at 16 points or below. However, the dealer must stand if they are at 17 points or higher.
6. A bust occurs if the number of points in the player's hand exceeds 21. In the event the dealer and non-dealer both bust, the non-dealer loses.
7. If the non-dealer wins, they receive their betted chips in addition to the equivalent they betted from the dealer.
8. If the dealer uses up the deck during the allotted time, a new dealer will take over.
9. Once a player’s chip count reaches 0, it’s Game Over.
10. It is Game Clear for the last surviving player.
11. Players are not allowed to leave their seats at any point of the game.
12. If more than one player remains by the end of 1 hour, it is Game Over for all players.
13. Illegal transfer of chips and illegal restraint will result in Game Over.
14. In the event that a player is caught cheating, the other players will have a chance to exact judgement and shoot them, giving that player a Game Over. However, this can only be done once per player throughout the entire game.

Chishiya sighed. How boring. He hoped this game would be slightly more interesting considering the stakes of it. He had gotten halfway through the rules and already come up with 17 possible strategies to win. The effectiveness of each depending on the other players actions, but given his earlier observations he’s estimated around 4 of them will lead to absolute victory.

Looking around the table once again, Chishiya notes that he has only 5 chips. While the woman and the cigar man both have 29 chips, the lanky man has 53 and the mechanic has 77. That’s odd, shouldn’t they all start with the same number of chips? Maybe this game will be interesting after all. Well, even if it’s not, Chishiya decides he’ll create his own fun. Maybe, he should put on an act. Who better than to impersonate then a certain Bambi eyed someone. At the very least it’ll throw the others off guard if they catch on to his plan.

It's settled then, Chishiya had his facade planned out and his strategy figured out. This should be easy.

“Excuse me” Chishiya says meekly, “do people really die in these games?” He mentally pats himself on the back for his spot on Arisu impression.

“Well isn’t that something,” the cigar man says mockingly “at least there’s an assured exit, can’t believe a newcomer got mixed up, how unfortunate.”

How Chishiya wants to punch that smug smirk off his face.

“Have you even gambled before?” the old woman asked, pointedly ignoring the man and lighting another cigarette.

“I guess understand the rules’ Chishiya rubs his neck coyly, and cocks his head to the side, like a confused puppy. He’s seen Arisu do that exact gesture numerous times. Chishiya thought it was absolutely adorable, a thought he was determined to take to the grave. Chishiya involuntarily chuckled thinking about it, he worked quickly to disguise its as nerves.

‘Haha….truthfully I don’t understand at all, guess I’ll learn as I go’ the others fell for this hook line and sinker. Not that Chishiya blames them, he has mastered the art of lying and manipulating others over the years. There has only ever been one person that has been able to see through him, but Chishiya ensured he wouldn’t be participating in this game. Besides, there can only be one winner in this game, so Chishiya is happy with his decision to send Arisu away. He likes him too much for him to become a meaningless sacrifice in this game.

“Why do we all have different number of Chips?” the cigar man asked.

“I think they are related to our visas.” the lanky man responds.

“I just arrived here today” Chishiya interjects, pretending to be helpful. It doesn’t matter if he had 5 chips or 500, in the end he was still going to win. He just wanted to see how the others would react and see if there was any useful information he could pry out of the others. The term visa certainly had interesting connotations. Were they in another country perhaps? It would explain the lack of people.

“I see, so those whose visa runs out today only have 5 hours before the laser kills them” the mechanic says.

Well that was a useful piece of information, so if you don’t play the games and top up your visa, you get killed by a laser.

“So I have only 5 ours left to live.” Chishiya says with faux nervousness.

“Game start.”

“I’ll just scope things out first.” the woman and cigar man say at the same time. The woman looks absolutely disgusted at this and takes a long drag of her cigarette.

“I’ll just bet one chip.” Chishiya says with a small smile on his face. He needs to seem nice. Friendly. Naive.

The lanky man deals every player 2 cards each, all of them facing upwards, except his own, where he has one card facing up and one facing down. He currently has a total of 12. While the woman has, two 8s, the mechanic has 13 and the cigar man has 10.

It’s the mechanics turn first and he chooses to hit, a 6 is placed down alongside his Queen and 3, giving him a total of 19. He chooses to stand next, which Chishiya seems as an appropriate response, he had at most a 17% chance of getting a 2 or below, so not worth risking in the first round. Chishiya respects his reasoning, but if he plays it safe every round he certainly won’t win. Not with what Chishiyas planning, and given the stakes of the game, it would be naive to think the others wouldn’t also cheat.

It’s the woman’s turn next and she decides to split her two eights into 2 hands and double down on her bet. She hits on both the hands and gets a J and an A. She stands after that meaning she had a hand with a value of 18 and a value of 19.

It’s the man with the cigars turn and he doubled down on his bet. He is dealt a king sending his point total to 20. Right now he will win the round unless Chishiya or the dealer gets 21. It looks like Chishiya is the most inexperienced out of all of them in this game. He’ll have to be careful otherwise it’ll be dangerous for him.

“It’s your turn,” the dealer says to him, “what do you want to do?”

“Hmm, I guess I’ll hit” Chishiya says in a sickly sweet voice. If his calculations are correct he should have a 87.5% chance of getting a 9 or below, with a 12.5% chance of getting a 9 card. With the little chips he has he can’t afford to play this game safe. Besides there’s more to his decision then just the math and he trusts himself completely.

He is dealt a 2 and his score goes up to 15. “Guess I’ll hit again”. A 3 is then dealt onto his pile. “Hmmm guess I’ll have to hit” and the a 4 is placed on his pile. Perfect. Just as he expected.

“I did it, I got a 21, isn’t that the strongest hand?” Chishiya aims that last question at the cigar man, lacing it with a mocking tone. While it doesn’t look good for the facade he’s put up, he lets it slide just this once. He’s earnt this, and he enjoys how angry it makes the man.

The dealer turns over his own cards and has a 7 and a 9, that’s unfortunate for him, as his total is 16 he has to hit. He ends up going bust when he deals himself a Q. Well that certainty is interesting, isn’t it? If Chishiya hadn’t taken that 4, the dealer would have run that round. Chishiya knew that there would be cheating but to do it this early on in the game, Chishiya was almost impressed.

Chishiya looks at the deck again, the discarded cards are faced up under the deck so when we get to the first faced up card the dealer changes. This makes it easier to strategise because you know how many and what cards have been played since the decks are all the same. The non-dealer can manage their risk of going bust, while the dealer is constrained by the fact they must hit below 17. This means that the players are gambling against the dealers chance of a bust.

“I think I’ve got it” Chishiya says out loud, they’ve finished another round in the time it’s taken for Chishiya to think his way through the game. It’s not like he needed to pay attention anyways, this game relies on rudementary math and strategy, Chishiya could do this in his sleep.

Instead, Chishiya flicks his attention to flipping his chip over and over. The action being the most useful thing in this game and he can tell it’s annoying the cigar man, a fact he revels in.

“Can you cut that out, I can’t concentrate” the man snaps at him.

“Ohh but it’s not against the rules” Chishiya plasters a fake smile across his face. Honestly he doesn’t know how Arisu can stand being this nice all the time, it’s exhausting.

“Fucking brat” is the man’s only response.

A few more rounds pass and its now the old man’s turn to be the dealer.

Chishiya is pleased with his performance thus far, as he’s now sitting at 21 chips, after starting with only 5. The cigar man didn’t seem to agree with this sentiment and started spewing out some garbage that Chishiya didn’t even bother listening to. What was the point, the man was going to die soon and Chishiya would never have to hear his grating voice ever again. The tail end of the man’s rant ended with “-how did his chips even go up by that much”

“Cheating?” the old woman asks Chishiya. Chishiya respected the woman enough to give her a straight answer. After all she was the most skilled player here, after himself of course.

“I wouldn’t say it’s cheating, more card counting” Chishiya has yet to drop his facade. He wants to wait for the perfect moment, the one that will frustrate the annoying man the most. Chishiya continues his explanation.

“From what I’ve observed, the dealer has a high chance of going bust if there are large amounts of 9s,10s/face cards and Aces in the deck which means the non-dealers have an advantage. Conversely, the dealer has a lower chance of going bust when there’s a large number of 2s-8s in the deck, leading to a dealer advantage. Out of the 52 cards in the deck, there are 24 Aces, 9s and 10/face cards. So when you divide 52 by 24 you get the ratio of 2.17. As this ratio increases, the dealer has a higher advantage and vice versa. Therefore, if you keep track of the cards being played and recalculate the ratio accordingly, the plays practically make themselves” Chishiya drops the fake smile and reverts back to his signature smirk. As much as he likes Arisu, he was bored of imitating him. His endless compassion and kindness is tiring to mimic after awhile and Chishiya had been keeping the ruse up for 20 minutes already. Besides, he wanted to win the game his way.

The other players are looking at Chishiya in shock, even the mechanic lost some of his composure.

“So you were using the chips like an abacus.” The woman states, sounding impressed. In some weird way, she reminded Chishiya of his own mother. While his mother was cold, distant and aloof, there were always certain moments when Chishiya did something clever, that her pride for her son would creep through the cracks of her indifferent mask. Chishiya lived for these moments with his mother, always striving to impress her. That’s why part of him preened when the woman was impressed with him. What a dangerous attachment to make in a game like this. This could lead to Chishiyas downfall but he couldn’t care less. After all, this is the most fun he’d had in a long time.

“In such a short amount of time, you came up with a card counting theory?” The lanky man asked, Chishiya didn’t even bother responding, why would he when the man was so far beneath him.

“Only the most skilled players can make calculations like those, there’s no way an amateur-“ the man started shouting again. Chishiya chose this moment to interrupt him. How Chishiya had been desperately waiting to put the man in his place.

“Feel free to take note, after all, the only thing idiots can do is mimic others.”

The man goes red with rage at this but doesn’t make any effort to respond. His ego is surely too damaged. That will make the next few rounds easy. Chishiya always loved when all his pawns fell in line and now is no different.

“This is my last round as dealer.” The lanky man says, breaking the silence. He holds the deck up to show everyone.

According to his counting, the lanky man has used up 49 cards as dealer, with 21 of the non-dealer advantageous cards being used up. Which means, during play, he must have placed 3 face cards back into the playing deck. Observing his characteristics and how he handles the cards, Chishiya would guess that he’s some kind of magician, so slipping the cards back into the deck would be child’s play.

As they play through the round, Chishiya observes his opponents very carefully. The woman is definitely up to something, which is confirmed when she quickly glances at the deck before doubling down on her bet. It truly was a quick glance, Chishiya would have missed it if he hadn’t been paying attention but it was there and it was just long enough to notice the slight bend to the corner of the card. It’s at this moment Chishiya first considers using the gun, he could exact the so called ‘divine judgement’ on the woman. He had clearly caught her cheating. It would be the perfect opportunity to get rid of a troublesome player, especially seen as he has developed an unhealthy association of this woman to his mother. It would be the perfect opportunity to get rid of his main weakness in this game.

However, Chishiya decides to ignore her cheating, it would do him no good to use the gun now, as no one else has used one. Sure, it would be a good short term plan, but it would leave him vulnerable further down the line.

Chishiya instead focuses on the annoying man next. He’s using his ring as a mirror, so as he’s handling the cards, he can get a glimpse of the top card. What a boring technique. Chishiya isn’t surprised that’s all he could come up with. It matches his pathetic existence perfectly. Chishiya wants to use the gun on him and he would be well within his right to do so. But sadly, that course of action would be irrational, and he won’t lose this game because he can’t control himself. He has a feeling the man will die soon anyways. Chishiya decides to mess with him instead.

“It must be hard to deal with that ring on, how about you take it off?” Chishiya says condescendingly.

“How annoying can you be” the man says harshly. The tone was music to Chishiya’s ears.

The round of betting comes to an end, and the cigar man starts up with his obnoxious commentary again. “Ohhh look a bust? Guess I’ll take all the chips.”

Chishiya snorts. How stupid can this man be?

“Wow, however will we recover from that devastating loss,” Chishiya says sarcastically. It seems that only the woman hears him and offers her own chuckle in response. Chishiya was liking her more and more. It truly was a shame that she’d have to die.

It’s at this moment the other players decided to go on the offensive, he could see the shift in their eyes. Chishiya decides to bet one chip. There was no need to overdo it, everyone else will do that for him.

“Why are you betting so low, have you finally learned your place? Don’t worry I’ll soon have you begging, and I’ll wipe that smug smirk right off your face.”

That final comment rubbed Chishiya the wrong way and he curled his fist in anger, his nails pressing into his skin hard enough to draw blood. It’s not like he hadn’t heard that comment before. Arisu practically lived to tell him how much he wanted to wipe the smirk off his face. Was it because of Arisu? Sure, comparing Arisu to this vile man left a bitter taste in Chishiya’s mouth but surely he wouldn’t be this angry about it.

Before Chishiya had chance to get too deep in his thoughts the mechanic spoke up. “I’ll go all in, 34 chips”

“What are you playing at?” The cigar man shouts back.

“This game needs to end with one person within the time limit, otherwise it’s game over for all of us, which means we need to destroy one person at a time, you understand right?” This time it was the magician that spoke up. “The rules state that the bet limit is the number of chips the dealer has, that means if the dealer goes bust he ends up with 0 chips.”

“Which means us non-dealers just have to focus on not going bust.” the woman adds.

“So you bastards are tryna off me. How dare you! Do you know who I am?” The desperation in the man’s voice is apparent to everyone at the table now despite how much the man tries to hide it. How the mighty have fallen, Chishiya thinks. He takes his time to enjoy this moment, watching the man’s entire world crumble as he watches himself die. Chishiya had never seen something so beautiful. Well maybe one thing.

The man is now blubbering something about tricks now. In his panic he doesn’t even realize he’s talking. Despite his dire situation, there’s still a hint of overconfidence there. If Arisu were here, he would say it’s due to the man’s narcissistic tendencies, or his sociopathy. Chishiya didn’t have the same interest in psychology that Arisu but he always enjoyed listening to the other talk about it. He always got so animated and passionate, it was adorable.

As Chishiya was thinking about Arisu, the round came to a swift conclusion. The cigar man went bust, he didn’t even have time to scream before he was yanked upwards. What a fitting end.

Chishiya didn’t even bother sparing him another glance, instead preparing himself for what’s to come.

“We’ll destroy each dealer one by one. The next one is you, Chishiya Shuntaro.”

Notes:

I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Feel free to leave any feedback in the comment, it's always appreciated!!!

If any of you are interested, you can follow this link to my Tumblr account! Feel free to DM me or ask me any questions on there!

Chapter 5: 6 of Diamonds: Blackjack (2)

Notes:

Here’s part 2!!! I hope you enjoy!!! Similar to the first part, some of the interactions between the characters and the events that happen in the rest of this game are in the manga, I’ve just elaborated on them in a way that fits my story. I am in now way trying to claim them as my own work.

Thank you so much for reading!! I appreciate everyone that leaves Kudos/Comments/ those of you that have bookmarked, so an extra special thank you to you guys!! I hope you like this chapter.

I’m also thinking of doing a spin off fic based on Chishiya and Arisu’s time in med school let me know if this is something you’d be interested in!!

Chishiya knew some part of him should be worried. Some deep part of his brain where all his repressed emotions are hiding should be screaming at him. But the longer Chishiya considers the man’s words, the less he can bring himself to care. The prospect of his own death means nothing to him. In fact, he hasn’t felt this alive in years and it’s when he’s on the brink of death. How ironic.

Chishiya’s calmness seems to unnerve everyone else at the table, especially as the round progresses. He started this round with 13 chips and since he became the dealer he’s used mostly 2-8 cards. Using his card counting theory, this means Chishiya is in a terrible situation as dealer, as all the non-dealers have an advantage due to the remaining cards. He also has the guns to worry about, as if he’s caught cheating, he’ll be shot. It really seems like Chishiya has no options left.

Or at least that’s what he wants the others to think. The mechanic seems confident in his ability to kill Chishiya, but he has made one critical error. When strategising, it is important to consider the strength of your self and your opponent, as well as your own weaknesses. A good strategy enhances your own strengths and preys on the other’s weakness. The man seems to be so confident in his own skills, he hasn’t even considered the fact that he could lose this game. In short, he had overestimated himself and underestimated his opponents. This is his glaring weakness. A weakness Chishiya intends to capitalise on.

“It’s about time for a showdown,” the mechanic says “I’m begging the max.”

Chishiya currently has a 5 and a 9, meaning he needs a 7 to win. Not that it matters, he had already planned for this to be the case. Distract the others with his left hand, drawing their eyes away from the cards and he’ll flip the deck, meaning the new top card will be a 7 and he has a guaranteed win.

“I’m in trouble if this isn’t a 7 so I’m just going to perform my good luck ritual” Chishiya says, as he moves his left hand around in a circular motion, making strange hand gestures.

“Stop fucking around and hurry up!” the mechanic snaps.

Chishiya deals a 7 and has a total score of 21, meaning he is the winner of that round. He wishes Arisu could have been around to see it. The doe eyed boy would never admit it, but Chishiya knows he would’ve been impressed. The other 3 are looking at him in shock. Chishiya puts on a sickly sweet smile and stares straight at the mechanic. Chishiya decides to push further. “Will you bet the limit again? If I win this time that means I’ll have more chips than you, and you’ll be being hunted.”

“I absolutely refuse to let anymore tricks past me. I will not allow the slightest bit of cheating and if I catch you, consider yourself dead.” The man responds coldly, regaining his earlier composure. That’s a shame, Chishiya liked him more when he was all worked up.

The round concludes and the magician becomes the dealer once again. Instead of shuffling and dealing straight away, he decides to inspect the cards. A very foolish move, in Chishiyas opinion, everyone at the table could see what he was trying to do. To try and pull such an obvious trick after the mechanics bold declaration. Chishiya couldn’t decide if the magician was brave or stupid.

As he starts shuffling again, the mechanic lets out a loud shout. This stops the dealer dead in his tracks and exposed his second deal strategy. As the top card is firmly held in place by his thumb and he is trying to deal the one below it.

“Sha. Sha. Shu.” The man says “The cards sound different, there’s absolutely no excuse you’ve been caught red handed.”

It’s at this moment that all the buttons light up on the table. The mechanic presses his button immediately, and his gun is released. How short sighted. Chishiya knew this would happen, yet he still feels disappointed with the man. He’d expected better from him, after all it was such a basic error to make.

The mechanic wastes no time in shooting the magician. Leaving only the three of them remaining.

Perfect. Chishiya can now put the final parts of his plan in motion.

“I’ll give you a word of warning.” the mechanic speaks up again, strangely calm considering he just murdered a man. “Have you heard of a card mechanic before? You see, their sleight of hand operates with machine like precision, they’re trickmasters hired to work at casinos. I did this job for 10 years in Vegas, meaning you won’t be able to win any hands while I’m dealer. I’m going to bet the limit each time and destroy you one by one.”

There it is, the final piece of Chishiya’s plan. This is the man’s greatest weakness. His arrogance has left him vulnerable. And a vulnerable target makes for an easy kill.

“What a bunch of good for nothings. Overconfident, arrogant, deceitful, always kicking others while they’re down. Every self proclaimed master I’ve ever met is a good for nothing.” The woman said, her voice filled with disdain.

“You sound like you’ve got experience” the mechanic replies.

“Yeah, the absolute sleaziest trick master I knew was my idiot late husband. Always so full of himself, everything that came out of his mouth was a brag. Lies that smothered him in debt and women. I don’t know why I stayed with him that long. After he died, I arrived here, and I thought I was free but here I am trapped with a character I hate most of all.”

This was just the reaction he was hoping for from the woman. The next stage will be so much easier with her on board. After all, between himself and the mechanic, she harbors the most resentment for the mechanic. Meaning the risk of his next play has significantly decreased.

“Do you want to make a bet?” Chishiya asks the mechanic, “With that fancy trick you do it’d be easy to make cards reappear and disappear at will, so I want to bet that you’ve got 2 cards stashed away in your left sleeve.”

“So what, are you going to conduct a body search. In this moment, I may have returned the card back to the deck.”

“So, why don’t you make the bet with me then?” Chishiya responded playfully, “Hey lady, do you want to join in the bet?”

“This is stupid,” The man interjects quickly, preventing the woman from responding “there’s no time for this bullshit.”

Chishiya makes eye contact with the woman. She immediately understands what Chishiya is planning. He knew he liked her. It’s a shame he can’t keep her around.

“What an unpleasant role you’ve thrust me into. Don’t think this is your doing boy.” The woman says before taking a long drag of her cigarette.

“What are you two talking about?” Chishiya ignored the man, instead reaching into his pocket to retrieve the card he hid earlier. He holds it in plain view of the others, and makes sure they are both paying attention as he crumples it.

“Oh no! I’ve crumpled an inconvenient card, that can be considered cheating right?”

The woman’s button lights up. As the man used his gun earlier, he is now defenseless and can’t act on Chishiya’s ‘cheating’. However, because Chishiya had been the one caught cheating, he also couldn’t use his own gun. That means the next part of his plan was a major gamble. The woman could shoot either of them, but Chishiya is fairly certain she’ll choose the mechanic. One can’t be 100% sure in situations like this, but the mechanic is the biggest threat and she obviously can’t stand him. So Chishiya feels fairly happy with his decision.

The woman acts exactly as he predicted and shoots the man. Leaving just the two of them. Chishiya aims to finish this in one round.

“You’re quite the boy.” the woman starts “Without knowing the rules and on your first day in the borderlands you defeated maters of trickery. You’ve manipulated everything right up to defeating me. I’ve used my gun now, no matter what tricks you use I can’t do anything and you destroying that card has significantly lowered my chances of winning. Well played son.”

Chishiya suddenly has the urge to cling to the woman. Hug her and let her praise him for the rest of his life. It’s everything he ever wanted from his own mother. He is practically beaming with pride at all the praise she’s giving him, although he keeps it hidden behind his indifferent mask. Chishiya hates this part of himself. The childish part of himself he couldn’t seem to kill, no matter how hard he tried. He decides to ignore the woman all together, instead, dealing them 2 cards each.

“Shall we end this without any lingering malice?” Chishiya asks, the woman looks confused. “We bet all our remaining chips with the 2 cards we’ve been dealt and we stand after they’ve been flipped. So whoever has the highest score wins.”

The woman looks at Chishiya bewildered. “You’ve gotten this far, you have an assured chance of winning and you’re leaving it up to fate?”. The woman is staring at Chishiya, trying to discern if he is tricking her or not. Chishiya wants to assure her he’s not, but she will have to come to that conclusion on her own.

“My, what a sad existence, indeed” the woman states. “You have so little regard for your own life, yet I see a determination in your eyes to keep on living. You truly are an enigma.”

“There is someone I hold very close to my heart, and I think they’d be sad if I died. That’s enough reason for me to keep living. I may not value my own life, but this person values it, even if they would never admit it.”

The woman is smiling at him now, and part of Chishiyas heart breaks for her. He really didn’t want her to die. It’s why he’s granted her this final opportunity to win.

He flips all the cards, wanting to end the round quickly. Chishiya scores 10 while the woman scores 7. Her death is swift after that

“Game clear. Congratulations.”

Chishiya removes the noose from around his neck and heads towards the entrance of the restaurant. He stares at the phone in his hand. There is a line of text that says visa and then under that it has the number 6. Does that mean 6 days until he needs to play again? Why six? Is it related to the difficulty of the game?

Chishiya decides to set these questions aside for later. He can meet up with Arisu and they can share what they’ve learnt. That’s assuming Arisu clears his game. Wait.

Is Arisu even alive?

A wave of emotion strikes Chishiya as he asks himself that. He hadn’t once stopped to consider whether his Bambi eyed boy had died. After all, if his game had been anything like Chishiya’s, he might have died in the first round. He’s too sweet and self sacrificing to allow others to die just so he could survive. Maybe Chishiya should have gone to the game with him. At least then he could have ensured Arisu’s survival.

Chishiya breaks out into a sprint. Barely taking the time to pick up the 6 of diamonds card laying in front of him. While it wasn’t a priority for him right now, he knows he would regret leaving it behind.

After what feels like an eternity of running, Chishiya stops a block away from their designated meeting spot. If Arisu was alive and waiting for him, he didn’t want him seeing Chishiya all worked up. He waits to catch his breath, schools his expression and starts his slow walk to the crossing.

When he arrives, his heart sinks. He’s alone. The power has gone out again and he’s left alone in the darkness, no Arisu in sight.

For the first time in his life, Chishiya doesn’t know what to do.

Notes:

I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Feel free to leave any feedback in the comment, it's always appreciated!!!

If any of you are interested, you can follow this link to my Tumblr account! Feel free to DM me or ask me any questions on there!

Chapter 6: Hatter

Notes:

Hiii!!! I hope you like this chapter!! I watched it while watching the new season of heartstopper and cried my eyes out. So I tried to make this chapter extra fluffy and lighthearted!!

Thankyou to everyone that has read, kudosed commented on this fic. I really appreciate it!!!!

Feel free to leave any feedback in the comments!!!

By the time Arisu finally came to, all the lights in the building had been switched off. Meaning he couldn't get the elevator back downstairs and had to walk down to the ground floor. Arisu felt numb. He had gone from the sheer feeling of terror to an almost dissociative state. He knew this was his mind trying to protect itself but it still frustrated him. He just watched four people die and his mind won’t let him feel anything.

Gripping the card tightly in his hand he picked up the pace. He promised Chishiya he’d meet back up with him. Knowing him, he’d probably be done already and would be tired of waiting for Arisu. That’s if he didn’t decide to ditch him. Arisu wouldn’t blame him, in a world like this, a person like Arisu would be a complete liability. He hoped that Chishiya would stick around. He doesn’t know if he could survive in this world on his own.

The thought of Chishiya not surviving his game crossed Arisus mind once or twice but he quickly dismissed it. Arisu refused to believe Chishiya would lose his game. Out of everyone Arisu knew, Chishiya was the most suited to this new world. He was smart, cunning and calm when under immense pressure.

Arisu had been walking for ten minutes before he realised he was completely lost. Great. He’d been so caught up in his own head he hadn’t realised he’d been walking in the complete wrong direction. Without any streetlights it made it even harder for him to figure out where he was. While he stood looking for any familiar landmarks he heard faint yelling in the distance. Deciding to investigate further, he heads towards the noise.

He ends up outside another game venue. It has an array of cars parked outside and he can see 7 men coming out of the building. They all have swimsuits on and are yelling amongst themselves.

“Let’s get back to the beach!” a man Arisu would assume to be their leader says, “Hatter is going to be pleased with this card.” And with that the group jumped in the cars and sped away.

The Beach? Hatter? What did that mean?

This was all too overwhelming for Arisu. He feels like he’s having a fever dream. Right now he just needs sleep. He can think about everything in the morning.

But first, Chishiya.

Arisu is still unsure of where he is, but he just picks a direction and walks in it. He wanders around for another 2 hours before he finally finds the crossing. He searches frantically for Chishiya and is relieved to find him leaning against a nearby building.

Had he waited all of this time just for Arisu? Most people would have left by now. A wave of relief washes over Arisu. He thought he would end up alone.

“Chishiya!” Arisu shouts. He barrels into the shorter man trying to hug him. What Arisu fails to consider is the fact that he’s at least a foot taller than Chishiya and his momentum sends them both falling to the floor. Chishiya does his best trying to hold them up but that ultimately fails.

Arisu is sobbing into Chishiyas jacket now, not caring that they’re on the floor. Chishiya doesn’t say anything and just pats Arisu on the head. Chishiya waited until Arisu calmed down more before speaking up again. “You really kept me waiting Bambi”

Arisu mumbled something into Chishiyas jacket. “I can’t hear you when you stuff your face into my jacket like that.” Chishiya would never admit this but he found Arisu’s shyness quite endearing.

“….I got lost.” Chishiya blinks at Arisu for a few seconds before bursting into laughter. “How do you get lost? You literally walked in a straight line away from me”

“Hey! It wasn’t just a straight line, there were some turns, the rights and lefts are very confusing!”

They both giggle at this. Arisu is thankful for this moment. It’s the most at ease he’s been all night.

“I think we should find somewhere to stay and then we can share what we’ve learnt.” Chishiya says to Arisu, even though it’s the last thing he wants to do right now. He would stay on the floor holding Arisu forever but that wasn’t an option for them right now.

Arisu forces himself up and brushes down his clothes, “That’s a good idea, my house is not too far from here we could stay there.”

“That’ll do, right now I want to focus on shelter, then tomorrow we can go out and find supplies.” With that, they both head towards Arisu’s house.

Arisu grabs the sleeve of Chishiyas jacket. He isn’t brave enough to grab his hand but he needs to feel connected to the other somehow. Chishiya doesn’t react to this, except a slight eyebrow raise in Arisu’s direction.

It takes roughly 15 minutes to get to Arisu’s front door. He begrudgingly lets go of Chishiya while he reaches for his keys.

“Shit!” Arisu says frustratedly, “I left my keys at Karubes bar, where are we supposed to go now?” Chishiya laughs at this, the reaches into his pocket and pulls out his own key.

“Why do you have a key to my house?” Arisu asks. Chishiya huffs our a laugh and rolls his eyes. “Your Dad gave it to me. Told me I was welcome anytime.” Now it was Arisu’s turn to roll his eyes. If Fourse his father would give Chishiya a key. He’s practically adopted him at this point.

Walking in, Arisu regrets choosing his house now. Well it’s technically his father’s house but same difference. His room is an absolute mess. He had gotten out of exam hell to then lock himself in his room and play video games all day. There are bags of takeout all over his bedroom floor, and his exam notes are still laying all over his desk. Now he really wishes he’d listened to his father about cleaning it up. His saving grace is that he entered the house before Chishiya so he had a head start before the other saw the state of his room.

Arisu in his panic opened up his bedroom window and threw all the takeaway bags out of it. They world was basically ending, no point worrying about recycling now. Arisu decides to leave the notes where they are. He’s working on a short time frame now and they are the least disgusting thing in his room.

He is quickly making his bed when Chishiya steps into the doorway. Arisu is heaving like he's just ran a marathon and Chishiya doesn’t even bother hiding his amusement.

“You sure ran here in a hurry. Are you hiding a dead body in here or what?”

Arisu let's out a weak chuckle, between deep breaths. Good God he is really out of shape. He really hopes none of these games involve running.

“Do you think we should talk about our games now?” Arisu really doesn’t want to relive his game but he knows it’s important.

“Yeah I think that'd be good. Maybe we should grab some food first though. I’m starving.”

“Me too. I'll go see what we have in the cupboard.”

They spend the next 2 hours eating and talking about their respective games. Arisu can't help but be in awe at Chishiya. How quickly he came up with the winning strategy and all the information he found from the other players.

“Arisu.” Chishiya says seriously, “I know you don't want to but I think we need to play the games again tomorrow night. Right now we are still missing a lot of information, and the only way I can see to get it is to play. This time we can play together as a team.”

“Do we really have to? We have 4 and 6 days on the visas. Can't we wait a little longer?”

“I don't want to wait until either of us have no other choice but to play, what happens if we get injured and there's one day left on the visa?. Or what if they don't do games every night? It makes no sense to wait. You're letting your fear of these games influence your decision. You need to think logically Arisu.”

“Yeah I guess you're right.”

“Of course I am. Now we're going to go to sleep and we’ll get up early in the morning. I need to pick up a few things.”

“Yeah okay. You can stay in my room and I can go to my brothers-”

“I don't think it's a good idea for us to split up. We don't know who is out there and we're vulnerable when were asleep we should stay in the same room.”

“Well now you don't want to split up” Arisu murmers. “Thats fine I'll take the floor then.”

“Dont be silly, there's plenty of room on the bed, it'd be stupid of you to stay on the floor. I promise I don't bite.”

“Fine.” Arisu says halfheartedly. If someone would’ve told him this morning he'd he sharing a bed with his mortal enemy, Arisu would’ve laughed in their face. But as he climbs into bed next to Chishiya he accepts that this is his strange new reality.

The sun the next morning wakes Arius up.

“Shit. Shit. Shit. I'm late. So late.” Arisu practically leaps out of bed, running towards his wardrobe. He was supposed to start his residency today. Late on the first day. What a great first impression. How come his alarm didn’t go off anyways?

Arisu is broken out of his fretting by a laugh. He whips around and notices the Blonde haired man starting at him. On Arisus's desk is an old timey radio a bunch of wires and a bunch of other things that Arisu’s half asleep mind can’t comprehend.

“Did you go shopping?” Arisu gets out between yawns, still delirious from sleep.

“You're laughing at me!” Arisu pouts at the other man and turns away.

“What did you stop for, I thought you were late?”

“What are you-SHIT!” Arisu goes back to frantically running around. Chishiya is laughing even harder now.

Arisu suddenly stops in his tracks. All the events from last night come rushing back to him.

Arisu wants to curl up in a ball and die. And Chishiya had seen him running around and everything.

“Finally come back to your senses
Bambi?”

Arisu puts his head in his hands and let's out a long groan. “….shut up. Go back to whatever you were doing before. What even is it that you're doing anyways?”

“I'm building a time travel device so I can go back to a time where we didn't have this conversation”

“Haha very funny. Seriously, did you go out on your own? What about all the safety stuff and not splitting up.”

“I'm not vulnerable when I'm awake, and maybe I just wanted to use you as a pillow. I was right, as per usual, you do make a good pillow.” Chishiya responds, not even looking at Arisu anymore, “For the record,I tried to wake you up, but you sleep like the dead and I got bored.”

Wait. Make a good pillow? Does that mean they cuddled last night. Arisu thinks about it and is supposed when he doesn't hate the idea. In fact, a small part of him likes the idea of sleeping next to Chishiya. It makes him feel safe.

“To answer your question from earlier, I'm building a taser. I had a look at some of the electronics around your room. It's all the IC chips that have been destroyed. Meaning older analogue electronics still work but newer stuff like phones and computers are useless. So using this old radio I can make a taser. I just need to figure out a way to charge it.”

Arisu thinks over what Chishiya just said. Most if it goes way over Arisu’s head but he trusts Chishiya knows what he’s doing. “Why don't you use the power from the game venues to charge it. Like when you're waiting for the game to start, could you charge it then?”

“Guess you're not just a pretty face” Chishiya responds. “While that would work for short periods of time, I’d like to find something more long term. But it will do for now. To show my gratitude you can have a pack of my biscuits.”

Chishiya hands over a packet of biscuits. The same brand he was eating last night. Where does he even find these.

“I also stopped by the hospital and picked up some supplies. Basic medical things. Let’s hope you paid attention in class Arisu.” Arisu stuck his tongue out at Chishiya. He knew it was childish but Chishiya was taunting him so he felt justified in his response. “All the pharmacies have been ransacked and so there's nothing useful there.”

“I guess that means we aren’t alone here. Oh, that reminds me, I saw something on my way back from my game last night.”

“When you got lost you mean”

“When I was on my way back.” Arisu corrected. “ There were these players coming out of another game. Said something about Hatter being pleased with the card they got. Maybe there’s a group?”

“That’s interesting and it could prove to be useful later on. Good work. When we go to the game tonight we’ll keep an eye out. Anything else about them stand out?”

“Yeah they were wearing swimsuits.” Chishiya just stares at Arisu, not knowing what to say to that. After a minute of pure silence, he just goes back to working on his taser. He doesn’t have the mental energy to deal with this right now.

Arisu spends the whole day mulling about. Mentally preparing himself for the game tonight. He feels like he should’ve been more helpful but honestly what could he do? Chishiya was so focused on the taser and Arisu would’ve just been in the way. Instead Arisu decides to go back to sleep. He wants to be in top form for tonighy.

Chishiya finally looks up from his taser. His neck was killing him but he wanted to get this done before their next game. Between the both of them Chishiya thinks they could handle any of the diamond or heart games, as they seem to be mostly intellectual but any sort of physical game would be a struggle, so Chishiya wanted to make sure they had something to protect themselves. Arisu had fallen back asleep almost 2 hours ago. Chishiya thought about waking him up but decided against it. He looked peaceful like that and he could do with the rest. He had looked so haunted last night when they reunited that Chishiya was happy the other had returned to their usual happy self. Or as happy as he could be for the situation.

However, they needed to leave soon. Chishiya hated himself for disturbing Arisu but it needed to be done. If they leave any later there might not be any games left.

“Morning sunshine” Chishiya says, trying to pass the softness in his voice as sarcasm. He hates the effect Arisu has on him, it makes him feel soft. Weak. But at the same time he also loves it. He makes him feel human.

After another 10 minutes Arisu is ready to go. He hates that they have to play again. But Chishiya is right, they need as much information as they can get. And besides they’re together for this game, with Chishiya there’s no chance they could fail. The only building that seems to have lights on is a high school that’s about a 20 minute walk from Arisu’s house. It’s like a beacon in the otherwise pitch black city.

When Arisu and Chishiya walk in there at least 30 people waiting in the reception area. They both walk over to the table with the phones and register. It seems they’ll be waiting a while as the game needs 50 players to start. Chishiya finds a plug socket and sits in the corner so he can charge his taser. Arisu follows him over and sits next to him. He still hasn’t fully come around from his earlier nap and looks like he might fall asleep again. Chishiya thinks it’s cute.

A short while later, a large group of people, roughly 10 of them, walk into the arena. They are all wearing swimsuits. So Arisu was right about them being a group. The one that interests Chishiya the most is the man at the very front. He reminds Chishiya of a cult leader. The man looks over in their direction and makes eye contact with him. It makes his skin crawl, especially when his gaze falls on Arisu and he licks his lips. Chishiya wants to go over there and remove his head from his shoulders. How dare he look at Arisu that way. He’s only saved by the fact Arisu seems oblivious man’s actions and is instead staring worriedly at Chishiya. “Is everything okay?” Arisu asks worriedly. Chishiya mentally scolds himself for worrying the other. He should be better at hiding his emotions now. Arisu always has been strangely perceptive though.

A few more players trickle in and soon enough there are 50 players and the game begins.

“Please get into groups of 5 and head towards the auditorium.” The announcer says. There is a lot of murmuring amongst the players. All of them are starting to form groups.

Arisu and Chishiya are approached by a girl with dreadlocks. She’s wearing jeans and a bra and has a cigarette hanging out of her mouth. She’s not someone Chishiya or Arisu would normally associate themselves with but she looks like she has a strong build so Chishiya thinks she’d make a good teammate, especially in the event of a physical game.

“Hey, my names Kuina, let’s team up.” the girl says extending her hand to Chishiya. He just grunts then turns away from her. “What’s wrong, did you forget how to use your words?” Kuina asks him mockingly.

“I don’t know. Did you forget how to put a shirt on?” She laughs at this.

“I like you! I’ve decided, we’re friends now.” Chishiya opts to ignore the her. Instead looking around for more potential partner choices. Kuina and Arisu seem to be in deep conversation now and Chishiya can’t help but be slightly jealous.

His thoughts are interrupted when the man from earlier approaches them “Well hello fellow players, I don’t believe I’ve seen you around before. How about me and my friend team up with your little group for this game. I’d like to get to know you all better.” As he says that last line, he is only looking at Arisu. It takes all of Chishiya’s self control not to attack the man then and there. He has a feeling he might be important, especially with the information Arisu found out. If he’s collecting the cards he’ll know what they mean. Also, it’s not looking like there are any other people left that could join their group.

“Yeah thats fine with us, we need two more teammates anyways” Arisu responds for the group. “What are your names?”

“Oh my aren’t you cute? My names Takeru Danma but you can just call me Hatter. And this fellow here is Kuzuryu.”

Hatter? Does this mean this guy is the leader of those men from the other game. If so, he might know a fair bit about this world. Arisu can’t see Chishiya wanting to join Hatter’s group but he might be useful in gaining information about this world.

“And who are you?” The other man, Kuzuryu asks. It’s at this moment Chishiya chooses to speak up.

“This is Kuina” he says pointing to the girl. “I’m Chishiya, and this is my boyfriend Arisu.”

Boyfriend! Arisu’s brain screams at him. Since when were they boyfriends. Arisu knew he had a few too many beers last night but he wasn’t drunk enough to forget that. Arisu had never even kissed someone before, let alone been in a relationship. Was there some secret code that meant sharing a bed equaled boyfriends.

No. Chishiya wouldn’t do something as irrational as this without reason. Arisu decides to go along with it. He’d get Chishiya to explain later but for now he’d trust him.

“My, my you two make a fine couple.” Hatter responds “Now why don’t we head towards the auditorium, I want to see what the games have in store for us.”

With that their group walks in silence to the hall. Chishiya grabs Arisu’s hand, probably wanting to sell the whole boyfriend thing.

When all the players were present in the auditorium the announcer spoke up again.

“Difficulty: 7 of Clubs. Game: Olympiad”

Notes:

Did Chishiya pretend that he needed to share a bed with Arisu for ‘safety’. Yes, yes he did!! And I love the fake dating trope so I included that too!!!

I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Feel free to leave any feedback in the comment, it's always appreciated!!!

If any of you are interested, you can follow this link to my Tumblr account! Feel free to DM me or ask me any questions on there!

Chapter 7: 7 of Clubs: Olympiad (1)

Notes:

Hi guys!! Sorry it's been a while! I've been dealing with a lot on my plate, from getting my exam results to moving to a new city to go to university and getting a boyfriend (yay!!!) I haven't had much of a chance to update this fic but now that I've settled into a routine I plan to do regular updates.

Thankyou for all your support! And we've reached over 100 Kudos so Thankyou so much for your support and kind words!!!

As always, any feedback in the comments will be appreciated. Hope you enjoy the chapter!

“Rules: Each member of your team must select a subject to participate in. The subjects are: Maths, Science, History, Geography and English. There will be 10 questions per subject. To answer a question the players must hit the buzzer. Any attempt to answer when it is not a players turn will result in game over. The player that hits the buzzer the fastest will have the right to answer the question. A correct answer will add one point to the teams total. An incorrect answer will lead to a game over. The team with the highest overall score wins. Only one team may clear the game. Teams must now select a player for each subject.”

“Wow this game is high stakes indeed” Hatter comments, breaking some of the tension. “Although it feels more like a Diamonds game than a clubs. What do you think Kuzuryu?”

Kuzuryu seems fed up with Hatter and gives a non commital grunt.

“Excuse me.” Arisu says walking up to Hatter “What do the suits mean? You said this seems more like a diamonds game right, meaning the suit means something right?”

“Oh wow you’re so cute. I didn’t realise you two were new players” Kuina looks very nervous at this admission. “Is this your first game?”

“No, it’s our second” Arisu responds, shifting awkwardly at the growing nervousness of Kuina and Kuzuryu.

“Well, my dear. I’ll explain to you what it means. Diamond games are games that focus on intelligence. Spades are games that focus on physical abilities. Clubs focus on teamwork. And hearts focus on betrayal. Of course the number on the card indicates the difficulty. Looks like our game is going to be a little tricky.”

Chishiya remained stoic and silent throughout the entire interaction.
He was mentally taking note of everything that Hatter was saying but he also wanted to focus on the game.

“So how are we going to split this?” Kuina asks, “I’m not really good at the whole school thing so I won’t be much help here.”

“I’m fluent in English” Kuzuryu says “I’ll take that subject.”

“Chishiya and I have completed med school so I think we should take the math and science subjects. Chishi I’m assuming you want to take Science.”

Chishiya nodded at Arisu, he was suprised that he used the nickname again. Arisu had started using it when he kept calling Arisu Bambi. Chishiya notes it down to the stress of the situation. Or maybe Arisu is trying to play along with Chishiyas boyfriend ploy. If so their time in this world is about to get much more entertaining.

“Well that settles that,” Kuzuryu says “Now it’s between World History and Geography what subject do you want Kuina?”

“I don’t know much about History, so I’ll go with Geography”

“Ooooo lucky me, I’ll take History. This’ll be fun”

“Only answer if you feel sure of your answer. There’s no point risking a game over in the questions round.” Kuzuryu says.

“Will players participating in the Maths competition please make their way to one of the podium.” As the announcer said that the stage lit up, showing 10 podiums, each with their own button. Arisu decides he’s going to choose the podium on the far left.

Before Arisu has the chance to leave Chishiya grabs him by the arm and pulls him close. Before he can even register what’s going on, he feels Chishiyas hot mouth on top of his. Arisus mind goes blank. What the fuck. Is Chishiya Shuntaro, asshole of the century, his worst enemy, really making out with him. In front of all these people too?

A wolfwistle breaks Arisu out of his trance. He glances over to the source of the noise and sees Hatter clapping excitedly. The noise seems to draw Chishiyas attentions too as he's no longer kissing him.

“Good luck baby, I know you'll do great.” Christina says flirtatious it before going back to his corner.

Arisu shakily makes his way towards the podium trying to make sense of what just happened

“Round start.”

“Question 1: What is the area of this polygon?"

A large shape appeared on the screen. It was a 12 sided shapes made up of triangles.

"Working out the area should be fairly easy, just time consuming." Chishiya said to Kuina, who looked at the shape bewildered.

"Well aren't you a clever clogs" Hatter says sarcastically, rolling his eyes at Chishiya.

Arisu was the first to his buzzer. He was fairly confident in his answer to this one and playing to safe woundn't cut it in this game. He was confident enough in his base mathematical ability to take more risks than he probably should have.

“Correct.”

Arisu let out a sigh of relief. If all the questions were like this he had a decent shot at raking up points. That’s good. Chishiya would likely get all the points in his round. Arisu can’t guess what the others would perform like but Hatter seemed to have a lot of faith in Kuzuryu.

“Question 2: which number is missing from this Pythagorean triple? (77 and 85)"

This time a girl pressed a buzzer before Arisu.

“26” she answers confidently. That was a different answer to what Arisu got, he got 36.

“Incorrect”

A laser shot down and pierced the woman’s skull. Arisu capitalized on everyone’s shock and rushed to press the button.

“36” Arisu shouts, the other players on stage staring at him in disbelief.

“Correct. Another point added to team 10.”

As the round progressed, Chishiya could see Arisu grow more confident. He had correctly answered 5 out of the 7 questions so far giving them a good lead seen as the other 2 points were split amongst the remaining teams.

Arisu could feel his heart beating out of his chest. The pressure of this round was really getting to him, he was happy with his performance so far but he didn’t want to push his luck and become over confident.

As the round continued 3 more players answered incorrectly and died. Arisu managed to score another 2 points for his team, giving them a huge lead with 7 points in total. Arisu breathed a sigh of relief. Thankful his round was over.

“Will players participating in the Science competition please make their way to the podium”

Hearing that, Chishiya made his way towards the podium, barely sparing the other members of his team a second thought. If all the questions were the same difficulty as Arisus were then he’d get these 10 points easy.

Arisu had never been so jealous of Chishiya in his life. He just sauntered up to the stage with zero hesitation. His face still had that arrogant smirk. They were in a death game for fucks sake and he didn’t even feel an ounce of nervousness.

Arisu tried to school his face to something showing less envy. After Chishiya pulled his mystery stunt pretending they were dating. Arisu had to be careful with how he acted in front of the others. Seriously what was his deal.

Arisu's thoughts are interrupted by the announcer speaking once again.

"Round Start."

Notes:

I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Feel free to leave any feedback in the comment, it's always appreciated!!!

If any of you are interested, you can follow this link to my Tumblr account! Feel free to DM me or ask me any questions on there!

Chapter 8: 7 of Clubs: Olympiad (2)

Notes:

Hi guys, it's been a while. I'm sorry it's taken me so long to update. Thank you for all your lovely comments, I appreciate all of them. I should be back to uploading consistently now, and I'm aiming to publish at least one chapter per week!

With this chapter, I was focusing more on how the characters interact with each other, but for the next chapter, I plan on getting more into the game aspect!

I have also started a Twitter page in which I will be posting when I update, or you can use it if any of you want to get in touch with me for feedback about my fics. I know I'm not a popular writer on here but I figured it'd be better than leaving you all in the dark about my upload schedule. My username is @Ohhh_Sugarcubes , if any of you are interested in following.

As always thank you for reading and I hope you enjoy!

All the answers to his questions had been easy. So easy in fact he's surprised at how much other players are struggling. A five-year-old could answer these questions. Darwinism at it's finest. It doesn't make a very interesting game when your opponents are either too scared or too stupid to answer. Either way, it wasn’t worth the effort of acknowledging them, they'd be dead soon enough anyway.

Chishiya took an early lead during his round, currently sitting at 7 points. With only three questions remaining he didn't have a doubt in his mind that their group would win. After a quick glance at the crowd, there wasn’t anyone that posed a threat to their group. All the confidence seemed to dissipate after that first round. He thought for a decently high difficulty his opponents would be worth competing. How pathetic, if these games wanted some sort of reaction from him they’d have to get a lot more interesting, otherwise he’s going to die of boredom before these games even have a chance of killing him.

And Chishiya was bored. A feeling he’s been experiencing a lot these past few days. Something his court-mandated psychiatrist would probably use to brand him with more unnecessary labels. How is it borderline sociopathic to blow up your father’s car, surely if she met the man she’d understand. Given the circumstances, he might have to give her some credit, seen as he is in the middle of a death game and he’s bored out of his mind. He thought this game would disclose a larger conspiracy. Maybe tell him more about this world. Instead, he's sat in the middle of this game thinking how he can mess with Arisu more. It’s not Chishiya’s fault Arisu is so reactive, it’s the only source of entertainment he has here after all. It’s just an added bonus that it seems to anger that Hatter so much. There is some method to Chishiya’s madness, he wants to see how far he can push Hatter before he snaps. He clearly has some sort of crush on Arisu, and that’s the only pressure he can put on him. Chishiya knew objectively that Arisu was attractive. He was tall, had large brown eyes that resembled that of a baby deer and had quite a good build considering how unathletic he was. Chishiya could've cursed his perfect genes, especially his height. So it makes sense why Hatter would be drawn to Arisu.

He was clearly a dangerous man. His confidence level was too high for him to be some other player. He clearly has a lot of power, or at least believes he does. Normally that comes from commanding a large group. You can be as confident as you want if you have an art to do your bidding and he was certainly charismatic enough to pull it off. What worried Chishiya the most was the way he was able to pick Chishiya and Arisu out of this large crowd. At first, he thought it could be a result of Hatter's little crush on Arisu, but after observing the man it's clearly more than that. He could instantly see their strengths and how to utilise them, and Chishiya was almost impressed. Even that Kuina girl, while she doesn’t seem too intelligent, but she seems physically capable enough to make up for that, an attribute he’d definitely want on his side. It's almost like he was trying to recruit them.

In hindsight, Chishiya should have come to this conclusion much faster, but he was too focused on how Hatter was leering at Arisu to question the motivation behind his actions. And now it’s too late, he’s stuck on this stupid podium while he fills Arisu's head with lies about friendship and teamwork and Arisu would probably fall for it hook, line and sinker. This entire time with Arisu has been a major distraction. He let his emotions get the better of him again and if he doesn’t get this under control it will get him killed.

"Photosynthesis"

Chishiya was ripped from his thoughts by another player answering the question.

"Finally, someone that actually has a backbone," Chishiya said, "too bad the answer is wrong."

"Are you stu-" the player shouted before he was interrupted by the announcer.

"Incorrect answer, player 4 will now be eliminated"

Chishiya was quick to press his buzzer.

"Respiration"

Correct.

Chishiya wondered why he even conversed with the man to begin with. Sure he had actually managed to press the button before Chishiya, which was quite a feat in itself. But was he really worth engaging with? The truth was some part of Chishiya was truly scared. Had he really been that distracted he almost cost himself a point. Sure nothing had come of it. But that wasn't the point, was it? No. He cannot let himself get distracted like this. If Arisu was too stupid to realise the lies Hatter was feeding him, he wasn’t worth being around. He will leave it up to fate to decide, if Arisu is stupid enough to fall for Hatter's tricks he’d let him go and not do anything about it. And if not, well, he might be worth keeping around after all.

The round moved quickly after that. Chishiya answered the remaining two questions correctly and gained 10 points for his team. He slowly made his way back to his team. He hadn’t managed to come up with a plan to handle Hatter yet, so hell just see how it goes. He might even let Arisu take the lead, just to see if he’s worth keeping around.

Arisu spent that entire game on the edge of his seat. He knew logically he had nothing to worry about, this was Chishiya after all. While they were academic rivals, Arisu knew he could never come close to Chishiya’s intelligence. It gave him so much anxiety, he knew Chishiya would eventually leave him. He was probably doing this entire fake dating thing just to mess with him.

“Arisu”, Hatter says, fake sweetly, “Do you have a first name I can call you by, we’re friends aren’t we and Arisu just feels so informal?”

“Yeah, I guess, my first name is Ryohei” Arisu responds awkwardly, he didn’t really want to tell him his first name but it wasn’t worth the fight.

“That name suits you so much,” Hatter said, he almost sounded like those girls you get in mangas, it was making Arisu a little uncomfortable, “I think I’ll call you Rio. And you can call me Take how about that, my full name is Takeru but we’re close now-“

“Hatter maybe you should ease off-“ Kuzuryu interrupts.

“Who do you think you’re talking to Kuzuryu,” Hatter cut him off, taking both Kuina and Arisu by surprise, “You are already in deep shit for bringing me into a clubs game, you’re lucky there’s at least something interesting here for me, it’ll make your punishment lighter.”

Arisu and Kuina were now fully on guard, clearly, he hadn’t meant to have that outburst in front of either of them. Arisu looked to Chishiya to see if he’d seen how Hatter had reacted, instead, he looked focused on the game. One of the players had managed to answer before Chishiya.

If Arisu was worried before, he was really worried now. In all the years he had known Chishiya he’d never seen him falter. Maybe the games were getting to him more than Arisu realised. Arisu had always prided himself on his ability to read people. This skill probably came from having an emotionally unavailable father, a dead mother and a sociopathic brother. He had always been able to understand people, that’s why Chishiya considered him his rival, despite him being miles above Arisu intellect-wise. He had been able to read Chishiya like a book since the day they met. So how could he not know something was wrong? Sure Chishiya was a pathological liar with psychopathic tendencies but he wasn’t without feelings, despite what his therapist had to say. But first Chishiya pretended to date him and then he almost lost on a question. Both of which Arisu couldn't see coming. Something was seriously wrong. He’d been too busy trying to avoid Hatter to even think about it until now.

“Hey, are you okay?” Kuina asks, “ You seem kinda out of it?”

“Yeah, I’m fine, just a little stressed is all”

“You guys will be fine, you and Chishiya have already brought us a massive lead, and Kuzuryu seems kinda smart too, so we will be fine.”

“Yeah, thanks”

“I’m sure glad I picked you guys to be on a team with, although that Hatter guy seems kinda weird” Kuina giggles out, quietly enough that Hatter can’t hear her.

“Yeah I agree”

“Ya know, it’s nice to meet someone genuinely nice in this world, Its been a long time since I’ve met someone like you. I’ll have to question your sanity though, Its weird you’re dating that blonde-haired guy though, he seems like a dick”

“He’s nice when you get to know him, he has many layers, like an onion”

“…Did you just compare your boyfriend to an onion”

“No…” Kuina tries to keep a straight face but she bursts out laughing. All the laughing attracts the attention of everyone in the room. Arisu hopes Chishiya doesn’t notice, he doesn’t know how he’ll explain the onion comment.

“Kuina please be quiet,” Arisu says panicked “Chishiya might hear-“

“I might hear what?” Chishiya says with his signature smirk. Kuina manages to calm herself down but takes one look at Chishiya and bursts out laughing again.

“It’s nothing don’t worry about it” Arisu says quickly.

“Hmm if you say so, you know how jealous I get baby you can’t go flirting with other people while I’m busy” Chishiya says while grabbing Arisu's chin and pulling him forward, “Did you miss me?” He asks right before he grabs Arisu’s mouth and kisses him again. He figured he’d let Arisu take the lead after he’d had his fun.

While Arisu was still reeling from the shock of the second kiss, Chishiya didn’t miss Hatter's reaction in the background, the look of anger that crossed his face. Now this is entertaining.

“Will players participating in the English section please make their way to the podium”

“Good luck Kuzuryu, you better not let me down” Hatter says threateningly, not even pretending to hide his anger towards the man anymore.

Kuzuryu gets to his podium first, while the others slowly trail behind, they either look as if they’re about to be sick or pass out. Either way, this round should be over quickly.

“Round Start”

Notes:

I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Feel free to leave any feedback in the comment, it's always appreciated!!!

If any of you are interested, you can follow this link to my Tumblr account! Feel free to DM me or ask me any questions on there!

Chapter 9: Idiots and Guns

Notes:

Hi guys, I know I've not updated in a while, life has been so crazy, I got into a car accident, everyone was fine, it was just a lot of effort to sort out so the story kind of went on the back burner.

I hit a wall with the game and had no idea how I wanted to write the rest of it, so I more summarised the ending and focused on what happened later. I have actual plans for games I'm incorporating later though so they will be detailed all the way through I promise that.

Thankyou so much for everyone that reads this fic, your continued support means the world to me.

As always, thankyou for reading and feel free to leave any feedback in the comments.

The rest of the game continued smoothly, with Kuzuryu scoring 10 points, Kuina scoring 2 and Hatter also scoring 10 points. The group took the lead by a landslide. It wasn’t so much of a competition as it was a complete slaughter. What did surprise him the most was how well Hatter performed. It was too well, Chishiya would have to keep an eye on that. It could pose a large threat in the future, especially with how he lusts after Arisu. No matter, he’d deal with that when the time came. Chishiay focused his attention on the other teams, he would’ve felt sorry for them, but how could he. If they were to win, he would have lost and that’s a sacrifice he’s not willing to make. It would be senseless to feel sorry for them, it would only make him weak.

The rest of the teams were panicking now, some huddled together crying, looking for comfort in their final moments. Others were screaming, getting angry about how unfair the games were. Chishiya didn’t care, in fact, it solidified his opinion that everyone in this world was an idiot. There was one guy that particularly took Chishiya’s interest, he was big, the biggest guy in the room, he was clearly better suited to spades games. He played in the round with Kuina, and he was too scared to even have a go at answering any if the questions, and now he was screaming about how unfair the game was. Pathetic. Chishiya hated people like that, he wanted them to suffer, watch as all the joy and hope drained from them, leaving just a husk. He had similar, more violent feelings about Hatter aswell but he’d deal with those another time. For now, he could have fun with this oaf.

“Getting angry at a game just because you lost,” Chishiya said condescendingly, “Just admit you’re stupid and move on.”

Chishiya doesn’t know why he said that, it wasn’t worth the issues it would cause, especially now this hulk of a man was marching in his direction. Chishiya instinctively moved in front of Arisu, he wasn’t about to let him get hurt because Chishiya had decided to poke the bear. Besides, it solidified the so called relationship they were supposed to be in.

“What did you just say to me” the man roared. Chishiya expected the man to get angry, he wanted him to. However, when he grabbed Chishiya by the front of his hoodie Chishiya thought he may have miscalculated this one.

“Game Over” the announcer stated.

“Saved by the bell,” Chishiya chuckled, relishing in the loom of fear on this guys face, “bye bye now.”

A laser shot straight through the mans skull, causing him to fall while still holding Chishiya, Arisu scrambled to catch him but it was futile. As helpful as Arisu had tried to be they both ended up getting pinned to the floor, with the large man on top of them, his dead weight practically squashing Chishiya, who was unfortunate enough to be underneath Arisu. There are many situations in which Chishiya would like to be under Arisu or on top, however this wasn’t one of them.

Arisu was freaking out, he was pinned under this dead guy, trying not to have a panic attack in front of his new friends and it was all Chishiya’s fault. Her had to go and provoke the biggest guy in the room and for what. What made it worse, was the fact that Arisu was currently straddling Chishiya, and unfortunately the dead guy on top of his was not enough to stop all the blood rushing to his dick. “Seriously, why now, ” Arisu groaned internally, he wanted to sink into the ground. Kuina, Kuzuryu and Hatter finally managed to push the man off of the top of them, and Arisu leaped off Chishiya, subtly adjusting himself so no one would notice his situation.

“What the hell is wrong with you” Arisu yelled, while helping Chishiya up, “He could have seriously hurt you, you know”

“I know, don’t worry I knew what I was doing” Chishiya retorted, rolling his eyes.

“Oh yeah and what was that?” Arisu responded angrily.

“Oh you guys are fun,” Hatter said in between laughs, “Kuzuryu can we take them with us?”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea sir” Kuzuryu replied, “If they are good enough they will find us on their own.”

“Not even Arisu, I’d let you have fun with him too” Hatter said, something about the way he said it made Arisu’s skin crawl. Kuzuryu shot him a sympathetic look, but quickly schooled his expression back to normal.

“No, and you should get the card before Chishiya does.”

“Fine, I’ll see you around beautiful” Hatter blows Arisu a kiss and turns around and walks off, Kuzuryu following closely behind.

“I suppose I’ll head off aswell,” Kuina says, “Stay alive for me kay? I wanna meet you and Chishiya again someday I mean it.” With that, Kuina leaves.

Arisu runs to catch up with Chishiya. There is something off with the blonde, Arisu can sense it, however getting him to admit it will be harder than all the death games he has experienced so far. Why can’t Chishiya just talk about his feelings like a normal person? He was so frustrating. Chishiya was decently in front of him, but Arisu had significantly longer legs than him so it was easy to catch up.

“So do you want to tell me what that was about?”

“No”

“You can’t just say no,” Arisu responded, getting increasingly more annoyed now.

“Why did you phrase it as a question then?” Chishiya responded with his signature smirk practically carved into his face.

“Fine. Tell me what that was about”

“What, what was about?

“You are so infuriating to talk to, I meant provoking that guy at the end.”

“He was tall” Chishiya responded deadpan, Arisu couldn’t tell if he was joking, he decided not to push further, Chishiya would tell him in his own time.

“What about the fake dating?”

“I was bored.”

Now Arisu was really annoyed. Chishiya has played with his feelings, stolen his first kiss and indirectly given him a boner with a dead guy on top of him all because he was bored. Arisu considered killing Chishiya right there where he stood but decided against it. For how manipulative, rude and annoying Chishiya was, he was glad to have him by his side. He was smart, and kind when he needed to be, even if he hides it under all his assholyness.

Chishiya was angry. Angry at himself, angry at Hatter, angry at the world. The only person in this world he wasn’t mad at was Arisu. Which is ironic, seen as Arisu had spent the entire time since the games ended interrogating him. From anyone else, Chishiya would have ditched the person already but from Arisu the questions were endearing. He had lied in both his answers to Arisu because in truth Chishiya didn’t even know why he had done those things. Ever since coming to this world he had turned into a person he doesn’t recognise, no scratch that, ever since meeting Arisu.

Chishiya was dragged out of his thoughts by the sound of gunshots and tyres screeching.

“Hey boss, look what I found,” shouted one of the men from the car, “what should we do with them?”

Chishiya didn’t want to stick around to find out. Normally, he would try and learn what these people know about this world. But Chishiya could tell that would be a lost cause, he’d already spent enough of hid energy on stupid people today. He didn’t want to add stupid people with machine guns to that list. Clearly Arisu thought the same because they took one glance at each other and started running. There was maniacal laughter coming from the cars behind them, as the drivers started to speed up. Arisu did the only logical thing and grabbed Chishiya’s hand and dragged him into the closest building. What Arisu failed to take into account was the fact he dragged them into there only building on the entire block that had electricity on.

“The game will start in 5 minutes, there are currently 24 players”

The glare Chishiya sent Arisu would have killed a lesser man. Arisu shrunk under his gaze, realising the gravity of his mistake after they’d passed the threshold to another game. All Arisu wanted to do was sleep.

“What else was a supposed to do” Arisu said sheepishly.

“I don’t know, maybe drag us into one of the buildings that didn’t have electricity”

“I’m sorry….”

“It’s fine, theres nothing we can do now except play the game, you’re taking first watch tonight.” Chishiya responded calmly, he was being a lot nicer about this than Arisu had anticipated.

Both of them got their phones and registered for the game. Another man ran into the building and registered with 5 seconds to spare.

“I almost didn’t make it” he said, smiling at Arisu. He seemed genuinely nice, however once he spotted Chishiya glaring at him from behind Arisu he quickly scurried away. Arisu was like a people magnet, always drawing people in with his genuine kindness and heart of gold. It was Chishiya’s personal hell, however, Arisu seemed to beam at the attention. Not even in a narcissistic way, in a kind hearted way. Chishiya had spent countless hours and sleepless nights trying to dissect Arisu’s act, trying to uncover who he was beneath the mask. But it was all for nothing, because deep down Chishiya knew it was genuine, he just couldn’t bring himself to believe it. Because if Arisu could be this good person, why couldn’t he?

“Game: Unbreakable Bonds” the announcer said, her voice cutting through the room “Difficulty: 2 of Hearts”

“Hearts, seriously!” Chishiya whispered angrily.

“I said I was sorry”

Notes:

I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Feel free to leave any feedback in the comment, it's always appreciated!!!

If any of you are interested, you can follow this link to my Tumblr account! Feel free to DM me or ask me any questions on there!

Chapter 10: 2 of Hearts: Unbreakable Bonds (1)

Notes:

Hi guys! I tried to make the chapter a little bit longer to make up for not updating for ages haha.

I hope you like it! There is a lot of Chishiya introspection in the chapter, but I promise to dive more into the game in the next chapter.

As always, feel free to leave feedback in the comments, I really appreciate it!

Arisu fiddled with the sleeve of his hoodie, waiting for the announcer to give them the rules. If this game was anything like his last hearts game he wanted to be nowhere near it. His anxiety was building with every passing second. What if only one person lives? What if they make Arisu and Chishiya play against each other? What if the games wanted him to kill Chishiya? Arisu would kill himself before letting anyone kill Chishiya, but he didn’t want to leave Chishiya in this world all alone. Not that Chishiya needed his help but he clearly needed the company. He had always had this aura of loneliness surrounding him, but it seems to have gotten more intense recently. What if they make Arisu betray Chishiya? What if Chishiya leaves him? Chishiya may be able to survive out here on his own but Arisu couldn’t. What if-

Arisu’s downwards spiral was interrupted when a he felt something warm encasing his hand. It was Chishiya. He was holding his hand again. Arisu was freaking out, he didn’t think they were pretending to fake date anymore, was Hatter here and Arisu missed him.

“Stop fidgeting, it makes you look weak.” Chishiya said, he didn’t outwardly display any concern but Arisu could tell he was.

“Sorry” Arisu said sheepishly, attempting to pull his hand away. Instead of letting go Chishiya grabbed his hand harder.

“What if one of these people work for Hatter? If we want him to back off we will have to pretend we’re dating when we’re around others” Chishiya whispered to him, Arisu didn’t understand his obsession with Hatter, or the fake dating for that matter. But he wasn’t about to snatch his hand away. He’d never admit it, but it was nice, having someone close, comforting him. For a second, Arisu was convinced everything would be okay.

“Wait what do you mean back off?” Arisu asked, genuinely confused, “He seems alright to me, maybe a bit eccentric but he did help us win the last game.”

“Don’t worry your pretty little head about it Bambi”

While Chishiya usually found Arisu’s naivety endearing, this was not the time or place for it. Arisu is very perceptive, especially when it comes to Chishiya, but he was utterly useless when it came to reading people with malicious intent. Arisu has always been endlessly optimistic, seeing the best in people. You could introduce Arisu to the most brutal serial killer in the world and he’d manage to highlight his redeeming qualities. When Chishiya met him, he wanted to destroy that part of him, he wanted to see the light leave his eyes. Drag him down to Chishiya’s level and show him how corrupt and cruel the world is. Chishiya assumed these traits were developed from a stable and loving home life, two parents that showed his endless kindness and love. Which is why it surprised Chishiya to learn about his toxic home life. Chishiya resented it. He hated that Arisu could be good. He resented it. Because if Arisu could be so light and kind despite all the pain in his life, why couldn’t Chishiya? Arisu’s existence proved that there was something fundamentally wrong with Chishiya. It proved Chishiya was flawed. Human.

Human was something Chishiya had tried to remove a long time ago. Hidden deep down where no one could find it. Hidden under layers of snark, arrogance and selfishness. It was easier that way. Yet, when Chishiya was with Arisu, he felt seen. He felt understood. He felt happy? He wanted Arisu to focus on him. He wanted to keep Arisu hidden away and keep his warmth all to himself. He wanted to kill him and steal it for himself. He wanted Arisu to love him. Chishiya’s introspection had gone too far, he was far too distracted if he wanted both of them to survive in this world. Still, he may as well enjoy messing with Arisu while he can. They could die at any minute, whats a few kisses and some handholding compared to that.

“Please follow the signs towards the swimming pool” The announcer said, cutting through the silence in the room. Everyone in the room shuffled forwards, no-one wanting to face the consequences of not following the instructions. Chishiya and Arisu walked in a comfortable silence, Arisu seemed to have calmed down now, but Chishiya kept holding his hand just in case. He spent this time strategising what this game could be. 2 is quite a low number so he wasn’t worried about the difficulty, however, from what Arisu had said about his heart game, he still needed to keep his guard up. Them going to the swimming pool suggested something with water, maybe drowning? Sharks wouldn’t be mentally scarring enough for them to be in a hearts game, so he doubted it would involve them. Maybe diving platforms, but a fear ion heights is just childish and if you die because of that, then you never would’ve survived in this world anyways, they’re just thinning out their competition for resources.

“Teams” Arisu whispered to Chishiya, “You had your thinking face on, you were theorising about what the game was right.”

“Correct” Chishiya whispered back, it really was creepy how well Arisu could read him. “What makes you say teams?”

“Hearts games are about trust and betrayal, in the hearts game I played we could’ve all won if we had worked together. At the start people were working together and they were on track to win. But the second they found out they could betray each other in order to get ahead, they turned on each other. These games play on group members trust, fears and relationships, they’re made to tear people apart. That game was a higher difficulty than this one, but I imagine the motivation behind the game remains the same. If I had to guess, I’d say we have to work in teams, to complete a specific goal, and we will get further ahead if we sabotage others.”

Chishiya was impressed. Even if Arisu was wrong, that level of insight and analysis was intimidating. When they were in medical school, their classmates had laughed at Arisu for wanting to go into psychology, Chishiya included. But looking at him now, Chishiya couldn’t imagine a more perfect fit.

“I think we will be in pairs” Chishiya added, “Did you observe the other players?”

“No, I’m sorry”

Chishiya rolled his eyes at Arisu’s apology.

“Don’t apologise” Chishiya said firmly, “They seem to be all in pairs. I was watching how they were interacting, and everyone here came in with a partner, except that last gentleman. I think we were all led here on purpose.”

“What do you mean by that?” Arisu responded, he was trying to piece together what Chishiya said.

“Well we were getting chased, forcing us to enter the game. But it seems like we weren’t the only ones. I was eavesdropping on some of the others conversations and four out of the seven I heard mentioned that same group of people, and how they were chased down this alleyway and how this was the only building they could enter. Usually, I would chalk this up to a coincidence, as it’s equally as likely people were just trying to escape the gunmen roaming around this area. However, the fact that this is a hearts game, and the fact everyone knows at least one other person here makes me believe otherwise.”

“So does that the crazy people with the guns are running the games? If they lure people to the games, they must know what the games are.”

“I think you’re half right, but this is a conversation for another time, right now we need to focus on survival.”

“You’re right. What about the man that entered last then?”

“An outlier, he was just unfortunate enough to find the arena on his own.” Chishiya said, “Or maybe he’s like the gunmen, he could be planted in these games. Maybe to ensure everything goes smoothly, or to throw the other players off.”

“Right, well we will have to watch out for him then, it’d be safer to treat him as an enemy”

Chishiya nodded, he was getting tired now, it’d been a long day. However, someone really wanted him to play this game, I guess it wouldn’t hurt to give them a show.

“Hey Shiya, what happens if we have to betray each other in the game?”

“Then I’ll kill myself so you can win.” Chishiya said deadpan. It would be better for Arisu to survive. This world and the real one, half of him doesn’t mind making that sacrifice. The other part of Chishiya would kill Arisu in a heartbeat. He wanted to win these games, to find out the truth behind them. Chishiya didn’t know which side would win yet, but Arisu didn’t need to know that. He’d decide what he’d do if it came to it, for now he was just going to enjoy the games.

Arisu didn’t know what to say to that. He knew Chishiya was probably joking, but part of him hoped Chishiya wanted to. Arisu would sacrifice himself for Chishiya if it came down to it. Chishiya had the best chance of surviving in this world.

The swimming pool looked like something out of an apocalypse. The water was murky, dark and had the stench of death. Arisu almost threw up, but managed to keep it down. It seems like they weren’t the first to play this game, and given how pungent the smell was, the last group didn’t perform well. Above the swimming pool was what looked like tight ropes, there were 12 sets of them, each tightrope seemingly made up of 10 thinner ropes. They were suspended across the 20m dive platforms. What worried Arisu the most was the fact there were 12 sets of ropes but 25 players. If Chishiya’s theory was right, then they clearly hadn’t planned for the extra person. Had they made a mistake?

“There are currently 25 players, please get into pairs and attach the collars around each of your necks. You have 10 minutes.”

Arisu hadn’t looked at the collars yet but when he did his heart sank. The collars themselves were very large, made out of solid metal and they looked very heavy. They were connected by a thick metal chain. They looked like something Arisu had seen in one of his horror video games. The fact that they were connected to one another suggested the pair would work together, right? Or maybe it was the first one to get out of the collars to survive? This was so confusing, Arisu was getting a headache. Either way, it seems like Arisu’s decision was made for who he was partnered up with. None of the other players seemed to want to deviate from their partners, so it was either Chishiya or the last man that came in alone. The man was frantically searching for a partner when he spotted Arisu.

“Hey there, will you be my partner?” He said, clearly trying to act calm. He’d been friendly to Arisu earlier, so he felt bad saying no but he couldn’t just abandon Chishiya.

“He’s my partner!” Chishiya said aggressively, Arisu guessed he’d made the same conclusion about the pairs, “I’d go find your own before the timer runs out, I wouldn’t want to find out what happens if you don’t have a partner.”

Arisu had never outright seen Chishiya this hostile and it sent a chill down his spine. He tilted his head to the side, making his sadistic smirk even more sinister. Arisu really didn’t want to be Chishiya’s enemy. The other man looked like he was about to cry. He was frantically looking around for a new partner but everyone seemed to have one already. Chishiya brushed past the man, growing bored of his fear, to where the collars were. Arisu followed, giving the man one last sympathetic smile.

“This is gonna be a pain in the ass” Chishiya muttered angrily, he should’ve just gotten shot.

Arisu picked up his collar and fastened it around his neck. It was heavy, really heavy. Almost throwing him off balance. Chishiya didn’t seem to fare much better, the collar practically swallowed him up with how small he is. If they weren’t about to fight for their lives Arisu would’ve found it cute.

“Time up. One player has not found a partner, that player will now be eliminated.”

The player ran to the doors, scratching, trying to claw his way out. Arisu knew what was about to happen and yet he couldn’t take his eyes off the scene, this was all his fault. He asked to team up with Arisu, and Arisu didn’t team up with him, his choice was about to get the man killed. What has he done?

“WAIT! PLEASE ITS NOT MY FAULT! PLEASE! I HAVE A DAUGHT-“

A laser shot through the mans skull, his body slowly collapsing to the floor. Arisu threw up and collapsed to the floor, almost dragging Chishiya down with him. His breathing was heavy and he was dry heaving. The guilt was all consuming, he didn’t want to get up. He couldn’t. A man was dead and it was all his fault. A man that had a family, he had friends. A man that had a life stolen from him because he was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

“Stop it.” Chishiya said calmly, he could see Arisu spiralling, he needed to get it together or they’d both die. “If it wasn’t him, it would have been me Arisu, did you want me to die?”

“No.”

“Good. Now get up and pull yourself together. If we both die here his death will have been for nothing.”

“But I kill-“

“You didn’t do anything” Chishiya interrupted, “I’m the one that turned him away, not you. Do you blame me that he’s dead?”

“…no”

“So stop blaming yourself” Chishiya helped Arisu off the floor, “You can’t let the grief consume you right now Arisu, that’s what the people that made these games wanted. You can’t let them win.”

“I understand, don’t worry I won’t be the reason we lose, I promise” Arisu held out his pinky to Chishiya.

“What are you 12” Chishiya retorted, his voice laced with judgement, but he reached out his pinky anyways.

“I promise”

“I promise too”

Notes:

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Chapter 11: 2 of Hearts: Unbreakable Bonds (2)

Notes:

Trigger Warning: there are a few mentions of suicide in this chapter! Nothing super graphic but wanted to include the tw

Hi guys, here's another chapter for you! I hope you like the game, I came up with it myself, so any feedback would be appreciated.

Thanks for everyone's support! I really appreciate it! As always feel free to leave any feedback in the comments! Enjoy!

“Will all players make their way to the 20m dive platform.”

Everyone moved swiftly to the ladder, no one wanting to test the patience of whoever was controlling these games. The large collars were going to make it difficult to get to the board without falling. Arisu and Chishiya were in the middle of the queue. The people at the front seemed to be struggling on how to get up the ladder, instead of working together, the woman decided it would be better to scream at her partner. They had barely gotten off the ground and the other players were getting antsy, clearly worried they’d meet the same fate as the man from earlier.

“Hurry up! How hard is it to go up a ladder!” Screamed one of the women in there queue, she was chained to the largest man Arisu thinks he’s ever seen, they were both dressed in tactical gear, probably spades players, if Arisu had to guess.

“WHO DO YOU THINK YOU’RE YELLING AT HUH. DON’T YOU KNOW WHO I AM!” Screamed the woman. She was dressed from head to toe in designer clothes, with a giant tiara sitting on her head. She clearly thought she was better than everyone here.

"Who wears a tiara to a death game?" Arisu whispered to himself and Chishiya let out a small chuckle.

The large man, fed up with the woman’s antics, walks over to the ladder and drags her and her partner off of it. She lets out a bloodcurdling scream but is otherwise powerless against the man. The man doesn’t even acknowledge her, he just picks his partner up, places her on his back and proceeds up the ladder. The woman is yelling all kind of expletives at them, but makes no effort to chase after them. Everyone else was too afraid to anger the woman to try and go up the ladder. Arisu wasn't intimidated but the woman, he felt sorry for her.

“We should go now Arisu,” Chishiya said, “I’ll carry you on my back”

“You’ll carry me?” Arisu asked, dumbfounded, “But you’re tiny, I wouldn’t even fit on your back.”

“It will be fine, I’m the only one out of the two of us that actually goes to the gym, its not like you could carry me all the way up to the top with your noodle arms.” That was like a punch to the gut for Arisu but before he’d had chance to protest, Chishiya had already began giving him a piggy back ride and walking towards the ladder. The woman from earlier got up, ready to argue with them about the ladder but one glare from Chishiya was enough to shut her down before she even started.

“Are you sure you’ll be able to carry me all the way up?”

“I guess we will find out”

“FIND OUT?!?” Arisu shouted, he can’t believe Chishiya had picked him up and carried him onto this death trap without even knowing if he could do it or not.

Thankfully, they reached the top ladder. Arisu was honestly impressed Chishiya had managed to carry him that long, he didn’t even seem tired either. It was quite attractive, a thought Arisu vowed never to tell Chishiya. Slowly the other groups started to make their was up the ladder. When the woman from earlier came up she glared at Arisu but quickly scurried away when Chishiya glared right back. As more and more groups joined, the diving board became more cramped, leaving very little room at the top. 3 teams ended up stranded on the ladder, Arisu was worried for them. Surely the game wouldn't eliminate them because they were on the ladder instead of the platform.

“Rules.” Arisu breathed a small sigh of relief, he was glad the players in the ladder weren't eliminated. They had already killed one innocent man in the games, Arisu couldn't handle them killing anymore.

“Each pair must step on the tightrope and remain on the tightrope throughout the entire game, failure to do so will be game over. Each player must answer 20 questions about their partner. One partner must complete all their questions before the other can answer their question. A wrong answer will cause one of the wires below you to snap. If all 10 wires below you snap, it is game over. A player helping their partner answer will cause two of the ropes to snap.To clear the game, you must answer all questions. Will players now make their way to the middle of their tightropes.’

Arisu hated heights. He always had since he was a child. He had never addressed that fear, thinking it wouldn't affect him in his adult life. Yet here he was, in the middle of a death game, 20m above the most disgusting water he had ever seen. Arisu understood the point of the collars now. They were dense and indestructible, if you got the 10 questions wrong, you would fall into the pool, the collars would sink you to the bottom causing you to slowly drown, if you didn’t already break your neck from the fall. They also prevented you from abandoning your partner and running to safety, and if one of the pair were to start panicking and trying to run, they would both fall to their deaths. The ropes were ingenious, as getting less than 10 questions wrong doesn’t automatically ensure your survival, you could easily trip and fall while the rope snaps, or lean too far the wrong way and its game over. From the outside, this game seemed relatively simple, but it factored in so many variables about each persons interpersonal relationships and fears. No wonder it was a heart game. If this was in a video game, Arisu would have been amazed, but experiencing it in real life was terrifying.

Chishiya let out a sigh he didn’t even know he was holding in. While Chishiya didn’t get nervous about the games, he was relieved he wouldn’t have to face off against Arisu. In a hearts game, Chishiya isn’t even sure he’d beat Arisu. There were many nuances to this game that weren’t overtly stated in the rules, Chishiya could see that Arisu had come to a similar realisation to him. He imagines the questions will be personal, in order to create reactions from participants. There’s the trust aspect too, the tightrope is very thin without them removing the ropes for wrong answers. If you start doubting each other, fighting or even crying, the probability of falling off would skyrocket. This truly was a magnificent game, maybe Chishiya needed to play more of the red suit games, they seemed more suited for his play style.

“This game is so easy,” said the woman from earlier, Chishiya hated this woman with a burning passion. No one chose to acknowledge her, the entire group looked fed up with her existence. She was loud and annoying, clearly trying to hide her low self esteem behind snark and a tiara. Get her a princess dress and she'd almost resemble the bratty toddlers Chishiya used to work with.

“Chishiya, I think we should head to the middle now, what’s the best way for us to go across?”

“I think we should crawl, the rules never said we have to stand so we crawl to the centre then sit on the line. It lowers our centre of gravity and makes us less likely to randomly fall off. Then it’s just making sure we get the questions right.” Chishiya said, he wasn’t worried about answering Arisu’s questions. Arisu was an open book, he wore his heart on his sleeve and couldn't lie to save his life. It was one of Chishiya's favourite things about him, why he didn't push him away when they first met. Arisu was so pure, and so honest, he was Chishiya's polar opposite.

Arisu answering his questions will be a different story. Chishiya spent a lot of time and effort making sure Arisu didn’t see those parts of his life. He wanted to protect him and that might be what gets them both killed.

Arisu was not okay, crawling across this tightrope only solidified Arisu's fear of heights. The only thing stopping Arisu from panicking more is the fact that it would kill them both. As scared as he was of heights, he was more scared of falling from them. Chishiya seemed as unemotional as always, being slow and methodical, calculating every move to ensure they wouldn't die. There was no room for error on this and they both knew it, so Arisu appreciated all the effort Chishiya was putting into keeping them both safe.

They reached the middle of their tightrope. Deciding the safest course of action would be to sit against each other, acting as counterweights to insure the other doesn’t lean too far back causing them to fall off. The other teams didn’t seam to be fairing as-well as them. Arisu and Chishiya were the last ones to head across ,so none of the other teams saw their unconventional method. Standing up made it significantly more difficult for them to get across. None of the other teams had managed to make it to the centre yet. So Arisu and Chishiya were sat patiently waiting for the game to start.

“Hey Chishiya, do you think we’re going to be okay?”

“Yeah, I do. I won’t get any of my questions wrong, so don’t screw up your half and we will be fine.”

Arisu ignored that, of course he’d be able to get more than half of his equations correct. He’d known Chishiya for a long time and while he didn’t know everything about him, he’d observed a great deal. Annoyed at Chishiya, Arisu diverted his attention back to those still trying to cross the bridge. The large man and his partner were struggling a lot, they might fall before the game even starts.

Another pair, who appeared to be married, due to the matching rings on their fingers, had already failed the game. The wife had slipped over the edge of the ropes, somehow the husband had managed to catch them both to stop them falling but it was too late. The thickness of the chains had snapped his wife’s neck, she was gone and now there was no way for him to finish the game. Arisu saw the agony in his eyes, the anger, the regret. He pulled his wife’s lifeless body back onto the ropes, kissed her forehead, hugged her tightly then jumped off. It was hauntingly beautiful. The pit in Arisu’s stomach deepened. All these games caused was pain and suffering. He made a mental note to himself, that if he makes it back to the real world, he’d find out who those two were and pay his respects.

By now, most of the pairs had made it to the centre of the line aside for a few more teams falling to their deaths. The game was almost ready to start

“You didn’t feel like sharing, huh?” The irritating woman from earlier said, as she adjusted her tiara. She had decided to go on the tightrope directly next to Arisu and Chishiya. “That’s quite selfish of you, you didn’t think the rest of us could’ve used the idea”

That struck a nerve in Chishiya. Chishiya knew he was selfish but to have it pointed out by this woman angered him to no end. Especially seen as she almost got everyone in here killed because she wouldn't let people go ahead of her on the ladder.

“If you’re too stupid to come up with the idea on your own, how is that my problem, I’m not your babysitter,” Chishiya responded coldly, this woman seemed fixated on Arisu and himself, even choosing the ropes next to them, Chishiya vowed to make this woman’s last few minutes on Earth miserable. ”How about you fuck off and complain to someone who cares, bitch.”

“WHO ARE YOU CALLING A BITCH, DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM, MY DADDY IS A LAWYER, I’LL SUE YOU”

“Sorry you’re right,” the woman had a look of surprise, before a smirk of vindication crossed her face.

“See, if you’d have just been polite from the-“

“I should have called you Princess Bitch instead, my apologies your highness.” Chishiya said, his voice laced with venom, “A word of advice, if you don’t leave me and my boyfriend alone, I will ensure you have a slow and painful death.”

“Game start” the announcer cut the woman off before she had chance to say anything back to Chishiya, she was shaken up from what he said, she tried to hide it but Chishiya could see it. She feared him. Good.

“The first 20 questions are for player Chishiya Shuntaro.” The screen in front of them displayed. Arisu was relieved Chishiya was going first, it gave him time to analyse the questions, and think about his answers.

“Question 1: Who is responsible for the death of Arisu’s mother?”

Arisu froze. What kind of question is that? Arisu almost cried at the mention of his mother, it was still a sore subject for him, even 12 years later. How could anyone be responsible for the death of his mother, she committed suicide. Her mental health was the cause, right?

“Is it A: Arisu Ryohei, B: Arisu Hajime, C: Aguni Morizono”

 

Chishiya was surprised, he knew the questions were going to be personal but he didn’t expect them to start off with that. Arisu was still very sensitive about the death of his mother, so he expected the game to bring it up eventually, but not the first question. If the questions get more difficult from here, then they might be in more trouble than they thought, especially from Arisu’s reaction. Logically, Chishiya knew that no one was responsible for her death, she had fought with her mental illness for a long time and committed suicide, so no one on that list could ever be blamed for her death. He’d never even heard of the person represented by C. However, this is a heart game, they’re trying to get under Arisu’s skin, trying to break him and Chishiya answering this correctly would do exactly that. Chishiya couldn’t justify answering wrong though, he could comfort Arisu if they were both alive, he couldn’t do anything for him if they ended up dead.

“A” Chishiya answered, Arisu gazed up at him looking so lost and hurt. He knew Arisu would understand why he did it but it didn’t stop the feeling of guilt encompassing him.

“Correct”

“Question 2: How did Arisu’s mother kill herself”

Chishiya actually didn’t know the answer to this one. He was certain there was something he was overlooking with this game. Judging by the others reactions, they have had emotionally damaging questions too. Surely the games wouldn’t want to eliminate everyone playing, especially because it only has a difficulty of 2. There must be something he’s missing. If they carry on like this, the game will drive a wedge between him and Arisu, even if they survived their relationship would never be the same.

He thinks back to what Arisu told him about his previous heart games. How they were rewarded for sabotaging others. There was nothing in the rules that forbid interfering with the other players. It was a risk he was willing to take, especially if it’d get Arisu to stop looking at him like a kicked puppy and he already had the perfect person to test it on.

Chishiya reached out into his pocket and pulled out a lighter, he always keeps one on him as it’s good for sterilising equipment and cauterising small wounds when there’s no other medical equipment available. He could easily wipe out a team if he could get to their ropes. The bitch's team was next to him, but their ropes were too far for him to reach without assistance.

“Arisu, I need you to trust me okay?” Arisu nodded, looking worried, “I need you to start swinging back and forwards.”

“Are you insane! We'll fall”

“Please just trust me okay”

“Okay,” Arisu seems hesitant but determined.

“Hold on really tight”

As Arisu started swinging the rope, Chishiya used one hand to reach for the bitches rope and the other hand to steady himself. They were quickly gaining momentum, and drawing quite a lot of attention to themselves from the other teams, however the pair didn’t seem to notice, to engrossed in yet another argument to see Chishiya reaching over. When Chishiya’s fingers grazed the woman’s ropes he locked his legs around the rope the best he could, grapped the lighter out of his pocket and used his other hand to grab the woman's rope. Holding himself like this was risky, but it'd be worth it if they got a reward.

He quickly set fire to the woman's rope. He did it in 5 places to ensure she wouldn't be able to put it out.

She let out a terrified shriek and started jumping up and down onto her rope trying to put the fire out, however this only worked to fan the flames more. Arisu was looking at him horrified, but Chishiya was amazed at what he’d just accomplished. The entire rope quickly caught fire, the woman screamed and begged and pleaded for someone to help her but no one did. It wasn’t long before the rope snapped in half sending her plummeting to her death.

“Good riddance.” Chishiya mumbled under his breath, clutching at their ropes tightly, they were still swinging backwards and forwards but it seemed like they were in the clear for falling off.

“What did you do?” Arisu asked, a mixture of pain, disbelief and disgust crossed his face. Arisu had never been disgusted with Chishiya before, I guess there’s a first for everything. After all, Chishiya had never felt more alive.

“Chishiya Shuntaro now has immunity for the next 10 questions.” The announcer said, the remaining players looking between eachother, that one action has just changed the game entirely.

Notes:

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Chapter 12: 2 of Hearts: Unbreakable Bonds (3)

Notes:

Hi guys, I hope you like the update!

OMG guys, 460 Kudos and 70 bookmarks!!! I'm so thankful you all like this fic and interact with it so much!!! I really appreciate it. I love all your comments too and do my very best to respond to them all!

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Chishiya’s joy quickly turned to regret when he saw the terrified look on Arisu’s face. The other man was staring. Chishiya had always known he was like this, it was second nature for him at this point, but it appears Arisu had underestimated how psychotic Chishiya could be. Granted Chishiya had put a lot of time and energy to make sure Arisu didn’t see the truly dark and twisted parts of him.

“You murdered her...You killed that woman for no reason.”

“It wasn’t for no reason, it got us closer to completing this game and she was annoying, if I hadn’t done it she probably would have tried at one point. I wasn't going to sit and wait for her to kill us”

“You didn’t even know you'd gain an advantage, it never said in the rules, you just murdered her and you enjoyed it. You killed her because it was fun to you, because you were bored! Not to mention the poor innocent person she was partnered with, he didn’t even do anything.”

“You should be thanking me,” Chishiya said, he was getting annoyed, why couldn’t Arisu see he was doing them a favour? “Besides, did you really want to sit through me answering questions about your dead mother, as if you could handle that. The mere mention of her makes it look like you were about to throw yourself to your death. I guess the apple doesn’t fall too far from the tree after all. I won’t have you get me killed because you’re too weak and stupid to see this game is manipulating you.”

Chishiya regretted those words as soon as they left his mouth, he knew what he said would hurt Arisu, but he did it anyways. He was so angry, why couldn’t Arisu understand he’d done it for him, he’d kill that woman and every other person in this world to stop Arisu being upset. Arisu could usually read him so well, why couldn’t he read him now. He was sorry, he was disgusted with himself, he wanted to grovel at Arisu’s feet, apologise anything, but Chishiya just stood there motionless. He’d find a way to make it up to Arisu, he didn’t want him to leave. Arisu made him better, he made him human. If Arisu left, he was scared of who he’d become. He’d make Arisu forgive him, he just had to come up with a plan.

“Arisu wait I didn’t mea-“ Chishiya started, trying to minimise the damage of the earlier comment.

“Save it.” Arisu responded through gritted teeth.

Chishiya’s comment broke something in Arisu, the trust he had in Chishiya was destroyed. Arisu had always seen them as equals, friendly rivals. Arisu was glad he joined this game, so he finally knew the truth about what Chishiya thought of him. He was just like his father, he thought Arisu was weak and pathetic. Well, Arisu wouldn’t bother him with his presence anymore, all he had to do was get through this game, then he’d never see Chishiya again. He hated him. He doesn’t know why he gave Chishiya a chance in the first place. He’d shown him time and time again he can’t be trusted, yet like an idiot Arisu blindly followed him anyways. The whole fake dating thing, the looking out for him, it was all an act, if Arisu didn’t leave soon, he’d end up just like that woman.

“Question 12: Why does Arisu’s father hate him?” While Chishiya had earned them a large advantage, it hadn’t won them the game yet, they were both too distracted. If they wanted to win this game, Chishiya would have to get Arisu to trust him again.

They both sat in uncomfortable silence for what seemed like an eternity. Chishiya made no effort to even attempt the question, he just stood there and stared at Arisu expectantly.

“1 minute remaining”

“Why aren’t you answering?” Arisu finally looked at Chishiya. His eyes red from tears.

“I won’t answer until you forgive me.”

“That’s ridiculous, how could I ever- you killed that woman in cold blood, and to bring up my mother-“

“30 seconds”

“CHISHIYA, WHY AREN’T YOU ANSWERING, ARE YOU TRYING TO KILL US BOTH.” Chishiya didn’t respond, he just stared at Arisu. “ARE YOU SERIOUSLY THAT PETTY TO KILL US BOTH OVER THIS.”

“Fine, I forgive you.” Arisu said as convincingly as he could.

“Not good enough”

“CHISHIYA”

“15 seconds”

“HOW CAN I FORGIVE YOU. YOU KILLED THAT WOMAN IN COLD BLOOD. YOU CALLED ME STUPID AND WEAK. YOU MESS ME AROUND. YOU INSULT MY MOTHER AND YOU DON’T EVEN APOLOGISE. YOU KISS ME AND PRETEND IM YOUR BOYFRIEND. THEN YOU ARE COLD AND DISTANT. I HATE YOU AND EVERYTHING REPRESENT, YOU ARE SO ENTITLED AND CRUEL. YOU TREAT EVERYONE AS IF THEY'RE BELOW YOU AND DERIVE JOY FROM THEIR PAIN. AND YOU EXPECT ME TO JUST FORGIVE AND FORGET. HOW COULD I EVER FORGIVE SOMEONE LIKE YOU” Arisu’s anger took over, he hadn’t even realised what he’d said until he met Chishiya’s eyes. Arisu felt a pang of guilt in his stomach, this is the most genuine emption he’d seen from Chishiya. He could tell what he said had struck a nerve with him, but he didn’t expect him to react like that. He expected an eyeroll, or a smirk about the fact that Chishiya had finally gotten Arisu to snap. Instead all he saw was pain, he was genuinely upset. Or was it all part of the act?

“Because he killed his mother.”

“Chishiya…” Arısu said, his voice shaky.

“Correct’

“Chishiya, why would you do that?”

“It was the easiest way to get you to be honest with me.” Chishiya said with a small smile, a genuine smile. “I went too far this time, huh?”

Arisu sighed, he didn’t know where to go from here. On the one hand, Chishiya was a ticking time bomb, he was psychotic, cruel and manipulative, he was dangerous for Arisu to remain allied with. He could betray, kill or torture Arisu at any moment, and he was so intelligent Arisu would never see it coming. On the other hand, he was one of Arisu’s closest friends, he didn’t like to admit it, but he enjoyed Chishiya’s company in medical school, he enjoyed their rivalry, the bickering and the competition. When Chishiya graduated and moved on, he completely cut Arisu out of his life, and Arisu was devastated. He drank every night for a week trying to get over it. Arisu didnt want to just abandon Chishiya, especially when he was struggling like this but Arisu was scared. He was utterly terrified of Chishiya.

“I didn’t do it on a whim” Chishiya said, “ You said in your hearts game that sabotage gave you an advantage in the game, so that’s why I did it. The rules seem fairly consistent in this world, so it was an educated guess. I just, I didn’t think we’d manage through all these questions, especially with how personal they started off. The aim of these games is to pit us against eachother, I guess we walked right into that one.”

“I guess we did.” Arisu replied, his guilt from earlier magnified. He had just assumed Chishiya wanted to hurt that woman, when he was just trying to save them.

“I’m sorry.” Chishiya didn’t elaborate further but Arisu knew he meant it.

“I’m sorry too.” Arisu responded, pulling Chishiya into a hug before he had time to protest. To Arisu’s surprise, Chishiya just hugged him back. “Let’s clear this game together.”

“Okay, but you can’t take the answers to the questions seriously Arisu.”

“I know I won’t” Chishiya gave him a skeptical look, “I promise. I trust you Chishiya.”

The game ran a lot smoother once Chishiya and Arisu had sorted their argument, at least for the remainder of Arisu’s questions. Arisu was holding himself together quite well despite the personal nature of the questions. Arisu was suprised Chishiya knew this much about him. He felt a large sense of dread about answering Chishiya’s questions. He was so secretive, Arisu wasn’t sure he could tell him one definitive fact about his life, he didn’t even know the mans favourite colour.

Arisu focused on the other teams, trying to distract himself from Chishiya’s answers. Initially, due to Chishiya’s discovery, the game erupted into chaos, the other teams were scrambling to get the same advantage. All this managed to achieve was half the teams falling to their deaths and no one gaining the advantage. The remaining groups decided their best chance of survival was to answer the questions. Conflict arose within the pairs, as many of the groups had gotten over 5 questions wrong, and they weren’t even past the first round.

“Question” Arisu was brought out of his train of thought by the announcer, this should be Chishiya’s last question now. He hadn’t gotten a single question wrong so far. “Who is Arisu in love with?”

“Huh, but I’m not in love with anyone.” Arisu said, trying to hide his blush. He had a slight crush on Chishiya during medical school, but that was only a crush. It’s not like he was in love with the man, he was just confused from all the mixed signals Chishiya was giving him.

“I guess this isn’t as depressing as the other questions,” Chishiya had an amused look on his face as he glanced at Arisu, “but it does have the potential to break up groups, I mean if one player were to find out the other player was in love with them, it would throw the whole dynamic off, even after the game.”

“…yeah, that would be really awkward” Arisu said rubbing his neck, there’s no way the answer would be Chishiya right. One accidental boner does not constitute love.

“ A: Karube Daikichi, B: Chota Segway, C: Chishiya Shuntaro”

“C” Chishiya said with his usual smirk plastered on his face. ‘Wow Bambi, I'm surprised I'm an option, I feel special.”

Arisu rolled his eyes and looked away, this was the worst possible outcome. Now it would just be weird between them, especially because there’s no way Chishiya likes him. Not that he needs him to, seen as Arisu never loved Chishiya in the first place.

“Correct”

“I didn’t think that was actually right!” Chishiya says, not even bothering to hide his laugh, “I picked it to mess with you.”

“It’s not right, I’m not in love with anyone, the game probably put that question in there to throw us off, like you said earlier.” Arisu refused to meet Chishiya’s eyes.

“I suppose that’s the only option then” Chishiya said, Arisu wasnt sure if Chishiya believed him or not, he just hoped this would never come up again.”

“We will now have a 10 minute break before the next round begins”

Notes:

I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Feel free to leave any feedback in the comment, it's always appreciated!!!

If any of you are interested, you can follow this link to my Tumblr account! Feel free to DM me or ask me any questions on there!

Chapter 13: 2 of Hearts: Unbreakable Bonds (4)

Notes:

Hi guys! I hope you enjoy this chapter, I tried to make it longer than my usual ones so apologies for the late update. As always, feel free to leave any feedback in the comments, it is always appreciated.

If any if you are interested, I've started another Chishiya/Arisu fic called I will sit with you in the dark, it is a mafia au. I'd be super happy if any of you went to check it out.

Thanks everyone, enjoy the chapter!

Chishiya would be lying if he said he wasn’t nervous for this next round. No one knew anything about Chishiya, not even his own parents. He was a very private person and had a firm belief that the more people knew about you; the more people would use it against you. He only ever told people information about himself when it benefited him. So, they only had two options, he could try and kill the team on the other side of them, but they would have their guard up now and it would be exponentially more difficult, not to mention how it’d affect Arisu. The only other option would be for him to trust Arisu.

Chishiya sighed to himself. Seen as he couldn’t come up with a plan to secretly murder the pair next to them without Arisu noticing, it is looking like the latter is the only option. Arisu only needed to get 11 correct, surely, he knew 11 personal things about Chishiya, right?

“Question 1: What is Chishiya’s favourite painting?”

Chishiya waited for the multiple-choice options, but they never came. He looked over at Arisu, who was clearly panicking about the options being removed. Why couldn’t Chishiya’s questions have been first?

“Ummm...” Arisu hesitated, “the...Mona Lisa?”

“Correct”

Chishiya was impressed Arisu knew that. It seemed like an easy question on the outside, but that painting was deeply personal to Chishiya. He formed an unhealthy attachment to that painting when he was younger. His father's neglect and his mother's abuse had caused him to latch on to that painting. He had taught himself French so he could go to the Louvre and see it one day. Chishiya didn’t have many dreams, but that was his biggest. Chishiya doesn’t remember telling Arisu anything about that though.

“How did you know that?” Chishiya asked

“You speak French, there’s no way you’d learn a language that's not relevant to you in the slightest for no reason.”

Chishiya should really be more careful around Arisu, his perceptiveness was getting scary. He is going to make an amazing psychologist one day.

Question 2: Why does Chishiya hate his mother?”

Arisu would struggle with this one, Chishiya had never mentioned his mother before. She was a vapid narcissist, who physically and emotionally abused him. Not like it ever bothered Chishiya, it made him stronger, better prepared for the real world. However, that didn’t stop his mother using her psychology and neurology degrees to torture him whenever she had the chance.

“Because she abused him?” Arisu said meekly, he was clearly worried about upsetting Chishiya. Chishiya knew he’d never told Arisu about his mother, so he was surprised when he was able to answer.

“It was just an educated guess.” Arisu responded to Chishiya’s question before he even asked.

“Correct” Arisu just needed to get 9 more questions right, then they could get out of here.

Arisu had been sweating since the game started. Not only was he embarrassed about the fact a game declared his love to Chishiya before he got the chance, but it also made him answer insanely personal questions about him. Chishiya hated people knowing things about him, and Arisu respected that, yet this game was adamant about them knowing each other's deepest, darkest secrets.

“Question 3: Who is Hayato?”

Arisu had never heard of Hayato before, he had two guesses as to who he could be. It could be an ex-boyfriend. But judging by Chishiya’s reaction to the question, it’s most likely a patient who died. Chishiya doesn’t make mistakes often, so when he does, it hits him hard.

“One of his patients...that...died?” Arisu’s heart broke for Chishiya. He understood why he killed that woman now, it’s hard to watch someone you care about fall apart. Chishiya was hiding it well, but Arisu could tell he was shattering on the inside. Arisu had to answer 8 more questions, then he could avoid answering the rest of the questions. Maybe the game was kind enough to end when Arisu reached question 11.

“Correct”

“I’m sorry Chishiya” Arisu said, his heart tightening every time he looked at Chishiya.

“What for?” Chishiya responded sadly, his voice betraying him.

“For everything...for all of this, I know this is your worst nightmare,” Chishiya didn’t respond so Arisu didn’t push it.

“Question 4: Why doesn’t Chishiya want Arisu to work at the same hospital as him?”

Arisu desperately wanted to know the answer to this too. Initially, Arisu thought it was because Chishiya hated him. But now, he wasn’t so sure. Chishiya was trying to hide something from him, so was he trying to protect Arisu.

“He’s protecting me.” Arisu said, fairly confident about his answer.

“Correct”

“You shouldn’t work there, it’s not the place for someone like you Arisu, you’re too good for them.” Arisu didn’t know how to respond, that’s the most emotion he’d ever heard from Chishiya. I guess it didn’t matter much anymore, seen as the real world seemed to have disappeared.

“Question 5: Who is Chishiya in love with?”

This probably had the same premise as Arisu’s question from earlier. There’s no way Chishiya actually loved him, it was just the game trying to make it awkward between them.

“Arisu Ryohei”

“Correct”

Chishiya let out a laugh, “I guess you’re not the only one they put in an awkward situation.”

“Apparently not, but it’s okay, I know the game did it to drive a wedge between us. I know you don’t actually feel that way.”

“Right” Chishiya seemed disappointed, but Arisu couldn’t understand why. Maybe it’s because Chishiya can’t make fun of him for believing it.

“Question 6: How many people has Chishiya killed?”

This was a difficult question; the previous games they were in threw off the numbers. Arisu didn’t know if they counted people dying because of them winning the game as killing. Chishiya had killed the woman from earlier, so that’s 1 at least. Then there was the fact Chishiya was a medical student, did every life he failed to save count as a kill.

“7” Arisu just guessed a random number.

“Incorrect”

One of the ropes beneath them snapped, causing the rest of them to sway. Arisu was almost knocked off the rope, but Chishiya, who had anticipated Arisu getting the question wrong, had managed to grab him in time. While they could survive answering 9 wrong, Arisu did not want to risk answering anymore incorrectly.

“Question 7: What is Chishiya’s biggest fear?”

Arisu was drawing a blank yet again. Chishiya would never willingly tell anyone information they could use against him, so there is no chance he told Arisu in the past. Knowing Chishiya it wouldn’t be something basic like clowns, or the dark. It was probably something more complex, like a fear of failure, or being alone. Except neither of those applied to Chishiya, the entire time Arisu had known Chishiya, the man had never made a single mistake. And he certainly never went out of his way to surround himself with people.

“30 seconds remaining.”

Shit. Arisu was running out of time. He had to think like Chishiya. Chishiya hated a lot of things, maybe there’s something in there that he's afraid off. When they were in medical school, Arisu made a list of everything Chishiya hated, so he could come up with new ways to annoy the man.

“15 seconds remaining”

"Arisu, just guess something!” Chishiya whispered irritated, it was clear this game was getting to him. Chishiya hated when people knew things about him. Wait, was that it? It would certainly explain why he was so on edge, why he was so quick to kill that woman, was he scared of Arisu finding out personal information about him?

“He’s scared of people getting close to him, like finding out personal information...or something?”

“Correct”

Arisu’s body flooded with relief before he looked towards Chishiya, “I won’t use any of this stuff against you, you know? I promise, my lips are sealed.”

“You say that, until another game forces you, or you need to gain an advantage over me.” Chishiya let out a pained sigh. “It’s fine, it’s not like the game tells you the correct answers for the one’s you got wrong, you knew all of this stuff anyways.”

“Do you really think I’d go that low, to use that stuff against you?” Arisu said, hurt pooling in his chest.

“Not purposefully,” Chishiya admitted, “but look at the world we are in Bambi, it’d be stupid to assume anything less. You can’t trust anyone here.”

“I trust you.”

“Well you shouldn’t.” Chishiya said, ending the conversation.

Chishiya was getting increasingly frustrated at this game. Specifically, how Arisu was somehow answering almost every question right. He had always prided himself on being such a secretive person, always having the upper hand in every situation. Now, he was trapped in a world where the person who knew him the best would most likely use that against him. He’d have to drop Arisu at this rate, he couldn’t risk being stuck in a game with someone that knew all of this about him.

“Question 8: What is Chishiya’s favourite colour?” Chishiya internally cursed this game. While it seemed like an easy question, there was hidden feelings and implications hidden underneath it.

Chishiya was 19 years old when he discovered his favourite colour. Before this point, he’d never given it much thought. However, one day, Arisu took it upon himself to guess Chishiya’s favourite colour. They had a bet on it and everything, Chishiya was essentially guaranteed to win. Arisu spent a long time mulling over his guess, clearly weighing up each option before he excitedly shouted out yellow. Chishiya had never had strong feelings about the colour yellow up until this point, however, looking how excited and happy it made Arisu, how could he not love it. Naturally, Chishiya lied to Arisu, saying he didn’t have a favourite colour, but ever since that day, he’d not been able to look at the colour yellow without a small smile crossing his face.

“I know this one, he doesn’t have a favourite colour, he said so himself.” Arisu answered confidently.

“Incorrect”

‘I FUCKING KNEW IT.” Arisu said, turning to Chishiya. “You lied, in our bet, you lied. You broke the sanctity of our bet. YOU MADE ME WEAR THOSE YELLOW CAT EARS FOR A MONTH BASED ON A LIE. I BET YOUR FAVOURITE COLOUR IS YELLOW TOO, THAT’S WHY YOU PICKED THOSE CAT EARS! YOU WERE MOCKING ME -”

Arisu’s outburst was interrupted by the rope snapping. Chishiya had already gripped onto the ropes in preparation for it, however, Arisu had been too distracted by their previous bet and almost sent them toppling over again.

“You owe me two favours, one for lying about the favourite colour bet, and another for the...the unfairness...yeah.”

“I don’t think so, Bambi, we never made a specific rule about what would happen if you were cheating. I mean, it’s me. Did you think I was being honest?”

“I hate you so much.”

“I thought you loved me, the game certainly thinks so~” Chishiya said mockingly.

“You’d like that wouldn’t you” Arisu retorted back, “the game said you love me as well you know?”

“And, so what if I do~”

“Yeah whatever, I get that you don’t feel that way, you don’t need to keep rubbing it in.”

“Well, you don’t feel that way either, so why are you getting so upset, huh?”

“That’s not-”

“Question 9: How long is Chishiya’s penis while erect? (to the nearest 0.5 inches)”

Arisu choked on his own spit, blood rushing to his face. The questions about Arisu hadn’t been this personal or embarassing. Chishiya didn’t seem bothered by it, he just sat there with his usual smirk.

“Do you want to feel it to help make your decision Bambi~” Chishiya said, in a flirty tone. Arisu ignored how all the blood left his face, rushing down to his own penis. He couldn’t have a boner right now; this is the worst possible time. He just had to think about naked grandma’s, seen as the fact they were in a literal death game was not enough to stop him apparently.

Arisu tried to think as logically as possible. Judging by Chishiya’s reaction, he wasn’t insecure about his length. The average size of a Japanese male’s penis is roughly 5.3 inches, so Arisu would guess it was above that, significantly above that if Chishiya’s smirk was anything to go by. So, adding 1.5 - 2 inches, would get a result between 6.8 - 7.3 inches, leaving Arisu’s guesses between 7 and 7.5 inches. It was more likely to be the 7 opposed to 7.5, as only 2.5% of men have penises with a length above 7 inches. However, Chishiya had never been ordinary with anything, so that made Arisu want to pick the 7.5 inches.

“7.5 inches” Arisu said, he was completely mortified, and the announcer was taking their sweet time in confirming if his answer was correct or not. Chishiya was just laughing to himself.

“What’s so funny?” Arisu asked, trying to hide his blush, “Did I overestimate?”

“I have no clue,” Chishiya replied with a smirk, “I’ve never measured it.”

“Seriously? Not even once?”

“Well, I've never had any complaints.” Chishiya responded with a wink. “So, does that mean you’ve measured yours~”

Arisu didn’t respond, opting to stare at the screen in front of them.

“Correct.”

Arisu didn’t know if he should be relieved or jealous. Of course, Chishiya would have a big dick, it’s not like God made him an insanely attractive super genius already.

“How did you know that then?” Chishiya responded, putting on that same flirty tone from earlier, “Have you been undressing me in my sleep?”

Arisu wanted the world to swallow him whole, he almost jumped right then and there to get away from the embarrassment. “I just did the math...”

“Sure, I guess I’ll have to just trust you’re not a pervert.”

“PERVERT, HOW AM I A PERVE-.”

“Question 10” Arisu was getting fed up with always being cut off by the game. Not once had he seen Chishiya get cut off, he felt targeted.

Chishiya trusted Arisu not to kill them answering the remaining questions, instead focusing on the other teams. A further 3 pairs had died since the second round began, including the other team next to them. There were 2 pairs remaining, including Chishiya and Arisu, it was the giant and the athletic woman from earlier. While they were still alive, they were clearly struggling, having only 4 ropes left holding them up, the larger gentleman seemingly struggling to balance himself. However, what interested Chishiya the most was the bands around their wrists, while it was hard to make out from that far away, Chishiya would bet his life they matched the one Hatter, and his friend were wearing. Not to mention, he’d heard the woman call the man Aguni, who also featured in one of Arisu’s questions from earlier. Sure, it could have been a coincidence, but Chishiya doubted it was merely an accident with how much planning seemed to go into these games.

The large gentleman, seemingly noticing him staring, glared at Chishiya. He was clearly on guard after what Chishiya had done earlier. He was lucky that Chishiya was too far away to get to him, otherwise he’d cut him and his lady friend down in a heartbeat. But that wasn’t his priority right now, Arisu was.

Arisu had been faring well so far. Chishiya was worried about how useful he’d be after the first round, but he seemed to pull himself together relatively well. Arisu had managed to answer the next 3 questions correctly, meaning, if he answered one more correct, they could beat this game. Chishiya hoped that once that question was answered correctly, the game would just let them go.

“Congratulations, to the surviving players.” The announcer said, as if reading Chishiya’s mind, “As Arisu Ryohei and Aguni Morizono answered 11 questions correctly, both teams have cleared the game.”

“I’m surprised,” Arisu said, “I thought the game would’ve made us answer until the end, it is hearts after all.

“Maybe we weren’t entertaining enough for their viewers,” Chishiya said, half joking, half serious. He was surprised too, but there was no point overthinking it. He was happy he could finally leave the game.

It took them 30 minutes, before they finally got down and their collars released. Aguni and his partner had beaten them too it, but Chishiya was too tired to care about the playing card.

Just as Chishiya was about to grab the door of the exit, he hesitated. He hadn’t heard Aguni leave. Sure, he could have walked to the Arena, but Chishiya doubted it. When Hatter and Kuzuryu had played the game with them earlier, they had been picked up by car. Very loud cars, driven by very obnoxious people, almost like the ones that directed them to this arena. As he thinks back on it, he can remember seeing a wristband on the main shooter.

Were they waiting for them outside?

Chishiya could be being paranoid, he’d played multiple games today and was running on 2 hours of sleep. On the other hand, is it worth the risk of getting shot. Chishiya sighed, he just wanted his bed. Arisu was taking watch tonight, he’d already decided.

“Chishiya, what’s wrong?” Arisu asked, staring at Chishiya’s hand hesitating on the doorknob.

“Don’t panic.” Chishiya said, “But I think that guy from earlier, you know the really big one, Aguni.”

“Yeah...what about him?” Arisu responded, nervously.

“He’s waiting for us.”

“What do you mean, he left already.”

“He has a wristband. The same wristband that the people in the cars were wearing, that Hatter and Kuzuryu were wearing.”

“Maybe he’s just friends with them, that doesn’t mean anything.”

“Maybe? But then again, Hatter was desperate to take you with him, it wouldn’t surprise me if he sent his underlings to lead us into a game, to weaken then kidnap you.”

“I mean...maybe. But why me?”

“Because he wants to fuck you, Arisu.” Chishiya says, not letting Arisu dispute this fact, he didn’t have long before Aguni and his friends burst in to take them, Chishiya was sure if it. “This isn’t a risk I’m willing to take, it’s too much if a coincidence, at first, I thought it was the gamemasters leading us into the game, but it was actually Hatter. I underestimated him.”

“What do we do?” Arisu was practically hyperventilating.

“There’s not much we can do, if we both left and tried to run, they’d most likely scour the city, trying to find us. We need them to find one of us, we can say the other ditched us, we had that fight earlier on in the game, so it’s not out of the realm of possibilities for us to split up. And before you offer, I’ll go. If you go, we will be giving them what they want. You wait in here, until everyone leaves, then run back to our hide out. I’ll try to ditch them and meet you back there as soon as I can.”

“I don’t like this.” Arisu said between breaths, but he seemed to agree with Chishiya’s plan.

“Neither do I, but here we are, this is the best plan, but I need you to promise me something. No matter what happens to me, you can’t come out until everyone leaves, I mean it Arisu.”

“Okay, I won’t.” Arisu said, Chishiya wasn’t convinced at all, he just trusted Arisu to do the right thing.

“Promise?” Chishiya thought it was childish, but promises were the best way to get through to Arisu.

“I promise.” Satisfied with Arisu’s answer, Chishiya made his way through the doors.

Notes:

I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Feel free to leave any feedback in the comment, it's always appreciated!!!

If any of you are interested, you can follow this link to my Tumblr account! Feel free to DM me or ask me any questions on there!

Chapter 14: The Beach

Notes:

Hi guys, I hope you like this chapter! I just wanted to say a big thankyou to everyone that is reading and interacting with this fic! I appreciate every comment and kudos, so I wanted to say a big thankyou to everyone, I can't believe we're at like 580 kudos, I'm genuinely going to cry haha!

Anyways, I hope you enjoy this chapter, as always, feel free to leave any feedback in the comments!

Had it been anyone else, Chishiya would have sent them to deal with Aguni while he hid back. However, Hatter's weird obsession with Arisu was escalating. Chishiya would rather get himself killed than let that man get his hands on Arisu. So, when he stepped out, to see a group of 20 people waiting for them, Chishiya wished he'd been with some random stranger. It would have been easier that way.

"Hello there," Chishiya said, his hands in his pockets, gripping the switchblade he pocketed before they left for the games. It wouldn't be much good against the 15 guns trained on him, but it was all he had. He'd find a way to make it work somehow. "Are you waiting for me?"

Aguni stared at him for a long time, assessing Chishiya, he'd been wary of him since he killed that woman in the hearts game. Chishiya just stared right back Aguni, refusing to be intimidated by him.

"Where's your friend?" Aguni said, his hands reaching towards his leg for his gun. He was clearly unnerved by Chishiya, probably because Chishiya didn't cower to him like the rest of his men did.

"Friend?" Chishiya said slowly, purposefully elongating each syllable just to annoy Aguni further. "I don't recall having a friend with me, you must be confused."

"Don't play dumb with me, you know who I mean, the boy with you during the game." Aguni was losing patience with Chishiya by the second.

"Ohhh him, why didn't you say so?" Chishiya smirked, he was getting under Aguni's skin. As much as the other tried to hide it, Chishiya could see his jaw twitch everytime he said something.

"Yeah, so..." Aguni gestured for him to carry on speaking.

"So," Chishiya said, "Oh right, yeah he's not my friend."

"That's not what I meant and you know it." Chishiya laughed. The rest of the men looked mortified. Chishiya was wrong to be worried about them, they're just an army full of cowards. Chishiya wasn't intimidated by Aguni, far from it, muscle heads that could only accomplish things through brute force weren't even worth acknowledging.

"Just let me kill him." The guy to Aguni's right said, he had black hair, piercings and was wearing the ugliest shirt Chishiya ever had the privilege of seeing.

"Hatter wants him." Aguni said, shutting the man up.

"Oh, Hatter does, why?" Chishiya tilted his head, the mention of Hatter making his blood boil. His assessment had been correct then, Hatter was after Arisu. What didn't make sense is why he also wanted Chishiya? Surely, Chishiya was Hatter's biggest cock block when it came to Arisu. Eliminating him would be the smartest move, maybe Chishiya had given Hatter too much credit.

"That's none of your concern," Aguni said, while carefully taking the gun out of his holster, making a show of loading it, "I will ask one more time, where is your friend?"

"Don't know" Chishiya said shrugging his shoulders, Aguni gestured to ugly shirt and suddenly he was pointing a rifle in Chishiya's face, the cold nuzzle pressing into his cheek.

"Do you know now?" Aguni asks with a grin, trying to be more intimidating. Chishiya was more irritated than scared.

"No"

"Niragi, have your fun then?" Aguni sighed before sitting down, Niragi laughing maniacally, clearly ready to kill Chishiya. Before Niragi had time to react, Chishiya shoved the rifle, kicked him in the balls then grabbed the knife and pressed it to Niragi's throat. In his surprise, Niragi had lost his grip on the rifle, dropping it. Chishiya had Niragi pinned against his chest, his knees at an awkward angle making it harder for him to escaped. He dig the knife into the skin of Niragi's neck, not deep enough to kill him, but enough to draw blood.

The other men all had their guns pointed at them, most of them shaking, looking frantically between Aguni and Niragi. There was nothing they could do, Chishiya had strategically placed himself behind Niragi. If they wanted to kill him, they'd have to kill Niragi too. Niragi wasn't making it easy for Chishiya, he was shouting, swearing and fighting against him. He was calling Chishiya's bluff, he knew Chishiya couldn't kill him, he was his only bargaining chip in this situation. If he ended up at the beach, Niragi was someone he'd definitely have to look out for.

"You were going to have him kill me?" Chishiya asked condescendingly, " I thought Hatter wanted me?"

Aguni looked furious, but unsure of what to do. He looked as if he was considering shooting through Niragi, but ultimately decided against it. Lowering his gun and putting it back in its holster, the other men following suit.

"He does. I'm the one that doesn't want you at The Beach."

"Hmm, then we both agree because I don't want to be at The Beach."

"It's not that simple," Aguni replied curtly, "Hatter's the leader so he decides who joins. However, if a promising potential candidate happens to accidentally die in a game, then it cannot be helped, right?"

"I suppose not." Chishiya said lazily, debating his next course of action. Niragi had been thrashing about in his arms even harder than before. Chishiya didn't know how much longer he'd be able to hold him. "But, if you tried to kill me, you'd be killing him."

"I'm aware" Aguni said coldly. Niragi stilled for a minute, before thrashing even harder. Chishiya was considering killing him out of annoyance.

"So, seems like we're at an impasse then. Whatever shall we do to resolve this?"

"I can't go back empty handed" Aguni said, "Either you or the boy has to come with me, I won't accept anything less."

Chishiya sighed, he wanted to be able to get him and Arisu out of here together, but Aguni was firm with his offer, if he killed Niragi to make a point, he'd lose all his leverage. And if he tried to stall longer, Niragi would get free and they'd manage to drag Chishiya and Arisu to The Beach.

"Well, I don't know where this supposed friend is, so I guess I'll have to do." Chishiya shoved Niragi forward, sending him flying to the floor.

"That's it?" Niragi asked angrily, "YOU TOOK ME HOSTAGE JUST TO AGREE TO GO WITH US ANYWAYS. I'M GOING TO KILL HIM. AGUNI LET ME KILL HIM WE DON'T NEED HIM ANYWAYS."

Chishiya rolled his eyes, choosing not to respond.

"So, did you change your mind about killing me?" Chishiya aimed his question at Aguni.

"People like you are the worst to be allied with. You'd stab us in the back just because you can" Aguni said, his voice filled with disdain, "but, Hatter wants you, so it doesn't matter what I think."

"Hmm, so you're his lap dog then?" Aguni didnt respond, instead he focused on grabbing Chishiya by his arm, dragging him in the direction of the cars. Niragi followed closely behind, his gun trained on Chishiya, from a safe distance this time.

"Get in" Aguni said pointing at the boot. Chishiya cringed internally, he didn't like small spaces. "I won't risk you grabbing the wheel of the car or killing the driver so GET IN."

Before Chishiya even had chance to respond, he felt a sharp pain in the back of his head before he passed out.

-x-

Arisu watched helplessly as Chishiya's unconscious body was dropped in the boot of the car. Tears welling in his eyes.

"I'm sorry Chishiya" Arisu whispered, his voice filled with guilt. He wanted to run out there and save Chishiya, pull off some amazing plan and get him back. But there were at least 20 men out there, all with guns. Besides, he'd promised Chishiya he'd stay. He'd just have to find a way to save him later, but for now he had to wait.

Arisu sat in the building for 3 hours after the men left, ensuring all of them had gone. He practically sprinted to their base. Afraid the men that took Chishiya would turn up again at any minute. He'd originally planned to follow the cars, attempting to save Chishiya, but that would have been a suicide mission with how erratically they were driving.

Arisu hadn't heard all of the conversation, only snippets. But he'd learnt that Hatter wanted them both at The Beach, and that Aguni wanted to kill Chishiya. Chishiya said Hatter had a thing for Arisu so maybe he could use that to his advantage, but he'd have to get there first. Going alone would be a bad idea, maybe he could find Kuina? She was nice to him in the other games, maybe she'd be willing to help.

Arisu spent the entire night pacing and coming up with a plan to get Chishiya back. Chishiya was smart, he'd be able to keep himself alive until Arisu could help him. He'd probably be able to escape in one night if he really wanted to. But Arisu would do everything in his power to help him. However, Chishiya never would have willingly gone with them if he didn't think there was something to gain, so Arisu would have to wait. In the meantime, Arisu would have to keep joining games, trying to find Kuina, then they could come up with a plan together.

-x-

Chishiya's head throbbed when he came to. He'd let his guard down when he agreed to go with Aguni and that almost cost him his life.

He looked around, he was in a room on his own, his hands tied together behind the chair and legs tied to a leg each. He hated being out of control and losing the use of his limbs was icing on the cake.

With nothing else to do, Chishiya slowly started working to undo the knots holding his arms. Whoever tied them clearly had extensive knowledge about knots, but they underestimated Chishiya's willingness to dislocate his fingers. It took him all of two minutes to undo the knots, and a further 5 for him to pick the lock and leave the room.

He figured he wouldn't be able to escape, as each exit seemed guarded by Aguni's men. Instead Chishiya chose to investigate, memorising every corridor and floor plan he came across.

They seemed to be in a hotel, a very high end hotel if the pool and lobby were anything to go by. The place was crowded full of people, who were either high, drunk or in the midst of having sex with eachother. Some people gave him curious looks but he was otherwise ignored.

He'd spent an hour exploring before he noticed a few men with guns making their way through the crowd outside, they looked like they were looking for someone. Chishiya laughed, it took them an hour to notice Chishiya was missing, how pathetic.

Chishiya headed back to the conference room. He'd need to deal with Hatter and Aguni eventually, and him escaping already gave him the upper hand in the situation.

"HOW HAVE YOU LOST HIM" Chishiya could hear Hatter yell as he approached the door, Chishiya heard muffled replies before two loud gunshots echoed down the hallway. In hindsight, Chishiya should have taken his chance to escape while he had it, but it was too late for regrets now.

"Looks like someone's in trouble~" Chishiya says smugly from the doorway. "What did they do to deserve that?"

Chishiya gestured to the man on the floor with two bullet holes in his chest. Chishiya had to push down his urge to help the man. Even with hospital equipment, the man's survival would be very low and in this world, a gunshot may be the most merciful way to go out.

Hatter's smile widened when he saw Chishiya in the doorway.

"Chishiya, it's been a while" Hatter said sweetly, something about his tone unnerved Chishiya.

"I know, it's only been 8 hours" Chishiya responded sarcastically.

"Now, now don't be like that" Hatter says, walking over to Chishiya and putting his arm round Chishiya's shoulder. "Is Arisu not with you?"

"No, Aguni never asked for him" Chishiya said, side eyeing Aguni.

"MORIZONO" Hatter yelled.

"He's lying, I asked him where his friend was, I didn't know his name, you just gave me a description remember." Hatter swiveled on his heel and looked at Chishiya pointedly.

"He's not my friend, it was a very confusing question" Chishiya said with a smirk.

"You knew what I meant."

"You never asked for him by name"

"Yet you still knew what I meant" Aguni said even angrier this time

"It's not like-"

"ENOUGH" Hatter shouted interrupting them both, "as disappointed as I am, there's nothing to be done now, our dear Arisu will have his guard up, we just have to wait for him to come to us. It's not like he'd leave his beloved boyfriend all on his own."

Chishiya was relieved, at least they'd leave Arisu alone for now. He didn't miss Aguni's look of surprise when Hatter said boyfriend though.

"Now, on a happier note, we have a new member to welcome to our troupe. Chishiya, welcome to the Beach; you have great potential so naturally I want to make you one of my executives."

"No thanks."

"I'm afraid this isn't an optional position. Anyways, I would've explained the beach and its system earlier, except you sent us on a wild goose chase for an hour so we don't have the time. But, to ensure you are on the executive level, you'll be playing a game with An over here." Hatter pointed to the woman that was partnered with Aguni during the 2 of hearts game, she looked completely uninterested in Chishiya, opting to read her book instead. "I'll fill you in on your rank and expectations later, for now, you need to head off to the game. Meeting adjourned!"

Hatter left the room, the others tricking out slowly behind them. Chishiya recognized most of them. Niragi glared at him as he left, while Kuzuryu gave him a look of pity. The woman with the long black hair intrigued Chishiya the most. She'd smiled at him when she left but her eyes had no emotion in them. She gave off a weird vibe, almost the same one Arisu gave off. Chishiya would bet his life she was a heart player.

An was the last to leave, finishing the chapter of her book before walking over to Chishiya.

"An Rizuna" she says coldly, her arms crossed. "What's your speciality?"

"Don't know" she narrows her eyes sharply at him.

"I find that hard to believe."

"I don't care what you believe"

"Follow me" An says, choosing to ignore Chishiya's comment. She led him through multiple hallways to the basement of the hotel, it turned out to be a big parking garage.

"We will wait for the others here." A says, resuming her place in the book, "I won't bore you with Hatter's speech."

They sat in silence for a long time, before a rush of people all entered the parking garage. Most were screaming about the games, their excitement fueled by drugs.

Chishiya had already played 2 games tonight and he was exhausted, he didn't know if he could manage another. He didn't really have a choice though.

Notes:

I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Feel free to leave any feedback in the comment, it's always appreciated!!!

If any of you are interested, you can follow this link to my Tumblr account! Feel free to DM me or ask me any questions on there!

Chapter 15: 2 of Hearts: Roulette

Notes:

Hi guys, sorry for the late update. Just a quick note about this chapter, it is one of the games from the manga so I didn't come up with it and I guess it has an original character. She isn't super important to the plot but she's a player in the game and I think her interactions with Arisu help him develop as a character in this fic.

I want to say thank you for all the support from everyone, it means so so much!!! As always, feel free to leave any feedback in the comments!!!

Arisu spent the 3 days since Chishiya’s kidnapping planning. He’d practically mapped out all of Tokyo, scouting out potential game arenas in the day, then returning to them in the evenings to see if his predictions were correct. He was roughly 83% accurate in predicting which venues would become game arenas. Using these arena’s, he had started to try and predict which suit would be held there. This was mostly guesswork as it was difficult to find out if his predictions were correct. Many of the games had no survivors, and the ones that did, the players were normally too traumatised to answer some stranger’s questions. If Arisu wanted to truly find a mathematical way of predicting the suit and difficulty, he’d have to join more games.

He was sure there were multiple ‘gamemasters’ creating them, at least one per suit. If he could understand their style, and how they structured their games, he’d have a better chance of predicting the games' location, suit and difficulty.

He’d narrowed tonight's games down to 7 possible arenas, with three standing out to him; the subway, the botanical gardens and Shibuya central library. Arisu needed to explore more types of games, meaning, he’d ideally play a spade or diamonds game tonight. The library would most likely be a diamonds game, which would be beneficial to his research. However, it would also be the game Chishiya would pick, if he had managed to escape The Beach. While Arisu would love to get Chishiya back, he couldn’t risk it being a diamonds game. Based off what Chishiya had told him about his first game, the likelihood of there being only be one survivor was too high, and Arisu didn’t want to chance it.

That left the subway or botanical gardens. The subway was probably a spade or clubs' game, they were long and confusing, perfect for running long distances or setting up a physical challenge. The botanical gardens could have been anything realistically, but Arisu had a bad feeling about it. He couldn’t quite place it, but that arena had been lit up every night for the past few days, and Arisu had never seen anyone enter or leave. He’d tackle that game another day, maybe with Chishiya or other allies if he could find them.

Arisu wasn’t sure what to pack for the games. He’d considered a weapon, but he wasn’t very strong, and someone could easily take it from him. Arguably, the most reliable thing he’d brought to the games was Chishiya, but he was gone now. Arisu eventually settled on a Swiss army knife, and a small flask filled with water, that way he’d be prepared if it was a spade or club's game. He left a cryptic note, one that only Chishiya would be able to decipher if he came back.

Arisu took the long route to the subway, seeing if his predictions about the arenas had been correct. As always, the Botanical gardens remained lit up, with no other players in sight. By the time he got to the library, the game had already begun. He had noticed the cars outside the arena, but he had no way of knowing if they came from the beach, and he didn’t have the time to wait for the game to finish if he wanted to make it to his own game.

When Arisu reached the subway, the entryway was filled with 4 people. Two large athletic looking men, a woman dressed in formal, business attire and a little girl who couldn’t have been older than seven. Arisu’s heart broke for that little girl, she looked so scared and confused. Arisu made a promise to himself, that he’d protect that little girl no matter what. Even if it cost him his life, sure Chishiya would be furious if he knew Arisu sacrificed himself, but Chishiya was a paediatric heart surgeon, so he’d most definitely keep her safe.

Arisu eyed the two men as he registered, he couldn’t see their wrists properly, but Arisu would bet they were members of the Beach. Hopefully, this would be a club's game, that way Arisu could learn some more about the Beach, maybe figure out how Chishiya is doing.

“Excuse me” Arisu was brought out of his train of thought by the little girl tugging at the bottom of his shirt. Arisu was impressed at how strong the girl was, despite her obvious fear, she was still brave enough to approach a stranger for help. “I’m scared, I want my mummy.”

Arisu lowered himself to her level, making himself look as kind as possible. The little girl refused to look at him, focusing on the stuffed bunny in her arms, occasionally wiping her tears with one of its ears. “I know, it is scary. But we just have to play this game, then we can look at finding your mummy, okay?”

“Okay, mister” she said, finally looking at Arisu. “But I don’t like games, my big brother says I’m not good at them.”

“That’s okay,” Arisu ruffles the top of her hair, unsure of what else to do. Kids had always freaked him out. “I’ll look after you, I love games. I’m Arisu, what’s your name?”

“Aoi”

“Okay then Aoi, well once we make it through this game, we will go find your mummy. For now, just stay close to me.” Arisu heard the woman scoff, but he ignored her.

Aoi didn’t respond, instead she grabbed one of Arisu’s fingers, making sure he didn’t leave her. Arisu ruffled her hair on more time, before preparing himself for this game.

“Registration has closed.”

Aoi gripped Arisu’s hand harder, Arisu had to resist the urge to hug her. He could comfort her later, now he had to focus.

“Difficulty: 2 of Hearts”

Shit.

Aoi and the woman looked confused, while the other two men looked panicked. Arisu was panicking along with them, especially because he’d played the 2 of hearts three days ago, and it was structured nothing like this. Not to mention, it’s the game he’d been separated by Chishiya. If it was even remotely similar to the other game, he was screwed. He’d have to make it through, at the very least ensure Aoi made it through.

“Hearts?” The businesswoman asked, looking between Arisu and the men. “What does that mean? What's going on?”

“It’s a game,” Arisu responded, the men looked like they had no interest in explaining, “You have to clear the game in order to survive. The number is the difficulty, and the suit is the type of game. The announcer will explain the rules soon.”

“What do you mean survive? And type of game-”

“SHUT UP LADY” One of the men yelled at the woman, “YOU’LL FIGURE IT OUT. IF YOU KEEP RUNNING YOUR BITCH MOUTH WE WILL MISS THE RULES.”

The lady looked annoyed, but otherwise stopped talking, clearly worried about angering the man further. She was eyeing them all warily, threateningly. Almost like an injured animal backed into a corner.

“Game: Roulette”

“Rules: The player must enter each carriage of their train, remaining in each carriage for 5 minutes. There are 4 carriages in total with one of the carriages contains a lethal gas. Each player has a gas mask, and 3 oxygen cannisters. It is game clear if the player exits the train after travelling through all the carriages. Players cannot enter a train together. Players must remain in the carriage for 5 minutes at a time, the door to the next carriage will not open until the 5 minutes is complete. Time starts when all players are ready to enter their own train.”

Arisu sighed a breath of relief. At least they weren’t all pitted against each other. Aoi on the other hand was panicking, freaking out about the gas and the trains. She was crying, screaming, and begging for her mother.

“Will all players please collect their masks and oxygen and head over to the trains.”

Aoi was far from calming down, so Arisu had to pick her up and collect her mask and oxygen for her. Arisu wasn’t sure if she’d be able to put the mask on herself, or if she truly understood what was going on.

“Aoi, I need you to listen to me.” Arisu said gently, trying to calm her down.

“NO! NO! NO! NO! I WANT MY MUMMY”

“AOI!” Arisu yelled, this snapped Aoi out of her tantrum long enough for her to listen to Arisu. Her eyes filling with tears. “Do you want to die?”

Aoi slowly shook her head, using her bunny to wipe her eyes.

“Good. So, I need you to listen to me very carefully, okay?”

Aoi nodded her head, and Arisu went through a detailed tutorial on how to use the gas mask and oxygen cannisters, he even made Aoi repeat the instructions back to him, before walking her over to the entrance to her train car. Ideally, he would have been able to show her and get her to demonstrate back to him, but he couldn’t risk not having enough oxygen.

“Mister Arisu?” Aoi asked meekly, “How do I know what train car has the gas in it?”

“It doesn’t matter.” Arisu said as he handed one of his oxygens cannisters to Aoi, “You have one per room, so as long as you follow the instructions I gave you earlier, you will be okay.”

“But what about you, Mister Arisu?”

“I’ll be okay,” He ruffled her hair one last time, before heading to his own train car.

“Wait, Mister Arisu,” Aoi called after him, holding her bunny out towards him. “Take this.”

“Aoi, I couldn't that's your bun-”

“He’s lucky.” Aoi said firmly, stomping her foot, “Mister Arisu made it so I can win the game, so he needs the luck from the bunny to help him win the game. I’m borrowing him out to you, Mister Arisu has to give him back after. Promise?”

“I promise, Aoi.” There was no use arguing with her, so Arisu grabbed the bunny as gently as he could. Even if he didn’t make it out of this game at least he’d done everything that he could for that little girl.

“That was stupid.” The woman next to his train car said, side-eyeing him. “If you die in this game, she’ll be alone anyways. There’s no way she will survive. You would have been better off stealing all her oxygen cans and spreading it between us, the people who actually have the most chance of survival.”

“Maybe that’s true. But at least I’ll be able to look at myself in the mirror after this.”

“I hate people like you.” The woman scoffed, “You are so selfish, throwing all of our lives away, to protect someone that will most likely die anyways. You people are an insult to those of us who want to live.”

“I’m selfish?” Arisu chuckled at the hypocrisy of the woman, “So what, you wanted me to steal one of those cannisters off that little girl and give it to you? I mean it’s not a bad idea; you get all the benefit and none of the responsibility or guilt. Yet, despite all of that, I’m the selfish one?

“I’m simply saying-”

“No need,” Arisu glanced over at Aoi, making sure she couldn’t hear them. “If you are so willing to survive, go take one for yourself, she’s over there.”

“I-” The woman let out a strangled sound, unsure of what to say.

“Exactly,” Arisu smirked condescendingly, “This is your first game, right? So, how about instead of telling me how selfish I am, and how stupid I am for helping her, why don’t we see how you do first? You’re about 4 games behind giving me advice lady.”

The woman looked a mixture of guilty and angry. Arisu regretted being so harsh with her, but he didn’t regret a thing he said.

“Will all players please enter their designated train.” Arisu looked over at Aoi one more time, giving her a big smile. He prayed to every god there was that she’d be okay. Arisu opened the door, and stepped into a small room, with a 5-minute timer on one wall and a glass door leading to the first train car.

Arisu had 50/50 odds of making it out of this game. If Arisu had to guess, the gas would be in the first or last compartment, as those are the ones players are most likely not to use oxygen for. The last carriage was the most obvious, as most people would have run out of oxygen by then. The first car is also obvious as most players would assume that the game makers wouldn’t put the poison in the first carriage. However, this was a hearts game, so it was equally likely the person running the game had rolled a dice and put the gas in a random carriage,

In short, Arisu was screwed. He tried to calm himself down, but couldn’t stop the heaviness building in his chest. His eyes were burning and he was hyperventilating. He couldn’t die here, he’d promised Aoi he’d return her bunny. Not to mention, he wanted to see Chishiya again. The man would kill him if he died here.

Arisu squeezed the bunny tightly and took a deep breath. What would Chishiya do?

He had 2 minutes left before he had to enter the carriage. He looked around the small waiting room he was in. The walls were bare, except for the timer which was built into the room, so there was no possibility of something being hidden behind it. That left the door, train doors usually had windows, but they weren’t usually completely made of glass, meaning the game makers must have swapped them out. Is it so he could see in the carriage?

It was a regular looking carriage, nothing standing out to Arisu. He’d tried to read the maps but they were too far away to make the words out. The seats looked normal, and they were all completely uniform, so nothing there. The railings, floor and windows looked normal, each windowsill had a vase filled with different types of flowers. Were they trying to throw him off with the glass doors? Was there morse code, or something on the walls that he was missing? He had 30 seconds left on the timer now, he’d either have to use one of his oxygen cannisters or just hope the carriage didn’t have the gas.

He must be missing something; there’s a reason those doors were there. Nothing in this world happens for no reason. So, the clue must be in the train car. Arisu repeated every item in that train car, trying to find something out of place.

“Map. Seats. Windows. Flowers. Floor. Map. Seats. Windows. Flowers. Floo-...flowers? Why were there flowers there?”

Arisu quickly looked over to the flowers, they were very well taken care of, very full of life. Surely, if there was a lethal gas in that carriage, the flowers would have died. There was 5 seconds left on the clock when Arisu rushed through the doors, confident in his solution.

 

He took a large breath in and waited. Arisu practically collapsed with relief when he realised, he was safe. He’d make it through this game after all, and he’d managed to save Aoi.

Arisu spent most of the round sat on the floor. He’d figured out how to solve it, there was no need for him to investigate further. Arisu tried to ignore the mental image of Chishiya being disappointed in him for that. If he was here, he’d be scouring every inch of that train car for any information. But Arisu was so tired, he didn’t know how much more of these games he could take. The pain, worry and anxiety, it was getting too much for him.

Arisu progressed through the train cars quickly, the flowers allowing him to skip the five-minute waiting period all together. It’d be better for Aoi if Arisu was waiting for her when she finished.

It was the final car that had the poison gas in it. Arisu wasn’t surprised, while it was the most likely answer, it was also the most heart wrenching. Most players probably wouldn’t notice the flowers and would be too terrified to save an oxygen cannister for later. Arisu was relieved he gave an oxygen cannister to Aoi.

As soon as the 5 minutes was complete, Arisu stepped outside, ripping off his gas mask. His phone chimed with the cleared music, but he didn’t care about that, instead he sat outside of Aoi’s train waiting for her to come out. He brushed off the bunny she gave him, making sure it was in the same condition as she gave it to him.

He was sat there for 5 minutes before he got worried, surely because Aoi had all 4 oxygen cannisters, she should be done by now. Maybe she didn’t know she could leave the waiting room before the time limit was up. That must have been it.

Arisu kept playing with the bunny's ears, until he heard a door open two minutes later. His head darted up, expecting to see Aoi, but it wasn’t her door that opened, it was the woman’s train.

“So, you made it after all?” The woman said softly, she seemed different now, almost kinder.

Arisu didn’t respond, still staring at Aoi’s train.

“Hey, listen” The woman sat down next to him, “I think we got off on the wrong foot. I just wanted to apologise. I’m Shibuki. Saori Shibuki. You’re Arisu?”

“Yeah.”

“I think what you did for that little girl was very... very...noble. I know what I said before, but I was scared, and I wasn’t thinking. I’m just” she let out a sigh, “I’m sorry.”

“Wow, I can’t believe it was that difficult to say” Arisu said teasingly, Shibuki smacked him lightly on the arm.

“Arisu Ryohei” He held his hand out towards Shibuki, “You’ll have to apologise to Aoi, then we can start over.”

“Okay” She smiled at Arisu.

“Hey Arisu,” Shibuki said, something worried in her tone, “Shouldn’t Aoi have been out by now.”

“I mean, maybe? She’s probable just using all the waiting room times.”

“Arisu....”

“What?”

“I used all my waiting room time... we should have been out at the same time.”

“I mean, she’s just a little girl. Maybe they gave her more time.”

“Arisu...”

“Or maybe, the door to the way out is jammed.”

“Arisu..”

“Or maybe she is in one of the unpoisoned rooms, it said the door would open after 5 minutes, but not that you had to move on, so maybe she’s just scared, that has to be it.”

Shibuki said something but Arisu didn’t hear her, she ran to the side of the train screaming for Aoi.

“Aoi, respond if you can hear me. AOI. AOI.” Arisu was banging on the side of the train.

‘Arisu.” Shibuki said, her lips wobbling, “I’m so sorry Arisu”

“What are you talking about?” Arisu said walking over to Shibuki. She didn’t say anything just pointed at the window at the back of the train. Arisu looked through to see Aoi’s lifeless body. She was red and covered in blisters and there was a pool of blood on the floor just below her mouth. Arisu banged on the window, screaming her name, tears streaming down his face. He was screaming, begging for Aoi to get up. Shibuki dragged Arisu away, well tried to at least, but he was scratching, clamouring at the door.

“Arisu, if you open that door, you’ll kill us both.”

“I...DON’T... CARE” Arisu muttered out between struggled breaths, “I have to save her. I promised I’d help her, that I’d..I’d give her bunny back, she can’t... she’s all alone.”

“I know. I know.” Shibuki stroked his back, Arisu practically collapsed into her arms. “Arisu she’s gone. I’m sorry but she’s gone.”

“But, I promised. I promised”

“I know...I know but there’s one thing you can do for her now.”

Arisu wiped his eyes, staring at Shibuki. “What is that?”

“Live Arisu. Live for her, let the grief, the anger and the sadness fuel you. I’ve not been in this world long, but Arisu you have to survive. For Aoi.”

Arisu didn’t respond but he knew Shibuki was right. He would survive for Aoi. Anything else would be a disservice for her. He’d survive, he’d find Chishiya and make it out of here.

“I promise Aoi.” He gripped the bunny tightly, “I promise, I won’t forget you, I’ll avenge you. I’ll survive for you.”

Notes:

I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Feel free to leave any feedback in the comment, it's always appreciated!!!

If any of you are interested, you can follow this link to my Tumblr account! Feel free to DM me or ask me any questions on there!

Chapter 16: Kuina

Notes:

Hi guys! Hope you enjoy the new chapter! As always, feel free to leave any feedback in the comments, it's always appreciated.

It had been three days since Chishiya was dragged to The Beach. And to say he was bored was an understatement. Everyone here was preoccupied with drugs, alcohol, sex or some combination of the three. Even the executives were disappointing, the only one he even remotely respected was An. Aguni and Last Boss were all muscle, no brain. While he could tell Niragi was smart, it was overshadowed by his impulsivity. Kuzuryu was smart, almost Chishiya’s level, but he was a doormat, and Mira was just plain creepy.

He hated to admit it, but he missed Arisu. Arisu could keep up with Chishiya and productively contribute to his ideas. He was also smart in a way Chishiya would never be. Chishiya had never put any effort into understanding people, he took people for who they were and nothing more. But Arisu, he had a way of connecting with others like no one else. He was charming, charismatic and sincere. Chishiya had never met anyone that cares about complete and utter strangers like Arisu did.

Chishiya was glad he was the one that ended up here. He could picture Arisu talking to Niragi, smiling at him, going out of his way to understand that psychopath. The thought made Chishiya sick, especially because Niragi would ‘love’ Arisu. Arisu was timid, innocent and appeared weak, the kind of person people like Niragi would take advantage of. This, coupled with the fact that Arisu was objectively attractive and bared a striking resemblance to Aguni, meant that Chishiya would have to keep the two separate.

While Chishiya never tried to understand people, he could make fairly accurate assumptions about them and their state of mind. The way Niragi would trail after Aguni, follow his every order and stare at him when he wasn’t looking it was clear that Niragi had a crush on Aguni. Chishiya could see more similarities between Arisu and Aguni than he liked. Physically, they had a few traits that were similar, both tall, with dark hair, brown eyes and relatively similar facial features. If Chishiya had to guess, he’d say they were related. Especially because Aguni Morizono was one of the multiple-choice answers about Arisu’s mother. So Chishiya was fairy sure he was a maternal relative to Arisu. This was solidified when Aguni took Chishiya to the Beach instead of pushing to take Arisu. At first, Chishiya thought he did it to save Niragi’s life, but given how those two interact, that wasn’t the case. He’d also heard a couple of rumours about Hatter’s reaction of Arisu not being here. How Aguni mysteriously had a cut around his eye from a ‘game’, that he never went to. Aguni didn’t seem like the type of person to sacrifice himself without a reason, so there must be something more to his and Arisu’s relationship.

If Aguni truly was related to Arisu, then Chishiya had a weak point he could exploit. Aguni was the biggest threat to Chishiya at the Beach, he was very clear about the fact he didn't like Chishiya, and he was only tolerating him for Hatter’s sake. Chishiya was worried that if Arisu did come to the Beach, it would put a target on Chishiya’s back, as Hatter didn’t need to use him as bait for Arisu anymore. What Chishiya needed to do was keep Arisu away from the Beach long enough so he could make himself irreplaceable. He needed more information, ideally, he’d be able to regroup with Arisu, but he had no way of finding him without risking him being caught by Hatter or Aguni. He needed to play more games.

He hadn’t participated in anymore games since the game he played when he arrived. It was a club's game. It was a murder mystery game, well it was supposed to be, Chishiya could’ve made a better, more thought-provoking game in his sleep. It took Chishiya less than 5 minutes to work out who the murderer was. An didn’t seem surprised, but Niragi was seething with anger that Chishiya had managed to solve it before him. This was enough for Hatter to make him an executive. Which, while he was happy to hold a position with more power at the Beach, meant he was being dragged into meetings every night of the week. It seemed Hatter decided when his executives played games, which threw a wrench in Chishiya’s plans of finding Arisu

“Chishiya.” An appeared behind him, breaking him out of his thoughts. “Hatter wants you, now.”

“That’s very forward of him~” Chishiya said in a fake flirty tone, “he could at least buy me dinner first.”

An rolled her eyes as she walked with Chishiya to the executive’s meeting room. “He needs your skills, as a doctor.”

Chishiya didn’t respond so An continued. “We have a prospective new member. She was in a game with a few of the militants. But when they tried to bring her back to the Beach, she managed to injure all of them, Hatter says you know her, I think her name is Kuina.”

“Yeah, I know her.” Chishiya could tell An was trying to push for information but he wasn’t about to reveal it willingly.

“So, Hatter wanted you to show her around, says you’re the one most likely to calm down. He’s already gone through all the rules and expectations; he just needs you to show her the ropes.” An said, as she stopped right outside the meeting room, showing no signs of entering.

“Are you not coming too?” Chishiya asked, he didn’t really care if she was, but it provided an interesting insight as to how much trust Hatter had for him.

“No.” An didn’t elaborate further as she walked away. Chishiya liked An more, she didn’t torture him with small talk or unnecessary questions, maybe he should replace Arisu with her.

Chishiya opened the door to the conference room, surprised to see 4 men holding her back from hitting Niragi. Hatter looked amused, while Aguni seemed tired.

“Chishiya!” Hatter said excitedly, “How’s my favourite kitten doing?”

Chishiya sighed choosing not to respond. Hatter had decided to refer to Chishiya as a kitten at every chance he could get. He’d tried to get a justification out of Hatter, but the man had just laughed and walked away.

Kuina, hearing Hatter say Chishiya’s name, finally calmed down enough to look in Chishiya’s direction. She visibly calmed down, but the men holding her were still wary. Kuina glared at them, before pulling herself away from them and walking over to Chishiya.

“You need to calm down.” Chishiya whispered firmly to her, when she’d finally made ti to Chishiya.

“How-” Kuina started but was interrupted by Niragi.

“I’ll explain everything later, but you need to calm down.” Chishiya was fairly certain no one had seen them whispering, Hatter and Aguni were more focused on calming Niragi down.

“Right, now that you crazy kids have settled down, we can get to business.” Hatter starts, sending both a pointed look at Kuina and Niragi.

“Chishiya, you know Kuina. You will be the executive in charge of her getting settled in.”

“I’M NOT STAYING HERE!” Kuina yells at Hatter. “WHY THE HELL SHOULD I LISTEN TO YOU?”

“You don’t have a choice my dear. Now be a good and do as you’re told.” Hatter says aggressively, causing everyone in the room to freeze. Usually, Hatter was upbeat, cheerful and didn’t really care when people disagreed with him. But this was a side Chishiya had never seen, even Aguni looked a little surprised.

“She’ll be fine, I’ll get her settled.” Chishiya said, trying to get back on Hatter’s good side. There was no gain in pissing him off, so Chishiya would play nice for now.

“Thank you Chishiya! Keep her in line will you, I’d hate to have to kill her, especially ass she’s shown a lot of potential.” Hatter said then dismissed everyone except Aguni. “Mori, get me a drink!”

-x-

Chishiya guided Kuina through the hotel, showing her everything important. Kuina was uncharacteristically quiet, clearly shaken up by Hatter’s reaction earlier.

“How can you be okay with this?” was the first question Kuina asked Chishiya.

“I’m not.” Chishiya replied honestly, “I just don’t want to get shot. Which you’re lucky you didn’t back there, seriously how stupid can you be?”

“You know, you’re a lot nicer when Arisu is around. Where is he anyways? Is he okay? OMG IS ARISU DEAD?” Chishiya looked incredulously at a teary-eyed Kuina, unsure how she managed to get herself so worked up in a matter of seconds.

“He’s not here.” Chishiya said flatly, Kuina let out a breath of relief, before starting her interrogation once again.

“What does that mean? He’s not here, so where is he? And you never answered if he was okay?”

“It means, we got separated. I have no idea where he is, what he’d doing and if he’s okay and I would prefer to keep it that way.”

“Why would you want to...oh.”

“Don’t bring Arisu up around here, you’ll set Hatter off.”

“I’m sorry.” Kuina said as she hugged Chishiya. Chishiya didn’t know what to do, he can’t remember the last person who hugged him. Arisu had always respected his physical boundaries, so he didn’t really initiate hugs. But from Kuina it was weirdly nice. “You two are dating right? It must be so hard, I mean he could be dead... I mean he could be...um.”

“He’s fine.” Chishiya said, “He’ll be fine, I’d rather him be out there, than stuck here with Hatter.”

“That’s true, Hatter was really affectionate with him in our game.”

“Exactly.”

“So, how are you going to get back to him.”

“Simple, I’m going to steal the cards and leave the Beach.” It was a risky move, revealing his plan to Kuina, but she was his best option. He needed a partner who was reliable and had skills that he didn’t. She was loyal, trustworthy and easy to manipulate, making her perfect for the job.

“How-” Kuina was cut off by someone yelling about the games.

“Later.” Chishiya mouthed, before leading Kuina to the main hall. “Hatter will test you with a game tonight, don’t freak out, it’s normally an easier game, you’ll be with another executive.”

“Not you?”

“I doubt it, Hatter likes unbiased opinions. Come find me after the game ends and I’ll explain everything. Naturally, don’t say anything about the plan, or Arisu”

“I won’t, how do I know what executive I’m with?”

As if on cue, An appeared behind Kuina. “You’re with me.”

Kuina jumped and turned around to face An. Chishiya watched her face go from, surprised to blushing, to bright red. “H-hi”

Chishiya chuckled as An just stared at her.

“Chishiya.” Aguni shouted. “You’re with me.”

Chishiya did a mock military salute before following Aguni. He gave a final look to Kuina, before he disappeared to the garage.

“One of the cars crashed, so we have another stop before we go to our game.” Aguni said, as he walked over to the van. All the players were already waiting for them, talking about their past games.

“-no dude, I’m telling you, that hearts game was so easy, there was this little girl right. And you know, this idiot that didn’t even come into the game with her, gave her one of his oxygen cannisters. Stupid, isn’t it? Anyways, as soon as he stepped in the car, Naoto and I went and stole hers. I mean, she was a kid, but there’s no way she would have survived anyways, so it's not like we did anything bad.” Chishiya heard this as he eavesdropped the militant's conversation. He wanted to judge the militant, scold him, punch him in the face, but how could he? He was no better than them, with what he was doing in that hospital, stealing organs from those sick kids. At least the militants did it for survival, Chishiya had no excuse.

“Man, that guy’s an idiot” another one of the militants chimed in, “Why would he give his oxygen cannisters to a kid.”

“Enough.” Aguni said. “Get in the van now, we are already late.” That shut the militants up and made them practically jump into the van. Chishiya laughed at them, imagine being so scared of just one man.

“So, Aguni, what game are we playing?” Chishiya asked as he climbed into the passenger seat. He would have preferred to sit in the back, but all the militants were too scared of Aguni to sit next to him.

“If Kuzuryu is right, the five of spades.”

Notes:

I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Feel free to leave any feedback in the comment, it's always appreciated!!!

If any of you are interested, you can follow this link to my Tumblr account! Feel free to DM me or ask me any questions on there!

Chapter 17: 3 of Clubs: Dead or Alive

Notes:

Hi guys!! Sorry for the late update, I've had a really bad cold haha. Anyways I hope you enjoy the new chapter!!!

As always, feel free to leave any feedback in the comments, I appreciate all of it!!!

Thank you to everyone that has been leaving comments, I've not been the best at responding, but I have read hem all and I promise I will try and respond soon!!!!

Arisu didn’t know how he made his way back to their base. But by the time he even realised where he was it was already bright outside. Shibuki was sat across from Arisu, cooking something on a portable stove that she found.

Arisu hadn’t made his mind up about her yet, something about her unnerved him. She reminded him of Chishiya. The way she carried herself, and how she acted in their game, the similarities were subtle, but they were there.

“Arisu?” Shibuki asked, staring at him, “Are you back? You’ve been pretty out of it for the last couple of hours.”

“Yeah.”

“Ahh, that’s good, are you feeling any better?”

“..not really” Arisu responded, squeezing the plush bunny in his hands a little harder. He doesn’t know why he kept it. He shouldn’t have, Aoi deserved to have her bunny back, to have it with her, even if she was no longer alive, she deserved the comfort of her bunny. Yet, Arisu couldn’t leave it, he wanted to, he really wanted to, but it felt wrong.

Arisu wanted to bury her, take her out of the train and give her a proper funeral, like she deserved. But Shibuki had already dragged him away, scolding him for even thinking of risking going in that train with all the gas present.

“Do you want to die?”

Shibuki had asked him that, while he was trying to claw his way to Aoi’s body. It wasn’t the first time he’d been asked that question, but it was the first time it had actually made him stop and think about his answer. If you had asked Arisu a couple years ago, his answer would have been yes. He did want to die, he almost followed through with that desire, but he couldn’t justify leaving his brother alone with his father, especially with what happened with his mother. But now, he didn’t know. He didn’t have a strong desire to live, yet time and time again he found himself fighting. In every game he’d played, he’d always tried his best to save himself and everyone else that he could. Could he really say he wanted to die, when he was trying this hard to live? No. He couldn’t. It would be an insult to them. To Aoi’s death. And Chishiya’s sacrifice. Sure, Chishiya wasn’t dead, as far as Arisu knew anyways, but he put himself at risk for Arisu. How could he even entertain the idea of wanting to die, when Chishiya was fighting so hard for him to live.

In the end, Arisu gave up trying to get into the train. He just collapsed and cried, Shibuki had to practically carry him away from the subway, as he was barely conscious anymore.

“I looked around.” Shibuki broke the silence, snapping Arisu out of his thoughts, “I found these papers, are you trying to predict the games?”

“Yeah” Arisu sighed, he wasn’t in the mood to explain right now, but it didn’t look like Shibuki would be letting this topic go anytime soon. “I’ve been playing games and taking notes on their characteristics. I’m trying to create a formula to predict the difficulty and type of game. It’s not very accurate at the minute.”

“How come?”

“Because there is still a lot I don’t know. For example, the game we just played shared the same suit and difficulty as a game I played a few days earlier, yet the game was laid out completely differently. So, is that possible for all the games?”

“Okay, I think I understand, so you’re trying to avoid specific games?”

“Basically.”

“Why?” Arisu wanted to get annoyed at the interrogation before he remembered that Shibuki had only been here for one day. Of course she’d be confused, Arisu was confused when he first got here, and Shibuki didn’t have a Chishiya to explain to her what was going on.

Arisu spent the next hour and a half explaining everything he knew about the games, the Beach and the ‘world’ they were in. If Shibuki was going to be his ally, it'd be better to get her caught up on everything, especially because when they get Chishiya back. Chishiya wasn’t a patient man, despite the fact he’d decided to work with Children, and he wouldn’t go out of his way to help or explain things.

“So, what do we need to do? To help make your formula?” Arisu was amazed with how calm Shibuki was about the situation. She’d absorbed all this information, processed it and was trying to come up with a plan of action all in the space of 2 hours.

“Ideally, I’d meet up with Chishiya, he’s better at this kind of thing than I am. But, until then, I think we need to play more games. I’ve not played a spades or diamonds game yet, and I’ve only ever played one clubs game, so it would be useful to get more information on those. I propose we stake out some arenas and play a game tonight.

“Tonight? Are you sure that’s wise, after everything with...” Shibuki didn’t finish her sentence, but Arisu knew what she meant. Arisu didn’t want to, but he needed to find Chishiya, this was the best way. The best thing he could do for Aoi was beat these games. He wouldn’t let her die in vain.

“Honestly, it’s probably not the best idea, but I don’t know what else to do.”

“Okay,” Shibuki let out a long sigh, “I trust you, Arisu. I’ll go along with your plan, I want to get home too.

-x-

They had spent the day running around Tokyo. They had found a few different arenas that could potentially be spades or clubs games, as well as a dozen buildings that could become potential arenas in the future.

“So, which one are we going to pick tonight?” Shibuki asked, studying her notes from earlier in the day. She had picked up a notebook and a polaroid camera, that somehow still worked, so it was easier to keep track of where they’d been and the characteristics of the arena’s.

“I think it’s between the apartment building or the GM building.”

“Not the Botanical Gardens?” Arisu’s blood ran cold when Shibuki suggested that. “You said it's been there the longest, so wouldn’t that be the best one to investigate first?”

“No, we’re not playing that one.” Arisu said definitively. If it was up to Arisu, he’d never go to that arena. The fact it was still standing, and no one had cleared it yet was already a red flag. But the aura it gave off, it was practically radiating death. If Arisu had to go to that arena, he’d rather go alone or take Chishiya with him. He wasn’t about to risk it with a woman he’s known for one day.

“Okay, but-”

“I think we should focus on either the apartment or the GM building games. They seem like they’d be easier than the one at the Botanical Gardens. I think I’m leaning more towards the GM Building game, it looks smaller than the apartment building, it might mean the difficulty is lower.”

“If you’re sure? I just don’t think running away from harder games is the best plan.”

“I know, and I want to clear that game, I just think it’s better to do it when we know more, and we have a bigger and stronger group.”

“Okay, let’s get going then.”

-x-

Arisu and Shibuki arrived outside the building about 10 minutes before the registration closed. Arisu could see Shibuki was nervous, she kept shifting her weight and looking over her shoulder. It was similar to how she was acting in her first game; Arisu hoped for both their sakes that she would calm down.

“You should go ahead. I’m going to look around the outside, see if there’s any clues.”

“I can go with you?” Shibuki said quickly, clearly anxious at the idea of them both splitting up.

“No, you only have 2 days on your visa, if something happens and we are forced away from the arena, you will have to join the game tomorrow, this way, it means you aren’t forced into playing the day your visa runs out. I have quite a few days on my visa, it wouldn’t matter if I couldn’t join the games tonight.”

“You won’t leave, will you? This isn’t a big con just to get rid of me?”

“No, I promise I won’t.”

Shibuki nodded and walked inside, he heard the small ping of her registering for the game before he walked around the building. It was quite a small building; it had a fire escape with some stairs and a few cars parked in front. It looked like a completely normal building, nothing out of the ordinary.

When Arisu finally made his way to the front of the building, he heard shouting, a lot of shouting. Arisu hoped it wasn’t aimed at Shibuki, that would make the game so much harder.

Arisu could see four figures waiting when he entered the building, he was too far away to recognise anyone, but with about 1 minute left to enter, he doubted anyone else would be joining the game. One of the people had spotted him because they began shouting in his direction, soon everyone, except for who he presumed was Shibuki, joined in. Were they trying to warn him?

“Hey man, don’t come in here, you’ll be trapped!” One of the men shouted. Arisu stopped in his tracks, that voice? He recognised that voice. He’d recognise that voice anywhere.

“KARUBE!” Arisu shouted, as he carried on down the hallway, practically sprinting.

“Arisu?” Karube said dumbfounded, too shocked by his presence to stop him coming through the doorway. “What the hell are you doing here?”

Arisu didn’t respond, instead he ran and jumped into Karube’s arms. He had never been so relieved. Karube, already anticipating this reaction from Arisu, had already stabilised himself and prepared to catch him. Arisu had to hold back tears as he landed in Karube’s arms, all the stress and sadness from his time here had caught up with him. Arisu finally felt safe enough to let it out.

Arisu had known Karube since he was 5 years old. Arisu had been beaten up by a boy at school, and Karube had stood up for him. He got Arisu’s description of the boy, found him and beat the ever-loving shit out of him. Since that day, they had been inseparable. Arisu struggled to think of a day they’d not seen each other in the 17 years they’d known each other.

“Arisu.” Shibuki said, looking annoyed as she held a phone up to Arisu’s face. “You need to register.”

“Arisu, you know her?” Karube said, looking equally as annoyed as Shibuki.

“She’s my friend.” Arisu answered as he let go of Karube and stood back on the floor.

‘Seriously?” another voice chimed in. Before Arisu had time to look, he felt a large weight on his back and arms hugging around his waist.

“CHOTA!” Arisu turned around and returned the hug.

“Arisu.” Shibuki grabbed his shoulder, lightly pulling him away from Chota, while angrily whispering at him. Arisu could see Karube giving her a death glare, while Chota looked like a kicked puppy at Arisu’s rejection. “You need to focus. Did you even hear the registration closed announcement?”

“I know, I know, it’s just these are my fri-”

“Arisu, now is not the time.”

“Okay. I’m sorry.” Arisu knew Shibuki was right. He was glad Chishiya wasn’t here to see his reaction, he would be so disappointed in Arisu for letting himself get distracted like this.

“Excuse me.” the other girl spoke up, Arisu hadn’t even noticed she was there. He once again mentally winced at the idea of Chishiya finding out. “What’s going on? Where is everyone? I want to go home. The lady said it was a game-”

“Will all players please enter the elevator.” The announcer cut the girl off.

“Arisu, what’s going on?” Karube asked. “I asked your friend but she didn’t tell me anything.”

“30 seconds” the announcer stated.

“I don’t have time to explain now; I just need you to trust me.” Arius said, his eyes pleading with Karube. He was clearly on edge and Arisu needed him to calm down. “Please Karube, I’ll explain later.”

“...okay, but I’m not happy about this.” Karube responded. Chota hadn’t said anything more, but he was staring at them both intently.

Shibuki sighed and walked towards the elevator. “If you stay here, you’ll die. If you want to live, get in the elevator.”

That made the high school girl run towards her, she clearly felt more comfortable with Shibuki than anyone else. Chota followed suit, while Karube waited for Arisu to confirm it was safe before he went in. Arisu was the last to enter, pausing for a few seconds to inspect the map on the wall.

The elevator ride was awkward to put it lightly. Karube and Shibuki were glaring at each other, while the high school girl was sobbing in the corner and Chota was obviously trying not to stare at Shibuki.

“Arisu, we will be okay right?” Chota asked nervously.

“It’ll be okay Chota, I promise.” Arisu responded sincerely. Chota calmed down and gave Arisu a small smile.

“Your friend is pretty, but I think she annoyed Karube.” Chota whispered in Arisu’s ear. “Is she your girlfriend?”

“No Chota, she’s not my girlfriend, I’ve known her for a day.” Arisu whispered back to him.

Before Chota had the chance to respond, the doors to the elevator opened. Arisu rushed out, trying to avoid the awkward conversation with Chota. He never liked talking about relationships with Karube and Chota, they were both horny teenagers obsessed with women, and Arisu wasn’t. He’d never really been interested in women, not sexually anyways, he thought he’d be more interested in them when he was older. But at 22 years old, he was still a virgin that had never had a girlfriend, so it made conversations about relationships awkward.

“Difficulty: 3 of clubs”

Arisu breathed a sigh of relief, clubs was doable, they had a strong team with Karube, Chota and Shibuki. Shibuki seemed to visibly calm down too, less on edge than she had been earlier.

“Game: Dead or Alive”

“Rules: Select the correct door within the stipulated time frame.” Arisu looked around the room, there were two doors possible to choose from. One said alive, with a picture of an angelic anime girl, while the other one said dead, with a picture of a skeleton. Were they just supposed to guess the doors and hope for the best? There were no other clues in the room that Arisu could see.

“Clear condition: leave the building within the time limit.”

Everyone stood frozen, unsure what to do next.

“The time limit for this room is 2 minutes.”

Arisu looked down at his phone to see a timer counting down from two minutes on the screen.

“What is this?” Karube asks, looking between Shibuki and Arisu a sceptical look on his face. Arisu was staring at Shibuki. She seemed similar to how she was at the start of the 2 of hearts game, which could be bad for Arisu.

“Alive or dead” Arisu said, deciding to focus on the problem at hand, if he could solve this game, then it wouldn’t matter how weird Shibuki was acting.

“Is this really a game? This is really getting exciting” These must be doors to an art gallery.” Chota said to Karube and the high school girl as he got his phone out and started filming. Karube didn’t look convinced, but Chota’s words seemed to calm down the high school girl slightly.

“I wanna go home” the high school girl whined. Arisu didn’t blame her, he’d give anything to go home right now, even if it meant dealing with his father.

“You’ll be fine, you’re with us!” Chota said to the girl with a big smile. “We will play the game, get our prize and go home.”

If Arisu didn’t know better, he’d be inclined to believe Chota. However, this world was too cruel for that. Initially, Arisu had been thrilled to see his friends, happy to see familiar faces but the more he thought about it, the more the dread built up in his stomach. There was a very real possibility he could lose both of them. Karube and Chota were the most important people to Arisu, he would die for them, kill for them even. He didn't know what he would do if they died in this world.

“One minute remaining”

“Arisu which door do you think it is?” Karube asked Arisu. Arisu was surprised he hadn’t pushed for more information about what was happening

“Dead or Alive?” Arisu mulled it over in his head. He must be missing something. This was a clubs game, it was about teamwork, meaning there must be a solution he wasn’t seeing.

“Well, it can’t be the skeleton, right?” Chota chimed in. He’d been eavesdropping Arisu and Karube’s conversation

“And if we choose wrong?” Karube asked. Arisu didn’t know what to do, was it better to tell them all the truth and scare them? That could backfire, but he couldn’t keep the fact they were in a death game from them, they had a right to know, right?

“It’s alive” Shibuki interrupted before Arisu came to a decision about what to do. Arisu was initially relieved that Shibuki had managed to figure the game out, but observing her body language and attitude, it was clear she was lying.

“How do you know?” Arisu watched Shibuki closely, observing every twicth and subtle movement. He wanted to trust Shibuki, he really did. She had helped him after Aoi and with her research.

“It's obviously alive choose the door that says alive.” That wasn’t an answer, Shibuki was deflecting. He should have expected this, the moment he noticed she was like Chishiya, he should have known she’d try to manipulate others into taking all the risk. It’s exactly what Chishiya would do if he was here, except he wouldn’t be so obvious about it. Even Karube had noticed something was off with her answers.

“Do you guys' smell something?” Chota asked covering his nose with his shirt.

“Oh fuck!” Karube shouted as he jumped away from the vent. There was thick, black smoke coming out of it, filling the room making it harder to breathe. Everyone in the room. had instinctively covered their mouths.

“Is it a fire?” Karube asked, looking around for something to cover the vent.

“30 seconds remaining.”

“What do we do?” Chota cried out, the fear apparent in his voice. The high school girl was also scared, crying loudly as she begged for her mother.

“The answer is alive hurry up and open the door.” Shibuki exclaimed to everyone in the room, she was getting desperate now.

“Do it yourself!” Karube shouted back.

“What happens if our time runs out?” Chota asks between sobs.

“Then we won't get, more time! Hurry!”

“I can't take it anymore, I can’t breathe!” The girl yells and runs to open the alive door.

She was halfway through when a laser came down and zapped her straight through her head. The door slammed shut right as her body hit the floor. Everyone was frozen where they were, staring at the door.

“5 seconds remaining.”

Notes:

I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Feel free to leave any feedback in the comment, it's always appreciated!!!

If any of you are interested, you can follow this link to my Tumblr account! Feel free to DM me or ask me any questions on there!

Chapter 18: 3 of Clubs: Dead or Alive (2)

Notes:

Hi everyone, sorry for not updating for so long (especially to anyone I promised I'd update it by the end of the week haha) I've had exams and then I was volunteering at Download festival so I've not really had chance to write for you all!!!

I hope you enjoy this chapter! As always, feel free to leave any feedback in the comments, it's always appreciated!!! Love you all thanks for reading!!!!

Also, I forgot to mention, but I'm going to be going through and fixing some earlier chapters! The story itself isn't going to change, it's more just fixing grammar and changing a sentence or two. So if you notice any random chapter changes, that's probably why ❤️❤️❤️

(PS there is some mentions of vomiting in this fic, so if you are sensitive to that just be careful, it's not graphic but I didn't want to catch anyone off guard!

I hope you enjoy this chapter!!!!

“4”

“3”

Before Arisu had a chance to process what had happened, Shibuki had grabbed his hand and was dragging him through the other door. Karube was staring at him, a mix of anger and fear in his eyes, while Chota was standing frozen in shock.

“2”

The announcement was enough to break Karube out of his thoughts, as he grabbed Chota and followed closely behind them, slamming the door once they'd passed through it.

“Arisu,” Shibuki said, staring at him, “You need to think faster if you want to beat this game.”

“I NEED TO THINK FASTER?” Arisu shouts, causing Shibuki to take a step back. “You seemed to be thinking pretty fast when you killed that girl.”

“I didn't kill her, she killed herself, I didn't make her run through that door.” Shibuki said coldly.

“You manipulated her! She never would have done that had you not pushed it.” Arisu retorted.

“Whatever, you can think of it any way you want. The point is, if you don't think faster we are all going to die.”

“So what do we do now?” Karube chimed in, surprisingly calm given the situation, however, he was still glaring at Shibuki. “Do we choose the alive door now?”

“The last one was die, so the next one should be live, right?” Arisu added, glancing at Chota who was pale as a ghost.

“But what if that's what they want us to think?” Karube countered.

“It's hard to choose die, maybe it's something to do with the psychological aspect of opening the door.”

“Wait a second,” Shibuki interrupted, “I think this is a game where we choose a sacrifice, there's probably no difference in the doors. Only who opens them.”

“You sacrificed that girl, so you should open a door!” Karube shouted.

“Because I believe if I survive it'll be for the good of all mankind.” Shibuki responded, her face not showing a flicker of remorse.

“WELL DON’T WE FEEL GOOD ABOUT OURSELVES.” Karube shouted as he started to walk towards Shibuki, but hesitated when he heard Chota vomit again.

"One minute has passed”

“No one will open the door at this rate.” Arisu sighed, he didn’t agree with Shibuki’s assessments of the game but he didn't have any other ideas. If they had to sacrifice each other that’d be a hearts game, not a clubs.

“Why don’t you open it?” Shibuki said, pointing at Karube. “You want me to open it, why don’t you do it yourself? You want someone else to open it!”

“YOU KILL-”

“That’s enough Karube, it's not worth arguing with her, I’ll open it.” Arisu says, interrupting Karube.

“Arisu.” Karube says between coughs, “If she’s right, you’ll die.”

“She’s not,” Arisu says back, with an unfounded confidence, “Clubs is the suit for team games, I know you don’t know what's happening, but this is the wrong suit for the game to include sacrifices. Just trust me okay?”

“Okay.” Karube sighed out, unconvinced, “But you better not die opening a fucking door, you owe me about 1000 explanations and apologies.”

Arisu nodded and walked towards the ‘dead’ door. Shibuki was wrong, it wasn’t a game of sacrifices, he would be fine.

“I’ll open the door.” Arisu says, breathing deeply, trying to soothe himself as he placed his hand on the door knob.

He couldn’t do it. He couldn’t open the door. His hand wouldn’t move. But why? If he didn’t open the door, they’d all die. If he did open the door and it was wrong, he’d die and the rest would live. If he opened the door and it was right, they’d all lived. Arisu had never placed much value in his own life, so if opening this door means his friends survived, he’d be happy to take that chance. So, why couldn’t he move?

“I'LL OPEN THE DOOR! FUCK!” Arisu shouted, trying to force himself to move, but no matter what he did, his body wouldn’t let him.

“See, not so easy, is it?” Shibuki said, a conflicted expression on her face.

“SHUT THE FUCK UP” Karube shouted as he marched over to the live door.

“20 seconds remaining”

“I’ll do it. He’s got shit luck anyways.” Karube smiled at Arisu, who wanted to cry. Arisu had known Karube practically his whole life. He was more of a brother to him than his actual brother. Karube was strong and dependable. Arisu wanted him to be the best man at his wedding, he couldn’t die yet, not like this.
“Karube!”

“We will take turns, you’ll go after me.” Karube said coldly, staring Shibuki directly in the eye.

“10 seconds remaining”

“Karube” Arisu says again, Karube just grunts in response as he grabs the door handle.

“5”

“4”

“3”

“KARUBE!” Arisu screamed as Karube ran through the door.

They waited in silence, as Karube braced himself against the door, waiting for the laser. When it didn’t come, he held the door, motioning for them to come through.

“2”

“Hurry!” Karube says, reaching out to grab Chota. Shibuki followed closely behind, while Arisu was at the back, making sure everyone else made it through. He silently thanked whichever God that let him meet Karube all those years ago, because if he hadn’t Arisu might not be alive right now.

“1”

Arisu almost didn’t make it, he could feel his back burn as the fire got close to him. It was agonising, and the fire hadn’t even touched him yet. If it came down to it, Arisu would definitely take the instant death laser.

Arisu leaped into the room as Shibuki slammed the door shut behind him. He hit the floor hard, knocking the wind out of himself and damaging his already burnt back. He laid there for what felt like 5 minutes before Karube dragged him up to his feet.

“The time limit for this room is 1 minute thirty seconds.”

“The time limit is shortening.” Shibuki says, clutching her phone tightly.

“I can’t do this anymore.” Chota chokes out between sobs. He’d struggled this game, freezing up and being sick. Arisu would be lying if he said he wasn’t worried, this was the 3 of clubs, the kindest suit and a low difficulty, how would he survive the 9 of spades, or the 7 of hearts, if he couldn’t even handle this.

Karube on the other hand, has been dependable as always, what he lacked in intelligence, he made up for in confidence, strength and decisiveness. Arisu wasn’t worried about Karube surviving, especially if they met back up with Chishiya. While Chishiya and Karube never got along, Arisu knew they both respected each other's strengths. Would Chishiya protect him from Karube?

Wait- what was he talking about? Protect him from Karube? Arisu didn’t need protection from Karube, that was his best friend. He wouldn’t hurt Arisu, he just gambled his life to make sure Arisu survived. He was just being paranoid. Is this really what this world was doing to him?

“We’re taking turns.” Karube grabs Shibuki and throws her into a door. Arisu had known that Karube could get violent quite easily, especially when stressed, but this is the first time he’d been violent towards a woman. Arisu understood, given the situation, why he’d react like this, but for Karube to change his moral code so quickly was concerning. Would he go against Arisu, if he had to? If he did, there isn't a lot Arisu would be able to do. Karube was big, really big, muscular and tall and he had a lot of fighting experience. Arisu was not, while he was tall, he was quite thin, and had absolutely no fighting experience. Arisu was smarter and more strategic than Karube, but there’s no way he’d be able to beat him in a fight.

Chishiya probably could. Chishiya was a strategic genius, who works out regularly and while he has no formal martial arts training, he has a vast knowledge of pressure points and artery locations.

“Wait…” Shibuki says meekly. Arisu was surprised, this was the first time he’d seen Shibuki genuinely scared, and because of Karube of all people.

“Go ahead, open it.” when Shibuki didn’t move, Karube shouted louder. “OPEN IT!”

“I can't,” Shibuki started crying as she spoke. Arisu felt conflicted, on the one hand, he didn’t want to have to risk losing his friends, and Shibuki had been responsible for the high school girl’s death. On the other hand, Karube wouldn’t be able to live with himself if he was responsible for killing Shibuki. He might feel like this is what's right now, but when the adrenaline settles, he’d feel nothing but guilt.

Karube deeply sighed before turning his attention to Arisu.

“Arisu, what do you think?”

“Think?” Arisu responded confused.

“You always say there’s solutions built into every game, right?”

“Karube, this isn’t a game?”

“You can figure it out. You’ve always solved the puzzle games I could never figure out.”

“Karube this is not a game, this is all about luck!”

“Earlier you said this game was about teamwork, there’s no luck involved when you work as a team. So that means this game can be solved, right?
“Well, then I was wrong then Karube. We will just have to keep guessing.”

“So, that’s it, you are just giving up?”

“GIVING UP! GIVING UP? I DON’T KNOW WHAT YOU WANT FROM ME KARUBE, THERE ISN’T A SOLUTION TO THIS GAME.”

“YOU TOLD US TO TRUST YOU.” Karube started, his voice shaking, “When we met up again, you said you couldn’t tell us what was going on, but to trust you and we have! We trusted you when that girl died, when the room has been set on fire multiple times. How are we supposed to solve this when we don’t know what’s happening?”

“Statistically, each of us would go through two doors. We’ve already successfully gone through two, and it’s not a big building, so there shouldn’t be many rooms left, so some of us should survive. Are you happy? Is that what you wanted to hear?”

“Wow, you spend your entire life, having everything handed to you, sitting on your arse playing games and you can’t even solve this. I’ve spent the past few years working for a living! You’ve been gaming and in school, which is clearly not helping, seeing as you can’t even solve this!”

“You think working in a bar makes you better! You can’t solve it either, HOW IS THAT BETTER! YOU CAN BLAME ME ALL YOU WANT BUT YOU ARE PROJECTING BECAUSE YOU’RE TOO STUPID TO SOLVE IT. THE ONLY THING YOU’RE GOOD AT IS FIGHTING, HOW IS THAT BETTER?”

“HOW ABOUT I SHOW YOU HOW MUCH BETTER IT IS!”

Arisu went to say something but was stopped when he felt a sharp pain in his jaw. He went dizzy for a second before collapsing to the floor. Arisu could feel himself drifting in and out of consciousness, unable to concentrate on anything. Had Karube punched him in the face?

Arisu heard voices muffled in the background, but couldn’t zero in on anything they’re saying. Why didn’t he just stay outside the building? Wait. Outside the building, Arisu had spent 5 minutes exploring. Surely, there’d be a clue out there. Think Arisu! Think!

There was an alley, with a staircase leading to the building, which must be the exit, and that was on the opposite side of the building to where they entered the building. They appear to have travelled in a straight line so far, as both doors they’ve entered through appear to be in a straight line. Does that mean the next door is die, seen as it’s in a straight line? No, there’s more to it. The map showed the exit was parallel to the elevator, and had they gone straight forward, they would already be at the elevator, which means the rooms are snaking around. The main question is, how many rooms are there? The less rooms there are, the easier this game gets. It isn’t a big building, and the rooms aren’t particularly big either. Was there anything that said the size of the building, he’d looked at the floor plan but there wasn’t anything on there. Was there anything outside, signs, sidewalk, anything?

“Aris-” Chota started, but was interrupted by Karube shushing him.

“A BMW 523” Arisu shouts suddenly, they all look at him, dumbfounded

“Huh?” Karube, Chota and Shibuki say in unison.

“A BMW 523!!” Arisu shouts excitedly.

“Yeah?” Karube asks, joining in with Arisu’s excitement.

“The answer is die.” Arisu said confidently.

“How do you know?” Shibuki asked, looking skeptical.

“10 seconds remaining.”

“Guys, we gotta hurry!” Chota says nervously as he stood behind Karube.

“I’ll open the door.”

“Arisu, are you sure the answer is die?” Karube asked. Arisu ignored his question, as he didn’t want to psych himself out.

“Please.” Arisu begged, he had to be right, there was no other possible solution. He could picture Chishiya’s smug face, laughing at him second guessing himself.

“5”

Arisu opened the door, if he was wrong this would at least give the others chance to get to the correct door.

“4”

Arisu braced against the door, waiting for the laser to hit him. He heard a vague scream in the background but ignored it.

“3”

Arisu screamed with joy as the others ran towards the door.

“2”

“This means I’m right!” Arisu shouts as Karube picks him up and hugs him.

“1”

Shibuki and Chota just make it through the door before the room engulfed in flames.

“The time limit for this room is 1 minute 30 seconds.”

“Arisu, do you know which one this time?” Karube asked, while all three of them looked at him expectantly.

“My father has a BMW 523, it's 4 meters, 94 centimeters, one of them is parked beside the building.” Arisu paused waiting for one of them to chime in but continued when they all stared blankly at him, “The length of the building is equivalent to four of those cars, this means the building is approximately 24 meters in length. Measuring this room with my feet, it should be around 6 meters long. According to the evacuation map, the elevator is at the corner of the building. The shape of the building is square, the room is also square shaped. Assuming one side of the building is 20 meters after taking into account the width of walls, and the length of a single room is 6 meters, thats roughly three rooms a side, meaning there are 9 rooms in total.”

“One minute has passed”

“I need something to write on” Arisu said while everyone rushed to find writing implements. Chota managed to find a pen in his pocket while Shibuki fished a notepad out of her bag.

“We are in a square building,” Arisu explained as he drew his diagram, assuming each room is square, this floor has 9 rooms in total, as I said earlier.”

“Woah, it’s just like a puzzle.” Chota says, seeming calmer now.

“Arisu’s a genius at them!” Karube commented excitedly.

“We started from this room, the high school girl died in this room,” Arisu started to explain more but was interrupted by multiple coughs, “Thanks to Karube, we moved forward, this means the door to the right cannot be accessed. Then I opened the door to this room-”

“30 seconds remaining”

“-by process of elimination, this room and the one beside it cannot be accessed, I’m sure of that!”

“10 seconds remaining”

“This means the answer is die, the alive door is a trap!” After Arisu said that, no one wasted any time trying to get through the door.

“4”

“3”

“2”

Shibuki was the first one through the door, followed by Karube, then Arisu and finally Chota who almost got stuck when Karube tried to close the door.

“The time limit for this room is 1 minute 20 seconds”

“If your reasoning is right we are going to survive.” Shibuki said as she settled next to Arisu. Karube was too busy giving Chota a long apology for almost trapping him in the fire.

“This game is not based on luck, we needed to clear it together, that’s why it’s clubs game.” Arisu breathed out harshly, it was getting harder to breathe now, probably due to all the smoke inhalation. “According to my drawing, the next answer is die.”

Arisu opened the door again, despite his airtight logic, he still found himself begging the universe to not be wrong. It was shocking to Arisu, he’d never had suck a desire to live before.

“Hell yeah we did it!” Karube exclaimed high fiving Chota.

“The time limit for this room is 1 minute and 10 seconds.”

“We? Arisu asked back sarcastically after the announcer had finished.

“Yeah, we! You wouldn’t have figured it out if I didn’t punch you in the face.”

“Yeah right, you’re such an ass.”

“A handsome ass.” Karube said as he used his fingers to frame his face, Chota snickered in the background.

“Are you guys done?” Shinuki asked impatiently, tapping her foot on the ground. “Arisu, which one’s next?”

“It should be alive.” Arisu answered honestly, hitting Karube in the arm when he called her a ‘bitch’ under her breath.

Shibuki stormed over to the door, swung it open and stepped through. Chota followed suit, clearly nervous about being in the room.

“Geez, what's her problem?” Karube laughed out.

“Who knows?” Arisu responded sighing.

“Oh really? I thought she was your friend, your bestie, your bff for life.” Karube joked, clearly trying to lighten the mood.

“Dude, I’ve known her for a day, don’t tell me you’re jealous. You will always be my bff, come give your bestie a hug.” Arisu laughed as he tried to jump on Karube who was shoving him off.

“Yeah, yeah whatever” Karube sighed as he tried to light a cigarette, the room went quiet for a minute. “Hey Arisu, I’m sorry, ya know, for punching you in the face..”

“It’s fine, I needed it besides it let me solve the game. I can’t wait to rub it in Chishiya’s smug face.”

“Wait, Chishiyas he-”

“30 seconds remaining”

“We should get going.” Arisu said, nervous about the smoke filling the room.

“But you said about Chishiya-” Karube asked as he walked through the doorway, but cut himself off when he saw Shibuki staring at them.

“It took you guys long enough.” Shibuki said with a glare.

“The time limit for this room is 1 minute.”

“Which one is it now?” Karube asked, trying to look at Arisu’s diagram.

“Neither.” Arisu said frozen in place, “There’s no door where it should be.”

“Should we just pick the door on the outer wall then?” Chota asked as he walked over and grabbed the door knob.

“WAIT. Just wait a second, okay?”

“All right.” Chota said as he put his hands up.

“The room we are in right now is on the left-end corner of the building. The clearing condition is to leave the building. That’s what would make us choose the ‘dead’ door to lead us out, but, when I expected the building, I didn’t notice a gap between this and the building it would lead too. But the Alive door will lead us to where the high school girl died, it makes no sense. Why is there not a door connected to the exit.”

“We are wasting time.” Shibuki shouts, “We are all gonna die at this rate!”

“You can shut up, you haven’t even opened a door yet.” Karube yelled.

“Don’t blame this on me.” Shibuki said defensively.

“Really, then feel free to try the door for us.” Karube said snarkily, when Shibuki didn’t respond he continued. “Yeah, that’s what I thought.”

“Both of you stop it, Arisu is trying to think.” Chota said meekly but it was enough to get the two to calm down.

“Wait Chota!” Arisu shouts.

“Yeah?”

“You took a video of the first room, right?”

“There isn’t time for that.” Shibuki interjected but was ignored by everyone. Chota fished out the phone and shoved it into Arisu’s hand.

“30 seconds remaining”

Arisu scrolled through the video. There must be something, something he’s missed or overlooked.

“There. I found it.” Everyone crowded around Arisu as he said that, “There’s no door, in the room the high school girl died-t

“10 seconds remaining”

“-there’s no door on the opposite room. That means-”

“5 seconds remaining”

-there must be a small room on the other side. It’s the ‘Alive’ door. Go!”

“3”

They all run as fast as they can. They could make it. They could make it.

“2”

Shibuki makes it through the door, followed closely by Arisu.

“1”

Karube makes it through by the last second, Chota right behind him. Just as they were about to celebrate, Chota let out a bloodcurdling scream. He was on fire, his leg was on fire. Chota was hurt, Chota couldn’t be hurt. No. This was bad, this was really bad.

“Arisu focus-”

“The time limit for this room is 10 seconds”

“-I’ve got Chota, you just focus on getting us out of here.”

“Okay” Arisu takes a deep breath, he can help Chota when they are safe. “According to the map, the exit should be the ‘die’ door, the alive door is a trap. SHIBUKI DON’T OPEN IT!”

Arisu lets Karube and Chota through first, making sure Chota is safe has to be his first priority. Shibuki fell on Arisu trying to get outside, this caused him to fall into Karube, who was unbalanced due to carrying Chota and they all went toppling down the stairs.

“Game cleared. Congratulations.” the announcer said as the phone played the familiar happy theme.

“Is everyone okay?” Arisu asked, when he finally managed to catch his breath after having the wind knocked out of him.

“Yeah.” Karube said, sounding pained. A small yeah from Shibuki followed, while Chota remained unconscious on the floor.

“Is he going to be okay?” Shinuki asked.

“He’s probably passed out from the pain.” Arisu responded, “It looks like a mix of a third and fourth degree burn. This is very bad. The risk of infection alone is astronomical.”

“He will be okay.” Karube said, “Good thing someone’s a doctor.”

“I’ve not graduated yet Karube.”

“I was more thinking Chishiya seen as he’s apparently here, you just didn’t think to mention it.” Karube joked, again trying to lighten the mood.

“You hate Chishiya!” Arisu argued back.

“Yeah, but even I can admit he’s smart.”

“Whatever.” Arisu rolled his eyes.

“Arisu,” Shibuki pulled at his sleeve, “Thank you, we only made it out thanks to you.”

“Yeah Arisu.” Chota breathed out between pained gasps, “We never would have made it if it wasn’t for you. You’re awesome Arisu.”

“To the survivors of the game, we are going to supply you with a 3 day visa”

Everyone stared at their phone, Karube and Chota looked even more confused, while Shibuki walked over and grabbed the playing card.

“Another one for the collection.” She said, waving it to Arisu.”

“Collection-”

“I’m going to drop out of the game.” An old man said, interrupting Karube’s question. Kariube, positioned his body protectively in front of Chota, while Shibuki hid behind Arisu. “Listen to me! There’s no end to the game no matter how much you clear. My visa ended today, and now I wish to play no longer.”

The man got on his knees, and looked up to the sky. He had a small smile on his face, as he waited for the laser.

“Good lu-” the man never had chance to finish his sentence, as the laser pierced his head, killing him instantly.

Notes:

I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Feel free to leave any feedback in the comment, it's always appreciated!!!

If any of you are interested, you can follow this link to my Tumblr account! Feel free to DM me or ask me any questions on there!

Chapter 19: 5 of Spades: Tag (1)

Notes:

Hey guys! Sorry for the late update but here's the second chapter!!!

I just want to say a massive thank you to everyone who has interacted and supported this fic! I never expected people to like it this much! I've received loads of support!!! So I wanted to say a massive thank you to everyone!!!

I hope you like this chapter! As always feel free to leave any feedback in the comments I always appreciate it!!!

Also, I love interacting with you guys in the comments, so if any of you want to talk about fics/shows/ask me any questions, feel free to add me on tumblr (I'll link it at the bottom of the chapter). I'd love to get to know my readers more and I love making friends!!!

“Arisu, do you maybe want to explain what the fuck is going on?” Karube asked as he gently placed Chota down on Arisu’s makeshift bed.

It had taken them 45 minutes to get back to Arisu’s makeshift base, mostly because Arisu took about 5 right turns before he realised he was completely lost.

“Yeah, I trust you Arisu, but I’m getting kind of scared.” Chota added, he seemed to be doing a little better but Arisu could tell he was in a lot of pain.

“Chota, I think I should treat your leg first-” Arisu started before Karube interrupted him.

“Just let Chishiya do it when he gets back.” Karube carried on, “We want to know what's happening.”

“Chishiya might not be coming back.” Arisu said, looking for supplies. If he had the keys to his house he could go and get the medical supplies that Chishiya had collected. They might have to go raid a pharmacy, or the hospital. Chota needed antibiotics, strong antibiotics, if they wanted to stave off any infection that most definitely will have set in.

“What do you mean he's not coming back? I can see his dumb white hoodie on the chair over there, he'd never willingly part with that.” Karube said, earning a small laugh from Chota.

“It's a long story!” Arisu brushed Karube off before focusing on Chota, “Look Chota, the longer we wait to treat this the more likely an infection will set in, you might lose the leg, or get sepsis and die. I’ll try and clean it as much as I can, and we can get Chishiya to have a look at it if we manage to find him again.”

“Can you explain what's going on as you patch me up at least.” Chota asked meekly.

“Chota, you should just focus on getting better!”

“Arisu.” Chota clasped onto Arisu’s hand, “Please…”

“Okay! I’ll explain.”

“Fucking finally” Karube said snarkily.

“Don't get your hopes up, there is a lot I don’t know, but what do you guys want to know?”

“Where are we?”

“I have no idea.”

“Who is doing this to us?”

“I don't know.”

“Why are we here?”

“I also do not know.” Arisu chuckled weakly at the disapproving look Karube and Chota.

“Okay maybe it's easier to tell you what I do know.”

“You think?” Karube said sarcastically, earning a small chuckle from Chota. It was nice to see Chota laugh, despite everything that's happened, he still managed to be his happy self.

Arisu then spent the next hour explaining everything that he knew, the games, the Beach, Chishiya, his math, all of it.

“So let me get this straight, you and Chishiya, met up the night we all went drinking at the bar, saw fireworks and ended up in this world.” Karube paused and waited for Arisu’s confirmation.

“Yeah, pretty much.”

“Then you split up and went and played the 6 of diamonds and 4 of hearts, and then met back up, went to your house and had a sleepover, Chishiya made a taser and got medical supplies while your lazy ass had a nap.”

“I had just watched people die.”

“SO HAD CHISHIYA!” Karube yelled dumbfoundedly, “Anyways, you then join a game together, pretend to date to avoid this creepy pervert who runs a cult! Then get chased into another game by the creepy perverts lackeys, then Chishiya sacrifices himself and gets kidnapped by Aguni? AND YOU CAN’T GET BACK TO THE HOUSE WHERE YOU HAVE ALL THE SUPPLIES BECAUSE CHISHIYA HAS THE KEY!”

“Yeah, that about sums it up….”

“So how did you and Shibuki meet?” Chota asks, wincing as Arisu rotates his leg to get a better look at the burns.

“Well after me and Chishiya got split up, I started trying to calculate probabilities for games and their characteristics, to see if I could predict suit or difficulty.”

“Yeah…” Karube said, not understanding where Arisu was going with his point.

“So I need to join as many games as possible to gather enough data for the math. I've been trying to scout outside arenas to see characteristics and features but not every game has survivors, so in order to gather enough data, I have to actually play the games. And I was trying to find Chishiya at the same time, and I ran into Shibuki, it was a 3 of hearts game.”

“So, what happened in that game?”

Arisu could feel his throat tighten, and tears sting his eyes. He wasn't ready to talk about Aoi yet, even if it was Karube and Chota, it just hurt too much.

“There were 5 players total, it was in the subway, we each had 4 subway cars, one out of the 4 was filled with poisonous gas, and we were only given three oxygen canisters. 4 out of the 5 players survived.” Shibuki explained for Arisu, noticing his discomfort.

“What happened to the other one, you manipulated them into taking the hit for you right?” Arisu loved Karube like a brother, but in that moment he almost punched him in the face.

“You can think whatever you want.”
Shibuki said defensively, crossing her arms over her chest.

“So what happens now?” Chota asks, “We have to play more games?”

“In theory, that's the best option for either finding Chishiya or finishing my calculations, but with your leg, we will have to find another way, and play when we have to!”

“Arisu, can I talk to you for a minute?” Karube says, seriously.

“Why can't you talk here?” Shibuki asks, “Are you just planning on leaving, abandoning Chota now that he's injured.”

“No, of course not!” Arisu says, “Right Karube?”

“Yeah, like I’d ever abandon Chota, you I would leave in a heart-beat, but not Chota. I want to talk to Arisu about Chishiya, and assuming how you are reacting every time we bring his name up, you haven't met him yet, so if I share anything personal about him, in front of you, a sneaky bitch that would try and use it against him, he would skin both of us alive, literally!”

“Yeah, that's pretty on brand for Chishiya.” Arisu agrees, Chota also nods in the background.

“Look, the sooner we find Chishiya, the sooner we can get Chota actual help. I can help a bit, but Chishiya has more medical experience than me, and he'd be able to treat Chota more objectively than I can.” Arisu reasons.

Karube, who had clearly run out of patience just picked up Arisu and started walking out the door.

“Karube, put me down!” Arisu said, trying to wriggle out of Karubes grip to no avail.

“Chota, shout me if this crazy bitch tries to kill you!” Karube jokes, ignoring Arisu as he lights a cigarette.

They stood outside for what felt like hours before Karube finally spoke up. “Arisu, I think we should play the game, either tonight, or tomorrow. Just us.”

“So, you didn’t want to talk about Chishiya? Shibuki was right, you want to abandon Chota?”

“No, absolutely not! I’m hurt you would even ask that!” Karube punched Arisu in the arm.

“Ow, that hurt!”

“Good!”

Arisu tried to hit him back but Karube had always been much stronger than Arisu, so it just turned into them awkwardly holding each other's hands.

“On a serious note, I think we should join the next game as soon as we can.” Karube took a long drag of his cigarette, “I just don’t think Chota’s going to be able to make it through, he’s in too much pain. If we can get your algorithm, math, or whatever it is working, it might give Chota more of a shot.”

“I know but…”

“What’s wrong Arisu? You’ve just been telling me how you’ve been doing all these games, all this badass stuff, so I know you are not scared.”

“Its just, I can’t, not with you and Chota. You guys are everything to me. Everything. I can’t lose you, not like I’ve lost Chishiya, not like I lost Ao-” Arisu stopped himself before he said her name. “You get it.”

“Arisu, come on, you can tell me anything.”

“It’s just- well…in the game I met Shibuki, there was this little girl, Aoi. She couldn’t have been older than 6, maybe 7 years old, and she was all alone, and she came over and asked me to help her. I promised her, I promised her… that I’d help her. I was supposed to h-hep her, and she died Karube. She died all alone, in that stupid subway car. She was so scared, Karube. I promised her it would be okay- I promised her-” Arisu struggled to get the sentence out between his choked sobs.

Karube didn’t say anything, just wrapped his arms around Arisu, gently running his head.

“And I- I promised Chota he’d be okay, I promised. I asked him to trust me, and he got hurt. He might lose his leg Karube. He needs that, legs are very important for..for… I don’t know skiing!”

“The fact that the first example for ‘what a leg is important for’ is skiing and not walking is a conversation for another day, however, for now let’s focus on the most important part.”

“Arisu, I promise you, me and Chota will be fine. Arisu, look at me, I promise. When have I ever broken a promise?” Karube grabbed Arisu’s face and forced him to look him in the eye. “I promise.”

“Ugh that's enough.” Arisu chuckled out, wiping his eyes, “Watching you try and be serious is just too funny!”

“Hey, I was trying to make you feel better.”

“Thanks Karube, I’m really glad you are here.”

“You’re glad I’m stuck in a death game?”

“You know what I mean!”

“Arisu, off all the people I could be trapped in a death game with, I’m glad it’s you!” Karube said, sincerely, “I always said that if we were stuck in an apocalypse, you’d be the one to survive.”

“And you’d knock everyone out with one punch, right?”

“Hell yeah I would!” Karube flexes his bicep as he laughs.

“You know, I met someone, in one of the games, I think you’d like her, she reminds me a bit of you. Her name is Kuina.”

“Judging by your choice of people to spend time with, I might have to get someone else to confirm that. I mean seriously man, Chishiya?”

“He’s been really good, genuinely Karube, he sacrificed himself for me.”

“I’m not saying he’s a bad guy, I’m just saying to be careful. He’s always had a soft spot for you, and that is probably Chishiya’s only weakness.”

“Really, and here I thought you hated each other.”

“I do hate him,” Karube lights another cigarette, “But he’s important to you, so I guess in some aspects, you could say he’s important to me too.”

“Really? I never thought you’d admit to that! Besides, Chishiya and I have always hated each other”

“Arisu, you two are practically married, you do not hate each other, you are both too stubborn and stupid to ever admit you love each other.”

“Love?”

“Yes, love Arisu.’

“We do not love each other-”

“Okay Arisu, we do not have time for this argument, we can discuss this later. How do we join the games tonight?”

“Umm, well I’ve noticed a few game arenas around here, run later than others, so there should be at least one open.”

“Are you sure, because that man’s visa ran out, why would his visa have ran out before the game ends for the day?”

“I’m not sure, maybe it’s the time when he finished his last game? That would definitely be something to look into.”

“Okay, so we will peg that for later, which game do we try to join?”

“Well, the Botanical gardens should still be running, and the apartment one. There are significantly less people around the Botanical Garden, so I think that would be better to play with Chota. If there are less unknown players, it will make it easier for us to protect him. Also, the apartment one seems to have a lot of stairs, I think he’d struggle if he had to climb all those stairs.”

“Okay, so apartment complex game it is. Cool, let me have another smoke before I potentially walk to my death.”

“Karube! That’s not funny!”

-x-

“So this is it.” Karube says, staring at the entrance to the apartment building.

“This is it.” Arisu confirmed, “Do you think Chishiya’s here?”

“Arisu I swear to god if you bring up Chishiya ONE MORE TIME-”

“There's a car parked out front, maybe it's the people from the Beach. I have a bad feeling about this Karube, maybe we should hold off, come back another time?”

“Too late, I can't hear you over the sound of me walking through the door.”

“Karube stop being an ass.”

“How do I register again? I don't wanna look stupid if the lobby is full of people?”

“Karube…”

“Arisu the longer you wait, the harder it's going to be. What if Chishiya is in there? Are you going to let him struggle through the game alone?”

“Fine… If I die, I'm so haunting your ass.” Arisu says.

“Not if I haunt you first.” Karube jokes before confidently walking into the building. Arisu had always envied how confident and intimidating Karube could be when he wanted to.

Arisu took one last deep breath, and confidently walked in behind Karube. They would survive this, they had to survive this! Arisu wouldn't accept any other outcome.

-x-

“One wrong move and I will kill you where you stand, do you understand me?” Aguni told Chishiya as he got out of the car.

“Loud and clear, bossman.” Chishiya said sarcastically as he did a mock salute.

“I mean it, Hatter values you, but he values your ‘boyfriend’ more. He'll get over your tragic passing, if I brought someone more valuable back.”

“Really, is that so?” Chishiya says slowly, anger flowing through his veins. “See, we don't know what the game is yet, so is it really in your best interest to threaten my boyfriend? You might have me beat in the physical department, but do you really think that'd be enough to kill me?”

“Guys…” the militant with them says shakily, “Maybe we should calm down, we are on the same side after all.”

The militant quickly shut up after a cold glare from Chishiya and Aguni.

“Registration closes in 3 minutes.”

Chishiya turns around and registers himself for the game. He would eliminate anyone that got in his way. He would get those cards, kill Hatter and protect Arisu. If anyone in this world deserves to get back to the real one, it's Arisu.

The only reason he hadn't injected an air bubble between Agunis toes while he sleeps, is because he appears to be related to Arisu in some mysterious way. Arisu hadn’t mentioned anything when the question came up in the 2 of hearts but they were quite far away from him and Arisu had been dissociating for most of that game. Aguni had also never mentioned Arisu, and he didn't seem to recognise the name when Hatter brought it up.

Instead of thinking about how he should kill Aguni, Chishiya thought it would be better to get situated and scope out the other players before this game started. Aguni, who seemed to have a similar idea as he was walking quite closely behind Chishiya.

Chishiya managed to pass through the gate no problem, however when Aguni went to step through a blaring alarm went off. “Players are not permitted to use weapons in this game. Please dispose of any weapons before entering the arena. Failure to do so will result in disqualification.”

Aguni, who was already seething with rage, looked like he was about to kill everyone in that waiting room. Even more so when Chishiya gave him his trademark smug smirk.

While it was entertaining to watch Aguni get even angrier, it was also quite informative the little niche rules each individual game had.

There were a few grey areas that Chishiya definitely planned to exploit. For example, Chishiya's taser was not classed as a weapon, despite the fact it could incapacitate and potentially kill someone, well eventually, Chishiya needed to figure out how to make it stronger before that happened. If the games only take the initial item at face value, that means the game would see his taser as a radio. Therefore extrapolating that data, does that mean he could use a Stanley knife, screwdriver or hammer as a weapon, as their intended use is not related to maiming and/or killing people.

Chishiya watched him storm back to the car, shoving his rifle into the trunk, before disappearing out of Chishiya's line of sight. Trying to get that gun off Aguni would be a stupid plan, even if he got to the car first, Aguni would easily be able to overpower him. However, if Chishiya could use his taser, knock Aguni out and run off before anyone noticed where he had gone. Then he could meet up with Arisu and they could clear the games together.

No. That wouldn't work. Chishiya's goals had expanded since they first got here. Chishiya initially wanted to protect Arisu and get out of this place, but now, he wanted to know this world, understand it. He wanted the cards. He wanted the cards as much as he wanted Arisu. If not more. He couldn't leave the Beach, not now.

“There are currently 10 participants.”

The 10th player appeared to be a small athletic woman, she was in full sports wear and looked like an experienced player. She could be a valuable asset, depending on what the game was, of course. The other players weren't nearly as interesting. There were 3 older people, 2 men and 1 woman, who all looked like business men. 2 younger girls, who had already pissed Chishiya off, by whispering about how Chishiya was 'ultra attractive' and he'd be a '10/10' if only he were taller. There were a few more players left but they weren't even worth a cursory glance.

“Um excuse me,” a man in a plaid shirt asked the girl. He must be a new player. “Where did all the people in Tokyo go?”

Just as the woman looked like she was about to respond, Aguni stormed in, walking in between them, breaking up their conversation. The man, too nervous to move back over, just stood awkwardly off to the side.

“Maybe we will find another doctor here.” Chishiya heard another man say, the voice sounded vaguely familiar but he couldn't place where. “There's a lot of people here. Let's hurry up and get registered, then we can ask around.”

Chishiya heard the ping from both phones as the players registered. He couldn't see them from where he was stood, but something about that voice was eating away at Chishiya's brain. Where had he heard it before?

“Registration has now closed.”

“E-Excuse me, what is this? I was brought here, and I-I don't know what's going on.”

“It's a game.” Arisu said.

Shit, this was bad. This was really bad, of all the times for Arisu to show up, why did it have to be now, in this game. With Aguni watching his every move. It seemed like Arisu hadn't noticed him yet, if he could just avoid Arisu, maybe Aguni wouldn't realise this was Arisu. Despite the fact they were apparently related. Shit.

“Arisu, shut up.” The man, who Chishiya realised was Karube, said. That's good, at least Arisu was with his friends, Karube would protect Arisu, hell he might even distract Aguni long enough. “He might hate us, but we can't take care of him.”

“But-” Arisu started, but stopped when he locked eyes with Chishiya. Shit. Karube, following Arisu’s gaze, also noticed Chishiya.

Chishiya locked eyes with Arisu and slowly looked over at Aguni and then shook his head. The movement was subtle enough that Aguni shouldn't notice, but he knew Arisu would understand what it meant.

“Difficulty: 5 of Spades”

“5 of spades” Karube asks Arisu.

“It’s going to be physical. Only the strong survive. I’m Nitobe, it’s nice to meet you.” Chishiya could see Arisu step closer to Karube, clearly picking up on the man’s weird energy. Just looking at the hat the man was wearing, Chishiya would guess he was some kind of train molester.

“The suit means something?” Arisu asks, clearly playing dumb. Chishiya could kiss Arisu right now, if Arisu came across as a new player, then from an outside point of view, there is no way Aguni will know he’s Chishiya’s boyfriend. Well, Chishiya’s fake boyfriend.

“Exactly.” Nitobe chuckles awkwardly as he moves closer to Arisu, who was practically burying himself into Karube’s side. “The suit of the playing card usually means what kind of game it’s gonna be. Clubs are team games, diamonds is your wits and as for hearts, well that’s the worst one.”

“Why is that?” Arisu asked, tilting his head to one side, like a confused puppy. Why did Arisu have to attract every single creepy or dangerous or just plain annoying person in this place. It was driving him insane, it’d be easier if Hatter just took him, at least he’d be safer, and Hatter would probably be willing to share Arisu with Chishiya. Maybe Chishiya could use Arisu as leverage to get the cards, Chishiya and Hatter could make a deal.

No, that wasn’t an option. No. Chishiya was a monster, but he wouldn’t stoop that low. Ever.

“Because you’re playing with people’s heart to tear them apart.” The man tried to grab onto Arisu’s waist as he said it but Karube physically picked Arisu up to move him out the way. Surprisingly, Karube didn't get angry like Chishiya expected, he instead just stands protectively in front of Arisu, blocking him from Nitobe.

“And the number?”

“Difficulty. The higher the number on the card, the harder the game is.” Nitobe nods, acting heroic, like he’d just saved Arisu’s life by telling him information that he already knew. Well, Arisu turned out to be a pretty convincing liar, so Niobe really didn't know that. In Nitobe's mind, he was helping a cute, innocent boy rely on him, so he could control him and probably make Arisu his personal sex slave. Oh well, if Karube didn't kill him first, I'm sure Chishiya would find a way to kill him.

“Game: Tag” The announcer's voice echoed in the apartment lobby.

Notes:

I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Feel free to leave any feedback in the comment, it's always appreciated!!!

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Chapter 20: 5 of Spades: Tag (2)

Notes:

Hi everyone! I hope you enjoy this new chapter! I've been super motivated to write at the minute!

I just wanted to say thanks to everyone that has left lovely comments on my fics; I've been trying to write as much as possible for you guys, so I've not had chance to respond to any of them yet! But I will do very soon! It's amazing to read all of your theories, I love it so much!

As always, feel free to leave any feedback in the comments! It's always appreciated!!!

Also, I love interacting with you guys in the comments, so if any of you want to talk about fics/shows/ask me any questions, feel free to add me on tumblr (I'll link it at the bottom of the chapter). I'd love to get to know my readers more and I love making friends!!!

“Rules: avoid whoever is ‘it’.”

“So who is 'it'?” Chishiya heard Arisu whisper to Karube.

“How should I know?” Karube whispered back.

“Maybe it's that big guy in military gear?” One of the girls whispered to her friend. Aguni, who was in direct ear-shot, didn’t even seem to register what had been said. He was staring at Arisu. Shit. Chishiya might have to kill Aguni at this rate, because there are only three possibilities for the reasoning behind that stare. One, he knows it's Arisu, which isn’t surprising seeing as Karube loudly said his name to the lobby full of people. Two, he recognised Arisu, but not as Hatter’s new obsession, but as his relative. That would be the ideal option, Aguni seemed to be a bit nicer with those that were close or important to him. Or three, Aguni was also one of the many men that happened to be creepily in love with Arisu. Which Chishiya doubts, seen as Aguni only seems to have eyes for Hatter, but it’s always a possibility. Maybe Hatter had already buttered Aguni up to a threeway, with Arisu being their third.

Chishiya pulled his headphones out. The announcer was going to say something any second now and he should probably pay attention. Not that it mattered, he’d clear the game no matter what.

“Clear condition, discover and touch the symbol hidden in one of the building's rooms within the time limit. You clear the game when this objective is fulfilled.” As if on cue, the announcer’s voice spread across the room again.

“Time limit: 20 minutes.”

“That doesn’t feel like a lot of time-” The militant with Aguni said, but stopped when he noticed Aguni glaring at him.

“After 20 minutes, the time b*mb hidden in the building will explode and it will be game over.”

“Explode?” Karube shouted. No one responded, but Chishiya noticed Arisu standing just a bit closer to Karube. It was a little quirk Arisu had, that he would always gravitate to Karube when he was scared. He’d noticed it when he first met Karube, and Chota had confirmed it after Chishiya had funded his drinking for the night. Chishiya really didn’t care if Arisu’s friends liked him, he just wanted to get them drunk enough to give him dirt about Arisu. However, Chishiya had always liked Chota, he was quiet, smart and was a pretty good person despite how he was raised. If he had the same upbringing as Arisu or Chishiya, he’d probably be a billionaire with his own company right now.

Speaking of which, where is Chota? Chishiya doubts he’s dead, Arisu and Karube would be acting a lot differently if he was. Maybe injured? Karube had mentioned something about a doctor earlier, but Arisu has just graduated, he should be able to treat most injuries, unless it's too serious to treat without a hospital.

“The game will commence in ten minutes.” And that was Chishiya’s queue to get moving. He could theorise about Chota all he wanted later. He needed to focus on surviving the game, that was the only thing that mattered right now.

Chishiya had briefly looked at the floor plan of the building; it was L-shaped, with 10 rooms on the longer side and 3 rooms on the shorter side, meaning each floor had 13 rooms. The elevator was in the corner, and there were two sets of stairs, one next to the elevator and the other at the other end of the building. So, strategically, the best position would be at the end of the shorter section, of the 7th floor. Whoever was ‘it’ would probably start from the top floor and work his way down, then work his way back up again to kill the players he couldn’t get on his first trip. So being on the 7th floor was ideal, and from his position on the shorter side, he could see roughly 70% of the building, so he could keep track of the players, the doors and the tagger.

As there are 7 floors and 13 rooms on each floor, there are 91 rooms in total. The safe room would most likely be on floor 3, 4 or 5, as, if the button is connected to a bomb, those are the places a bomb would do the most damage. It would most likely be on the longer section of apartments, as it is easy for the tagger to view from any point, and it also means the tagger would be patrolling those floors more often. The tagger most likely knows where the safe room is, and will therefore do everything they can to protect it, so all Chishiya needed to do was observe the tagger, and they’d let Chishiya know where the room is soon enough.

Aguni seemed to have a similar idea, as he came walking over to the same spot Chishiya was waiting.

“Sorry, looks like this spot is taken, you’re going to have to go stand in the middle of that stairwell and wait for the tagger to kill you.” Chishiya joked, earning himself an eye roll from Aguni and a middle finger from the militant.

“Deal with it. We won’t be here long.” Aguni says quietly, more subdued than he was earlier. Maybe he did recognise Arisu?

“I’ll tell you what, I’ve got a weird feeling about this.” Chishiya says, trying to gauge what Aguni knew about Arisu. It was true though, that this game seemed more intentional than some of the other games, Aguni and Chishiya, Arisu and Karube and the athletic girl and that new guy, them being in this game felt very deliberate, almost planned. Chishiya couldn’t place where this feeling was coming from, but he trusted his instincts.

“It doesn’t matter, we will clear it like we always do, right? We will do it together.” The militant asked, Aguni and Chishiya gave him a weird look.

“Someone’s been watching way too much anime.” Chishiya chuckles out with a smug smirk.

“The game will commence in five minutes.”

“You.” Aguni said loudly, making the militant jump.

“Yes sir?” The militant says with a salute, Chishiya lets out another small laugh before turning his attention back to the other players.

“Go get me a fire extinguisher.”

“But, the game is about to start-”

“Then I suggest you are quick about it. I won’t tell you again. Go.”

“Yes Sir!” The militant said before running towards the stairs.

“That desperate to get me alone, huh?” Chishiya said with his smug voice.

“That’s Arisu, right?” Aguni says, gesturing to Arisu and Karube.

Shit. Shit. Shit. This was bad, stupid fucking Karube and his loud mouth.

“Not going to say anything?” Agunis asks, fishing around in his pocket for a cigarette. “That's fine, I don't need you to confirm it. I can just take him to the Beach and Hatter will.”

“Go for it! That's not Arisu.”

“Wow, this is it? I was almost convinced you didn't have one?”

Chishiya was fairly certain he knew what Aguni was going to say but he asked anyways, “didn't have what?”

“A weakness.”

Chishiya was seething with rage. He hated this, hated how Aguni could read him so well. Hated that Arisu couldn't just stay away, hated that Arisu wormed himself into his heart. Chishiya didn't like people, he didn't date, he didn't love people, he just didn't. People were a means to an end, Arisu was a means to an end. No. Arisu was a liability. A naïve, trusting liability. Maybe, just maybe Chishiya could use him. Arisu would never see it coming, Aguni would never see it coming. Chishiya can use Arisu to get the cards. He can achieve his goal and sever ties to Arisu once and for all, it would be better that way. Arisu makes Chishiya too weak. Too human. If Arisu was stupid enough to trust Chishiya, it's only Arisu's fault when Chishiya betrays him. Now, he just needed to come up with a plan to get Arisu to the Beach.

Chishiya yawned and looked back at the rest of the players, trying to gnaw the ache in his heart. It'd be better this way. He didn't need Arisu. This is what was best for Chishiya. Right?

“Hey, I found one, I’m back!” the militant said, breathing heavily. This snapped Chishiya out of his thoughts. He could think about his plan later, right now he needed to make it out of this game. “What have you two been talking about?”

“We’ve got a wager going.” Chishiya started, Aguni raised an eyebrow at him.

“That’s cool! On what, can I join?”

“I mean you can, but you might not like it? It’s about how far into this game you die. My guess is 10 minutes 53 seconds.”

“Oh…” the militant practically deflated, Chishiya almost felt bad.

“Cheer up! You’ll survive longer than these idiots down there. You see the two girls, the two business man, the older lady and the real estate guy. They're all going to die within the first five minutes.”

“How do you know?”

“Human nature.”

“You're kind of scary.” The militant said, moving away from Chishiya.

“I know.”

-x-

Arisu was stressed. He hasn't played a spades game yet and he couldn't meet up with Chishiya because of that ginormous military guy. Not to mention, that Nitobe guy had decided he wanted to tack himself on the end of their group and Arisu didn't know how to get him to leave.

“Leave us alone!” Karube said, clearly getting annoyed.

“Don't be like that! I'm just feeling you guys out, you might be good enough to be my allies!”

“Lucky us” Karube said with an eye roll.

“Are you a doctor?” Arisu could put up with his creepiness if it got Chota help.

“No, real estate agent.”

“How many times have you played the game?”

“5 times.” Nitobe responds smugly.

“And you’ve always won?” Arisu supposed would seem impressive to a newer player, so Arisu tried to act as innocent and naïve as possible. However, to Arisu it was an insignificant number, anyone could clear 5 games if they were easy enough or he was with stronger players.

“I guess so, yeah!” Nitobe said, wrapping an arm around Arisu’s shoulder. Arisu wanted to punch him in the face, run to Chishiya, or hide behind Karube. He wanted to get away from him, the man made him feel disgusting. He made him feel like an object; like a possession, it made Arisu want to throw up. Why couldn't this guy just leave him alone.

“You know,” Nitobe started playing with Arisu’s hair, Karube looked at him, waiting for Arisu to signal he was in any sort of danger. It was okay, Arisu took a deep breath, he just needed to get through this. “You could always stay with me, after this game, I could take car-”

“The game will now commence.” Arisu had never been so thankful for that sentence in his life.

“Don't worry! I’ll protect you.” Nitobe said as he let go of Arisu, patting him on the shoulder. Arisu moved closer to Karube, who patted him on the head. Karube always made him feel better. Safer. When they were younger, Karube’s Dad would always joke that Arisu was Karube’s shadow, always attached to him, and hiding behind him.

A large fanfare played throughout the apartment. It was loud and grating, it made Arisu want to scratch his ears off. Before it abruptly stopped when Arisu heard the elevator ding. That must be the tagger then, it sounded like he was on the floor above them. They were on the 5th floor right now, so the tagger must be on the 6th floor. So if they waited near the stairs, they might be able to catch a glimpse of the tagger.

“We should check the rooms on this floor while we are here.” Arisu whispers to Karube.

“Yeah we need to get our assess moving.” Karube says as he tugs on a door.

“Karube please be careful, what if the safe room door is electrified.” Arisu said worriedly; “Also be quieter, what if the tagger hears you!”

“Then just shove me off. You know CPR, and I've heard being electrocuted gives you a good high. It'd be a nice experience before I die.” Karube joked, Arisu didn't find it amusing. He certainly didn't find it amusing when he heard the loud bangs, in the hallway above them.

“Shit! I don't suppose those are fireworks” Karube said, grabbing a cigarette from his pocket.

“You are really going to smoke right now.”

“If I’m going to die, I'm going to do it doing what I love.”

“I swear- nevermind, we should wait by the stairs, it'll give us an escape route. The hallways are too long and straight that if we get found in the middle of them we'd have nowhere to run.”

“Isn't that where the tagger would be though? Coming down the stairs?.”

“Logically speaking, the tagger will probably sweep from the top to the bottom. Being by the stairs gives us an escape route. He will 'tag' the easier targets, then working his way back up, 'tagging' the more experienced players.”

“So, we just need to evade him.” Karube asks, they were all waiting by the stairs now, “I think I can hear him coming.”

“Easier said than done.” Arisu continued, suspicious of how quiet Nitobe had been. “We have to evade the tagger and check rooms all in 20 minutes. There are 91 rooms and we are 2 minutes in and we have checked 2.”

“Please don't kill me, please, I'll give you money, anything-” Arisu could hear a man yelling, his voice getting louder, he was getting closer. He was cut off by a loud gunshot, followed by a loud bang as his limp body fell down the stairs. Landing right in front of Arisu.

No matter how many games they played, Arisu never got used to seeing people die. Watching that man's body twitch, as the blood left the gaping hole in his chest, as he tried to drag himself up but slipped in the puddle of blood around him.

“Help-p me.. helpp m-” was the last thing the man said as he was shot in the head by the tagger.

Arisu could see the tagger from where he was stood. He was fairly certain the tagger hadn't spotted him yet, but it was only a matter of time until he did. The tagger was a tall muscular man, with a horse mask covering his face. He was carrying a machine gun and had a strange collar around his neck.

“Karube...” Arisu whispered, he was shaking, he couldn't move. Arisu needed to move, but he couldn't. This was the first game where another person was actually doing the killing, as opposed to lasers or the game itself. And somehow it was scarier, having a human hunting them down.

Karube didn't say anything, he just grabbed Arisu’s hand, ready to start running.

“He killed him. He actually killed him.” Nitobe said, loudly, very loudly. Arisu could see the man coming towards them, his gun already up, his finger on the trigger. They needed to go now.

So why couldn't Arisu move? He was going to die. He was actually going to die. He needed to run.

“Arisu!” Karube yanked his arm, pulling him off balance, just enough that Arisu managed to dodge the bullet that was about to hit him.

“Run!” Nitobe shouted, pushing past both Arisu and Karube, going first.

Karube grabbed Arisu and ran, following Nitobe down the stairs. Karube was fast but he was being slowed down by Nitobe. Luckily, due to how the stairs curved the tagger couldn't shoot them, he'd have to wait for them to get to the bottom floor hallway. They needed somewhere to hide. They were currently on the stairs between the third and fourth floor, if they got to the bottom floor they'd be dead.

“Karube, on the next level, don't go down the stairs, I'm pretty sure there's a place we can hide on the third floor. Don't tell Nitobe.”

Karube nodded in response, as he carried on running. He seemed tired, really tired, they had already played a game tonight and now Karube was carrying Arisu through this game.

As Arisu said, Karube stopped on the third floor, putting Arisu on the floor. Arisu grabbed Karube and managed to find a small alcove to hide in. It's not a permanent hiding place, but it would keep them out of sight of the tagger, and as Nitobe was still running down the stairs, so there was a high probability the tagger would carrying on chasing him. And if not, Arisu just hopes that the tagger makes their deaths quick.

As Arisu predicted, he could hear the tagger’s loud footsteps carrying on down the stairs. They waited in the alcove for a few minutes, making sure the tagger was actually gone.

Arisu could hear the faint screams of Nitobe, followed by another round of gunshots. Arisu wanted to feel guilty, he really did, but out of everyone in this game, Nitobe deserved that kind of death the most.

The gunshots stopped eventually, if Arisu’s count was right the tagger had killed 5 of the players, Nitobe, the two younger girls and the two business men. The gunshots hadn't gone off for 2 minutes, so Arisu felt it was safe enough to come out of their hiding space. From where Arisu was, he could see the Tagger was on the second floor.

“Karube we should move to a higher floor, get a bit further away from the tagger.”

“You don't have to tell me twice. I'm already pissed man, the tagger made me drop my cigarette.”

“Karube, 5 people just died. Priorities.”

-x-

Chishiya was bored. Again. You’d think watching five people be brutally murdered by a man wearing a horse mask would have more of an affect on Chishiya. But he was more annoyed than anything.

This was the first spades game Chishiya had played and it was safe to say he was underwhelmed. It was just a big guy with a gun. He'd have the same experience if he just went to America. There wasn't even a tactical standpoint to this game seeing as you could accidentally stumble upon the safe room.

“You were right, all the people you said would die, died. Are you psychic?” The militant asked.

“Nope.”

“I thought those two guys down there would be dead by now too.” The limit points to Karube and Arisu, “Seen as they're newer players. And the guy in the plaid shirt.”

“Chishiya. You figured out where the safe room is yet?”

“Nope, people are too scared of the tagger, they've stopped opening doors.”

“If we got the tagger out of the equation, do you think you'd be able to solve it.”

“Probably.”

“You. Come with me.” Aguni says to the militant.

“Yes sir!”

Chishiya watched as Aguni and the militant walked away. The tagger was currently on the third floor, so Aguni would probably attack him on the stairs. Chishiya didn't know how Aguni planned to kill the tagger, and he didn't care. Hopefully the tagger and Aguni would kill each other and Chishiya wouldn't have to deal with either of them ever again.

The current issue was that Chishiya's strategy revolved around people opening the doors. They had only ruled out 10 doors out of 91, and they only had 12 minutes left to rule out the rest.. Hopefully, if Aguni distracted the tagger long enough people would feel safe enough to start opening doors again.

Chishiya was never playing a spades game again.

-x-

“What are we gonna do man?” Karube whispered, they were currently hiding behind the railing on the 5th floor, staring at the tagger, who was on the third floor, with his back turned. If only they had a weapon and they'd be able to kill the tagger. “If you’ve got a solution, now's the time!”

“How am I supposed to know what to do against something like that” Arisu whispered angrily.

“C'mon man, think!”

“Why do I always have to be the person to think of something? Why don't you think of something!” Arisu whispered even angrier, which must have been loud enough for the tagger to hear as he whipped his head around to look in their direction.

Arisu yanked Karube down by his shirt, preparing for the tagger to start shooting in their direction. Except, bullets never came, the tagger didn't even seem to be heading in their direction. That was interesting.

Arisu peaked over the railing, much to Karube’s dismay.

“He didn't see us.” Arisu said.

“Well, don't try and get him to see you again.” Karube whispered, trying to pull Arisu down by his shirt.

“His vision is narrowed because of the mask. That's his weak point. This might be a way to get through the game.” Karube seemed confused but excited at the prospect of clearing the game.

He was less amused when Arisu started running down the hall way and shouting.

“ARISU ARE YOU INSANE, WHAT ARE YOU DOING!” Karube shouted, not realising he was being just as loud as Arisu.

“EVERYONE! HE’S UP HERE, HES ON THE SECOND LEVEL-

“Are you trying to get us killed!” Karube says through gritted teeth.

“HE CAN’T SEE PROPERLY BECAUSE OF THE MASK! TELL US WHERE HE IS IF YOU SEE HIM! WE CAN ALL LOOK FOR THE SYMBOL TOGETHER!”

Arisu hoped his plan would work, there was no way they could clear this game alone, but if they could keep track of where the tagger is! It would give them a better chance of finding the safe room.

-x-

“Oh Arisu, that's a good idea.” Chishiya started, looking fondly at Arisu. He'd forgotten how much his missed being around smart people. Who could think for themselves and understand Chishiya's plans. However, his naïvety was still a problem, especially in this world. “The issue is, no one wants to help.”

Chishiya could call out, help Arisu. But he'd be giving up his position, and he needed that to find the safe room, it'd be a mistake to help Arisu right now. It would kill them both. Arisu seemed to have understood this aswell as he had looked up to Chishiya at least 10 times without calling out to him.

“HE’S IN THE FOURTH LEVEL HALLWAYS IN THE CENTRAL PART OF THE BUILDING. ANYONE THERE SHOULD GET OUT!” The athletic woman shouted. Chishiya was genuinely surprised, it seems this game was getting more interesting than he originally thought.

What was even stranger; was the fact the woman was running towards the area she'd just told everyone to get away from.

“Hurry up! Get out of here’” the athlete shouts at the other woman.

“I see, she was trying to save her.” Chishiya says, she was like a more athletic, female Arisu.

“The tagger was at the end of the hallway now, his gun aimed. It looks like they were both going to die.”

“Oh no.” He couldn't hear the athlete, but Chishiya was pretty confident in his ability to read lips.

“Huh?” The woman said, did she have any clue what was going on.

The athlete didn't say anything more, instead she jumped onto one of the building's supports and started expertly climbing up two more floors. The tagger could probably still reach her there but it seemed he was against shooting over long distances. He was most likely trying to conserve ammo, and the further his targets got away from him, the more bullets he would use to try and hit them. Something Aguni undoubtedly noticed as well.

“The game will be over in 7 minutes.”

Damn it! He needed more people to be opening doors. Currently it was only Arisu and Karube that was opening doors, as well as the new player in the plaid shirt

Chishiya’s attention was drawn to the guy in the shirt when he heard gunshots. He was fairly sure the man wasn’t near the tagger, so why would he be getting shot at?

Chishiya looked and there were about thirty bullet homes around the door to room 406. Bingo! Chishiya knew the tagger would mess up sooner or later.

“Here we go.” Chishiya said as he put his hood up and got his taser ready

Notes:

I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Feel free to leave any feedback in the comment, it's always appreciated!!!

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Chapter 21: 5 of Spades: Tag (3)

Notes:

Hi everyone! I hope you like this new chapter! I've been really motivated to write recently, so I hope you are enjoying the quicker updates 😂😂😂

As always, feel free to leave any feedback in the comments! It's always appreciated!!!

Also, I love interacting with you guys in the comments, so if any of you want to talk about fics/shows/ask me any questions, feel free to add me on tumblr (I'll link it at the bottom of the chapter). I'd love to get to know my readers more and I love making friends!!!

“Hey! Hey!” Arisu shouted, “You gotta move man!”

Arisu was trying to get the attention of the player in the hat. He was cowering behind the railing, after the tagger just shot 59 rounds directly at his head. It was a miracle the man wasn't dead. However, if he didn't get moving soon, he would be.

“Arisu just leave him!” Karube shouted, trying to pull Arisu away.

Arisu wouldn't leave him, he couldn't. The guilt from ignoring him earlier was already eating him up. Arisu couldn't be responsible for his death.

“Come on man, you can't stay here” Arisu said, ignoring Karube, as he crawled towards the man.

“Arisu!” Karube shouted.

The second Arisu got to the man, he latched on. Clinging tightly to Arisu’s arm, shaking like a puppy.

“Hey, hey.” Arisu says trying to meet the man's eyes, “It's going to be okay! But we've got to move.”

Karube, growing impatient, crawled over as well. Grabbing Arisu by the back of his shirt, he gave a cursory glance around before lifting Arisu over his shoulder and running down the hall. The hat man, who still had an iron grip on Arisu’s arm, was dragged along with them.

“Karube, you can't just carry me every time you want me to do something.” Arisu shouted, as he hit Karube lightly on the back.

“Sure I can, I just did.” Karube said as he placed Arisu on the ground at the top of the stairs. The hat man took this opportunity to adjust his grip, instead of holding Arisu's arm, he put both arms around his waist and clung on. Karube gave a confused look but he seemed too preoccupied by the game to give it much thought.

“Arisu, it's time to take this guy down? Karube says as he whips a switchblade out of his pocket, walking down the stairs. When did he have chance to grab that?

“Karube, he has a machine gun!” Arisu said, trying to walk a bit closer to Karube, but was stopped by the hat guy. He was literally bringing a knife to a gun fight, was Karube trying to die?

“So what?” An unknown voice interrupted, “He’s still human.”

Arisu craned his neck to get a better look at the person. It was the ginormous military man from the waiting room, the one that kept staring at Arisu. Arisu shrunk down a little bit, slightly intimidated by how much the man was staring at him. The hat man seemed to notice too as his shaking started up all over again.

"He's 190 centimeters tall, weighs 90 kilos and is right handed. He's a pretty good shot too, so he's most likely military or law enforcement.” The military man explained.

“Aguni!” Arisu heard another man shout. “Wait up! This fire extinguisher is heavy.”

Karube gave Arisu a knowing look when he heard the man's name. Arisu himself was stood in shock. Aguni was his mother’s maiden name, was the military guy related to his mother somehow? Surely not, Arisu would have known.

Emiko Arisu, Arisu’s mother, was completely estranged from her family. As far as Arisu knew, her father was abusive, and she had one younger brother that joined the military the second he turned 18. They used to be close, but had a big falling out when Arisu was younger. The last time Arisu had seen his ‘Uncle Mori’, a nickname his mother came up with, he was 5 years old. He never even came to her funeral. Arisu couldn't remember what his uncle looked like, his full name, or anything about him really. But looking at Aguni now, he bared a striking resemblance to his mother, the eyes were the same, and they had freckles in the same place. Could this really be his uncle? Wouldn't he have recognised Arisu if he was?

‘You know what? It doesn't matter.’ Arisu thought to himself. Chishiya had warned Arisu about the man, he clearly worked for the Beach. Arisu didn't want to be around anyone that would so freely threaten the people he cares about, family or not.

“Let's go get this guy!” Aguni said, walking over to Karube, trying to hand him the fire extinguishers. “You two can go look for the symbol?”

“Why should we listen to you?” Karube said, defensively.

“Cause it is our best shot at beating this game!” Chishiya answered Karube’s question, Arisu hadn't even noticed him walked over, he really was scarily light on his feet.

“Nice of you to join us!” Aguni says, looking at Chishiya.

“Still, that doesn't give me a reason to trust you!”

“Sure, it does! It's my plan!” Chishiya said with a fake smile, “Karube, how long have we known eachother?”

“That's exactly why I don't trust it.”

“Well, if you guys don't distract the tagger, we can't get to the safe room!” Chishiya says back, as if he were talking about the weather. How can he be so calm in the middle of a death game!

“You know where it is?” Arisu asked, trying to move up the stairs, to join the conversation more, trying to get closer to Chishiya, but was stopped by the man still clinging to him. Chishiya seemed to have just noticed the man, as his face went from neutral to intrigued to angry, or maybe jealousy. It was a subtle change that most people wouldn't notice, but Arisu did. Arisu also had to ignore the butterflies in his stomach at the thought of Chishiya being jealous.

“Why haven't you gone to it yet?” Arisu asked, trying to distract himself.

“Because I don't want to get shot.” Chishiya said, everyone was staring at him. When he realised everyone was waiting for him to explain, he let p ur a long sigh before continuing. “Notice how the tagger hasn't come over here, despite the fact there's 6 of us, completely out in the open, it'd be easy to take at least three of us out. It means he's gone on the defensive, he's patrolling the areas around the safe room. We won't be able to get in if he's still there.”

“So which room is the safe room?” The militant with Aguni asked.

“406.”

“How do you know?” The militant pushed more.

“The long range.” Arisu answered, everyone's attention had turned to him now, making him self conscious. “He tried to shoot, I’m sorry, what's your name?”

“Tatta. Tatta Kodai.” He said, looking up at Arisu. Arisu was more concentrated on Chishiya’s cold, calculating gaze.

“Tatta tried to open that door, and the gunman shot long range. He's never done that before, and if you keep an eye on the areas the tagger was in after the initial run of the building, he was always in shooting range of that room.”

“Exactly.” Chishiya said, “which is why we need you guys to distract him, while we get to the safe room.”

“Why don't you distract him.” The militant asked.

“What if, when we get to the safe room, we have to disarm the bomb. Are you confident in your ability to do that?”

The man didn't respond, instead looking to Aguni for instruction.

“5 minutes remaining.”

“There's not much time left.” Chishiya said, holding up his phone.

“Good God, he's so sexy when he figures stuff out.” Arisu thought to himself, or at least that's what he was trying to do. But from the horrified look from Karube and the confused look from Tatta, he must have said it aloud.

“Tatta, is it?” Chishiya said, staring at him.

“Y-yeah?” Tatta said, clearly intimidated.

“Do you mind letting go of my boyfriend now?”

“I’m sorry!” Tatta squeaked out before pushing Arisu away. This sent Arisu flying face forwards down the stairs, Karube went to catch him but he was too slow. Luckily, Arisu was caught by Aguni, who seemed less than impressed by the whole situation. Arisu was surprised the man had even caught him at all. Maybe he did recognise Arisu? Why wouldn't he say anything.

Aguni placed Arisu down next to Chishiya and yanked the fire extinguisher out of the militants hand.

“Let's get this guy!” Aguni said, Karube gave a small glance to Chishiya, who nodded in confirmation.

“Okay.” Karube said, taking the fire extinguisher. He gave Arisu one last pat on the head before following Aguni. “You better not die, or I'll murder you. Chishiya, make sure he doesn't do anything stupid.”

“How can I do something stupid, when you are taking all the stupid with you!” Arisu said back with a laugh. Karube would be okay, he had to be.

“So, did you miss me?” Chishiya asked as soon as Aguni was out of ear shot. Arisu didn't respond verbally, instead throwing his arms around Chishiya.

“I checked the south side of the fifth floor and the south and east side of the sixth floor.” The climber girl said, staring at Arisu. Why was everyone staring at him today? Did he have something on his face?

“Yeah, we know where the symbol is.” Chishiya said bluntly, Arisu lightly tapped him on the arm.

“Why haven't you got it!”

Chishiya rolled his eyes, before walking in the direction of the safe room.

“Sorry about him!” Arisu said, bowing his head slightly, “He can be a bit prickly. The safe room is in 406.”

“Okay, let's go!” The climber girl said, jumping off the railing.

“Actually, I had a different idea if you are open to it? I'm Arisu by the way.” Arisu said, extending his hand.

“Usagi.” She didn't elaborate, so Arisu continued with his plan.

“Something is bothering me about this game, I think there will be a trick at the end. I was hoping you could climb around the building, and go through the window to 406, just in case. If it's too much-”

“I can do it. Room 406.”

“Thank you!” Arisu shouted after her as she disappeared below the railing. She was badass.

“Tatta, you just hide here okay!” Arisu shouted over as he ran towards Chishiya.

“Looks like you've been making friends.” Chishiya said, not looking at Arisu.

“Are you jealous?” Arisu teased.

“Of the guy shaking like a leaf?”

“Fair enough!”

“Who's that guy? Aguni?”

“Why don't you tell me?” Chishiya said accusingly.

“I don't know, he came here with you didn't he? I thought you were warning me about him earlier-”

“Sorry. It's been a long night.” Chishiya responded.

“Sorry? You actually said sorry? Who are you and what have you done with my Chishiya.” It slipped out before Arisu caught it. His Chishiya? Was Arisu born with his feet in his mouth?

Mercifully, Chishiya never had the chance to comment on it, as they arrived at room 406. Arisu heard faint gunshots in the background, followed by screaming. All Arisu could do is have faith Karube would be okay?

“Aguni isn't planning on killing Karube.” Chishiya said, almost reading Arisu's mind. His gaze softening when he made eye contact with Arisu. “Aguni will most likely attack the man when he's reloading, in order to do that, one of the people with him have to lure the tagger towards their group. That person, will be the one getting shot, as that's the only way to ensure the tagger uses all of his bullets and needs to reload. Aguni, being at a disadvantage as he doesn't have a weapon, will try and catch the tagger by surprise, and will get Karube to spray him with the fire extinguisher. And then they will attack the tagger together, so don't worry about Karube.”

“Thanks Chishiya.”

“Don't get all soft on me now, I only told you because I knew you'd be all distracted worrying about Karube. Our job now, is to find the safe room, or all their work will be for nothing.”

Arisu went to grab the door knob, if it came down to it, he'd sacrifice his life for Chishiya. Chota needed him more than he needed Arisu, and Chishiya would take care of them for him. He was okay with this, if he had to die here.

“You gonna open it, or are we just going to stand out here?”

“Somethings…wrong” Arisu said, racking his brain for what it could be. “Why would the tagger hunt us down, he could have just stood in front of the door with his gun, there would have been nothing we could do, he'd have a complete open range of fire.”

“I guess there's something we don't know. It's alright, I’ve got this.” Chishiya said, grabbing his taser out the pocket.

“I saw, you used my idea!”

Arisu took a deep breath in before twisting the door knob. At least it wasn't electrified.

The room was completely dark, there was a door on the left, with light coming from underneath it. That must be the safe room. Arisu slowly walks towards the door, Chishiya following closely behind him. Right as he reached the door knob, he sensed something moving behind them. Chishiya didn't seem to have noticed, but Arisu was certain someone was there. Arisu turned his head, just soon enough to catch the sight of the muzzle of a gun just as it started going off. Chishiya, managed to taser the person, who fell to the ground.

“Told you. It never hurts to be prepared-” the gunshots started again. Luckily, Arisu had anticipated this and was ready, he shoved Chishiya in the direction of the door they came through, while Arisu ran into the sofa room.

Shit. This was bad. There were two buttons. Arisu was tall, with a relatively wide wingspan, but even he couldn't reach the buttons. Shit. Usagi was on her way, so they had a chance, Arisu just needed to make it long enough for her to get here.

The tagger hadn't broken through the door yet, but it was only a matter of time. He needed to do something, to let the others know. If the tagger got in here, with the machine gun, Arisu was done for, but the others might have a chance as long as they knew to bring two people.

“SOMEONE GET OVER HERE! ROOM 406, I CAN’T CLEAR THE GAME ALONE, WE NEED TWO PEOPLE TO DO IT!” Arisu yelled. Chishiya and Usagi could clear this game together, if the tagger killed him, he could at least die knowing he saved everyone else.

“Two minutes remaining”

Arisu didn't know what was worse, the fact they only had two minutes left, or the fact the tagger had just broken into the safe room. They held the gun up, pointing it directly at Arisu. This tagger was shorter than the other one, and appeared to be a woman. Arisu wasn’t in the best shape of his life, but he was fairly certain he could beat her in a fight, he just needed to grab that gun.

He waited for the last moment, as she was preparing to fire and ducked, running towards her as he crouched as low as possible. He managed to rugby tackle her, sending them both tumbling to the floor. She'd managed to grab Arisu’s neck, and still had her hand on the gun pointing it at . Was she holding him hostage?

Usagi was the first to get there, jumping through the window, she froze when she saw Arisu. Chishiya was there seconds after, a look of worry crossing his face, before forcibly changing it to a neutral face.

“If either of you two move, I kill him.”

“One minute remaining”

“Just press the buttons. Please, we will all die if you don't,” the tagger was not pleased with this as she shoved the gun harder into Arisu's neck.

“30 seconds remaining.”

“Hahaha,” the woman let out a maniacal laugh, “don't you see, we have already lost the game. I plan to take as many of you players down as I can, give the dealers the best chance I can.”

“Guys! Please.” Arisu tried to say, but the woman put her hand over his mouth, muffling his voice.

“15 seconds remaining”

“You can't do it, can you? Haha this is perfect, this is the best possible out-”

“10 seconds remaining”

The woman didn't finish her sentence, instead she headbutted Arisu, before going limp and leaning her full body weight against him. Had she knocked herself out trying to knock him out? She hit his head pretty hard, Arisu wouldn't be surprised if he had a concussion, he felt dizzy and disorientated enough.

“5”

It was only when Arisu felt a warm, sticky liquid seeping onto his neck, that he realised she was dead. She’d been shot. Arisu couldn't see who did it, as he was being crushed under the weight of this woman'a body, too dizzy to push her off.

“4”

“3”

“Quick! The buttons!” Arisu heard someone shout, he was unable to move. It was in Chishiya and Usagi’s hands now.

“2”

Arisu saw them both jump, they'd make it. They had to make it.

“1”

By some miracle they'd actually managed to hit the buttons at the exact same time. Arisu breathed a sigh of relief, he was never playing a spades game again.

“Game Clear! Congratulations!”

Arisu felt the weight of the woman lift off of him, as someone grabbed him and lifted him in the air. Throwing the woman's body across the room.

“They have bombs around their necks!” The man carrying Arisu explained, Arisu was still too disoriented to make out who it was. “You would have died if you stayed underneath her.”

“So they were forced to play the game too huh?” Arisu says.

The man carrying him didn't say anything, he just started headed straight for the exit. Usagi and Chishiya were shouting after him, but Arisu couldn't make out what they were saying.

“Hey wait! Who the hell are you? I'm not going with you! Where's Karube? KARUBE!!” Arisu started to hit the man's shoulder, confused as to what was happening. He needed to find Karube, he needed to know he was safe.

“Aguni. Arisu heard Chishiya say. Even concussed, he'd be able to recognise Chishiya’s angelic voice. “Can we talk for a minute? Alone?”

The man, who Arisu guessed was Aguni, placed Arisu on the floor, giving him a stern warning about staying put, before storming off with Chishiya. Arisu didn't care what he said, he needed to go and find Karube. He just needed to wait for his vision to go back to normal, and his headache to go down a little bit. Maybe he could rest, just for a second, before going to find Karube.

-x-

Chishiya watched as Aguni carried Arisu down the hallway. Clearly he wasn't giving Chishiya the chance to let Arisu escape. Guess it was time for plan B.

“Aguni.” Chishiya called after them, much to his surprise the man actually stopped. “Can I talk to you for a minute? Alone?”

Chishiya gestured for him to put Arisu on the floor, while he led Aguni off to the side. Usagi ran straight over to check on Arisu, who was basically passed out on the floor.

“Do you really want to take him to the Beach in this state?” Chishiya whispered, “Look, realistically, there's nothing I could do to stop you taking him. But think, Arisu will fight you tooth and nail to get to Karube and whatever other friends he's got waiting for him, and he's already injured. How is Hatter going to react if you bring him back now, look at him, he can't even sit up properly.”

Aguni glanced over to Arisu, Chishiya could see the calculating look in his eyes. Aguni was quite unpredictable when it came to Arisu, he even went out of his way to shoot the other tagger in order to save him.

“Hatter wants him at the Beach. He'd rather have him injured than not at all. His friend can come too.”

“What if I can get him to the Beach, uninjured and willingly?”

Aguni didn't say anything just looked at Chishiya.

“Karube and Arisu are looking for a doctor, Arisu has medical knowledge but lacks experience. Let me go with them, I'll stay just long enough to treat Arisu and fix whatever is going on that they need a doctor for. I'll sing the Beach’s praises and get Arisu there within a few days.”

“How do I know this isn't an elaborate scheme for you to escape.”

“Why would I escape? I'm an executive at the Beach that has comfortable beds, hot showers, electricity and food. It makes no sense for me to escape, I'm logical enough to see that, despite being dragged there. If you take Arisu now, without his friends, without anyone, he will freak out and try to escape any chance he gets, he won't cooperate with Hatter and he will either get shot in the head or used as a sex slave, chained naked to Hatter’s bed to be used whenever until the man's bored, only let out for games. I don't know what you two have going on, but I know it's deeper than both of you let on? Is this really what you want for him? If I help them now, and they don't join the Beach within a few days, I’ll know where their hideout is and you can go and drag them with us. But just give it a chance, for him to get to the Beach on his own.”

Aguni stood contemplating for a long time. “If you are not back by sunrise, I will put a bullet in Kuina’s head.”

Aguni stormed out of the building, clearly not happy with the position Chishiya just put him in, however, Chishiya didn't care, his main priority was keeping Arisu safe.

“Is he going to be okay?” Usagi asked, looked up to Chishiya as she stroked Arisu’s head. He had ended up passed out across her lap. Chishiya would be lying if he said he wasn't annoyed at how quickly they got physical, they'd know eachother for 10 minutes and he was already laid in her lap.

“He will. It's most likely a mild concussion, when Aguni shot the tagger, the force as her head moved must have been enough to knock him out. That mixed with the stress of the situation, he's probably just asleep right now, I'm not concerned.”

“What about his friend?” Usagi asked.

“That is what I need to find out.” Chishiya says, looking for any signs of Karube.

“I'll stay with him, until you find him!”

-x-

Karube was laid in a puddle of blood on the floor, passed out, when Chishiya found him. His pulse was strong, but he had a large gash on his side, so he was passed out because of blood loss then. Chishiya didn't want to wait all night for Karube to wake up, especially because Aguni gave him a pretty tight time limit, so he did what any sane person would do and taxed Karube.

“SON OF A BITCH!” Karube yelled as he rolled on his back, clutching his side.

“It's nice to see you too!” Chishiya said, fake cheerily.

“Where's Arisu?” Karube asked panickedly.

“He's fine, he's just unconscious right now.”

“UNCONSCIOUS?”

“He's okay, he just got head butted in the back of the head. I'd be more worried about yourself if I were you? Anyways, get up, we have to go? I'm on a tight timeline here.”

“Give me a hand then?”

“No. You're all bloody. I have a white hoodie on.” Karube rolled his eyes before crawling over to the wall and using it to hoist himself up. The laceration seemed to be bothering him more than he let on.

“I can't believe you left your hoodie at the mall and went and found a new one.” Karube joked, rifling through his pockets for a cigarette.

“You are in no position to comment on my clothing choices with that hideous Hawaiian shirt on.”

“Hey, the ladies love this!”

“Good thing I'm not trying to attract ladies then, isn't it?”

“No, you're trying to attract your boyfriend right?” Karube says, his tone getting more aggressive.

“It was the safest option.”

“Safest or easiest? Karube asks, glaring at Chishiya. “You know how Arisu feels about you, I will kill you if you're doing this to manipulate him. I mean it, Chishiya.”

“I know.” Chishiya responds, he hates being threatened, but in this context he'd let it slide. Karube was just trying to protect Arisu. “It's safer, I did it so Hatter would back off, he is very interested in Arisu, to an almost obsessive degree-”

“Like you then.” Karube interrupted , Chishiya just ignored him and carried on

“-and he will stop at nothing to get him to the Beach. The only reason I managed to stop Aguni taking him there now was because they're secretly related in some way and he cares about Arisu to some extent!”

“WAIT YOU KNOW?”

Chishiya raised an eyebrow; of course he knew. It was obvious they were related, especially with how Agunj was acting. What did Karube take him for, an idiot?

“Aguni is Arisu’s mother’s maiden name, but she was estranged from all of her family, except her brother. They had a falling out when Arisu was 5. My guess is that it's Arisu’s uncle, he meets the criteria at least, tall, ex-military. Do you know his first name?”

“I don't know his full name but Hatter calls him Mori.”

“Yeah, that's Arisu’s ‘uncle Mori’, I don't think Arisu recognizes him but he made the name connection.”

“That will explain the soft spot for him then. If that had been anyone else, Aguni would have told me to fuck off. I still need to get back by sunrise, so I can't stick around for long. But, you guys will need to get to the Beach eventually, Hatter will be significantly kinder to Arisu if he knows he came to the Beach willingly. It's not a bad place, and I won't let Hatter lay a hand on him.”

“Neither will I!” Karube says, “There's another issue though. Chota.”

“I'm assuming he's injured, how badly?”

“His entire leg is burnt, Arisu said he might lose it. Or die from sepsis.”

“Usually, the Beach wouldn't take him, but Hatter might make an exception, seeing as it's for Arisu. The issue is the Beach doesn't take too kindly to expendables, you saw how Aguni sacrificed the guy with him.”

“So what else do I need to know? About the Beach?”

“Nothing. The less you know going into it, the better. I know it's hard but I need you to trust me.”

“Can you at least treat Chota before you go back?”

“Yeah, I'm surprised Arisu hasn't done it already.”

“He's blaming himself, so he feels too guilty to be objective about the treatment.”

“He's always been too soft when it comes to you two.”

“He's had a difficult time with the games, since you left anyways, try not to be an ass about how soft he is. He knows.” Karube says they could see Arisu now, he seemed to be conscious at least.

“KARUBE!!” Arisu stumbles over, clearly still delirious from his concussion. “I’M SO HAPPY I THOUGHT YOU DIED. Hey quick question? Why do you have two heads?”

“You really hit your head didn't you?”

“It's Aguni's fault, he killed the hostage lady…see she was bleeding all over my head” Arisu twirled for Karube to see, he seemed more drunk than anything.

“Now you guys are back, I’m leaving.” Usagi said, “Good luck getting him home.”

Chishiya sighed, he was definitely going to need it.

Notes:

I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Feel free to leave any feedback in the comment, it's always appreciated!!!

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Chapter 22: The Botanical Gardens

Notes:

Hi everyone! I hope you like this new chapter! I've still been pretty motivated to write recently, so I hope you are still enjoying the quicker updates 😂😂😂

I'M JUST GOING TO APOLOGISE IN ADVANCE!

As always, feel free to leave any feedback in the comments! It's always appreciated!!!

Also, I love interacting with you guys in the comments, so if any of you want to talk about fics/shows/ask me any questions, feel free to add me on tumblr (I'll link it at the bottom of the chapter). I'd love to get to know my readers more and I love making friends!!!

“Arisu! Karube! I can't believe it!” Chota shouted excitedly, limping his way over to them, “I was so worried!”

Chishiya watched as Chota leaped on to Karube, who was supporting a still concussed Arisu. From his walk alone, Chishiya could tell that his injury was bad, not to mention the smell coming off the leg. It was very

“Arisu!” Chishiya heard the shrill voice of a woman, “You have to stop picking up strays. We don’t have enough food or resources!”

“Hi Chishiya.” Chota said, looking over Karube’s shoulder, making eye contact with Chishiya. “Arisu, you found him!”

“Chishiya?” the woman asked, looking more on guard than she was before. Who was this lady?

“He’s my boyfriend!” Arisu said, jumping on Chishiya’s back, clearly still out of his mind from the concussion.

“What’s wrong with him?” Shibuki said coldly.

“He’s got a concussion.” Chishiya said flatly.

“KARUBE YOU’RE BLEEDING!” Chota yelled worriedly, looking frantically between Arisu and Karube. Chishiya certainly didn’t miss this.

“Yeah, I was stabbed.” Karube chuckled out, “It’s fine, Chishiya said if it hit anything important, I’d be dead already.”

“You were stabbed! So first, you two just disappear. Then you show up with some mysterious guy-”

“He’s not mysterious, he’s my Chishiya!” Arisu interrupted, resting his head on top of Chishiya’s trying to boop his nose. Chishiya gave up trying to avoid Arisu’s concussed antics, he just settled on letting him do what he wanted. He had already braided Chishiya's hair, held his hand and stolen his hoodie all on the walk back to their hideout. It was worth it, to see the happy smile on Arisu’s face.

“-Karube has been stabbed, Arisu is concussed and Chota needs to join a game tomorrow.”

“Chishiya,” Chota said quietly, fiddling with his makeshift crutch, “Would you be able to check out my leg? Arisu looked and tried to clean it slightly but he said you’d know better. So, could you have a look? After you patch up Karube?”

“Chota, your leg needs looking at first! Stop being a self sacrificing idiot.’ Karube said, picking Chota up. “See, if I was dying I wouldn’t be able to do this, would I?”

“He’s right,” Chishiya chimed in, “I’ve already looked at Karube’s wound, its not serious, If he gets some antibiotics and cleans it correctly, he will be fine, unfortunately.”

“HEY!” Karube shouted, “You should want me to be alive, who is going to look out for your boyfriend?”

“Wait boyfriend?” Chota asked, “You guys are dating?”

“Yeah, they sure are!” Karube says, ignoring Chishiya’s death glare.

“And Karube hasn't tried to kill you yet?”

“Karube! You’re not allowed to kill Chishiya!” Arisu shouted again.

“I’m waiting till he looks at your leg Chota.” Karube said as he sat down on the sofa next to a sulking Shibuki. He went to grab a beer before Arisu leaped off Chishiya, onto Karube, snatching the bottle away from him.

“Karubeeeee, drinking will make you bleed more! Bad Karube!” Arisu said as he settled on Karube’s lap. Chishiya ignored the pang of jealousy and focused on Chota instead.

“I need to see your leg.” Chishiya said, “I need to see if it’s infected and if the burn goes to the bone.”

Chishiya sat down at the table, motioning for Chota to do the same. The woman came over to join them, rubbing the back of Chota’s neck. Were they dating? Judging by how flustered they both were when Chishya, Arisu and Karube returned, he’d judge their relationship was sexual in nature. However, there seemed to be some part of the woman that genuinely cared for Chota.

Chota placed his leg on the table, the wound seemed to be mostly third degree burns. While Arisu had done the right thing cleaning the wound, it was futile. In the real world, Chishiya would recommend surgery for the burn, to clear out the dead and infected skin. Chishiya could, in theory, operate here, he’d just have to numb the area and load Chota with painkillers, but it might do more harm than good. If he could get them to the Beach, Chishiya would feel more comfortable performing the surgery.

“Is he going to be okay?” Karube walks over and asks, he was carrying a sleeping Arisu on his back. “I can go pick up supplies from the hospital if that helps? You just need to tell me what to get, I can wake up Arisu.”

“There’s no point.” Chishiya watched Chota’s face fall, while Karube looked angry. “Chota needs surgery, if I do it now, it will take at least a week to recover, and he will be unable to walk on the leg at all. Your visa runs out tomorrow, right? If I do this now, you will most likely die. Karube and Arisu are injured right now, they won’t be able to help you as much as you need.”

“So that's it? There’s nothing you can do?” the woman asks.
“Shibuki, it’s okay. I never would have made it this far without Arisu and Karube, I don’t want to risk hurting them more…” Chota says, tears welling up in his eyes.

“There is something we can do, just not right now.” Chishiya continued, “If you can get to the Beach, I can do it there, there's more medical equipment, and a sterile room. If Arisu could make it to an executive there, there would also be more resources to help you through the games.”

“What are we waiting for then, let's go?”

“Hatter likes to interrogate newbies, for at least a night, even if he’s already met Arisu, he still doesn’t know you. I wouldn’t risk going to the Beach with only one day on your visa.”

“So, we play a game tomorrow night, and go to the Beach.” Karube says.

“How is Chota supposed to get there!” Shibuki argued. Chishiya found her annoying, why Arisu chose to spend his time and help this woman would be beyond Chishiya.

“I will carry him there if I have to, hes my best friend, I’m not going to just abandon him.”

“Really?”

“Yes, really! You didn’t seem to have a problem with it earlier.”

“YOU LYING TWO-FACED BITCH-”

“Karube! Don’t talk to Shibuki like that!” Chota interrupted, earning a confused look from Karube.

Now that certainly was an interesting development. Chota was the most loyal and caring out of all of Arisu’s friends, he adored Karube and Arisu. Yet, this woman had sex with him once and he was willing to betray them both. He knew Chota was desperate, but he didn't think he was that desperate. Seriously, a woman sucks his dick once and he's willing to throw away his longest friends. Well, he wouldn't betray Arisu, if he knew what was good for him that is. This woman was already pissing him off, Chota wouldn’t want to know what the consequences of betraying Arisu would be.

“Guys, you are being loud!” Arisu groans, holding his hand to his head, “What’s wrong?”

“Finally sleep off your concussion? You seem less loopy now?” Karube asks.

“I think so but my head is pounding, do we have any pain killers?”

“Welcome back, sleeping beauty!” Chishiya said sarcastically.

“Is this normal, after a concussion?” Karube asked, looking concerned at how Arisu was rubbing the back of his head. Chishiya was worried too, brain injuries could be quite serious, and there was very little Chishiya could do if it got serious. Luckily, it only seemed like a mild concussion, Arisu should be alright after some water and rest.

“Yeah, his headache should go down in a few days!”

“DAYS???” Arisu said, clutching his head, “Kill me now!!”

“What about Chota?” Shibuki interrupted angrily, she calmed down when Arisu looked at her. Chishiya ignored the rage building inside him.

“Well, I'd say the best course of treatment is to pump Chota full of the strongest antibiotics we can find, and a bunch of pain meds.” Chishiya confirmed, “Then you have to get to the Beach as soon as you have finished your next game?”

“Are you sure that's a good idea?” Arisu says nervously.

“It's Chota’s best shot, you will have to play nice with Hatter though.” Chishiya paused when he saw Arisu’s eyes go wide. “Not like that, just try not to antagonise him too much and you should be fine, seems like Aguni is looking out for you too.”

“Yeah, what's up with that Arisu?”

“Who's Aguni?” Shibuki asks, Chota looks confused.

“Aguni, like your uncle Aguni?” Chota asked, “I didn't think your family spoke to him?”

“We don't? It might not even be him, it's a relatively common last name.”

“His first name is Morizono.” Chishiya interjected.

“Okay, we'll still, maybe it's not him, surely he would have said something if he was my uncle.”

“He did. In his own way! Had that been anyone else, he would have let that tagger shoot you, or just drag you to the Beach. He's protecting you?”

“I'm sorry, Arisu almost got KILLED!”
Shibuki yelled, again. Chishiya was liking her less and less. Something about her put Chishiya on edge, maybe it was her attitude or how easily she manipulated Chota. Or maybe it was the fact that she reminded him of himself.

“Yeah, but I’m fine!” Arisu said, “except for this headache”

“Arisu, you can't die, what about your math?” Shibuki said.

“I wasn't planning on dying, it's not like I was trying to kill myself, I just got attacked!”

“You shouldn't rely on Arisu to survive.” Chishiya says, giving Shibuki a cold look. “Don't push your own weakness on to others, it's pathetic.”

“You don't know me.”

“I know enough.”

“Excuse me.”

“Cyber Bank Holdings strongly recommends Saori Shibuki as the new team leader of AI development. Does that sound familiar?”

“How do you know-”

“How is that relevant?” Karube asked.

“It's not. I'm just bored.” Chishiya says, refusing to break eye contact with Shibuki.

“I'm sorry Arisu, Chishiya is right, I shouldn’t put my anxiety on you?”

“It's okay, don't worry about it!” Arisu said with a bashful smile, however his point was undermined when Chishiya continued to glare at Shibuki.

“I need to go.” Chishiya says, refusing to look at Arisu’s sad smile. “Karube, you won't die, it's mostly a superficial cut, make sure you keep it clean and take some antibiotics. Chota needs the strongest antibiotics you can find, the same with painkillers. Arisu, you will be fine, try not to have a stroke.”

“Thank you Chishiya!” Chota said, trying to bow but almost falling out of his chair. Karube gave him a nod while Shibuki just ignored him.

“Do you really have to go?” Arisu asked, tugging on Chishiya’s hoodie as he got to the door of their hideout.

“Don't act like that, you will see me tomorrow.”

“Still…I'm worried about Chota.”

“Arisu you have the exact same education as me, you could have diagnosed and helped Chota in a heartbeat.”

“I'm not close with my family, or my brother really. Karube and Chota, they mean the world to me, I just, I can't hurt him, even if I know it helps him?”

“I understand”

“You do?”

“Well, no. But it makes sense why you'd feel that way. It's very human.”

Arisu stood closer to Chishiya, rocking back and forth nervously. Chishiya didn't know what was making him so nervous, but he didn't have time to find out, he could see the sun beginning to rise and he'd prefer if Aguni didn't shoot him.

“I'll see you later, Arisu.” Chishiya went to leave, but felt Arisu grab his hand, and pull him back. Their faces were inches apart now. What was Arisu doing?

“Thank you Chishiya…for everything.” Arisu said, his face moving closer. Weirdly, Chishiya didn't feel the urge to move away.

“I've not really done anything, I just told you to get antibiotics and painkillers.” Chishiya replied, ignoring how his heart rate was increasing.

“Still, I wanted to thank you properly.” Arisu said, before Chishiya had chance to ask Arisu what he meant, he felt Arisu’s lips touch his.

It was a warm kiss, Chishiya could feel Arisu practically melt against his lips. Chishiya however, stood frozen in shock, usually he could read Arisu pretty well but he never saw that coming. It must be Arisu’s concussion making him act like this. He was being irrational, clinging to Chishiya because he's scared to lose Chota, there's no way Arisu actually liked Chishiya. This was just a lapse in judgement. They hated each other after all. Either way, Chishiya was definitely going to take advantage of the situation, it was one kiss, what harm could it do.

“I have to go.” Chishiya said, once Arisu moved away, wiping his lips. “Don't die on me.”

“I won't”

That was the last thing Chishiya heard Arisu say before he began his long walk back to the Beach.

-x-

“OMG I thought you died!” Kuina shouts, running over to him.
“Where have you been? I've been worried sick!”

“I was with Arisu.”

“You found him?” Kuina says, bouncing from side to side. How did she always have so much energy? “Where is he?”

“He's safe, and we can't talk about him here, I'll explain later. He's been very helpful!

“How so?”

“He's helped me finish my plan to steal the cards.”

-x-

“Chota, how are you feeling?” Arisu asked, shaking him awake. After Chishiya had left, Karube and Arisu had managed to raid three pharmacies for their pain medicine and antibiotics. Chota seemed to be doing a lot better, hopefully, if they got their timing right with the medicine, he should be able to make it through the next game.

“I'm better, thanks Arisu!”

If Arisu’s estimate was right, they had about two hours before they needed to be at the next game. They would have to leave soon if they wanted to make it in time due to Chota’s injury. After this game, they needed to find a wheelchair so Chota wasn't putting too much pressure on his legs.

“So, what game are we playing?”

“How about the Botanical Gardens game?” Shibuki said. Arisu hated how she would always suggest that game, how did she not understand?

“Fine by me!” Karube says.

“No it's not fine!” Arisu yelled, glaring at Shibuki. “You know why I don't want to play that game!”

“You are being paranoid Arisu! The botanical gardens is the closest arena and it has the least amount of people around it. It makes the most sense, we will have to play it eventually, Arisu!” Shibuki argues back, Arisu can agree that she has valid points but it didn't matter, he had a really bad feeling about this.

“Arisu, it will be okay!” Karube says, “Shibuki is right, it makes the most sense, we can do a harder game if it means Chota is safe.”

“Yeah Arisu, I want to do this one!” Chota says, still a bit loopy from the pain meds.

“Okay, if you all agree, we will do it. But I want it to be known I disagree with this decision.”

“That's easy for you to say, you have days on your visa, mine and Chota’s run out today.”

“I know and I get that! But I'm just worried!” Arisu tries to reason but he can tell he's not going to be able to convince them.

“We need to leave now if we are going to make it in time.” Shibuki says, gathering her and Chota’s stuff. “You two do what you want, me and Chota are going.”

“I'm sorry Arisu.” Chota says quietly, refusing to meet Arisu's eyes.

“We are coming with, right Karube?”

“Of course we are!” Karube reassures. “But you guys go together, I have something I need to pick up!”

“Karube, can't it wait!” Arisu whispers.

“No! It can’t! Just get everyone registered, I promise I'll be there.” Karube extends his pinky finger, “when have I ever broken a promise?”

“Okay, I trust you Karube, just…be safe, alright!”

“I will!”

-x-

“Where is he?” Shibuki shouts angrily, they were all sat waiting on the steps outside the Botanical Garden’s. “Chota, we should just go!”

“Guys, I really think we should wait for Karube.” Arisu says nervously, he doubts they'd listen to him, but hopefully he can stall them long enough for Karube to get here. He promised he'd be here, and Arisu trusted him to show up. There's no way he abandoned them.

“We die if we don't join the game, let's go Chota, Arisu and Karube can register later if they decide not to ditch us.” Shibuki helped Chota up and Arisu watched them both hobble away. He couldn't just leave them alone, if Karube was late, he'd be leaving Chota's life in the hands of Shibuki.

“I'll come with you both! Karube knows where we are going, he will just have to register a bit later.” Arisu said, he hated this but he had no choice. He had to protect Chota.

The Botanical Garden’s were beautiful, Arisu used to love visiting here with his mother and brother when he was younger. Hajime would spend hours telling them about the different types of plants and where they came from, it was the happiest he'd ever seen his brother. It was one of the nicest memories Arisu had.

No when he entered, all he felt was dread. He knew something was going to go terribly wrong, he just knew it. But no one would listen to him. Part of him wished Karube would be too late, just in case.

Arisu was the first to walk over to register for the game. Other than the phones, there were two more tables, one filled with four sets of head gear and the other filled with tools. Were they tearing something apart? That could be bad, especially if it's a spades game, it'd be too much physical labor for Chota, especially if Karube couldn't register in time.

“This game is sponsored by Shinjuku Natural Botanical Gardens”

The announcer's voice filled the room, this introduction was different than any other game he's played. That wasn't a good sign. As long as the game wasn't a heart or a spades game, they'd have a chance.

“Please put on the goggles and continue to the gardens.”

“Has the game started?” Chota asks, “What about Karube?”

“I’m not sure, Chota. Let's just follow the instructions. We will clear this game together.”

“Yeah we will! Besides, these goggles look pretty cool!”

Arisu had to agree, the headsets did look pretty cool. However, the neck piece was making him uneasy, as it had a striking resemblance to the ones the tablets were wearing in the 5 of Spades. This couldn't be good.

Arisu put the goggles on his head, ignoring how claustrophobic it made him feel. He had to be strong for Chota. They would clear this game. They had to.

Arisu needed to get back to Chishiya.

Notes:

I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Feel free to leave any feedback in the comment, it's always appreciated!!!

If any of you are interested, you can follow this link to my Tumblr account! Feel free to DM me or ask me any questions on there!

Chapter 23: 7 of Hearts

Notes:

I'M SORRY!

I've not really put an authors note at the beginning because it will spoil the chapter! I'll put my usual note at the end!

I hope you guys enjoy the new chapter (be warned, I cried while writing this!)

Also, I have read all of your lovely comments but I have not had chance to respond to any of them as of right now, but I will try and respond as soon as possible! I treasure every single one of them!!!)

“Registration in progress. The current participants are, Chota Segawa, Shibuki Saori and Arisu Ryohei.”

“It looks like Karube isn’t here yet.” Arisu mumbles nervously. His stomach churning at every passing second. He knew this was a bad idea, why would no one listen to him? He missed Chishiya, if he were here he would listen to Arisu. Arisu missed him so much, seeing him in that game, watching him help Chota. Arisu wanted him back, wanted to look at him, make sure he was safe.

“We don’t need him.” Shibuki says angrily.

“What if it's a Spades game, how are we supposed to carry Chota?” Arisu knew he was skinny, which paired with being out of shape and spending all this time studying or playing video games, didn’t bode well for a physical game. Especially if he needed to help Chota. Shibuki seemed to be a little more active than him, but she was in full office attire and heels, so she would also struggle to help him.

“Well, what if its a diamond game, it's not like that meathead can help!”

“He helped more in the clubs game than you did!”

“Please, you survived because of me!”

“Just because you killed-”

“SHUT UP! BOTH OF YOU!” Chota shouted, he was shaking as he was trying to adjust the headset. Before Arisu had the chance, Shibuki had already moved to help him. “We are never going to clear this game if we can’t get along.”

“You’re right Chota, I’m sorry!” Arisu said, now was not the time for this.

“Arisu! Chota!” Arisu heard yelling coming from the entrance. “Are you here? Arisu-”

“Karube!” Arisu shouted, “Over here.”

Arisu was momentarily relieved, they needed Karube if they wanted to help Chota. However, if Arisu’s gut feeling was right, it might have been better if Karube never made it at all.

“Please put on the goggles and continue to the gardens.”

The announcer said once again, Karube must have made it to the tables with the headsets. Now that Arisu thinks about it, there were only four headsets, was this game designed for four players? What if they had to split off into pairs and eliminate the other team? This could be bad.

It was almost like this game was designed for them.

Karube came running up to them, panting heavily as he clutched something in his hand. “I’m - Sorry, I’m late. I ran.. all the way here! I needed to get something.”

“WHAT DO YOU MEAN SORRY?” Chota shouted angrily, “SHIBUKI AND I, WE DON’T HAVE A TOMORROW, WE HAVE TO CLEAR THE GAME TONIGHT, YOU ALMOST DIDN’T MAKE IT.”

“I’m sorry, don’t be mad alright! It was important.” Karube says, “I wanted to leave it as a surprise, but I needed to grab this. I was going to propose to Emi, but if I don’t make it, I want one of you to give it to her.”

“Karube,” Arisu’s voice softened. “I’m not going to give it to her, because you are going to live for a very long time and be able to give it to her yourself.”

“I know, I’m not planning on dying, but just in case Arisu, you have to promise me you’ll get it to her. Promise me!”

“Karube-”

“Registration has now closed.”

Arisu never got to promise Karube as they were interrupted by the announcer, followed by loud fanfare music.

“Please wait a moment, facial recognition is in progress.”

A loading screen popped up on the giant television in front of them. After about two minutes the screen was filled with their names, their game ID numbers and a picture of them entering the arena.

“Hey Arisu, when I look at you, the scanner on this eye piece is showing me your name and ID number. It also says something about you being a lamb?” Chota says.

“It must be facial recognition software, my company makes stuff like this, it’s very expensive.” Shibuki adds.

“The participants in this game are: Arisu Ryohei, Chota Segawa, Karube Daikichi and Shibuki Saori.

“I wonder what they want us to do?” Arisu muttered to himself, this was the most high tech, and strangely set out game he had seen. So far he had only played lower level games, and none of them were like this. Does this mean the difficulty is higher? This could be really bad.

“The game will now commence.”

Everyone stood in silence, staring at the screens.

“Difficulty: 7 of Hearts.”

“Hearts?” Chota asks, looking at Arisu.

Arisu looked at Shibuki, who was staring wide eyed at her phone. This was bad. This was really bad.

“7? Isn’t that kind of difficult?” Karube asks, also looking at Arisu.

“Hearts are the worst.” Shibuki says, her eyes glued to her phone.

“What do we do?” Chota says, it seems he hadn't realised the gravity of the situation.

“Game: Hide and Seek.”

Arisu was praying to every god he could think of that another person would be doing the seeking. If it was another player, like in the tag game, there was a chance they could all survive.

“Rules: one person will be the wolves, the other three will be the lambs. A lamb found by the wolf, will become the next wolf and must hide so that the wolf won't hide them.”

Everyone stood in silence, waiting for the announcer to continue.

“Clear condition: the player who is the wolf at the game’s end is the winner.”

But that meant only one of them could survive. Arisu was going to be sick, he knew this game was bad. He knew it. He should have pushed harder not to play, he should have pushed more to go with Chishiya. Now Arisu has killed himself and two of his friends.

It was too late to do anything about it now. He would sacrifice himself for Karube or Chota. He was willing to die if it meant either Karube and Chota could survive. The issue was Karube and Chota were both injured, Chota significantly more than Karube but they were still injured. There is no way Chota would be able to survive on his own, so it'd have to be Karube. It has to be, the problem is Shibuki. If Arisu can distract Shibuki enough, he might give Karube enough time to get away. Karube also had the foresight to grab a weapon, something that none of them had decided to do. Karube was most suited to survive in this world.

Arisu would make sure Karube survived.

“Time limit: 15 minutes. When 15 minutes has passed, the collars around the lambs necks will explode.”

“Explode?” Chota asks, “what does that mean?”

Arisu knew Chota knows what it means, he's just in denial. Of course he was. They were all about to die.

“Do you know what this means?” Shibuki says, laughing maniacally.

“What?”

“It means only one of us can survive.” Shibuki says, still laughing.

“Shibuki what do you mean?”

“We will play hide and seek, whoever is the wolf at the end of the game wins and the other three will be dead. It's really very simple!”

Karube was unusually quiet, just staring at the screen in front of them. Shibuku’s face changed in an instance, she went from scared to stoic in a matter of seconds, much like she did in the three of clubs. This was really bad, Shibuki would manipulate them all in order to survive. Arisu couldn't let that happen.

“The first wolf's ID number is 1000247. Chota Segawa.”

Had the game done that on purpose? Because Chota was injured, it'd be really easy to take the wolf role off of Chota. It would be impossible for him to run and hide.

“Really?” Chota said, his breathing heavy.

“Game start, you have 15 minutes.” The announcer said as the phone pinged, a large timer appeared on the screen.

Chota doesn't say anything more, instead he starts yanking at the collar around his neck, clawing at it.

“Stop it, Chota!” Arisu said, running over to him and grabbing his hands. “If you try and take it off, the collar might explode!”

“I don't care!” Chota says, fighting against Arisu’s hands.

“Chota, stop it!”

“Leave me alone!” Arisu meets eyes with Chota, his headset focusing on Chota’s face.

The phone lets out a ping, before the wolf shifted to Arisu. So in order to take the wolf, they had to lock eyes with the person.

“When we lock eyes, the wolf role passes on.” Arisu says.

“That's the catch in this game, if the wolf doesn't survive, it's because the lambs killed it.” Shibuki says, her eyes still calculating. “IT’S BULLSHIT!”

Shibuki’s outburst causes all of them to look at her, she is staring at Arisu as he looks up. Shit, this was her plan all along. As if on cue, the wolf role transfers to Shibuki, who was already running away from them.

“Shibuki!” Chota shouts after her.

“The one who needs to hide in this game is the wolf.” Karube says, the first thing he's said since the game started.

“Are we going to die?” Chita asks meekly, his voice shaking. Arisu wanted to cry, seeing his best friend this distraught.

“You will, if you just stay here!” Karube says, grabbing his clever and chasing after Shibuki. “Shibuki, get over here!”

“Karube!” Arisu and Chota yelled after him.

“Arisu, what do we do?”

“I-I don't know Chota! Maybe, if we could get everyone back together, we could try and figure it out!”

Arisu loops his arm under Chota’s and helps him walk in the direction Karube went. If they were going to die, Arisu refused to do it like this. He wouldn't give the game makers the satisfaction. These were his best friends, he wasn't going to die fighting with the two people he loved most in this world.

-x-

Karube Daikichi had always prided himself on being strong. It was his best trait, his ability to fight, to stand up for his friends, stand up for anyone. That's why, when he got to this world, he vowed on his mother’s grave that he would protect his friends, even if he had to die to do it.

He had failed to protect Chota from the fire in the three of clubs game, he'd failed to protect himself in the 5 of spades game but he had still managed to protect Arisu. Smart, naive Arisu, who had managed to survive in this world on his own, without Karube’s help. Despite that, Karube promised he would protect them, even if they didn't need it.

Yet, somehow, when he entered the 7 of hearts game, that promise went out the window. It was a selfish desire, but his will to live surpassed any love that he had for his friends in that moment. Chota never would have survived in this world, he could tell by Chishiya’s reaction.

Karube had always hated Chishiya, he really had. The man had him on edge since the moment they met. He felt like he was taking advantage of Arisu’s kindness, his smug attitude and smart ass comments made Karube want to punch him in the face. But he always seemed to have a soft spot for Arisu. And Arisu was practically in love with him, so Karube tolerated him. He even respected him, his intelligence was out of this world, and his ability to control his emotions was admirable. Karube, who had always worn his heart on his sleeve, was envious of that and dedicated hours to figuring out Chishiya’s tells. That's why, when Chishiya was inspecting Chota’s leg, Karube could tell he was fucked. Chota would never survive in this world, and they all knew it, even if Arisu refused to accept it.

Arisu still had a shot, but if he was truly ready to survive in this world, he'd need to fight to get the wolf off of Karube. If he was too weak to do that, he didn't deserve to be the only survivor.

“Shibuki! Come out!” Karube shouted angrily, desperately searching between plants. She was not going to be the only survivor. Not if Karube could help it.

Karube could hear her heels on the path, as well as her heavy breathing so he was close. Really close. Even if he was injured, he was still the most physically fit in this game, it'd be almost impossible for any of them to outrun him.

“SHIBUKI!” Karube roared.

“Shibuki! Karube! Let's think of a way out of this together!” Karube could hear Chota’s voice crackling through the headset. It must have a microphone so they could talk to each other. Karube didn't need that, he didn't need to talk to them. What more was there to say? I'm sorry you're going to die? No, talking to them would make him falter.

“I'm sorry! I'm sorry!” Shibuki shouted, Karube could hear her voice.

“There's no point apologising now, huh?” Karube shouted as he tackled her to the ground. All he needed to do was make eye contact with her.

Shibuki was fighting back, hard! She was going for the stab wound on his side, kicking it, punching it, while still somehow avoiding eye contact with him. Eventually, Shibuki stopped fighting, instead she just tucked herself into a ball, her face tucked into her chest.

“Turn around! Turn around!” Karube yelled as he tried to pull her over, he had dropped the clever, instead using his hands. He wanted to win this game but he wasn't willing to kill Shibuki in cold blood. Not yet, not when he had 11 minutes to get the wolf position off of her.

Shibuki was sobbing now, mumbling out different apologies. Karube didn't care. He was going to survive this game. He deserved to survive this game. He spent his entire life, fighting and working, dragging himself out of poverty, off of the streets. He deserved this, more than anyone. Arisu had everything handed to him on a silver spoon while Chota was too pathetic to cut off his crazy mother. Karube had to work for everything in his life, everything. And when he was finally happy, about to propose to his girlfriend, this shit happens. It wasn't fair!

Why was everything in his life so unfair!

“Karube, please stop it!” Chota’s voice came crackling through the headset. Karube ignored it. He didn't need this, not when he was so close to winning.

Shibuki was screaming, as Karube started kicking her. He would do anything to make her roll over.

“Go away!” Shibuki shouted as she groaned in pain, her hand had slipped while he was kicking her. Taking advantage of the opportunity, he grabbed her by the hair and forced her to look at him.

The phone let out a soft ping, before the wolf symbol transferred under Karube’s name.

Shibuki didn't waste anytime, instead she picked up Karube's cleaver and started attacking him with it. Aiming for his injury. Karube managed to shake her off, but all this fighting was taking a toll on his body, he could feel himself growing weaker, his muscles getting heavier. His stab wound had started bleeding again, he was losing a lot of blood. If Shibuki kept attacking him like this, he might collapse before the game ended.

“Karube! Shibuki!” Karube could hear Arisu’s voice coming from in front of them. Arisu was stood on the path, supporting a crying Chota. Karube's heart broke a little, seeing them both stood there.

No. He couldn't think about that right now. It'd make him weak.

The phone let out another ping, Karube ripped it from his picket as he watched the wolf transfer from under his name to Arisu’s. Fuck. Karube must have made eye contact with Arisu as he looked up at him.

Shibuki had already started running over to Arisu, Karube followed quickly behind her.

Arisu stood in the middle of the path, staring directly at the floor. Karube was filled with rage. How dare Arisu do this to him? Betray him like this! Karube had spent his entire life looking after Arisu, and this is how he repaid him!

“Just stop for a second! If we work together, we might be able to work this out!” Arisu shouted, his eyes stuck to the floor.

“Don't be so naive.” Shibuki shouted, “This is a hearts game! Did you forget what happened with Aoi!”

“What's happening to us?” Chota cries out, still leaning against Arisu. “You are all turning against each other, we are friends, aren't we?”

It didn't matter. Karube had to survive. He had to, for Emi, he needed to get home to Emi. Arisu would do the exact same thing for Chishiya, he didn't get to be mad at Karube for this.

“7 minutes remaining”

“Arisu!” Karube shouted angrily.

“Do you want to live or die?” Shibuki asked, trying to mask her manipulative tone. Chiat had collapsed to the floor, he was praying now, begging for their forgiveness. He could pray all he wanted, but Karube didn't need it. Karube was going to survive.

“I just need some time. To think of a way out of this!”

“Really? You want to find a way out of this game?” Shibuki said, her maniacal laughter returning, “You don't care about us! YOU JUST WANT TO BE THE ONLY SURVIVOR!”

Karube could see the hurt in Arisu’s eyes. He had to shove the urge to comfort him down once again.

“Make me the wolf!" Shibuki continued, “Your life is shit anyways! Where's the justice when someone wants to live dies?”

Arisu looked like he was faltering, if Karube could get Arisu to crack, he'd have a better shot at getting the wind from him.

“Arisu! Make me the wolf! We can't all survive in this game.”

Sensing what Karube was trying to do, Shibuki ran towards Arisu, cleaver raised ready to attack him. Karube went to do the same, but he couldn't move, his body wouldn't let him, no matter how hard he tried to fight. He was going to die if he didn't do something, so why wouldn't his body move!

Just as Shibuki was about to hit Arisu; Chota managed to tackle her to the ground. Putting his entire body weight on top of her.

“GET OFF ME!” Shibuki screamed as he started hitting Chota, who refused to move. “You ungrateful piece of shit! I took care of you! You don't even see who your friends really are!”

Chota didn't respond, he just started praying again.

“Arisu.” Karube said angrily, his voice slightly quieter this time. His body still refusing to move, even given the circumstances it's seems his body wouldn't let him hurt Arisu.

“Go Arisu!” Chota shouted. Arisu, who looked like a deer in headlights, followed his instructions. So that was how it was, huh? Chota had chosen Arisu over him?

“ARISU!” Karube screamed, his body still refusing to move. He felt so tired. All he wanted to do was rest. He wanted to go home, go to the bar with his friends and go home to his beautiful girlfriend. He just wanted to go home.

“Karube…” Chota said gently, looking at him with sympathetic eyes, “You don't want to do this.”

“JUST SHUT UP!” Karube screamed, as he ran in the same direction as Arisu, his body finally listening to him.

“Arisu!” Karube said into the microphone of his headset. “You're just going to hide until time runs out?”

Karube waited for a response, but it never came.

“Of course you are! Arisu Ryohei, the king of running away from his problems! You're pathetic!” Karube screamed. He didn't mean it, he didn't want to hurt Arisu. So why was he saying it? “You said if we worked together, we could all survive, from the very start you just wanted to be the ONLY SURVIVOR.”

Karube had ran around for what felt like hours, his muscles growing heavier with each step, he was going to collapse soon. If only he could get the wolf before then, no one would be able to make eye contact with him if he was unconscious.

“I'm sorry” Arisu’s voice crackles in Karube’s ears, as he continues running. He couldn't give up, not when he was so close.

“WHATS THE USE OF SAYING SORRY!” Karube screamed down his microphone, “IN THE END, THAT’S ALL YOU WILL EVER DO! EVER SINCE YOUR MOTHER KILLED HERSELF, ALL YOU DO IS APOLOGISE! IF YOU ARE HAPPY TO BE A LOSER, THEN GIVE ME THE WOLF.”

Karube could hear Arisu whimper over the headset. He didn't mean it, he didn't want to hurt Arisu, he didn't want the last time he saw his friends to be this. He loved his friends. He loved them, so why did he keep hurting them?

“I've had enough.” Chota cries out, over the headset, “I don’t care who wins in the end but I don't want to end it this way!”

Karube was still running looking for Arisu when he suddenly tripped and fell, hitting the ground hard. He could feel the blood from the stab room oozing around him. His muscles felt heavy, he only had the energy to reach for the ring that had fallen out of his pocket.

Is this about Arisu and Chota again? You know, you really are very kind?

“Three minutes remaining.”

“Guys, I'm going to drop out of the game!” Arisu said. Karube was surprised he gave up this easily. Part of him wanted to take Arisu’s offer, he wanted to survive to get back home to Emi, but he just couldn't do it. Karube let out a long sigh. It had taken him practically the whole game, but he worked it out. How to beat this game. The rules weren't lying when they said the lambs had to hide from the wolf, the players had to pick a person to want to survive. That person was Arisu, it was always going to be Arisu.

Even if Karube was going to survive this game, despite his injury, Chishiya would probably kill him for hurting Arisu. It was unfair. It was so unfair. But Karube was happy that at least Arisu could survive. He was okay with this. Arisu was good, he was better than him. He would take good care of Emi for him too. He was okay with this. And for the first time in this game, Karube felt at peace with his decision.

“You guys,” Arisu was crying now, “You guys are all that matter to me. If someone has to lose this game, let it be me. I'll quit this game.”

Karube stayed quiet. He wanted Arisu to win this game. Arisu had to survive, and Karube would do his best so that he couldn't find him.

As if reading his mind, a small quote appeared on his phone screen.

You become the wolf if you are found. Hide so that the wolf won't find you. Hide well lambs, so that the wolf can't find you.

“KARUBE! CHOTA! WHERE ARE YOU?” Arisu’s voice sounded hoarse from all the screaming. “GUYS COME OUT, SO WE CAN TALK ABOUT THIS!”

Karube could hear Arisu’s steps getting closer. This was his chance, if he wanted to survive, this was his chance to call out. To find Arisu.

Karube chose to lay down. He was hurt and he was tired. He just wanted to go home. He wanted to sleep, wanted to be anywhere but here. Karube was done fighting, he'd spent his entire life fighting. This, dealing with this world, was someone else's problem. Karube could finally rest.

“KARUBE! WHERE ARE YOU? WHY AREN’T YOU GUYS ANSWERING?” Arisu’s shouting got fainter as he ran past Karube's hiding spot.

“KARUBE! CHOTA!” Arisu carried on screaming, “CHOTA! KARUBE! COME OUT!”

“Quit yelling.” Karube said into the speaker. There was just over a minute left on the timer, and he didn't want to leave his friends like this. He loved them both so much, and he didn't want Arisu to remember him as a monster.

“Karube, where are yo-” Arisu started but Karube interrupted.

“Hey, do you guys remember, that really fucking hot day where we made the noodles and shaved ice?” Karube said over the speaker, “We laughed a lot that day, didn't we? We laughed so hard, noodles came out of Chota’s nose.

“That was supposed to be our secret.” Chota chuckled out, between sobs.

“Always drinking the night away, laughing like idiots. When I'm with you guys, I forget about all my problems!” Karube said, reminiscing . He had read somewhere that your brain shows activity for 7 minutes after you die and shows your best memories. Karube knows that his memories with Arisu and Chota would take up all that time.

He was okay with this.

“KARUBE! CHOTA! WHERE ARE YOU?” Arisu shouted frantically, the panic creeping into his voice. This was it. Karube regretted nothing. Emi would understand.

“Live for us, Arisu!” Chota cried into the microphone. Karube could hear Shibuki in the background. Had Chota really fought her for 15 minutes to protect them, even though he was injured.

“Thirty seconds remaining.”

“It can't be me, I can't be the one to survive this.” Arisu cried out, Karube just wanted to hug him, but he didn't trust Arisu not to pass the wolf to him at the last second. Arisu would be fine, he had Chishiya. Chishiya would take care of him, and if he didn't Karube would come back and haunt his ass.

“20 seconds remaining”

Arisu was running around frantically before he came back into Arisu’s eyeline. He hadn't noticed him yet, Karube laughed a little. He had always been such an airhead, even when they were little.

“I'm behind you, idiot!” Karube says, refusing to even look at Arisu’s face as he lit a cigarette. At least he didn't have to worry about lung cancer anymore.

“I'm sorry.” Chota’s voice crackled over the speaker, he must have been talking to Shibuki.

“10 seconds remaining”

“Arisu” Karube started, thinking about his final words carefully. “Thank you.”

Karube meant it. He meant every word. He didn't have enough time to say everything he wanted to Arisu, but he wanted to thank his longest, closest friend, one more time, for everything.

“5”

Karube was lying if he said he wasn't scared. He was terrified, he didn't want to die, but it was worth it, to save Arisu.

“4”

At least his side would finally stop hurting.

“3”

Karube pictured Emi’s face one last time. He loved her so much and he knows that she would understand.

“2”

Karube could hear Arisu shout his name, as he began running towards him.

“1”

Karube was okay with this.

Bang

Notes:

IM SO SORRY! I HAD TO, I NEVER PLANNED FOR HIM TO SURVIVE I'M SO SORRY! Before everyone gets too mad at me, I do plan on writing a fic where the 7 of hearts never happened because I love the trios interactions, there is also my med school diaries fic that will definitely feature Karube and Chota!

I'm sorry! I feel so guilty for everyone that wanted him to survive!

Thank you so much for reading! Feel free to leave any feedback in the comments.

Chapter 24: Stages of Grief

Notes:

Hi!! I hope everyone likes the new chapter! I just want to say a big thank you to everyone, we are at over 1000 Kudos, and I CANT BELIEVE IT! I love you guys all so much and just wanted to say a big thanks for reading my story!!! I also want to thank everyone that's left lovely comments, I love all of them and I will try my best to respond to every one of them!

I hope you enjoy this new chapter! As always feel free to leave any feedback in the comments! It is much appreciated!

Also, I love interacting with you guys in the comments, so if any of you want to talk about fics/shows/ask me any questions, feel free to add me on tumblr or twitter(I'll link it at the bottom of the chapter). I'd love to get to know my readers more and I love making friends!!!

I have started using my Twitter account more (or I guess X) and as I can have quite irregular uploads, I will be posting when I plan to update, and when updates are out on there. I will also post random things too but still.

Edit: changed the date of the fic because I set it to post 16/07/2023 instead of 16/07/2025! Oopsies, for some reason I have to manually change the date for every chapter I post, it automatically tries to do every upload date as the 23/07/2023!

Arisu screamed. Arisu screamed until he couldn't scream anymore. Hoarse, desperate screams as he cradled Karube’s lifeless body in his arms. He had been there for three days, holding Karube's decomposing corpse, unable to move. When he wasn't passed out from exhaustion, he was pleading, begging, wailing as loud as he could. Hoping, praying, that Karube would somehow hear him. Come back to him. Come save him. Karube had always helped Arisu, no matter the situation, so why couldn't he come save him now. When he needed it the most. When he needed his older brother the most.

Arisu wanted to go and find Chota, to hold them both close to him. To hug them one last time, so they didn't pass on all alone. But, he couldn't leave Karube. Not all alone, on the ground. He was already cold and he didn't bring a jacket and he'd be cold without his jacket, so Arisu had to keep holding him. Holding him long enough to keep him warm.

Arisu thought about Chishiya, how he'd promised him he'd make it to the Beach. Would he be worried when Arisu didn't show up? Probably not. He'd probably be relieved to be rid of Arisu; seen as everyone around him seemed to die. He was cursed and now he'd lost the two people that meant the most to him in the world.
And they were never coming back.

-x-

“You think you're so clever?” Aguni growls angrily, grabbing Chishiya by the shoulders and pinning him to the wall. “Manipulating me? Telling me he'd come here on his own? Well it's been three days, WHERE IS HE?”

Chishiya actually agreed with Aguni, a sentiment he never thought he'd admit to himself but strange things seemed to happen when Arisu was involved.

It was unlike Arisu to go back on his word, and he promised Chishiya he'd join him at the Beach, which means Arisu was either injured, dead or otherwise incapacitated by a rival group. Either way, this did not bode well for Chishiya. Chishiya had miscalculated. He'd miscalculated badly, relying on Arisu was foolish. Now he was about 3 minutes away from having a bullet in his head if he didn't tread lightly.

“I don't know. You demanded I come back by sunrise, maybe he couldn't find the place?” Chishiya tried to explain, trying to seem as calm as possible. As smart as he was, there was no way he could beat Aguni in a long open hallway, with no weapon, and no Kuina here to help him.

Aguni looked even angrier, so Chishiya decided to change tactics.

“Look, there could be a number of reasons Arisu isn't here. He was with an injured person and they were trying to play a game before coming to the Beach. They could be dealing with injuries, deaths, they could have gotten kidnapped by another group. There are plenty of explanations.”

“Really, and how exactly do I verify these explanations?” Aguni seethed, still pinning Chishiya to the wall.

“Well, I know where their hideout is, if you let me go for longer than an hour at a time, I could see what's taking him so long.”

“As if you can be trusted to do that, you would take any chance you have to betray the Beach. I've met your kind before.”

“Oh yeah and what kind is that?” Chishiya said, tilting his head slowly.

“Are you guys getting freaky without me?” Chishiya hears a voice join in, Aguni instantly drops him, taking several steps away. Chishiya is a bit disappointed, he was looking forward to seeing where that conversation was headed.

“No.” Aguni and Chishiya said in unison.

“Really? That's a shame~” Hatter said teasingly as he inspected his golden nail polish. “Mori doesn't normally get this worked up, have you been messing with him Chishiya?”

“Not at all.” Chishiya says, innocently putting his hands up, “We were just talking about Arisu.”

Aguni gave him a puzzled look, clearly not expecting Chishiya to out them both. Hatter would expect Chishiya to lie for Arisu, after all he was his boyfriend. However, for Aguni to betray Hatter, it could cause serious problems between them, big enough problems that Aguni might even have to kill Hatter.

“Oh?” Hatter said, excitedly looking between them. “Have you found him?”

“No.” Aguni says, glaring at Chishiya. Was he still trying to protect Arisu?

“Maybe.” Chishiya responded at the same time as Aguni, earning an even more murderous look.

Hatters face lit up. “What do you mean maybe?”

“Well, Aguni didn't want to get your hopes up, but we've heard some rumours about where he could be.” Chishiya answered, shooting a smug smirk in Aguni's direction.

“Well, what are we waiting for?”

“Takeru,” Aguni says warily, “Chishiya hasn't been known to cooperate with us? Now all of a sudden he's willing to drag his boyfriend to the Beach? It's suspicious.”

“Chishiya, do you have anything you want to say?”

“No, I just realised that maybe it's not as bad here as I originally thought. Showers, electricity and food, what more could we ask for right? Arisu would love it.” Chishiya had always been a good liar. He prided himself on how well he could deceive and manipulate people, and this situation was no different.

“Wonderful! See Mori, you're too paranoid! Come to my room later, I've got something that might help you calm down! You can bring our favourite little kitty along too!”

“I’ll pass!” Chishiya rolls his eyes.

“Your loss~” Hatter says, seemingly unfazed by Chishiya’s rejection

“About Arisu? What do you want us to do?” Aguni asks.

“We will go find him of course!” Hatter says, “Chishiya, where did these rumours say Arisu was hanging around.”

“I don't know the exact details, but it was somewhere near the Shinjuku Botanical Gardens.”

“He could be anywhere by now.” Aguni argued.

“Not necessarily. He was seen entering the Botanical Gardens three days ago and he's not been seen leaving since, as the militant guards Aguni set up outside would have reported back. Therefore, he is still there, depending on the difficulty of the game, he will have to enter a new game soon, and the closest game arena to pop up in that area is the one in the underground tunnel. He will most likely be there, the day before his visa runs out.”

“Why the day before?”

“In case something happens and prevents him from entering the game, he still has another day before his visa runs out. Not to mention anymore visa days he's accumulated.”

“That makes sense. From Kuzuryu’s calculations, the game is most likely a hearts game, with quite a high difficulty at that. It's either the 7 or 8 of hearts.”

“As three days have passed, our best bet is to go to the underground tunnel game three days from now, we will have the highest chance of running into Arisu then.

“What fantastic timing, that's about the time my visa runs out. It's almost like fate if you think about it.”

“Or a coincidence?”

“I don't believe in coincidences. You really think the universe is so fickle that things would happen by coincidence. You're a funny little kitty, I thought you were supposed to be clever.” Hatter said, patting Chishiya sympathetically on the shoulder, like he was the crazy one. “It's just the universe telling me I'm on the right track, Arisu belongs here, by my side, and the creators of this world must agree with me.”

Aguni's expression is unreadable while Chishiya is just annoyed. Why was everyone he interacted with obsessed with his boyfriend?

Hatter didn't seem to notice the building tension in the air as he began to walk away, motioning for Aguni to join.

“How exactly do you know where Arisu is? And how do you know he hasn't left? I don't have any militants set up there?” Aguni whispered angrily; making sure Hatter was out of ear shot.

“I had Tatta set up a video camera for me? He slips out every night and gets me the footage. It was clear a game was played there, but no one has left. When I spoke to Arisu, they were going to that exact arena, so he's either still there, or dead. Either way, seems Hatter won't be satisfied until he sees for himself.”

“You are one heartless bastard.” Aguni whispered.

“How so?” Chishiya asked.

“Your boyfriend could be dead and you are talking about it like you'd describe the weather.”

“Would you rather I cry about it? It's not like any emotional reaction I'd have will change the outcome. If he couldn't survive that game, he would have never made it in this world. It's natural selection.”

“What does he see in you?” Aguni mutters out before joining Hatter.

-x-

Arisu doesn't remember leaving the arena, yet when he opened his eyes, he was in a place he didn't recognise, seemingly miles away from the games arena. Had he been moved? There's no way he'd ever willingly leave Karube and Chota.

He was in what appeared to be an abandoned building. The room had a small futon in the corner, a large bookcase filled with survival books and a small stove with something cooking on it. Arisu was hungry, he could hear his stomach rumbling as he smelt the food, however he had no appetite to eat. He didn't deserve to eat, not after he killed his best friend.

“Why did you save me?” Arisu croaked out as he heard someone enter the room, he couldn't tell who it was, but he was angry. He hated them, why did they have to help him? He just wanted to die.

Arisu wanted to die.

“Your body is telling you it wants to live, yet your brain is telling you you want to die, why?.” The person, who appeared to be a woman, says. Arisu vaguely recognized the voice, but he couldn't place where he’d heard it before. And part of him didn't care. Why did he care what some stranger thought about him, it's not like it was Chishiya.

“I don't deserve to live. They're all dead, I killed them all. They're all dead and I’m the only one that's still alive. I might as well have been the one that killed them all! I killed them all. I don't deserve to live. Not after I let them all die.” Arisu cries out, on the verge of a panic attack, the woman says nothing, just sits next to him, stirring the pot of soup. “I have to die. I have to die. I have to die. I have to die so I can be with them. I need to die. I have to die.”

Arisu is struggling to breathe now, his heart racing as he can hear its beat in his ears. He was going to pass out again. Hopefully, this time he won't wake up.

-x-

“LOYAL MEMBERS OF THE BEACH.” Hatter announced from his balcony, Chishiya wanted to roll his eyes but he was in full view of everyone, so he decided against it. “IT IS THAT TIME AGAIN. THE TIME I MUST RENEW MY VISA. BUT WORRY NOT MY CHILDREN, I WILL BE TAKING THE STRONGEST, THE SMARTEST AND THE MOST RELIABLE PLAYERS THE BEACH HAS TO OFFER.”

The crowd cheered as Hatter extended his arms, accepting their praise. What a joke. How could anyone follow this clown?

“Mori, Chishiya, let's go.” Hatter says, leading them both to the garage. It had been three days since their conversation about Arisu and Chishiya had been unable to talk Hatter out of attending the game.

Chishiya wanted Arisu at the Beach, but Hatter was a loose cannon. Chishiya needed Arisu there willingly, he didn't need him dragged their by a perverted cult leader.

However, if Arisu was scared of Hatter, he’d cling to Chishiya more, which could be beneficial to Chishiya’s plan to steal the cards.

Chishiya ignored the chill that went down his spine as he thought that. Had someone been watching him? He looked around but couldn't find anyone. Surely not. He was just being paranoid, he had been a little on edge lately.

“It must have been a ghost.” Chishiya chuckled to himself at the absurdity of the thought, there was no such thing as ghosts.

“CHISHIYA!” Aguni yelled down the hallway, “Get moving now!”

Chishiya continued down the hall, shaking off the uneasy feeling. For now, he needed to focus on getting Arisu to the Beach.

-x-

“I’m hungry.” Arisu said, the first thing he'd said in days. If he wasn't asleep, he was staring into space, replaying the last moments of that game.

Live for us, Arisu

Arisu, thank you.

Karube and Chota's last words haunting every waking moment of his life, while their deaths haunted his dreams. If they saw him now, they'd be so disappointed. They didn't give their lives for him to waste away on the floor of this abandoned house. They'd want him to fight, to survive, to live for them? But how could he? They both had dreams, had things to live for.

What did Arisu have to go home to?

Nothing.

Arisu had nothing.

Well, maybe he had Chishiya. But he was unclear what was happening between them now. And he was too scared to push it, in case he scared Chishiya away. Chishiya was the only person he had now. He couldn't lose him as well.

Usagi offered him a bowl of her soup, before picking up her book and continuing to read it. It had taken Arisu an embarrassingly long time to recognise her, but she didn't seem to mind. She was clearly empathetic about what had happened with his friends, had she also lost someone in the game?

“Thank you!” Arisu said meekly, as he shoveled the soup in his mouth. He was starving, ravenous even. He could eat a horse if one was right in front of me.

“I understand what you're going through.” Usagi says, as she places her hook down. In the time Arisu had spent with her, she didn't seem very talkative, so he was surprised she was opening up to him, “I wanted to die aswell.”

Arisu stared at her, unsure whether he should stop eating or not.

“And then, I started to get hungry. I knew one day, I would die. But at that point; I was just hungry.”

Arisu nodded, it seems they had more in common than he initially thought.
“You lost someone important too then?”

“My father. He was my closest friend. He…killed himself.”

“I understand,” Arisu answered. “My mother killed herself too, she was struggling for a very long time.”

“Yeah. When I feel that way, I think back to my father. He wouldn't want me to give up, not like he did? So I fight, I fight to stay alive. I fight because he couldn't anymore.” Usagi sighed, looking to the side. Arisu thought he could see tears forming in her eyes but chose not to comment on it. “What about you? Are you planning to die by having your visa expire? Are you done fighting?”

“No, I want to… live” Arisu’s voice cracked as he choked the words out. He meant it, he actually meant it. Despite everything that happened, Arisu wanted to fight. He wanted to survive.

“Good. Then eat the soup I made you. We have a game to play, I'm not sure when your visa will expire but mine expires tonight.”

“I have a lot of visa days, I was playing a lot of games before the…” Arisu answered. “But, I'll go with you.”

“Thank you.”

“It's funny, I feel so hungry but I don't feel thirsty at all” Arisu said, trying to lighten the mood.

“That's because I've been pouring water in your mouth as you sleep.” Usagi says calmly.

“You’re kind of scary, you know that?” Arisu chuckled, it was the first time he'd laughed in days. It almost felt good. Almost.

Usagi gave him a confused look, but also started giggling when she saw Arisu’s expression.

“You risked your life to help people in the tag game. There's something special about you, Arisu. It would be a shame if you died.”

“Thanks, I needed that.” Arisu smiled at her. “If Karube and Chota saw me now, they'd be rolling in their graves.”

“I'm sure they'd under-”

“SHIT!” Arisu interrupted, “I promised Karube I'd get his ring back to Emi. I promised and neither of them even got a proper funeral. I can't just leave them like that. I can't- Usagi, I can't-”

“Okay, okay, just calm down alright.” Usagi says, grabbing his shoulders, “the Botanical Gardens is 10 minutes from here, we can go get it, okay?”

“Okay.” Arisu lets out a big breath.

“If we go now, we can make it, and then go straight to the game. Are you ready?”

-x-

Being back at the Botanical Gardens brought back all the pain and grief Arisu had been feeling over the past 6 days. He couldn't bear to see them, not like that. Part of him hoped this was a big joke, that his friends were pulling a terrible prank and they'd jump out and surprise him. Arisu knew that wouldn't happen, but he could hope.

But no matter how much hope he had, his friends were dead, and they weren't coming back.

“Hey!” Usagi touches his arm lightly, “Why don't you stay here, and I'll go and grab it?”

“Yeah, I think that's a good idea.”

Usagi nodded before sprinting in the building, she was very quick on her feet.

Arisu stared at the building for a long time. Contemplating what to do. He didn't want anyone to have to play this game again. He didn't want another player to suffer like he did. He wanted this place gone.

He wanted to burn it to the ground.

It should be fairly simple to do, he remembers Chishiya drunkenly explaining to him how to start a fire that even firefighters would struggle to put out. It would require a lot of vodka, but it was certainly doable, especially with a convenience store close by.

Arisu found a loose bit of paper in his pocket and wrote Usagi a quick note on where he was going, before he ran to the convenience store a street away. He hadn't seen many people around this area so he was certain he would be able to find what he was looking for. Low and behold, Arisu found at least 20 bottles of vodka in the back room of the store. He grabbed a few lighters and began his journey back to the Botanical Gardens.

Usagi was already waiting for him when he got back, holding something in her hands.

“Here!” She said, holding out her hands. She had Karube’s ring, Chota’s ID badge and part of Karube’s ridiculous Hawaiian shirt. “I didn't want to overstep, but I thought you'd want these, just to remind you of them.”

“Thank you Usagi! This means more to me than you could ever know.” Arisu cries out, holding the items to his chest. He would treasure them forever. He'd have to put it with Aoi’s rabbit. He'd left that at his base at the mall, but he could go and grab that once they'd cleared this game. Usagi had done so much for him already, he wasn't going to risk her missing her visa deadline because he was feeling sentimental.

“Arisu…” Usagi asked warily, “Why do you have 20 bottles of vodka and a bunch of lighters.”

“I've decided I'm going to give Karube and Chota a proper funeral!” Arisu said, tears once again welling in his eyes.

“And that is…”

“I'm going to burn this place down.” Usagi’s eyes went wide. Arisu can see why she'd be worried, but if he knew Karube and Chota, she'd know that they're both looking down from Heaven, laughing their asses off right about now.

“And you say I'm the scary one.” Usagi chuckled out before going to help him. “What do you want me to do?”

-x-

Chishiya was 45 minutes into the most awkward car journey of his life, when he spotted something out of the corner of his eye.

“What the fuck is that?” Aguni says, leaning over the steering wheel. Chishiya followed his gaze, and sure enough there was a building completely engulfed in flames. Chishiya let out a small chuckle, he was impressed someone was ballsy enough to actually destroy a potential game arena. If he could slip away from the Beach long enough, he’s go and investigate around that area. But with Aguni watching him like a hawk, that didn't seem like an option.

Oh well, maybe he could send Tatta.

“Ooo, someone with a flair for the dramatic~” Hatter says, putting his feet up on the dashboard. “I wonder if we will meet them in this game.”

“It looks like the Botanical Gardens.” Aguni says dryly, “It might be Arisu that's done it.”

Chishiya glared at the back of Aguni's head. For someone that was supposed to be estranged from Arisu, he certainly seemed to know a lot about him, and predict his behaviour quite well.

This could be a problem.

Not that Chishiya cared, it would just interfere with his plans.

-x-

Usagi and Arisu ran away from the scene, giggling the entire way.

“THAT WAS AWESOME!” Arisu yelled.

“I know right!” Usagi yelled back. “It was like a Viking funeral.”

Karube you're going too fast!” Chota yells from the front of the bike.

“Stop being such a crybaby!” Karube says as he ruffles his hair.

Arisu had his back rested against Karube’s as they barreled down the hill. They were definitely about to crash, but Arisu didn't care. It was worth it to see them both happy!

Arisu was shaken out of his memory by Usagi grasping at his arm. Arisu didn't know why that memory came back to him, but all the grief washed over him again. He couldn't do this. Not yet.

No, he had to. Usagi helped him, and he was going to protect her, no matter what.

“We're here.” Usagi says grimly, looking at the entrance to the tunnel.

“Let's go get registered.” Arisu says, grabbing her hand.

The tunnel was still relatively dark despite being lit up. There were abandoned cars all over the road. A large graffitied bus sat directly in the middle of their path. Arisu could see the outline of three men through the back window.

Arisu and Usagi walked to the entrance of the bus. Arisu got on first, determined to protect Usagi. Although Arisu didn't know how well he'd do at that, she seemed to be taking pretty good care of herself. Being a badass climber and all.

“You guys aren't new, are you?” One of the men asks as they register. Arisu looks at him, all of them seem a bit wary, but they don't look like new players either.

“No, what about you?” Arisu responds.

“We're the guys that cleared four games togeth-”

“FEAR NOT, FELLOW PLAYERS.” A voice from outside the bus interrupted him. “FOR I AM HERE!”

Arisu wanted to die. Why of all times did Hatter have to show up now?

This was bad.

Notes:

I don't really ship Arisu and Usagi (except in the season three trailer, they were so cute!!) but I do love Usagi as a character, so you best believe I am promoting my Usagi and Arisu bestie agenda 😂😂😂😂

I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Feel free to leave any feedback in the comment, it's always appreciated!!!

If any of you are interested, you can follow this link to my Tumblr account or this link to my Twitter account. Feel free to DM me or ask me any questions on there!

Chapter 25: 4 of Clubs: Distance (1)

Notes:

Hi guys! I hope you enjoy this new chapter!! It's a tad bit shorter than some other ones but I wanted to update for you guys!

Thanks for all of your support! I've been reading your comments and they're all so nice and supportive!!! I've been trying to respond to them all, but it's taking me a little bit of time!!!

Edit: I'm trying to respond to people's comments but it's not letting me. I think it's because AO3 has a comment limit up at the minute to try and stop bots; so I promise I'm not ignoring anyone, I will respond as soon as I can!!!

I hope you enjoy this new chapter! As always feel free to leave any feedback in the comments! It is much appreciated!

Also, I love interacting with you guys in the comments, so if any of you want to talk about fics/shows/ask me any questions, feel free to add me on tumblr or twitter(I'll link it at the bottom of the chapter). I'd love to get to know my readers more and I love making friends!!!

I have started using my Twitter account more (or I guess X) and as I can have quite irregular uploads, I will be posting when I plan to update, and when updates are out on there. I will also post random things too but still.

Chishiya watched as Hatter walked into the tunnel, his arms spread wide, clearly putting on a show for any of the other players. Aguni was standing behind Chishiya, his arms crossed, waiting for him to enter.

“Are you going to stand out here all day?” Aguni asked, pushing Chishiya through the game's entrance. It was too late to turn back now. There goes his plan of taking off after Aguni and Hatter had passed through.

Chishiya glared at Aguni, before inspecting the arena. It was a long tunnel, with no end in sight. There was a bus placed in the centre of the path, covered in bright graffiti. The graffiti was clearly intentional, trying to draw their attention. It was hard to make out what any of the words said but Chishiya could have sworn he'd seen the word ‘GOAL’.

Chishiya pulled his hoodie over his head, reaching into his pocket to keep his hand on his taser. Judging by the game arena, this game would either be a spade or a club, with a fairly low difficulty rating. If Chishiya had to bet, he'd put his money on clubs.
From what he'd observed so far, there were a group of three men towards the back of the bus, and a further two people towards the front. Chishiya couldn't see any of them clearly, but he was almost certain one of them would be Arisu, hopeful another would be Karube but Chishiya didn't hold out too much hope.

Chishiya had spent the past few days sending Tatta out to explore for him but he was turning up empty handed each time. It was frustrating but with Aguni watching him constantly, he couldn't go investigate himself.

Chishiya could only think of three reasons Arisu would have gone back on his word: he was injured, he was dead, or his group was dead.

Chishiya doubted Arisu was dead or injured, Karube would never let that happen and Arisu was smart enough to take care of himself. Meaning, most likely, his friends had died. For Chota it was obvious he wouldn't survive. But Chishiya was really rooting for Karube to survive, he would have been useful and he won't have to deal with an upset Arisu.

“One minute until registration closes.”

“Chishiya, Aguni~” Hatter skipped over to them and said. “What are you doing?”

“Nothing, we're coming.” Aguni says, nudging Chishiya forwards. Again. Chishiya was going to tase him in a second.

“I'm going to get jealous if you two keep leaving me out of these little meetings. What were you guys doing?”

“Standing in silence.” Chishiya responds with an eye roll. “It was very romantic.”

“30 seconds until registration closes.”

“We should get registered.” Aguni says, staring at Hatter who was eyeing Chishiya up and down.

“You know, Chishiya-” Hatter started before he was interrupted by Aguni.

“Takeru now isn't the time for this conversation.”

“Looks like you're saved by the bell Chishiya but we will be having words about this attitude of yours.” Hatter says, his voice as cold as ice. Chishiya had never seen him this serious before. He needed to stay on Hatter’s good side if he wanted his plan to work.

Hatter turned on his heels and carried on towards the bus where the other players were waiting. Aguni followed suit. He hadn't brought his gun this time, but Chishiya could see the outline of a knife in his pocket. Chishiya had his taser, but he hadn't had a chance to charge or improve it, so that wouldn't necessarily be useful.

“FEAR NOT FELLOW PLAYERS, FOR I AM HERE.” Hatter announced as he entered the bus. His eyes lit up when he noticed Arisu. Chishiya was relieved. He was glad Arisu was alive, he needed him alive. For his plan of course.

Chishiya could have rolled his eyes at the audacity. As if anyone would be less worried when a half naked maniac shows up.

One of the men at the back of the bus looked like he was going to say something but quickly stopped himself when he saw Aguni enter.

“10 seconds until registration closes.”

Hatter strolled over to the table and grabbed a phone, holding it up to his face. Once he had registered, he practically jumped on Arisu.

“Arisu, my darling, how have you been? You must have been so scared being all alone!” Hatter says, grabbing at Arisu’s cheek.

“I’m fine.” Arisu said, rubbing the back of his neck nervously. Chishiya tried to swallow the bile rising in his throat. He was going to murder Hatter. They'd been there for 10 seconds and Hatter was already all over Arisu. Arisu hadn't even noticed Chishiya yet.

“You don't have to be shy with me darling. I understand, it's hard being on your own in this world. Who's your new friend, she looks like a bunny rabbit.” Hatter continues. The woman, who Chishiya instantly recognised as the climber from the tag game, looked confused. She kept glancing at Aguni and Chishiya while inching closer to Arisu. Seriously? Her as well? Chishiya couldn't catch a damn break. Why was everyone making a move on his boyfriend?

“You guys aren't new either?” One of the men asked, moving closer to them; one glare from Aguni had him sitting back down.

“Registration is now closed. The game is about to commence.”

Everyone in the room went silent, waiting for the rules. Chishiya wasn't worried in the slightest. If it came down to it, he'd kill everyone here to survive. Even Arisu. Their time apart had given Chishiya a fresh perspective. Arisu made him weak. He gave him emotion, he made him feel safe. Chishiya needed to cut Arisu out for good.

Chishiya Shuntaro was a lot of things, but weak was not, and never would be, one of them.

“Difficulty: 4 of Clubs.”

Looks like they'd all be working together then. Chishiya didn't really care, he'd win with or without their help.

However, when Chishiya entered the bus, he noticed something interesting about one of the men at the back. He had quite a large bandage around his ankle and he seemed to be avoiding putting weight on that foot. He seems injured and that could significantly slow them down if they were required to work together.

“Game: Distance.”

Seriously? Chishiya was good at many things, running was not one of them. Maybe he could convince Aguni to carry him. Chishiya glanced over at Arisu, who looked equally as nervous. He seemed to be more withdrawn and nervous, especially when Chishiya knew him in medical school.

When they went to school together, Arisu was caring, confident and had a strong moral compass. Now he just seemed to be a shell of himself. Chishiya ignores how his heart aches when he thinks that. Now was not the time for this. There was never a time for this. He didn't care.

Chishiya didn't care about Arisu.

“Rules: Endure the trial while striving for the goal within the time limit.”

So, that must be related to the graffiti Chishiya saw on the bus. This game was a trick, then. The start point was the goal. That was clever. So why was this a clubs game?

“Clear condition: safely attain the goal.”

“What is this game?” One of the men asks. Chishiya ignores them, if they were experienced players they should understand how this worked now. Instead of wasting time asking stupid questions.

“120 minutes remaining.”

Chishiya had to admit, he was mildly impressed, seeing as this was a clubs game. The time limit and the game's rules were quite misleading but the game itself was quite simple. Technically they had already cleared the game, seen as they were already sitting in the goal. The hardest part of this game would be getting the other people to realise it.

Saying that, did Chishiya really need to waste his time trying to explain it? If they weren't smart enough to clear this game on their own, did they really deserve to be handed the answer?

“Does this mean we have to run?” The man with the injured ankle says.

Chishiya had been interested in him since the game started. Despite his injury, the man seemed calm, almost too calm. Especially now the game had told them they needed to run. His ankle obviously wasn't broken, but he'd still struggle to clear this game. Yet he didn't seem worried in the slightest. Almost like he knows he's safe here. Which could only mean that he's a dealer. This game might be worth Chishiya’s time after all.

“Are you injured?” Arisu asks worriedly. It was cute how much empathy Arisu had for people. But this man didn't deserve it, he didn't deserve it in the slightest.

“Ah I only tweaked it a little.” The man said with a fake smile. Chishiya wanted to punch him in the face.

“In the game?” Arisu asked. Chishiya loved Arisu, he really did but that was a stupid question. Seriously? Where else would he have hurt it.

“Obviously.” One of the men said condescendingly, acting as if Arisu was an idiot when they're the ones that have managed to team up with a dealer. Pathetic.

“The distance counter on the phone says 0, what does that mean?” One of the men asked.

“We have to run to the goal? On the highway?” The other man responded.

“What about Takuma?” The other man asked.

“I-”

“Man you guys are funny.” Hatter chuckled out, observing them closely. “Chishiya, what do you think?”

Arisu whipped his head around, only just noticing Chishiya was here. His eyes filled with tears but he quickly composed himself.

“I think that we should explore more. Alone.” Chishiya said, motioning for them to leave the bus. The other men looked suspicious but Chishiya didn't care.

Aguni and Chishiya stepped out of the bus, followed by Hatter who was dragging Arisu out. The climber also jumped out of the bus.

“So, what did you want to explore?” Aguni asked, looking fed up with the entire game.

“Nothing.” Chishiya said, “I already solved the game. There's something wrong with that man in there. The one with the ‘injured’ ankle.”

“Oh, and what would that be?” Hatter said, a sadistic look on his face.

“Aguni. Do you remember the tag game we played? How the taggers were a different type of player? They called themselves dealers.”

“Yes.” Aguni responded, waiting for Chishiya to elaborate.

“Well, I believe he is one too. Takuma. He's supposedly injured, but he doesn't seem worried at all. Not to mention he's the first one that mentioned running when the solution to this game doesn't involve running at all. That coupled together indicates to me that he already knows the solution to this game.”

“And you know the solution too?” The climber asks.

“Yep, it's pretty simple. It's the bus. The bus is the goal.”

“How do you know that?” Aguni asks, glaring at Takuma who kept nervously glancing at them.

“It says it on the side of it.” Everyone’s head shot up as Chishiya said that, clearly trying to find the word in the graffiti.

“So it does! Well done my clever little kitty. There will certainly be a reward for you when we get back!” Hatter said as he patted him on the shoulder. Chishiya had to resist the urge to pull his shoulder out the way.

As they were talking, it seems the men came up with their own plan. As they couldn't get the bus to work, it seems they decided to leave their friend behind and start running in the opposite direction.

“They're really that willing to leave their friend? Even if he is a dealer, they don't know that. They just abandoned him.” Arisu said, his voice cracking. Chishiya noticed tears in his eyes. Karube and Chota must be dead then.

“They were tricked.” Chishiya said, “That’s all there is to it.”

“That's true…”

“So what, we just wait here for two hours?” Aguni asks, reaching for the knife in his pocket.

“Essentially, it's not too bad though, we have a dealer here with us and two hours is a long time. We could learn some valuable information.” Hatter’s eyes lit up as Chishiya kept talking.

“If it's okay.” Arisu interjected, “I want to go after those men. If they were tricked, they deserve our help.”

“I'll go with you.” The climber said, “I'm a pretty fast runner, I'm sure I can catch up.”

“I'll go too~” Hatter says in a tone that makes Chishiya’s skin crawl. “I can see what little Arisu has been up to while we've been separated.”

“Takeru, is that a good idea?” Aguni says, looking frustrated with both Arisu and Hatter.

“Sure it is. Getting information out of that guy is going to be difficult, I don't want to be here when it gets messy.” Hatter says.

“What if you don't make it back in time?”

“If you get to just under half of the time limit without finding them, find a diesel car or bike and bring it back here. We can fill the bus up and come get everyone.” Chishiya says, fed up. He's only doing this because he knows there's no way Arisu would ever abandon those men. If it were up to him, he'd have left them to die.

“I should go with-” Aguni starts but stops when Hatter interrupts him.

“It's fine, Mori! Do you not trust me?” Hatter asks. Aguni backs off, and lets them all go.

“See you soon!” Hatter shouts “Don't let me down!”

Chishiya watched as they disappeared down the tunnel. Hatter was surprisingly athletic, and the climber girl was miles ahead already, while Arisu looked like he was struggling. He'd be fine though. Arisu was going to be fine! He had to be fine.

For the plan, of course.

Notes:

I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Feel free to leave any feedback in the comment, it's always appreciated!!!

If any of you are interested, you can follow this link to my Tumblr account or this link to my Twitter account. Feel free to DM me or ask me any questions on there!

Chapter 26: Not a Chapter

Hi guys, sorry to disappoint but this isn't a chapter, I wasn't entirely sure where to put this message, but I've added it to my tumblr and Twitter, but just in case anyone hasn't seen it, I'll also paste it below here:

I have just found out my dog has kidney failure and we will be needing to put her down soon! This is really hard for me as she is one of my best friends and I love her so much!

I wanted to let everyone know because I'm going to take a little bit of a break from uploading chapters on my fics, specifically I hate that I don't hate you, as I've been updating that one a lot recently! I am not abandoning any of them, and I will probably start uploading again in a week or two, I just want to spend this time with her!

Anyways, I want to thank everyone for all their support on all of my fics, it means the world to me! I will try to update when I can, and there's a chance I won't be delayed updating at all seen as Snoopy is my favourite writing buddy but yeah, I just wanted to let you guys know!

I will probably delete this chapter in a couple of days as I don't know if it's allowed with the AO3 terms of service but I didn't know how to get this across to all of you! I will try and update as soon as I can!!!

Thanks,
-Liv
(That's my name, well a nickname, btw in case anyone was wondering haha)

Chapter 27: 4 of Clubs: Distance (2)

Notes:

Hey guys! I just want to thank you for all your support with everything that's happening with Snoopy! It means so much to me with how nice everyone has been, I love you all so much!

Snoopy has been pretty tired at the minute so I had chance to write this chapter as we cuddled together on the sofa, so this chapter is 100% Snoopy approved.

I hope you enjoy this new chapter! Feel free to leave any feedback in the comments!

Also, if any of you haven't read my med school diaries fic, I have a headcannon that Arisu is like ULTRA rich and runs a company called the Arisu Foundation (I made this up because I wanted to haha) so Arisu is super duper rich, I'm talking like top 1%, he's even richer than Chishiya haha

There are a couple content warnings for this chapter as there are mentions of self harm and suicide, so if you are sensitive to either of those topics, just be careful when reading this!

Also, I love interacting with you guys in the comments, so if any of you want to talk about fics/shows/ask me any questions, feel free to add me on tumblr or twitter (I'll link it at the bottom of the chapter). I'd love to get to know my readers more and I love making friends!!!

Arisu was struggling. He was never a very active person, the only exercise he really did was running away from the police with Karube and Chota.

Usagi seemed to be in her element, she was ahead of both Arisu and Hatter and she didn't seem to be struggling in the slightest. She would occasionally look over her shoulder to make sure Arisu was still following her but she never slowed down. Hatter also seemed fine, although he had purposefully slowed down to run alongside Arisu.

Arisu was still wary of Hatter, but he genuinely didn't seem as bad as Chishiya had portrayed. Especially if Aguni was so loyal to him.

Arisu didn't remember a lot about his uncle; he knew he was in the special forces and was the only family his mother would even consider talking to and that was about it.

Arisu used to be very close to him though, Aguni would take him on outings at least three times a week, his father would never let Hajime join, so Arisu got his uncle Mori all to himself. Aguni never really talked about himself, instead focusing on whatever Arisu wanted to do. It was usually the park or laser tag, or whatever else was cool to his 5 year old brain.

Then one day, his uncle just stopped showing up. His mother cried for weeks, constantly trying to ring him. But for some reason, he never answered. His father forbade him from ever asking what happened, banning any mention of his Uncle Mori, especially in front of his mother.

“It's none of your business Ryouhei. Stop upsetting your mother.” His father would tell him, getting angrier and angrier each time he asked.

This didn't stop Arisu from pushing though, he would ask constantly until one day his father had had enough.

“They had an argument, Ryouhei. That's all there is to it.” His father sighed out as he rubbed the hand he hit Arisu with. Arisu cried as he held his throbbing cheek. “This is the last and only thing I will say on the matter, now go and do your homework.”

Arisu learned his lesson after that, not wanting to risk being on the receiving end of his father’s wrath again. His mother got worse too, retreating in on herself, crying about her baby brother at every waking second. Being the head of the Arisu Foundation, his father worked constantly and earned enough money for his mother to never need to work again. Leaving his mother at home to take care of him and his brother. However, that meant his father wasn't there to see how bad his mother would get. The sobbing, the drinking, the cutting. Arisu tried his best to shield Hajime from it, hiding the bottles, the bloody bandages and old blades that she carelessly left lying around in her drunken stupor. He wanted his brother’s memory of their mother to be happy, he knew if his mother was thinking clearly she'd want the same. Except she wasn't thinking clearly, she was sick. But she was sick on the inside, where no one could help her because no one realised what was wrong. To everyone else, she seemed like a happy, caring, young mother married to an ultra rich CEO. No one saw the pain hidden behind her eyes, or the cuts she expertly hid on her arms.

She was an excellent mother, she was the best mother that Arisu could have ever asked for. But she was struggling and Arisu didn't know how to help her. Anytime Arisu tried to tell his father, he'd just brush him off, getting angry at him for wasting his time and leaving his homework. So Arisu tried the best he could to take care of his mother, he'd even tried to get in touch with his uncle a few times, but he had no luck there.

Then, one day, it all became too much for his mother. She had been suffering for a long time, and it finally became too overwhelming for her.

Arisu was the one that found her body; lifeless and cold in the bathtub. Surrounded by a mixture of water, blood and empty bottles of prescription pain medication. A part of Arisu died that day. He tried to ring his father but he never answered his phone, the same with his uncle before he finally had the sense to call an ambulance. The paramedics arrived quickly but she had already been dead for hours. It was that day that Arisu gave up his claim to the Arisu Foundation. Arisu was the oldest son of Tatsuya Arisu, therefore he was the one to inherit the Arisu Foundation, much to his fathers anger. Instead, he gave all that up and put all his effort into getting into med school. Trying to become a psychiatrist, so he could help people, so people would never have to suffer the way his mother had.

When his father found out what happened, he was so angry at Arisu. Screaming and hitting him, completely blaming him for his mothers suicide. He was so angry he refused to let Arisu come home for a month, demanding he find somewhere else to stay, even if it was on the side of the road. Karube was nice enough to let him stay at his place, even though that wasn't much better with Karube’s father being a violent criminal.

Arisu was only allowed near the family at his mother's funeral as his father needed to save face. He couldn't have a funeral for his wife without both his children there. Arisu didn't really want to go, he loved his mother and he wanted to honour her life but he couldn't bring himself to go. His mother would have hated it anyways, she never liked any of the flashy events his father dragged her to.

The only reason Arisu went to the funeral was because he thought he'd have a chance to see his Uncle Mori again. Maybe he'd let him go live with him, so he wouldn't have to stay at home. He knew his father wouldn't mind, he would take the first opportunity he could to get rid of Arisu.

But his uncle never showed. Clearly whatever argument they had was bad enough that he wasn't even willing to go to her funeral. Arisu gave up on seeing him ever again, yet here he was, in the Borderlands. As if this world wasn't stressful enough, he now had to deal with his estranged uncle.

Arisu wasn't sure if his Uncle Mori, well Aguni now, recognised him. He didn't really show any hint of recognition, but Chishiya did seem to think Aguni had a soft spot for him. So maybe he did? Arisu was getting tired, all this thinking was giving him a headache. Why did he have to figure things out, why couldn't anything just be easy?

“Earth to Arisu~” Hatter says, putting his arm over Arisu’s shoulders. “You've been stuck in your own head for like 10 minutes, tell me what that beautiful brain is thinking about.”

“I'm just thinking about Chishiya…” Arisu said quietly.

“I understand.” Hatter says, “It must be hard to be separated from the one you love.”

“I don't love him-” Arisu says before he can stop himself. Shit, Arisu forgot they were supposed to be dating. The look Hatter gave him made Arisu flinch. Shit.

“Really~” Hatter says, his eyes wide. “I thought you two were dating?”

“We are!” Arisu says quickly, holding his hands up. He was going to have to be creative if he wanted to weasel his way out of this. This could be bad, Chishiya and Karube would always make fun of him for being a terrible liar. “It's just…we've not been together that long, and well, we've not said it yet and I don't know if I'm ready to say it yet, and if I do say it, I want the first time I say it to be to his face, not behind his back!”

“I understand!” Hatter says, patting Arisu’s back with a smile. “I have someone I love very much too! Not that I can ever tell him that!”

“Why not?”

“That's a long story!” Hatter chuckles out, “I tell you what, when we make it out of this world. I'll tell you over a beer!”

Arisu was surprised, when Hatter wasn't in front of others, he genuinely seemed like a good person. He was nice to talk to, empathetic and kind. Maybe they had both misjudged Hatter. This world clearly had a strange effect on people, maybe Hatter was just a victim to that as well.

“What are you guys doing here?” The two men said. Arisu was too preoccupied from trying to catch his breath and talking to Hatter to realise where they were. They had all stopped at a small table filled with water bottles.

“We were trying to catch up with you.” Arisu said, breathing heavily. They had 1 hour and 20 minutes left, hopefully that was enough time to convince the men to come with them.

“Why?” One of the men asked warily.

“Because we have found the solution.” Hatter says, taking pity on Arisu, who was still struggling to catch his breath.

“And that is?” The other man asked.

Arisu started to explain verbatim what Chishiya had explained to them. He wasn't entirely sure how Chishiya had worked it out so quickly but he was still impressed.

The men, who were clearly not convinced, looked angrily at Arisu. One of them looked like he was ready to hit Arisu.

“HOW DARE YOU! TAKUMA WOULD NEVER-” the man shouted as he punched Arisu in the face. Isagi rushed over, assessing the damage to his face while Arisu tried to stop the world from spinning. Luckily the hit wasn't too hard, Arisu would probably be fine but he was going to have a killer headache.

“Oh, be quiet!” Hatter says, his mood darkening as he grabs the man's wrist. “You have no idea if he would betray you because you can't trust anyone in this world. Arisu has run all this way to help you two, if you don't want to listen, then fine. You can die here like the morons you are.”

The man dragged his wrist out of Hatter’s grasp, before going to stand next to his friend.

“I'm sorry, but we cleared four games together, how are we supposed to believe you over him?”

“Look, if he's a dealer, he wouldn't have had a choice. I doubt he wanted to betray you, but he has no choice. He will die if he doesn't.” Arisu says as he rubs his cheek.

“So what do we do?” The other man asks.

“We go back!” Arisu says, “And get back to the goal, we still have time to make it back before the time runs out.”

“Okay, but what if you are wrong?”

“We aren't, Chishiya figured this out and Chishiya is never wrong? Look I'm not asking you to trust me, just look at this logically.”

“Okay, let's go.”

Just as they were about to set off back, Usagi suddenly stopped and started looking around.

“Do you hear that?” She whispers out, looking worried.

“No, hear what?” One of the men asked.

“That…” Usagi said quietly, eyes trained on one spot. Arisu hadn't noticed before, but were those lights always off.

A low growl was emitted from the darkness as Arisu caught the shadow of something moving. Arisu looked over at Usagi who was stood completely still.

“Arisu” Usagi whispered, “On my signal, grab Hatter and run back the way we came. I'll grab the two guys.”

“But-” Arisu tried to whisper back but Usagi shook her head motioning for her to be quiet.

Arisu could see the creature a bit better now. It was big, really big. It looked like a cat and it was dark enough to blend into the shadows.

“Is that a panther?” One of the men asked. Loudly, too loudly. Usagi looked at Arisu and nodded.

“RUN!” Usagi shouted, Arisu ran, as fast as he could, which wasn't very fast all things considered. But he ran, and ran and ran.

It didn't seem like the panther was following him, but he wasn't willing to stop and check. In the chaos of everything he'd lost track of everyone, Usagi would most likely be fine, even if she couldn't outrun the jaguar, she'd probably be able to climb the tunnel.

As for the others, Arisu would just have to hope they're okay.

“1 hour remaining”
-x-

“So, how do you want to play this?” Chishiya asked, hands still in his pocket. Aguni was still staring down the tunnel. Most likely worrying about Hatter.

“I doubt he will willingly give us information.” Aguni says coldly, looking into the bus. Takuma looked nervous as he shuffled in his chair.

“Torture then?” Chishiya asks.

“Looks like it.”

“Perfect, if you give me that knife, I'll do it.” Chishiya responds. “Did you know that doctors make the best tortures? I could probably keep him alive for at least 5 days.”

“You're a fucking psychopath.” Aguni said warily, gripping the knife tighter.

“I know.” Chishiya responds, beaming with pride. He loved it when people were afraid of him. He wanted Aguni to be afraid of him, that would mean he would be desperate for Chishiya to be on his side. It is the best course of action for his plan to succeed.

“There's no way you're touching my knife.” Aguni says, “You'll probably try to stab me with it.”

“Aww, how did you know~” Chishiya says sarcastically.

Aguni just rolls his eyes. Before motioning to Chishiya to enter the bus.

“Hey there.” Chishiya says with a small wave.

“What are you guys still doing here?” Takuma asks nervously. “Aren't you trying to clear the game?”

“I don't really like running.” Chishiya says honestly, he has always hated running.

“So you are just going to give up?” Takuma asks, feigning ignorance. He was an even worse liar than Arisu, you'd think the gamemasters would pick their dealers better. Chishiya was slightly offended, he would make such a better dealer than this idiot.

“No, I've figured out the solution to this game.”

“Really?” Takuma leans forward in his chair, beads of sweat dripping down his forehead. Seriously, a terrible liar. “That's good.”

“You don't want to know what it is?”

“I-”

“Or I guess you really don't need to, as you already know how to clear this game, right?”

“I have no idea what you're talking about.” Takuma says, his eyes darting between Chishiya and the door. Aguni moves, positioning his body to block the door. The size difference between Aguni and Takuma was laughable, there's no way he'd be able to get passed Aguni.

“Really? You know, for someone with an injured ankle, you seem pretty eager to leave. I didn't think you could walk?” Chishiya continued prodding, soon enough he'd get Takuma to snap. Hopefully he'd be able to get Takuma to talk without torturing him. It was bound to get messy, and Chishiya had worn his white hoodie.

“What do you want?”

“Information.” Chishiya responded. Takuma collapsed into his chair before letting out a long sigh.

“What do you want to know?”

“Where are we?” Aguni asked, before Chishiya had a chance.

“I'm not sure, I was in Tokyo surrounded by people and all of a sudden I was here. A few people I met call it the Borderlands, but I'm not sure if that's the actual name for it.”

Chishiya was surprised, he was more willing to talk than he thought.

“So, are you a dealer?” Chishiya asks, wanting to confirm if his hypothesis was correct.

Takuma didn't respond but the fearful look in his eyes was more than enough for Chishiya to know that he's right.

“I'm assuming you can't answer that?”

Takuma nodded slowly, pointing his finger under his chin, signaling a laser would come down and shoot him.

“How do we leave?” Aguni asks, throwing his knife. Clearly trying to intimidate Takuma.

“I don't know. The rules are different for me.”

“Oh? How so?”

“It seems like it's two-sided, Players have to clear the games and the others have to sabotage them. I get a visa day for every player I sabotage.”

“Aren't they going to kill you, for telling us this?”

“Yeah, but I was dead the second you found out I was a dealer.”

“So why haven't you been killed yet?”

“The lasers are manually set off, meaning, someone needs to be reviewing the game to set them off. As there are a limited number of gamemasters, they normally focus on the games that incorporate lasers, and review the footage of the other games later. If I'm not killed now, I will be later. The only question I've got is if they'll kill you two for knowing all of this?”

“So, how come you are telling us this, but couldn't admit that you were a dealer?” Aguni asks, looking skeptical.

“They have trigger words, so an alarm will go off and they'll notice this conversation, if I don't say certain words, I can avoid them noticing straight away. I might buy myself an hour.

“Interesting.” Chishiya says, thinking about his next question. If he could be killed any second, they needed to be smart about their questions.

“So, who are the gamemasters?” Chishiya asks, he doubts he will get an answer but he could maybe learn something from his reactions

“I've never met any, so I don't know, we only get messages on our phones on where to go and how to sabotage. In this game, I was supposed to fake an injury to lead people away from the goal. I have heard some rumours though, about the game masters inserting themselves among the play-”

Takuma never got the chance to finish his sentence, as a laser came down and shot through his skull.

“He must have hit a trigger word.” Chishiya was disappointed he hoped he'd have more time to get information out of him. “I guess they aren't killing us after all.”

“Do you hear that?” Aguni says, leaning out the door of the bus. Chishiya could hear some faint yelling in the distance, it kind of sounded like Arisu.

“Help! Help!” The voice echoed down the tunnel, the figure down the tunnel was getting closer now. It was Arisu, followed by the other man from the bus.

Aguni ran over trying to meet them
In the middle. Chishiya calmly walked over, his hands still in his pocket.

“Where's Takeru?” Aguni yells desperately, picking an out of breath Arisu up.

“We got…split up…there's a panther…they had to run…further down the tunnel.” Arisu tries to speak between breaths. If Chishiya was bad at cardio, Aries was even worse.

“40 minutes remaining.”

“There's not enough time to go get him.” Aguni looks panicked. It was certainly the most emotional Chishiya had ever seen him.

“There was a….motorcycle…it's a diesel engine and…it doesn't have sc chips…we just couldn't move it…because we were running from a panther.” Arisu takes a big breath in.

“MEANING?” Aguni shouts, causing Arisu to flinch. A glint of something appeared in Aguni’s eyes, was he crying?

“If you get the motorcycle, we can transfer the diesel to the bus and we can drive after them.” Chishiya explains, taking sympathy on Arisu, who was somehow still out of breath. He might need to go for an asthma consultation when they get back to the real world.

“What are we waiting for?” Aguni says, going to grab Arisu. “Let's go find it!”

“I don't think that's wise?”

“I knew you'd try and betray-”

“I meant taking Arisu, he's not even caught his breath yet, he'd just slow you down.” Chishiya interrupts Aguni. “Take the other guys instead.”

“Fine.” Aguni says as he drags the protesting man away. He certainly wastes no time.

“Hey.” Chishiya says, sitting down to Arisu who collapsed on the floor.

“Hey.”

Notes:

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Chapter 28: 4 of Clubs: Distance (3)

Notes:

Hi guys! I've got another update here for you! Snoopy has still been pretty tired so I had chance to write this chapter while cuddling up to her and my other dog Rosie! Snoopy has been sleeping A LOT so I'm going to say this chapter is Rosie approved haha! I just want to say thank you to everyone that has left lovely comments, I appreciate all of them and I will respond as soon as I can! I love you all, thank you so much for reading!!!

I hope you enjoy this new chapter! Feel free to leave any feedback in the comments!

Also, I love interacting with you guys in the comments, so if any of you want to talk about fics/shows/ask me any questions, feel free to add me on tumblr or twitter (I'll link it at the bottom of the chapter). I'd love to get to know my readers more and I love making friends!!!

Chishiya watched as Arisu stretched out, banging his knee against the pavement. Maybe it was the look in his eyes, or the way he hugged his hoodie close to his body, but Arisu just looked small. He looked broken.

He didn't look like Arisu anymore. He didn't look like Chishiya’s Arisu anymore.

When they were in med school, Chishiya always thought Arisu was like the sun. His sun. He was warm, bright, radiant. His happiness spread to everyone around him, drawing them in. Chishiya could have watched forever as Arisu shined on everyone.

Chishiya didn't know how to describe Arisu now. He didn't want to. It was better this way. How he felt about Arisu, before he came to this world, didn't matter now. They were both different when they were in medical school. Hell, it had been at least a year since they'd seen each other the night they came to the Borderlands. Chishiya had changed a lot since then, and not for the better. So it was better this way. That Arisu was different now, that he was broken.

It was better that he was broken, just like Chishiya.

Chishiya wouldn't have been able to live with himself if he was the one that took that sunshine away. That broke it, beyond repair.

Luckily for Chishiya, he didn't have to worry about that anymore. This world had already done this for him. Now he could carry out his plan, without hesitation.

Chishiya had been at war with himself for weeks, debating what to do about the cards. Arisu was the best bet at getting those cards, the only person Aguni would let his guard down around. It had to be Arisu. But what Chishiya was planning to do, there was no coming back from. There was no apology, no actions that would ever be able to make it up to Arisu. It would be a betrayal on all fronts, especially with what he'd have to do before.

Chishiya was fairly certain Arisu was interested in him. Sexually definitely, if that kiss was anything to go by. But emotionally, Chishiya didn't know. But he needed him to. He needed Arisu to love him, to trust him, to think so highly of him that he'd never see the betrayal coming.

Chishiya needed to act like Arisu’s boyfriend. An actual boyfriend. It would take some time, but Chishiya was certain he could get Arisu to trust him completely. Especially with Karube and Chota out of the way.

He was going to be the best fake boyfriend possible. For the plan.

“Hey.” Arisu says, bringing Chishiya out of his thoughts. Chishiya ignored the sinking feeling in his stomach when he looked at Arisu.

“Hey.” Chishiya said, sitting down next to him. There wasn't very much they could do until Aguni got back.

“I’m sorry…” Arisu said quietly, refusing to make eye contact with Chishiya, instead focusing on playing with his sleeves. “I went back on my word, I promised you I’d come to the Beach, and you probably did all that work, getting ready to treat…Chota’s leg…and it was all for nothing. Because…”

Arisu stopped talking, instead trying to wipe his eyes. Chishiya just looked at him, waiting for him to continue.

“I killed them Chi, I killed them. They were my best friends and my family and I killed them.” Arisu cried out, his voice cracking as he sobbed. Desperately wiping his eyes with his sleeves.

Chishiya never really understood how to comfort people, that was more Arisu’s thing. Chishiya had been written up multiple times for his bedside manner or lack thereof. It's not that Chishiya didn't want to comfort people, he just didn't care.

Yet, with Arisu, he wanted to try. He wanted to comfort him. But he didn't know how. His sunshine was upset and he didn't know what to do.

Arisu wasn't crying anymore, just staring into space, not talking, not doing anything. If Chishiya had to guess, that was also what Arisu was doing the days after what game he played

Chishiya grabbed Arisu’s head, manuring it, so he was resting on Chishiya’s shoulder. Chishiya grabbed his hand, as he rested his head on top of Arisu’s. Chishiya always hated physical touch and affection, but for some reason with Arisu, it just felt natural.

Arisu seemed to calm down, practically melting against Chishiya’s shoulder. He still wasn't talking, but he seemed better. Chishiya rubbed his thumb in circles along Arisu’s hand. He'd seen couples do that in the ER before, and it seemed to do the trick, so he thought he'd try it on Arisu. After all, he needed to be the best fake boyfriend he possibly could.
For his plan.

“What game was it?” Chishiya asks, genuinely curious.

“7 of hearts.” Arisu says, tears welling up in his eyes.

“Hatter will be pleased.” Chishiya tried to joke, but his voice came out too serious.

“Maybe…” Arisu says, “I was going to let Usagi take credit.”

“You have the cards with you? Right now?” Chishiya asks, his voice more judgemental than he intended. Why would Arisu bring his cards to the death games where everyone is competing for them. What if someone robbed him, made him strip down so they could search for them. Hatter would certainly jump at that opportunity.

“Yeah, I didn't know what to do with them. Why? Is that bad?” Arisu asks, tilting his head looking like a golden retriever. Chishiya wanted to protest when Arisu moved his head from Chishiya’s shoulder, but stopped himself. Why did he care so much?

“No, it's not bad. Hatter is definitely going to steal them though. Not like you or Uzaho would be able to stop him, especially with Aguni there.”

“Chishiya.” Arisu gave him a knowing look while putting on his stern voice. “I know you have an eidetic memory and you definitely know her name, so why would you get it wrong on purpose?”

“Why do you care so much, if I get her name wrong?” Chishiya glared at him. Curse Arisu and his freaky ability to read Chishiya.

“She's my friend and she saved my life.” Arisu says, “I would have laid on the street and died if Usagi hadn't saved me.”

“Hmm, she certainly sounds like your friend.” Chishiya says bitterly, his voice filled with venom.

“What is that supposed to mean?” Arisu pushed himself away from Chishiya. His voice defensive.

“I'm just saying, you two seem awfully close. Practically sitting in her lap in the tag game, now you've been living together for a week? What's next, do I get a secret wedding invite?” Chishiya says, his voice getting angrier. Arisu was his boyfriend and if Usagi didn't back off, she was going to ruin the plans he's worked so hard to create.

“Are you jealous?” Arisu says, his face going from angry to excited in a matter of seconds.

“What? No!” Chishiya says, trying to keep his voice as neutral as possible.
“I'm just saying, you're supposed to be my boyfriend, well fake boyfriend. You can't be getting all lovey dovey like that.”

“Chishiya, cmon. It's not like that-”

“Hatter will find out, do you really want that? For him to see nothing standing in his way of you, to get his men to drag you to his room while he chains you to his bed and rapes you? Because that's what's at stake here Arisu.” Chishiya continues, unable to stop the words that pour out of his mouth.

“Chishiya…” Arisu looks worriedly at Chishiya, trying to hold his hand again, Chishiya doesn't let him though, instead dragging his hand out the way and putting it into his pocket.

“20 minutes remaining.”

“Forget it. If that's how you want to die Arisu, so be it. Don't drag me down in your shit because you can't keep it in your pants.” Chishiya says, walking over to the bus. Opening the fuel cap, preparing for Agunu to get back.

Arisu shrank back to the floor, crying again. How can he have so many emotions? It was driving Chishiya mad, his attention should be focused on surviving and yet here he was worrying about Arisu, who wasn't even trying to keep their cover.

“CHISHIYA!” A voice boomed down the tunnel, it must be Aguni.

Chishiya stood ready, he had managed to find a small hose in the back of one of the cars, that should be enough to transfer the fuel over.

Sure enough, Aguni was running with a motorcycle in toe. The other man was nowhere to be seen. Aguni was covered in blood. He had a large gash on his forehead, and three large gashes along his arm that looked like claw marks.

“We need to go now.” Aguni says, shoving the motorcycle into Chishiya. “We don't have a lot of time.”

“You're bleeding a lot. You might die, if your wounds aren't treated.” Chishiya says. He didn't really care but Arisu was emotional enough already, he didn't want to add a dead uncle into the equation.

“I don't care about that.” Aguni says his breathing heavy, “we need to go and get Takeru.”

“10 minutes remaining.”

“You've nicked an artery in your arm, it's a miracle you aren't dead yet.” Chishiya says. “You won't make it to him.”

“I. Don't. Care.” Aguni says.

“Why don't I treat you?” Arisu says quietly, “there's a police car over there, there will be a first aid kit, and probably a flare, I could burn the artery closed. While Chishiya fixes the bus.”

“Fine.” Aguni says, his eyes softening as he looked at Arisu. Chishiya was annoyed he had to focus on the bus, when he could be spending his time analysing Arisu’s and Aguni’s dynamic. They hadn't really spoken to each other, so it would be interesting to see how this plays out. Aguni certainly remembers Arisu. But does Arisu remember Aguni?

“5 minutes remaining.”

-x-

Saying Arisu was angry was an understatement. He hadn't seen Chishiya for a full week and the first thing he did was accuse Arisu of cheating on him. They weren't even properly dating, and Chishiya was already getting angry at him. Chishiya never yelled, but you could tell by the tone of his voice he was annoyed. But he wasn't listening. Arisu loved Usagi, but as a friend. She had saved his life and he was eternally grateful. How does Chishiya not understand that?

Now, Arisu was stuck digging around the back of a police car trying to find a first aid kit for his estranged uncle that may or may not remember him. He originally did it to piss Chishiya off, instantly picking up on Chishiya’s distrust of Aguni. But he also wanted to help his uncle, who was severely injured. Annoying Chishiya was just a bonus.

“Aha.” Arisu says, finally getting his hands on the first aid kit. Aguni was stood behind him, holding Arisu's hoodie against his bleeding arm. “I found it.”

Aguni let out a small smile, looking at Arisu. Arisu didn't know how to bring up the fact they were related. What was he supposed to say?

“5 minutes remaining.”

“If you two don't hurry up, I'm going to leave without you~” Chishiya says, leaning out of the bus. His smug demeanor returning. Arisu hated when he got like this, he never really acted like this with Arisu. Only when he was really annoyed.

Chishiya was already sat in the driver's seat when they made it to the bus.

“Everyone buckled in.” Chishiya says sarcastically as Aguni sat down.

Arisu got to work, opening the first aid kit and getting the flare ready. First, he needed to disinfect the wound, then cauterise it shut.

“I'll try and be gentle.” Arisu says as he got to work sterilizing the wound. Chishiya was driving fairly smoothly despite going at least 70mph.

“You stick your tongue out while you work.” Aguni says quietly, making sure Chishiya couldn't hear. “You always used to do that when you were little.”

“So you do remember me, then?” Arisu says, glancing at Chishiya.

“Of course I do.” Aguni says, looking hurt. Arisu was more hurt though. His uncle, the man he looked up to most in the world, more than his own father. Had abandoned him, when he needed him the most. He didn't get to act like nothing happened now.

“2 minutes remaining.”

“Arisu.” Chishiya shouted down the bus, "I would hold off with that flare.”

“But he will die without it!” Arisu says panicked. Aguni just sighs and pats Arisu on the shoulder before moving to the front of the bus.

“Any sight of them?” Aguni asks, looking out the front window.

“Nope.” Chishiya says, accentuating the p sound. “But if I was running away from a panther, I wouldn't stop. They have probably run to the end of the tunnel.”

“1 minute remaining.”

“We'll go faster, we aren't going to make it if you don't hurry up.” Aguni yells at Chishiya.

“I'm going as fast as I can.” Chishiya says calmly.

“30 seconds remaining.”

“What's at the end of the tunnel?” Arisu asks. “They might still have a little bit of time at the games end. Unless it's the lasers. Maybe we can get to them in time.”

“There's a dam at the end of this tunnel.” Chishiya shouts, if they're quick enough, they might be able to make it to the bus

“Won't that flood the bus though?” Arisu asks.

“Maybe. I don't think they ever intended for us to move the bus in the first place, so I guess we shall see.” Chishiya responded, still too calm for the situation.

“What's that over there?” Arisu asks, causing Chishiya and Aguni to follow his gaze. It was a ginormous tidal wave. The pressure alone would be like being run over by a 1000 ton lorry going at 100mph.

“10 seconds remaining.”

“There's three people running towards us.” Chishiya says.

“Chishiya, when they're close, I want you to swerve to the side, as fast as you can.” Aguni walks towards the doors of the bus, forcing them open, with a firm grip on the edge, he leant his entire body out. Preparing to catch Hatter, if Arisu had to guess. Arisu followed suit and did the same, Usagi had saved his life, and now it was his turn to return the favour.

“5”

Usagi and Hatter were getting closer, Arisu could make them out clearly now. The other man had already been swept up by the water.

“4”

Chishiya hit the breaks of the bus causing it to swerve, Arisu almost fell but Aguni somehow managed to stabilize him.

“3”

Usagi leaped towards them, Hatter following closely behind, the water inches away from them now.

“2”

By some miracle, Arisu had actually managed to grab Usagi’s hand.

“1”

Arisu felt a hand grasp the back of his shirt and yank him inside, just as the doors slammed shut.

“Game clear.”

Notes:

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Chapter 29: Blood Ties

Notes:

Hi guys! This chapter is a bit shorter than the usual ones, sorry about that! I wanted to upload but Snoopy has been struggling a little more at the minute, so it's a little shorter than usual. I hope you enjoy it regardless though!!!

Also, happy 2 year anniversary to this fic haha! I can't believe I started this in 2023!!

Also, I love interacting with you guys in the comments, so if any of you want to talk about fics/shows/ask me any questions, feel free to add me on tumblr or twitter (I'll link it at the bottom of the chapter). I'd love to get to know my readers more and I love making friends!!!

I hope you enjoy this new chapter! Feel free to leave any feedback in the comments!

Arisu felt a weight on his legs as he came to. His head throbbing with pain as he tried to push himself up.

Arisu ignored the pain in his neck as he turned to look around. Aguni was passed out on the floor, his body protectively positioned over Hatter. Usagi was laid next to him, also unconscious. While Chishiya was laid across Arisu’s back, his breathing shallow, as he held his side tightly. He wasn't unconscious, but he seemed to be struggling. Wincing in pain any time he moved.

“Chishiya?” Arisu says quietly. “Are you okay?”

“Ribs.” Chishiya wheezes out clenching his side.

“Can you breathe?” Arisu says panickedly. “Are you coughing up blood? Has it punctured your lungs?”

“I’m…fine.” Chishiya says, taking a deep breath in.

“Chishiya!” Arisu is crying now, “does it hurt, what can I do?”

“You can…stop shaking me…you’re making it…worse.” Chishiya says between coughs, steadying himself against Arisu’s body.

“I'm sorry.” Arisu sobs, hugging Chishiya close to him, breathing heavily. He was going to have a heart attack.

“Arisu.” Usagi says, touching his shoulder, she must have come to while he was worrying about Chishiya. “Aguni needs help, he's covered in blood.”

Arisu whips his head around, noticing the pool of blood around Aguni for the first time. A ginormous pool of blood. There must be at least 2 pints there, on top of all the blood he'd lost earlier. He would die soon if they didn't do anything.

“Ugh, Mori, you're squashing me!” Hatter jokes out with a chuckle, clearly not realising the gravity of the situation. “Mori?”

“He's bleeding out.” Chishiya says calmly, erasing any sign that he's injured. “He will die soon, he needs a transfusion, and a lot of liquids and soon. Not to mention, that artery needs sealing off.”

“Oh dear.” Hatter says, a lot calmer than Arisu would have thought.

“I can fix it.” Arisu blurted out before he could stop himself. “I have the flare from earlier, I can seal off the artery. If we can find a tube and a needle, I can give him some of my blood, we are the same blood type.”

“How do you know that?” Hatter asks, an unreadable expression on his face.

“Because he's my uncle.” Chishiya gave Arisu a look when he said that, clearly annoyed that he gave up that information.

“Oh, he never told me that.” Hatter said, a dark glint in his eyes.

“We didn't know, we just figured it out.” Arisu argued back, he didn't have time to decipher whatever was happening with Hatter.

“You’re Kiriko’s son then, I thought you looked familiar.” Arisu tried to ignore the implications of that sentence. Had he really met Hatter before?

“Arisu, what can I do to help?” Usagi says, standing behind Arisu.

“I need a first aid kit, I need something to transfer my blood over to his. I need that flare.”

In response, Chishiya threw the flare at Arisu’s head. He had the foresight to wrap it in a plastic bag to prevent it getting wet.

“Usagi.” Chishiya said calmly. “I have an extensive first aid kit in the back of the van, it's outside the game arena, so it'll take you a while to get there. But if you're quick enough, it might have what we need to save his life.”

“Okay, I can do it.”

“Here.” Hatter says, throwing the keys he'd just fished out of Aguni’s pocket. Usagi grabbed the keys and sprinted, faster than Arisu ever could.

“This is going to hurt.” Arisu whispered, before inspecting the wound. There were three deep lacerations on his arm, one of which nicked an artery. If Arisu could cauterise the artery, he could slow down the bleeding enough to work on the other lacerations. They needed stitches, but Chishiya is usually quite prepared, there will be something Arisu can use to clean the wound and stitch him up.

“It's fine.” Aguni whispered back, his voice hoarse. “Do you think you can fix it?”

“I can try.” Arisu says, holding his hand. He just got his uncle back, he wasn't ready to lose him again. “Do you think you can hold still?”

“I'll hold him~” Hatter says, not nearly as worried as before. “Don't worry darling, I've seen Mori survive much worse than this, he's basically a tank.”

Once Hatter got in position, Arisu released the flare. After adjusting his hold on Aguni’s artery, he held the flare to it, cauterising the tissue around the artery. Aguni barely moved, he was probably too exhausted from the blood loss to even register the pain.

“You know, Mori. You could have told me he was your nephew.” Hatter says, glaring daggers at Aguni.

“How was I supposed to know.” Aguni says, “this is the first time I've properly seen him.”

So Hatter didn't know about the tag game. Arisu would have to make sure Usagi didn't mention it. He didn't want to get Chishiya or Aguni in trouble.

“From his name, maybe?” Hatter argues, clearly still mad.

“You only told me his last name.” Aguni winces as Arisu goes back in with the flare.

“Arisu isn't that common of a last name.” Hatter retorts.

“It's common enough, that side of the family is huge, it could have been anyone. How was I supposed to know it was Ryouhei.” Aguni argues back, his voice level. He always was calm under pressure.

“So you are telling me you didn't know. If I find out you're lying Mori, I swear-” Hatter starts but stops when Aguni loses consciousness again. “Well he gets the idea.”

Arisu just gives him a wary stare, maybe he had underestimated how creepy Hatter could be. But Aguni seemed to care about him a lot and Arisu trusted his judgement.

“I'm back.” Usagi says, as she leaps into the bus, carrying the first aid kit. She barely even looked out of breath “is he okay?”

“I managed to stop the bleeding.” Arisu says looking through the kit. As predicted, there was a small tube, with needles on either end. That should be good enough to transfer some of Arisu’s blood to Aguni. “Hopefully, with this, I'll be able to transfer him some blood.”

“Chishiya, can you come stitch up the rest of the lacerations?” Arisu asked, throwing the first aid kit at him.

“Of course baby!” Chishiya says, moving his eyes to Hatter. That means Chishiya wanted them to pretend to be dating again.

Arisu inserted the needle into his own arm, then Aguni’s. He raising his arm parallel to Aguni's body, he needed his blood to flow into the tube, so it could go into Aguni’s arm.

Chishiya was at work on Aguni’s arm, his face unreadable. But Arisu knew he must have been in unbearable pain. How Chishiya never let it show amazed Arisu. It was like he was allergic to showing weakness.

Arisu was growing dizzier by the minute, he could feel his blood leaving his body.

He never liked needles, when he was younger he would thrash and scream at the doctors. Aguni was always the one to comfort him, the only family member that would remember to take him to those appointments seen as his mother and father were always too busy with Hajime to remember. But it was worth it, if it meant his uncle could survive.

“Arisu, you should sit down.” Usagi says as she offers him water from her flask.

“He can't.” Chishiya responds, glancing up from Aguni's arm. “The blood will stop flowing if he sits, he needs to be higher than Aguni. You will have to physically hold him up if it comes down to it.”

“That can't be safe-”

“None of this is. None of the instruments have been sterilised, they're sharing blood. If either of them have a disease, the other one will have it now. This was incredibly reckless on both their parts. The risk of infection alone is already sky high.”

“What does that mean?” Usagi looked between Arisu and Chishiya worriedly. Arisu didn't have the capacity to worry about that now, he was just trying to stay upright.

“It means we need to stop somewhere on the way back. They will both need some pretty heavy duty antibiotics.” Chishiya says. “The stronger the better.”

“We can do that~”

Arisu was really struggling to hold himself up now, leaning his entire bodyweight against Usagi.

“You two are cute~” Hatter coos, skipping over to them, putting his arms over their shoulders. “Chishiya, you might have some competition~”

Chishiya gives Arisu a pointed look. Maybe Chishiya wasn't being unreasonable about how Hatter would perceive his and Usagi’s friendship.

“Small, clever and vaguely resembles an animal. Seems like our Arisu has a type~” Hatter says, trying to press Chishiya’s buttons.

“Chishiya doesn't have anything to worry about, Usagi and I are just friends.” Arisu says, or tries to say but it comes out slurred.

Chishiya gives him a look, that Arisu is struggling to decipher in his current state. While Hatter just giggles.

“You two are so fun, I could watch you all day~”

“What are you going to watch us in bed too?” Chishiya says sarcastically.

“Why? Are you offering?” Hatter responds completely seriously, sending shivers down Arisu's spine.

Arisu didn't have a chance to respond, his vision went hazy and he collapsed to the floor.

-x-

When Arisu woke, he was in a fancy hotel room. He could hear the shower running, so someone was there with him. He had a small locker key around his wrist and he was in a swim suit. Had someone changed him while he was asleep?

“Welcome back to the land of the living.” A voice came from behind. Arisu whipped his head around, to see Chishiya, standing there in nothing but a towel tied around his waist.

Arisu knew Chishiya worked out, but he never expected him to be jacked. His 8 pack, his defined biceps, the toned v that disappeared below that precariously placed towel. Arisu had to physically stop himself from drooling at the sight of him. Chishiya looked like a Greek god. A very short one, but still a Greek god. Arisu managed to control himself enough to glance at Chishiya without getting another boner. That's when he noticed the deep purple bruise on his left side. He must have hit his ribs pretty hard to cause a bruise like that, Arisu wouldn't be surprised if they were broken.

And yet, despite his injury, Chishiya looked beautiful. Chishiya always looked beautiful. God must have been giving with both hands when he created Chishiya: smart, funny, rich and attractive.

“Hey!” Arisu said, trying to keep his voice as steady as possible. Arisu refused to inflate Chishiya's ego by admitting Arisu actually thinks he's attractive.

“Hatter offered to change you, but I figured you'd prefer it if I did it.” Chishiya motions to Arisu’s swimsuit. Arisu who, compared to Chishiya, was significantly less muscular, covered himself with the blanket. Trying not to show Chishiya how self conscious he was feeling.

“Yeah, thanks for that…” Arisu says.

“Look, we need to talk.” Chishiya leans against the cabinet in front of the bed. His towel slipping even further down. Arisu had to force himself not to stare.

“About?” Arisu asks, he had a feeling he knew what this conversation was about.

“Us.”

Notes:

I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Feel free to leave any feedback in the comment, it's always appreciated!!!

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Chapter 30: 10 of Clubs: Bingo Night at the Match Factory (1)

Notes:

Hi guys, I hope you like the new chapter!!!! I was so excited to write this chapter, I absolutely loved this game in the show and I wished they showed the whole thing, so I added it in here (and added a few other players in 👀👀👀)

I just want to thank everyone for all the lovely comments and support they're giving!! I will aim to respond to them all at some point! We will be taking Snoopy to the vet within the next few days so I might not upload/respond to comments for a little bit but I do appreciate all of them!!!

Also, I love interacting with you guys in the comments, so if any of you want to talk about fics/shows/ask me any questions, feel free to add me on tumblr or twitter (I'll link it at the bottom of the chapter). I'd love to get to know my readers more and I love making friends!!!

I hope you enjoy this new chapter! Feel free to leave any feedback in the comments!

Edit: hi guys, just adding this on here, we have just found out we are taking Snoopy to the vet on Monday, so I really want to spend this time over the weekend with her. I'm not sure when I'll have chance to upload in there but I will try my best!! Thanks for all your understanding guys!!!

Chishiya watched as Arisu shifted uncomfortably on his bed, moving the blanket up to cover his torso, clearly self conscious. It was adorable.

There was a time Chishiya would have killed for this, having Arisu half naked in his bed. Medical school Chishiya would have been practically jumping for joy.

But Chishiya had changed since then.

In truth, Chishiya barely recognised himself anymore. He was the same in some ways, smart, manipulative, borderline psychopathic, he had always been like this. Yet, the cold indifference, the apathy, the inability to care, about anything, anyone. Chishiya had always thought he would fight, that despite all his horrible traits, he would always fight for what's right. He would fight for his patients, for the vulnerable children that couldn't fight for themselves. Yet he never did.

In truth, Chishiya was weak. He tried so desperately to hide it, but in the end Chishiya had always been weak.

Which is why, he had to do this. Why he needed to get the cards off of Hatter. He needed to prove to himself he could do it. Maybe then, he could finally feel strong enough.

Maybe then he would be enough.

“So, what did you want to talk about?” Arisu asked, trying to avoid looking at Chishiya.

“What are we doing here, Arisu?” Chishiya replied.

“I don't know, I just woke up in a random bed-”

“I meant about us, I know we are only fake dating, but now we are at the beach, with Hatter, Aguni and all the executives are watching. We will need to make it convincing. So, if you want to back out, now's the chance? We can even stage a messy break up. I'll even let you slap me.” Chishiya knew he was taking a risk with this plan. He needed Arisu to trust him completely, which means he needed to continue their fake relationship. Giving Arisu the illusion of a choice would be the first step in building more trust. Then slowly; he would have to break down Arisu’s walls. Make it so Chishiya was the most important person in his life, which wouldn't be difficult now that Karube and Chota were out of the picture. However; there was the possibility that Arisu would turn him down. Part of Chishiya wished that would happen, that Arisu was smart enough to see through Chishiya’s plan.

“No, I uh…I want to keep it going. You were right, about Hatter. He is being weird and it would probably be better if we pretended to be together.” Arisu stammers out, occasionally glancing up at Chishiya.

“Okay.” Chishiya lets out a long sigh. He clearly overestimated Arisu, but that didn't matter, it worked better this way. For his plan.

“Is that all you wanted to talk about?” Arisu asks.

“We need to get our story straight, and we need to start acting like we’re in love. That slip up with Hatter, that happened in the game, that can't happen again.”

“Okay, so what does that mean?” Arisu asks, making eye contact with Chishiya for the first time during this conversation.

“Well for starters, you can look at me.” Chishiya says, moving onto the bed. Grabbing Arisu’s chin and forcing him to look at him. They were close now, very close. Chishiya ignored the pink that dusted Arisu’s cheeks, or how he quickly adjusted the blanket around his crotch area

“Maybe if you put some clothes on…” Arisu muttered, trying and failing to pull his face away.

“Whys that? I'm going to be in a swimming costume all day, every day. May as well get used to it.” Chishiya said smugly. He knew he was attractive, he knew Arisu found him attractive, he may as well use it. Who knows, maybe Chishiya could have some fun before he betrays Arisu.

“You're such an ass!” Arisu laughs out, pushing Chishiya away. It didn't take him long to regain his composure. “So you were testing me?”

Chishiya wasn't actually, he genuinely didn't expect Arisu to be conscious yet, he thought he'd have enough time to put his clothes back on at least. However, he wasn't going to admit that to Arisu.

“Well yeah, everyone will know we're faking it, if you keep reacting the way you are to seeing me without clothes on.” Chishiya explains.

“Well I just didn't expect it. It's not like I've never seen it before.”

“Sure” Chishiya says, completely unconvinced. “My point is, we need to be more comfortable being ‘intimate’ with eachother.”

“So you want to have sex?” Arisu says, panicked. Chishiya didn't know whether to laugh or be offended.

“No.” Chishiya laughs at Arisu’s stupidity. “I meant, like touching, hugging, kissing and such. Hatter has already agreed for us to share a room. We need people to think we are in love.”

“Okay” Arisu lets out a long breath. “But I've not been with anyone before, how am I supposed to know what to do? It's not like we have internet here, I can't WikiHow ‘how to be in a pretend relationship to convince a psycho cult leader to not be obsessed with me’.”

Chishiya just rolled his eyes, but he couldn't stop the small smile forming on his face. Arisu really was an idiot, but he was Chishiya’s idiot.

“Anyways, we need to work our ground rules.”

“Ground rules?” Arisu asks, tilting his head like a puppy. “Like what we are comfortable doing?”

“Yeah.” Chishiya says flatly, “I'll go first, I'm fine with anything, I've had boyfriends before, so it's nothing new.”

“You've had boyfriends before! Seriously? When? You never told me about them!” Arisu pouts. Chishiya wanted to laugh at the face he was making. Was he seriously jealous?

“Why would I tell you?” Chishiya says sarcastically.

“Because I was basically your only friend in med school! You seriously didn't tell me.”

“Well seen as you didn't know, I'd say that's a fairly accurate assessment.”

“How many have you had then?” Arisu grumbled, clearly still upset Chishiya hadn't divulged every aspect of his dating life to him.

“That depends” Chishiya says smugly “What constitutes a boyfriend?”

“I don't know, someone that you go out on dates with, that does nice things for you, that loves you I guess.”

“Then none.”

“Wait, so how many people have you been with, that's not a boyfriend but kinda like one?” Arisu looked confused.

“Twelve.”

“TWELVE” Arisu shouts in disbelief, “LIKE A DOZEN, LIKE TEN PEOPLE AND THEN TWO MORE PEOPLE ON TOP OF THAT.”

“Yeah?” Chishiya asks, confused about why Arisu is freaking out so much.

Arisu didn't say anything, he just started at Chishiya. His mouth slightly agape.

“Anyways, back on topic. Ground rules, I'm fine with everything, as long as it doesn't fuck up my eyeliner.” Chishiya states. They needed to get going soon, Hatter would be testing both Usagi and Arisu tonight and Chishiya wanted to be there for at least one of them.

“Me too…” Arisu starts, “You might have to take the lead though, I've never been in a relationship before.”

Chishiya was not surprised by that, despite Arisu’s attractiveness and sweet personality, he was always either too nervous or too oblivious around potential romantic partners.

“So you're okay with hugs?”

“Yeah, I've hugged you before. That's not a problem.”

“Hand holding?”

“Yeah.”

“Kissing? Groping? Hickeys?”

“It's whatever will sell it to Hatter right?”

“Arisu; have you ever actually kissed someone before?”

“Karube and I did once on a dare. A girl Karube was talking to was really into yaoi, and Karube was trying to show off, so she dared us to kiss.” Chishiya ignored the tears welling up in Arisu’s eyes as he recalled that memory.

“Lovely. We should probably practice that then?”

“Kissing?”

“Well, yeah? Would you rather our first kiss be in front of a bunch of strangers? In front of Hatter?” Chishiya was testing Arisu, seeing if he actually remembered the kisses from after the tag game, or the one in the Olympiad game?

“That's true! So when do we practice? Now?” Arisu say, going back to fiddling with his sleeves.

“Easy tiger, keep it in your pants. Not now, Hatter likes to test newbies, so you and Usagi will be put in a game tonight?”

“But I've played with Hatter before, surely he knows how I am in games.”

“Yeah, and he has all the cards of the games you cleared, including the 7 of hearts, so he knows you're a capable player. He's testing you today, to see if you are good enough to be an executive.”

“Oh. What about Usagi?” Arisu looked worried about her. Chishiya ignored the anger building up in his throat.

“As far as I know, she's just being evaluated. She's not in consideration for an executive position.”

“OI LOVEBIRDS!” A voice from the other side of the door shouts, followed by a loud knock. “GET MOVING! I’LL BREAK THIS DOOR DOWN IF YOU DON’T HURRY UP!!!”

“Who's that?” Arisu asks, covering himself.

“A pain in my ass is what.”

“I’M COMING IN, I SWEAR IF I SEE EITHER OF YOUR DICKS I’M SHOOTING YOU” Niragi says as he forces the door open.

“Hatter wants you for a game, you're doing that girl's assessment with me.” Niragi says, his voice slightly calmer, his eyes trained on Arisu. “Holy shit, you do look like Aguni. I can't believe he actually has a nephew.”

“Hi…” Arisu says nervously, eyeing up Niragi’s rifle, clearly nervous about the presence of the new thing. “I'm Arisu.”

“I know!” Niragi snorts out before going back to his usual angry demeanor, “CHISHIYA GET MOVING. AND PUT SOME DAMN. CLOTHES ON.”

“Well if you had waited a few minutes instead of barging in, I would have had them on.”

Niragi just flips him off and turns around, allowing him to get dressed. Chishiya grabbed his hoodie and shorts, not risking Niragi getting a glimpse of everything.

Chishiya could hear a muffled conversation between Arisu and Niragi. Niragi has been uncharacteristically nice to Arisu, well nice for Niragi at least. If Chishiya had to guess, it's because he's too scared of pissing Aguni off to even think of threatening Arisu.

“CHISHIYA, HURRY UP!” Niragi shouts. “HATTER WANTS US TO LEAVE IN 10 MINUTES.

Chishiya pulled the bathroom door open, to see Niragi about to kick it in.

“You're such a pervert.” Chishiya said sarcastically. “Are you trying to see me naked? In front of my boyfriend?”

“SHUT UP!” Niragi yells, already working himself up. Tonight was definitely going to be fun.

“Niragi, calm yourself down~” Hatter’s voice came from the doorway. Usagi was stood behind him, as well as An.

“I don't take orders from you.” Niragi shot back.

“No, but you take them from me.” Aguni says, moving into the door frame. So everyone was just hanging out in Chishiya's bedroom now. “Shut up and get moving. Chishiya go with him, you're conducting Usagi’s assessment.”

“Where exactly are we going?” Chishiya asks.

“The match factory.” Hatter responds. “I would prepare yourselves, it should be a relatively high black card, if Kuzuryus math is right.”

“I'm sorry” Arisu interjects, holding the blanket tighter around himself now that Hatter appeared. “I'm not really sure what's happening right now.”

“Oh, you're finally awake! You’ve been out for two days, we were all very worried about you!” Hatter says sarcastically. “Well now that you are awake and Chishiya doesn't need to monitor you, we are carrying out yours and Usagi’s assessments. I already know you're a very capable player, so tonight's game is just so we can see if you hold the skills needed to be an executive. For Usagi, it's to assess where she fits in our rankings at the Beach. Absolutely nothing to worry about, a player like you will be fine.”

Hatter winks at Arisu, causing him to shrink away. Niragi makes a fake throwing up sound, while Usagi looks uncomfortable with this entire situation.

“You're with me.” An interjects, taking pity on Arisu. “You ready to go?”

“Yeah, I think so.”

“Great, get moving.” An is already walking away as she finishes the sentence. Arisu scrambles out of bed to catch her, earning a wolf whistle from Hatter.

“An dear.” Hatter shouts after them. “Do make sure Arisu makes it back in one piece.”

“No promises!” An shouts back, not even turning around to acknowledge Hatter.

“Now, as for you guys. Your game is at the match factory. I would prepare yourselves, Kuzuryu thinks it could be a 10 game, either spades or clubs.”

“WHY ARE YOU SENDING US?” Niragi yells, every so often sending a nervous glance in Aguni’s direction. “Chishiya and I are both diamond specialists.”

“Usagi is a spades specialist, you’ll all be fine.” Hatter says dismissively.

“Sure we will.” Niragi says sarcastically.

“Don't let me down.” Aguni says, Niragi’s attitude instantly improving.

“Why is Niragi coming?” Chishiya asks Hatter.

“Aguni wants to see if Usagi will be a good fit for the militants.”

“Seriously, she's tiny!” Niragi says, but stops himself when Aguni gives him a look.

“Well, you guys better get moving! Don't let me down~” Hatter says dismissively, pulling Aguni in the direction of his bedroom.

This game might be more work than he thought.

-x-

“Game: Bingo night at the match factory.”

“What kind of stupid ass name is that.” Niragi says annoyed. He had been in a bad mood since they left the Beach. Chishiya had never been part of a more awkward car ride in his life. Usagi was quiet, and seemed to have no interest in talking to either of them. Niragi was psychotic and hated Chishiya. Chishiya hated Niragi, and Usagi was slowly creeping her way up his shit list for how she'd cling onto Arisu.

They hadn't said a single word to each other since they registered for the game. Not that Chishiya cared, he didn't need them to clear this game. He could do it all on his own.

“Difficulty: 10 of Clubs”

“Looks like Kuzuryu was right.” Chishiya says, to no one in particular.

“Players: 9”

Chishiya didn't recognise any of the other players, meaning only they were from the Beach. That means they needed to be the first to finish, in order to get the playing card.

Hopefully, they'd finish this game quickly, so Chishiya could get back to Arisu. Now that Hatter had him at the Beach, Chishiya didn't want to risk leaving Arisu alone with him.

“Rules: create a column, row or diagonal from the numbers hidden in the building’s rooms.”

“That sounds easy, how is this a tens game.” One of the other players said, they clearly weren't a new player, but they weren't experienced enough to apparently not jinx them.

“It is game clear for all curving players of all numbers found complete a row, column or diagonal on a bingo sheet.”

Surviving? That meant there was a high likelihood there were multiple ways they could die before the games end.

“It is game over for players that use up all their matches.”

“There's no time limit then?” Niragi asks.

“Will all players please proceed up the stairs. The game will commence shortly.”

“Well, let's go.” Niragi says, his voice too cheery for the situation. That's psychopaths for you. Chishiya would have to get Arisu’s take on Niragi.

“How is he so calm?” Usagi whispers to Chishiya. Did she think they were friends?

Chishiya was almost about to tell her to fuck off, but then he remembered how angry it made Arisu. How Arisu looked at him when he purposely messed up Usagi’s name. How would he feel if he was actively aggressive with Usagi? Dammit Arisu.

“Because he's a psychopath~” Chishiya would play nice, for now.

As they ascended the stairs, Chishiya noticed how much darker the factory was getting. How there seemed to be no light at the top of the stairs, just pitch black nothingness.

So that was the trick to this game. They would have to use the matches to find the numbers, as the game would be in complete darkness. Well, in theory. There was nothing in the rules that prevented them from using other light sources, as long as Chishiya had one match left, there would be a way for him to clear this game.

“THOSE SNEAKY BASTARDS.” Niragi yells, coming to the same conclusion as Chishiya. It would be interesting to see how long it'd take Niragi to come up with the solution.

“What's wrong?” Usagi whispered.

“The game arena is in complete darkness, in order to find the numbers we have to use light, therefore forcing people to use the matches.”

“Oh…”

Chishiya could hear the other players muttering about the darkness and the matches as he stepped onto the second floor. It was almost pitch black, except for the large tv that had the bingo square on it. It had 25 squares total, each with a number on it, all except the middle square which was free. The easiest way to complete this game would be to get a diagonal or a row straight across the middle. That way they would only need to find 4 numbers instead of 5. However, the numbers were probably randomly decided, so there was little predicting to be done. It would just have to be trial by brute force. The rooms looked too big for just one match, so he'd have to find another light source.

There was also a table with their names and player IDs. It also had a match counter for each player. Chishiya would expect no less of a tens game, they certainly went all out.

“Will players please grab one match container each.”

Chishiya was the first over there, inspecting the match box. It wasn't unusual in any way. It had 8 matches in it and the usual lighter bit in the side. He could only use 7 matches in this game. That was annoying. Chishiya guessed he'd just have to get a bit lucky.

Once all the players had collected their match containers. The announcer spoke up again.

“Game start.”

Notes:

I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Feel free to leave any feedback in the comment, it's always appreciated!!!

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Chapter 31: 4 of Diamonds: Light bulb (1)

Notes:

Hi guys, it's a little bit of a shorter chapter today because Snoopy has unfortunately passed away. She had been struggling a lot over the past few days, so we thought it was best to take her to the vet, and she was euthanized at around 1pm this afternoon. She went quickly and surrounded by people she loved, she passed away on her bed with her favourite blanket and will be privately cremated with both. I just want to thank everyone for all their support; this has been a very difficult day for me, but knowing how Snoopy was, she would have wanted me to update, so I did! I'm sorry if the writing isn't the best quality, I will check on it in a few days when I'm feeling better and potentially rewrite it!

Also, I love interacting with you guys in the comments, so if any of you want to talk about fics/shows/ask me any questions, feel free to add me on tumblr or twitter (I'll link it at the bottom of the chapter). I'd love to get to know my readers more and I love making friends!!!

I hope you enjoy this new chapter! Feel free to leave any feedback in the comments!

Arisu chased after the woman, thankful he could escape that awkward meeting. Arisu had no idea who this woman was, but she seemed important. She must be, if she was conducting Arisu’s evaluation. It would have been nice if someone had told Arisu her name though.

“This test will tell us, if you're a good candidate for a Beach executive post.” The woman says, finally slowing down enough for Arisu to catch up. They were by a staircase now. Arisu had absolutely no idea where they were. He knew he was at the Beach, which was seemingly based in a high end hotel, but as for the layout of the hotel, or where the hotel is located in Tokyo, he had no idea.

“What if I don't want to be an executive?” Arisu asks meekly. The woman just gives him a look, half amused, half pity before continuing down the stairs.

“I'm afraid that won't be an option.” She says flatly. She seemed almost bored, kind of like how Chishiya would get in medical school, when he wasn't academically challenged enough. Honestly, this woman kind of reminded him of Chishiya, maybe they could be friends.

“ARISU!” Arisu hears anotherwoman yell as she jumped on his back. Arisu didn't know whether to be scared or confused. Although, she clearly knew his name, so they must have met at some point. “I've missed you so much! Chishiya is so grumpy without you.”

“KUINA?” Arisu says, turning around to hug her back. He was so happy to see a familiar face. “I'm happy to see you too!”

“As adorable as this is,” the woman interrupted, “this can wait until after we finish the game?”

The woman grabs Arisu’s arm, leading him to one of the cars sitting in the parking lot. Kuina smiles as she chases them both.

“Did you hear that Arisu?” Kuina whispers, so the woman can't hear. “An thinks I'm adorable!”

“I don't think that's what she was saying…” Arisu whispered.

“Whatever!” Kuina says sarcastically, “that's An, she's amazing, even Chishiya thinks so!”

“Chishiya likes her?” Arisu asks, trying not to let the jealousy seep into his voice. How could Arisu compete with a tall, sexy genius.

“Aww Arisu, are you jealous?” Kuina laughs as she puts an arm over his shoulder. “You've got nothing to worry about, Chishiya is obsessed with you!”

“I'm not really sure about that-”

“Sure he is, don't sell yourself short!” Kuina beamed at Arisu. She reminded him a lot of Karube, except she apparently liked Chishiya a lot more than he did. “Hey, you have experience winning over grumpy geniuses, do you have any advice for me?”

“I'm sorry, I don't really know-” Arisu stutters out, fiddling with his sleeves. He didn't want to disappoint Kuina, but he didn't know what advice he could give. It wasn't like he was actually dating Chishiya, they were just faking it.

“Jesus! Relax man!” Kuina laughs again, patting him on the back, sending him stumbling forwards into someone. “Shit, Arisu, I'm sorry! Are you okay?”

“It's okay!” Arisu says, trying to push himself off the man underneath him. “I'm so sorry, are you hurt?”

“No, I'm oka-” the man cuts himself off as he stares at Arisu, “hey, it's you!”

“Oh my God, you're the guy, from the tag game, with the baseball hat! I'm sorry I don't remember your name.”

“I'm Tatta, it's nice to see you again!” Tatta says as he hugs Arisu.

Arisu didn't know what to do, so he just gently patted him on the back.

“Arisu, you know Tatta?” Kuina asks, putting her arm around Tatta this time. She really was very clingy with people, it was a miracle Chishiya hadn't tried to kill her yet.

“He saved my life!” Tatta explained before Arisu had a chance. “I never would have made it, if it weren't for Arisu.”

“Wow Arisu, you're amazing! What God did Chishiya suck off in order to deserve you!” Kuina

“That's a really weird analogy.” Tatta says, earning a nod from Arisu.

“I didn't do anything special. We just got partnered in med school, and it just evolved from there.”

“Aww that's cute!” Kuina cooed. “An isn't that cute?”

“Words cannot convey how little I care.” An says, grabbing something from the backseat.

“Boring!” Kuina giggles, Arisu could have sworn he saw An smile. Maybe Kuina had a shot after all.

“Chishiya’s scary…” Tatta mutters out, earning another laugh from Kuina.

“Maybe to you! He reminds me of a kitty cat!”

“Kuina don't say that, he might hear you!” Tatta whispered, “I swear he hates me.”

“He does not, stop being a drama queen Tatta honestly. What have you done for him to hate you, you basically run away any time he's near you?”

“Well, it was in the tag game. I didn't know Arisu was his boyfriend, okay!” Tatta waves his hands defensively as he rambles.

“Wait, Tatta, did you come onto Arisu?” Kuina asks, her face lighting up.

“No he didn't.” Arisu interrupted, feeling sorry for Tatta. “It was just a big misunderstanding, right Tatta?”

“Yeah, that's right, I only hugged him and then pushed him down the stairs. It's not like I was flirting with him or anything.” Tatta says proudly.

“You pushed Arisu down the stairs?” Kuina asked dumbfounded.

“We can discuss this later.” An interiors again, having climbed into the drivers seat and started the car. “Get in.”

“I would hold on Arisu, An drives like a maniac.” Kuina whispered as hate climbed into the car.

-x-

Arisu stumbled out the car, unsure if he was nauseous, dizzy or both. He could hear An chuckle from the passenger seat, as Tatta throws up into a bush.

“You guys need stronger stomachs.” Kuina says, as she steps out the car, looking completely fine.

“I'll scope out the arena, all of you stay out here for now.”

“You got it!” Kuina says with a smile. Arisu was still doubled over, trying to stop the world from spinning.

Once Kuina was sure An was gone, she doubled over to and started dry heaving causing Tatta and Arisu to share a look. “Thank god. An is perfect in every way…except her driving…the only person I've seen unaffected is…Chishiya.”

“You seemed fine a second ago.” Tatta said, finally regaining his composure.

“Well yeah…I don't want her… to think I'm…weak.” Kuina whispered between heaves.

“Right?” Arisu said unconvinced.

“ARISU. KUINA. TATTA.” An’s voice comes from inside the arena. “COME GET REGISTERED, THE GAME IS ABOUT TO START.”

“And away we go!” Kuina jokes, returning back to normal the second she heard An’s voice.

Arisu followed Kuina into the arena. It was a reservoir, meaning the game most likely involved water. Arisu wished he had more information, that way he could try and predict what the game was going to be. It seemed they already had someone at the Beach that could mathematically predict games, maybe Arisu would be able to pick his brain.

“A waterproof cover?” Arisu heard Kuina ask, she was practically glued to An’s side.

“They will probably use water in the game.” An responds. “Arisu, it is down to you to solve this game.”

“What do you mean ‘down to me’?” Arisu was nervous now.

“This game is to evaluate your abilities, if you know you have an out, you won't perform as well.”

“So what, everyone's lives count on me solving this game?” Arisu asks. An couldn't be serious, could she? Arisu knew the Beach’s methods could be unorthodox, but would they really risk the lives of everyone in the game.

“Yes.” An says, unwavered by Arisu’s panic.

“It's okay Arisu! You got this!” Kuina says, linking arms with him.

“Yeah, I have faith!” Tatta says, cautiously patting Arisu on the back.

“Tatta, are you scared Chishiya’s going to pop out and yell at you for touching Arisu.” Kuina giggles out. Arisu was glad she could be so happy, despite the world we're in.

“No…of course not!” Tatta murmured, no one looked like they believed him.

“You’re right, Chishiya wouldn’t yell, he'd just plan your very painful, very ‘accidental’ death.” Kuina puts on a fake spooky voice.

“That would be fairly easy to pull off in this world.” An says, a small smile on her face. Was she joining in on the teasing?

“Chishiya’s isn't going to kill me, right Arisu?”

“I don't know…” Arisu says with a laugh, it was fun to tease Tatta. It reminded him of how Arisu and Karube used to tease Chota.

Arisu ignored the tears prickling his eyes, as he was dragged further into the arena.

“Game entry is now closed.”

The announcers voice filled the hallway. An had led them to a small room, that was rapidly filling with water. There was already three people waiting, they seemed to be normal players, and not affiliated with the Beach at all.

An climbed down the ladder, followed by Tatta, Kuina and then Arisu. Arisu had never been so thankful to be in a swimming costume.

“Game: Lightbulb”

“Lightbulb?” Tatta asks, “I thought the game would be more water themed? How are lightbulbs related to water?”

No one responded, instead they waited for the announcer to continue.

“Difficulty: 4 of Diamonds”

Arisu had never played a diamond game before, so this could be bad. From what Chishiya said, there's normally some trick to solving them, so Arisu would need to listen carefully to the rules.

“Objective: figure out which switch turns on the light bulb.”

Arisu looked around the room. There were large electrical wires that stopped just above Arisu’s chin. If the water was to come into contact with those wires, everyone would die, he didn't need his brother's electrical engineering degree to know that. There were three switches on the far wall, labeled A, B and C and another smaller room with a lightbulb and a door. This certainly was a weird game. If Chishiya was here, he probably would have solved it already.

“Rules: one of the light switches A, B or C will turn the light bulb on. You only have one chance to leave the door open while flipping a switch. When the door is closed, you may flip any switch or as many as you like. If a player is in the room and a switch is flipped on, that player will be locked inside and the door cannot be reopened.”

“Okay, so no one go in the room.” Kuina says, causing Tatta to take a big step forward, barely missing the electrical wires.

“Participants have only one chance to answer as a group. The game is cleared when you correctly determine which switch turns the light on?”

“I'm already confused.” Tatta whines, staring at his phone and scratching his head, once again almost hitting the electrical wires.

“As the water rises, should water touch the hanging electrical wires, it is game over.”

“Electrical wires?” One of the women asked, as she proceeded to touch it. Her death was quick, almost instantaneous.

“And those would be the electrical wires.” An says as she removes her sunglasses.

“Remeber don't touch.” Karina warns Tatta as she pulls him towards her.

“I won't.” Tatta says nervously.

“There are currently 6 participants.”

“THE WATER LEVEL IS RISING!” Tatta yells panicking, Kuina has to hold him steady as he almost hit an electrical wire again.

“Game start”

“If the water gets high enough, we will all die.” An says as she inspects her nails. How could she be bored right now?

“Well we just need to know which switch turns on the light, right? What if we take turns going in the room, I'll go first!” Tatta says, already halfway through the door.

“You'll get locked in if you do that.” Arisu yells, stopping Tatta in his tracks.

“Hmm, let's see, if we close the door, it doesn't make sense to flip a switch because we won't know if the light is on.” Kuina says, inspecting her phone.

“Yes, but suppose we flip the A switch with the door open and it doesn't light, then we will only know it's not the A switch.” An says, helping them out, really helping Arisu out, seen as Arisu has to solve this game.

From An’s body language, she didn't seem to be too worried so she either had a lot of faith in Arisu, or she already knew the answer. However, if she had to give it to him, he doubts he would pass his assessment.

“I say, that you flip the A switch with the door open-” Tatta starts.

“And if it doesn't light?” An asks, staring at him.

“If the light bulb turns on, it's A, if not it's B or C, it's 50% chance.” Tatta continues, despite his math being profoundly wrong.

“66%.” An corrects before Arisu gets the chance to.

“I'm pretty sure it's 50%” Tatta argues back.

“No, it's 66%, this math in this game is the same as the Monty hall problem.” Arisu confirms, getting Tatta to be quite. Arisu didn't mean to make him feel bad.

“Correct. Now Arisu, what will you do?” An asks.

Which was a good question, because Arisu didn't know. And if he didn't figure it out soon, they were all going to die.

Notes:

I will be pushing my Kuina, Tatta and Arisu bestie agenda haha!

I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Feel free to leave any feedback in the comment, it's always appreciated!!!

If any of you are interested, you can follow this link to my Tumblr account or this link to my Twitter account. Feel free to DM me or ask me any questions on there!

Chapter 32: 10 of Clubs: Bingo night at the match factory (2)

Notes:

Hi guys, sorry for the late update, I accidentally gave myself a concussion haha (a vacuum fell down the stairs at work and hit me in the back of my head 😅😅) so I had a little break from writing!

Some context for this fic, I honestly find Niragi's character really interesting, so I've made him a bit better in this fic. He's still murdery and psychotic, but he doesn't SA anyone, I've just made it so he has a small one sided crush on Usagi (I DON'T SHIP THEM)! I am by no means supporting his actions in cannon but I don't want to include them in this fic! So yeah, Niragi is decent in this fic ❤️❤️❤️

I just want to give a big shout out to the lovely Eggoshalo, who made fanart of this fic, if you follow this link, it will take you to their tumblr page (and the fanart)! Make sure to give them a bunch of love and support!!!

Also, I've not been the best at replying to comments recently, but I really do love and appreciate them all!!! I will try my best to reply to all of them soon!! ❤️❤️❤️

I love interacting with you guys in the comments, so if any of you want to talk about fics/shows/ask me any questions, feel free to add me on tumblr or twitter (I'll link it at the bottom of the chapter). I'd love to get to know my readers more and I love making friends!!!

I hope you enjoy this new chapter! Feel free to leave any feedback in the comments!

Chishiya waited. He hadn’t exactly decided what he was waiting for, but he wasn’t about to waste matches until he figured it out. There was no time limit for the game, so he wasn’t in a rush. He also needed to take the time to assess Usagi and what she was capable of. Chishiya knew she was a spades player, that much was obvious, however, he needed to make sure spades weren’t the only games she could do.

Usagi seemed calm, rereading the rules on her phone. She was yet to make any attempt at solving the game. Niragi was waiting too, surprisingly docile compared to his usual ‘rabid dog’ routine he'd put on in games.

“Well, what do you think?” Chishiya asked Usagi, trying to prompt her. While there was no time limit, Chishiya didn’t want to spend his entire night in this place. He had other things to do, like teach Arisu how to kiss. Not stand in a match factory with a gun wielding maniac and the girl trying to steal his boyfriend.

“Me?” Usagi asks, pointing to herself.

“This is your evaluation idiot.” Niragi growled angrily, kicking the wall next to him.

“I’m not sure right now, I’m sorry.” Usagi says, looking back at the rules. “The rules don’t say we have to use the matches, so maybe we could look at other light sources. What about the phones?”

“I doubt they'll work.” Niragi scoffed before storming off on his own, it seems like he'd already written Usagi off. That's okay, the further away he kept Usagi from the militants, the further away he could keep Arisu and Aguni from each other.

“Well?” Chishiya prompted again, he had a few ideas as to how they could clear this game but he wanted to hear Usagi's thoughts.

“I think we should wait.” Usagi says, “The other players are already trying to find the numbers, so we may as well wait to see how many they can find first. I don't want to use any matches until we figure out a plan.”

She was certainly smarter than she first seemed, Chishiya wasn't petty enough to deny it. As a start, it was a good strategy, but that wouldn't be enough for them to clear the game.

“Ok.” Chishiya replied calmly, sitting down on the floor staring at the screen. There must be a trick to this game that they were all missing.

Chishiya was why this was a club’s game. Sure this would be practically impossible to clear alone, but it was intricate, almost like a diamond game. Nothing about this screamed clubs to Chishiya.

Chishiya could hear muffled yells echoing through the factory. All the other players, Niragi included had run off in search of the numbers. The number of matches counting down slowly, except for Niragi who hadn't used a single one yet.

“Congratulations player 1000267, you have found number 34.”

Chishiya watched as a flame appeared over the number on the bingo board. Luckily it was a diagonal, that meant they only had to find three more numbers. Maybe they'd get lucky and someone else would solve this game without Chishiya having to lift a finger.

Most players only had a few matches left now, meaning they'd most likely be hesitant to use anymore. Meaning Chishiya and Usagi would have to get moving soon.

“Well, you think of a plan yet?” Chishiya asked lazily, this was way too much effort for such a boring game.

“I’m not sure I'm sorry. I know we need an alternate light source, but I don't know how to go about getting one.” Usagi rubbed the back of her neck nervously. Chishiya hadn't expected a lot from her, in fact, she'd done even better than Chishiya predicted so she didn't really have anything to be embarrassed about. Chishiya would never tell her that though. “Do you have any ideas?”

“Well, I think you're half right. I don't think we need an alternate light source per se, they very clearly want us to use the matches, so I can think of two possibilities.”

Usagi just looks at him expectantly. Chishiya sighs, he hates when he has to explain his thought processes. Why couldn't he have been at Arisu’s assessment, that was supposed to be a diamonds game.

“First, we are in a match factory, there is a high possibility there are other matches hidden around, and we need to find them. It would be a pain, but with no time limit, it's not impossible. Second, we need to find a way to maximize the amount of time and the amount of light. I doubt we will get away with not using any matches, so we just need to prioritise when and how we use them.”

“That makes sense.” Usagi nods, “my dad once taught me how to make a torch, that would definitely create a lot of light. But we need a dense pice of clothing to do it.”

Despite how dark it was, Chishiya didn't miss how Usagi kept glancing at the hoodie he was wearing. His favourite white hoodie that took ages to find.

“We might need to use your hoodie…” Usagi says quietly when Chishiya didn't respond.

“Players 1000404, 1000305 and 1000455 have been eliminated, it is game over for these players.”

Chishiya heard more faint yelling, before everything went quiet again. That certainly didn't help his argument for Usagi not to use his hoodie.

“How did they use all their matches and not find a single number.” Usagi’s eyes furrow; she seemed a lot more nervous now.

“This is a 10s game, it's meant to be difficult, the majority of players won't clear this game. That's just the way things work in this world.”

“Still…”

“Well considering this is a large factory, and there are 25 rooms on one single floor, that's quite a large surface area to cover. One room would roughly take 3 matches, if you are efficient. And the numbers are probably in difficult or hard to reach places, therefore each room would most likely take 5 or 6 matches. Meaning, that there would be just enough matches for every single player to find another. However the 25 rooms most likely don't follow the same pattern as the one on the bing grid, therefore, even if each of the nine players found a number in a room, the statistical likelihood of said numbers forming a column, row or diagonal is very unlikely.”

“Right…” Usagi just looked confused, that's what Chishiya gets for exhaling his thought processes to a spades specialist.

“Basically, if they weren't focused enough, it’s actually very easy to waste matches.”

“Congratulations player 1000111 you have found number 17.”

That wasn't on the same line, but it was still a start, the more numbers the other players found, the less work there was for Chishiya.

“Congratulations player 1000111 you have found number 89.”

That's weird. Chishiya doubted that was a coincidence, to find two numbers directly after each other.

“Congratulations player 1000111 you have found number 24.”

Definitely not a coincidence, especially because Chishiya was sure that was Niragi's player ID.

“Hey, what's that.” Usagi points, Chishiya can see light coming from one of the rooms.

“Congratulations player 1000111 you have found number 91.”

Chishiya glanced at the screen, Niragi’s match counter had gone down by one, meaning he'd probably come to the same conclusions as Chishiya. As much as he hated Niragi, Chishiya could recognise how intelligent he was. He was probably smarter than Arisu, IQ wise anyways. Chishiya doubted anyone could even get close to Arisu’s emotional intelligence, maybe Mira.

“What is that smell?” Usagi covers her nose. Chishiya was unfazed, having worked in hospitals, Chishiya was unaffected by most smells.

“Only one way to find out.” Chishiya muttered as he continued down the hallway. He could hear Niragi’s maniacal laughter from one of the rooms.

“YOU TWO FINALLY DECIDE TO MOVE YOUR ASSES?” Niragi laughs out, his face filled with manic joys, while his pupils were both blown.

Sure enough, Chishiya’s hypothesis was correct, Niragi had come to the same conclusions as them about creating a prolonged light source, seen as he'd taken a players dead body and lit it on fire. The other players were all looking warily from the doorways to other rooms.

“There were easier ways to do that.” Chishiya rolls his eyes.

“SHUT UP!” Niragi yelled, “YOU’RE JUST JEALOUS BECAUSE I THOUGHT OF IT FIRST. YOU’RE THREE NUMBERS BEHIND CHISHIYA!”

Since when was this a competition?

“What am I jealous of? My airtight plan of getting you to do all the work, while I stand here doing nothing!”

“YOU SON OF A BITCH!” Niragi yells, dropping the body and grabbing Chishiya’s hoodie, getting blood all over it. Fantastic, now Chishiya needed to go find another outfit.

Chishiya just ignored Niragi, instead focusing on Usagi, who had monopolized on the opportunity and started inspecting the walls.

“Congratulations, you have found number 7.”

That wasn't in the diagonal either, but still, it wasn’t a bad start.

Usagi sighed relieved, before inspecting the burning body on the floor.

“Niragi, do you carry a knife?” Usagi asks, holding the dead man's leg.

“WHAT’S IT TO YOU-” Niragi whipped his head around, diverting his attention from Chishiya.

“I have one.” Chishiya threw his pocket knife over to her. This was her assessment period after all, Chishiya wanted to see where she was going with this.

Usagi wasted no time as she started hacking around the man's knee, cutting his calf off. She then went back to the skin and tissue on it, peeling it away, exposing the bone.

“HEY WHAT ARE YOU DOING, YOURE WASTING FUEL!” Niragi yelled, however his voice lacked the usual venom, instead he was intensely focused on what Usagi was doing.

“I'm trying to get to the bone-”

“Ha that's what she said.” Niragi laughs out, earning a disdainful glance from Usagi.

“-if I can peel the tissue away, we can use the bone as some sort of handle, then we can attach Chishiya’s hoodie to the end and use it as a torch. We only need to find two numbers. It should last just long enough, if not we can go and find someone else'a clothes and repeat.”

Niragi nodded, processing what Usagi was saying. He seemed relatively impressed, Usagi might end up a militant after all.

“You aren't touching my shirt.” Niragi says calmly, he even let out a small genuine laugh. “I'm surprised Chishiya's letting you use his hoodie, he once tasered me when I accidentally touched the hood of it.”

It's weird, Niragi seemed a lot calmer around Usagi. Did he have a crush on her or something? That was definitely something Chishiya could use.

“Some idiot got blood all over it, there's no point keeping it now.”

“IDIOT?” Niragi's calm demeanor quickly reverts back to anger, directly aimed at Chishiya.

“Can we do this later?” Usagi asks, Niragi instantly calmed down. That was very interesting.

“Fine.” Niragi grunts.

Chishiya slowly removed his hoodie, and tossed it over to Usagi. He made a mental note to run back to Arisu’s place to grab his original hoodie.

Usagi gets to work making her torch, it was a fairly simple design, but this one act alone would probably get her quite a high ranking at the Beach. Arisu definitely knew how to pick his allies.

The game went fairly quickly after that, with another 3 players being eliminated. Chishiya, Usagi and Niragi were the only survivors.

Chishiya was dissatisfied with that game, for a tens game, he expected more, he expected a better. Instead all he got was profound mediocrity, once they had found a way to solve the game, it was easy enough, the kids he worked with at the hospital could have figured it out.

When would this world finally get interesting for him?

Notes:

I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Feel free to leave any feedback in the comment, it's always appreciated!!!

If any of you are interested, you can follow this link to my Tumblr account or this link to my Twitter account. Feel free to DM me or ask me any questions on there!

Chapter 33: 4 of Diamonds: Lightbulb (2)

Notes:

Hi everyone! I hope you like this new chapter! I've still been pretty motivated to write recently, so I hope you are still enjoying the quicker updates 😂😂😂

I just want to give a big shout out to the lovely Eggoshalo, who made fanart of this fic, if you follow this link, it will take you to their tumblr page (and the fanart)! Make sure to give them a bunch of love and support!!!

As always, feel free to leave any feedback in the comments! It's always appreciated!!!

Also, I love interacting with you guys in the comments, so if any of you want to talk about fics/shows/ask me any questions, feel free to add me on tumblr (I'll link it at the bottom of the chapter). I'd love to get to know my readers more and I love making friends!!!

Arisu didn't know what to do, the water was rising too rapidly to take his time figuring out the problem. From a psychological stand point, Arisu would be inclined to pick option A, purely based off the fact it seems to easy to be the answer, meaning it's likely the game master set that as the correct switch. However, if they used a random number generator to assign the switches, that theory goes out the window.

The rules clearly stated the door could be closed once, that meant it was most likely included in the solution. So they had three switches, they could flick one with the door open and one with the door closed. But if the door was closed, how would they know if the light was on? Arisu wasn't willing to sacrifice any of the players to find out; so there must be another way to solve it.

“Arisu, I don't want to rush you, but the water is getting pretty high.” Kuina says nervously. Tatta nodded in agreement, adjusting his cap to look around.

“There's no other choice, we will flip one of the switches with the door open.” Arisu started, earning a disapproving look from An.

“And if the bulb doesn't light?” An asks, her eyes trained on Arisu.

She was almost as scary as Chishiya. If Chishiya was here, he would have worked it out already, he probably would have been nice enough to give Arisu the answer.

“Then it's between the other feel switches.”

“So it's a shot in the dark?” An asked coldly.

“It's all I've got.”

“With seven people's eyes on the line.” An says, her eyes flicking to the dead body floating in the water. “Sorry, my mistake, six.”

“An, if you know how to solve this tell us!” Tatta yells, his faith in Arisu clearly faltering.

“Give me a break!” Kuina whines, “I thought I'd have a break from this shit seen as Chishiya isn't here, but know I'm being dragged into another test.”

“Are you giving up, Arisu?” An asks, ignoring the others' shouts. She was giving him one last chance, Chishiya obviously was rooting for Arisu to become an executive, and Arisu couldn't let him down. It's important for their fake relationship for Arisu to be an executive. Sure, Hatter or Aguni could probably pull some strings and make him one anyways, or at least that's what Chishiya seemed to think, but the others, especially An, would never respect him.

“Well I give up! Tell us the answer please.” It was nice to see that Tatta clearly believed in him.

“I don't care who figures it out, I just don't wanna die here!” Kuina yells. “Arisu, a guess would be better at this point, just do something before it's too late.”

Arisu put his hand on the switch, ready to pull it. But he couldn't, there was something gnawing at him, but he just couldn't place it. There was something about this game he was missing.

“Arisu!” Tatta yells, “Just do it.”

Everyone getting angry at him was not helping, he was trying his best here. The only person that was giving him space to think was An, who honestly just seemed bored and uninterested.

“Everyone be quiet.” An says coldly, causing both Kuina and Tatta to shut up. “Arisu, think it through.”

Arisu was trying, he just wasn't sure what he needed to be thinking about.

You only have one chance to leave the door open.

The door was clearly an important piece to solving this puzzle, but why? Clearly they needed to flip a switch with the door open, and at least one with the door closed. But if the door is closed how can they tell if the light is lit.

What would happen if you flip switch A with the door open and it doesn't light.

If it's not A, then it would be between B and C.

This game was all about intelligence, so Arisu doubts it'd be down to chance. As An said, if the first switch didn't light, it'd be a 66% chance, that doesn't involve intelligence, that would be just down to luck.

If the door is closed, you may flip any switch.

Surely there must be a way to tell if the bulb is lit while the door is closed. There's no window, or peephole on the door, so visually they wouldn't be able to tell. Maybe they could leave one of their phones in the room and record as they flipped the switch?

No, that wouldn't work, there's no ledge to prop the phone up, so the water would wash it away. Plus, with how high the water was getting, Arisu doubts they'll have time.

So, if they can't see it, there must be some other way to tell. When the correct switch is flipped, electricity will flow through the wires connecting the bulb to the switch, creating a full circuit. They wouldn't be able to hear or smell the electricity, so how could they tell if it was flowing. They wouldn't be able to feel the electricity flowing either, not while the door was shut.

So when?

After?

Maybe Arisu was thinking about this the wrong way. He was being very literal, with the rules. It only says they aren't allowed to enter the room while the door was shut, that meant they could enter before or after. Arisu had already vetoed his phone plan, so what if they went in after?

How could they tell the bulb had been lit, after reopening the door?

Wait.

“Close the door?” Arisu yells to Tatta and Kuina who give him a puzzled look. The water was almost at their shoulders, they didn't have a lot of time.

A small smile appeared on An’s face as she nodded in support. “I'd do as he says.”

Tatta ran to close the door, followed closely by Kuina. Arisu waited until the door was fully closed before flipping the switch. The light would need a few minutes to heat up, so he needed to do this as quickly as possible.

“What's happening?” One of the other players asked.

“Yeah, I'm confused aswell!” Tatta says, putting his hand up, barely missing the hanging wire. Kuina smacked him on the back of the head, scolding him for being careless.

“Kuina, open the door!” Arisu yells, flipping the switch off. The water was almost at Arisu’s neck now, they couldn't wait any longer.

Kuina heaves the door, Tatta moves to help her, but trips in the water, directly in the path of one of the pipes, the pressure making him unable to get up. An lets out a long sigh before moving to pull him up.

Arisu ignored that, instead focusing on the game. Arisu flipped the B switch, but it didn't light. That meant it was either A or C.

“It didn't light!” Kuina yelled.

“Kuina, go into the room and touch the bulb.” The water was flowing even more rapidly now, Kuina waded her way over, reaching for the bulb.

“IT’S HOT!” Kuina yanks her hand away from the bulb, waving it about.

“The answer is switch A.” Arisu and An said at the same time.

“Game clear.” The announcer said as the water stopped flowing. It was inches away from the electrical wires, had they taken any longer, they'd all be dead by now.

“I have no idea what just happened.” Tatta wheezed out between coughs.

“The light bulb is incandescent, it stayed hot because it was on. If it had been cold, we would have known it was switch C. But because it was warm it was switch A.”

“That raises our chance of survival from 66% to 100%.”

“It should have been 50%.” Tatta argues back.

“I don't even care anymore.”
Kuina laughs out as she heaves herself out of the pool. She then puts her hand down, offering it to An, who smirked before grabbing it. Kuina sent an excited look towards Arisu, mouthing something about holding An’s hand.

“What's going on with them?” Tatta asked as he pulled himself out, offering his hand to Arisu. Arisu grabbed Tatta’s hand, but he must have been heavier than Tatta was expecting as they both almost fell into the pool.

“Hey Arisu!” Tatta says once Arisu is out of the pool. “Can you maybe not tell Chishiya I held your hand?”

Arisu just laughed in response as he walked away.

“Arisu, you didn't say you weren't going to tell him. Arisu!” Tatta chased after him.

-x-

Niragi pulled angrily into the parking lot of the Beach, almost sending Chishiya flying.

“Get out.” Niragi growled as he braked the car.

Chishiya just rolled his eyes and stepped one leg out of the car. Niragi decided to jerk the car forward at this point, laughing maniacally, trying to trip Chishiya up. Chishiya, who was already in a bad mood, slipped the knife out of his pocket and slashed the front tyre.

“WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING?” Niragi yelled.

Chishiya just carried on walking away. He didn't have the energy to interact with anyone anymore, not even Arisu.

“HEY CHISHIYA, I’M FUCKING TALKING TO YOU!”

“That was amazing.” Usagi giggled out. Chishiya glared at her, did she think they were friends now. Chishiya just wanted to go to bed But he had a meeting with Hatter, another executive meeting and then he needed to meet up with Kuina to go over their plan, so forgive him if he wanted his personal time to be in silence.

Usagi seemed to get the memo, as she didn't say anything more after that.

“Chishiya~” Hatter said as Chishiya made his way to the top of the stairs. There goes Chishiya’s two seconds of peaceful time. “How did our little rabbit do?”

Okay, so Chishiya was going to have to give his assessment in front of her. He didn't care what Usagi thought, however, if she ran and whined to Arisu about what Chishiya had said, that could cause a problem.

“She did adequate.” Chishiya responded.

“Wow, that's high praise coming from you.”

“CHISHIYA YOU BASTARD!” Niragi shouts, running up the stairs.

“Niragi, can you quiet down please, I have a hangover~” Hatter says, rubbing his temples.

“This bastard just fucked the tyre on one of the cars. One of the militant cars, HE COULD BE EXECUTED FOR THAT.”

“For goodness sake Niragi, it's a tyre, getter Tatta to fix it. Don't bother me with this again, there's a meeting in an hour, I expect this to be resolved.”

“Where is he?”

“I don't know, he's with Arisu and Kuina.”

“FOR FUCKS SAKE!” Niragi yells, storming off.

“Niragi, I expect a full write up of your report by the meeting.”

“FUCK OFF, YOU’RE NOT MY BOSS!” Niragi flips Hatter off as he storms over in the direction of the pool area.

“What does Mori see in him?” Hatter sighs, “Anyways, same goes for you Chishiya, I want a full write up. Do you have the card for me?”

Chishiya reluctantly handed the 10 of Clubs card over to him. It's fine, he'd play along for now, after all, he'd get all the cards eventually, he just had to be patient.

-x-

Arisu was stressed out, he had expected Chishiya to have been back by now. Yet there was absolutely no sign of him, and no one could give him a straight answer about where he was supposed to be. Arisu knew logically Chishiya would be fine, but that didn't stop the anxiety gnawing at his stomach.

“Arisu, earth to Arisu.” Kuina says, hitting him in the arm. “Geez man, I've been calling your name forever.”

“Sorry, I've been kind of distracted.” Arisu murmured.

“Waiting for Chishiya, man you guys are so in love!” Kuina teases. “Honestly, as long as I've know Chishiya, I've never had to worry about him. He'll be fine.”

“Yeah, he will. If anyone can survive here it's him.” Arisu fiddles with his hands nervously, he knew he'd be fine. But still.

“Let's talk about something else. What did you do before this?”

“I was in medical school, with Chishiya.” Arisu responds, unsure of how that was changing the subject.

“Right, shit, I forgot about that!” Kuina laughs, “well, I worked at a bridal shop! It was so fun, I can't wait to get back!”

“Yeah, it sounds it!”

“You see, my mum is really sick in the real world, she can't even go to the bathroom by herself, so I have to get home, I'm the one that's been taking care of her.” Kuina looks down, “that's why I need to get home. No matter what.”

“I'm sorry, about your mother.”

“It's okay, the doctors are doing everything they can. Chishiya even said he'd take a look at her chart if we make it back to the real world, so…”

“Kuina, it'll be okay!” Arisu grabs her hand, unsure of what else he could do. “Besides, Chishiya has a lot of strings he can pull in literally every hospital.”

“What is the deal with that? He wouldn't tell me, but An freaked out when she first met him.” Kuina leaned forward, close to Arisu’s face.

“What are you two talking about?” Tatta asks, also leaning in. Close, way too close.

He caught Arisu off guard causing him to whip his head around, in Tatta’s direction. However, Arisu hadn't anticipated Tatta to be that close to him, so when he turned his head, his lips made contact with Tatta’s, causing his head to come to a complete stop. They must have sat like that for a few minutes before they finally separated..

Arisu and Tatta had actually kissed. Accidentally of course, but still. Arisu felt blood rising to his cheeks as he pushed himself even further away from Tatta.

“I'm sorry, I'm so sorry!” Tatta yelled out, bowing as deeply as he can. “Oh god, please don't tell Chishiya! Kuina stop laughing!”

“Tatta it's okay!”

“No its not! CHISHIYA’S GONNA KILL ME, HE’S ACTUALLY GOING TO MURDER ME!”

“TATTA!” Niragi yells from across the pool, walking over quickly. Oh thank god, that meant Chishiya’s group was back. If Niragi made it, surely Chishiya would have made it too.

“YES!” Tatta said, doing a mock salute.

“What the fuck is wrong with him?” Niragi asks Arisu, his voice calming down slightly. Had Aguni told him to be nicer around Arisu?

“I don't know…” Arisu responded back.

“Nothing's wrong with me! It's not like me and Arisu just kissed, or anything.”

“What?” Niragi asked, looking between Arisu and Tatta, a manic smile on his face. Kuina was just hysterically laughing, clutching at her stomach as she was taking in deep breaths. “I can't wait to tell Chishiya.”

“Tell me what?” Chishiya appeared suddenly behind Niragi, Usagi following closely behind. Arisu gave him a once over, he didn't seem injured, however he was missing his usual white hoodie. Instead he was just in swimming shorts, with nothing covering his top. Arisu had to force himself not to stare. He looked really good. Too good, it was unfair. Arisu could even see other members of the Beach staring at them.

“That Tatta tried to kiss your boyfriend.” Niragi snorts.

“WHAT NO! CHISHIYA DON’T LISTEN TO HIM, HE’S LYING.”

Chishiya just raised his eyebrow and didn't respond. That made Tatta even more nervous, he started muttering something about accidents and bad special awareness. Arisu couldn't keep track, he was too preoccupied staring at Chishiya’s muscles. Kuina was still hysterically laughing, waving her arm in the air.

“Niragi.” Aguni said, walking up behind them, followed by a group of people Arisu would guess were the other militants. “You're late, how did it go?”

“It was fine, we cleared it, it was the 10 of Clubs. I basically carried the entire game.” Niragi said expectantly, was he fishing for praise from Aguni? He did seem desperate for attention, maybe that would help Arisu get on his good side.

“And the girl?” Usagi perked up at the mention of her name.

“I'm about to start writing up my report for the exec meeting, she was fine.”

“Good enough to join us?” Aguni asks. Was he trying to get Usagi to join the militants, wasn't that dangerous?

“Maybe, she's resourceful, I'd want to see her in a spades game first though.” Niragi said matter of factly.

“Okay. Get on with that report.” Aguni said harshly, looking disappointed.

“I am, I need Tatta to go fix this tyre Chishiya broke on one of our cars but he's too busy trying to make out with your nephew.”

Arisu could hear a few people around them muttering, clearly the fact they were related wasn't something Aguni wanted public. Tatta on the other hand was freaking out even more.

“Neph…ew.” Tatta says quietly, shrinking under Aguni's gaze. “You know what, I'm just going to run and fix that tyre. Bye now.”

Tatta practically ran away, Kuina had managed to compose herself up until this point, but started laughing all over again watching him run away.

“Niragi, Chishiya. Get your reports done.” Aguni says flatly. “The meeting is in half an hour, make sure you're there on time. You as well Arisu.”

With that Aguni walked away, followed by the rest of the militants, who kept giving Arisu weird looks. Tonight had been a long night.

“Well, that was certainly interesting.” Usagi joked.

“What game did you play?” Niragi asked, staring directly at Arisu.

“4 of diamonds.”

“Seriously! Why did I have to kill myself playing a tens game while you got a four.” Niragi pouted as he stormed away. “Stupid fucking nepotism.”

“What was that about…” Arisu asked.

“Just ignore him.” Kuina said, “Chishiya you've barely said anything. Are you jealous?”

“I need to get this report done.” Chishiya responded, something was wrong. Something was clearly very wrong with Chishiya, but Arisu couldn't figure out what it was. That didn't stop him from worrying though.

Before Arisu had the chance to interrogate him though, he was already walking away. He'd have to catch Chishiya after the meeting, Arisu would figure out what was wrong with him.

Everything would be fine, right?

Notes:

I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Feel free to leave any feedback in the comment, it's always appreciated!!!

If any of you are interested, you can follow this link to my Tumblr account! Feel free to DM me or ask me any questions on there!

Chapter 34: Beach Executive Ryohei Arisu

Notes:

Hi guys! I hope you like this new chapter! Just a little bit of context, in this fic, I've decided to let the phones be a little more useful, where they show visa days, previous games and they assign the players a specialty. I don't know why I did this, I just thought it would be fun to do!

ALSO, YOU CAN PRY MY MIRA AND ARISU BESTIE/MENTOR AGENDA FROM MY COLD DEAD HANDS!!!

I just want to give a big shout out to the lovely Eggoshalo, who made fanart of this fic, if you follow this link, it will take you to their tumblr page (and the fanart)! Make sure to give them a bunch of love and support!!!

As always, feel free to leave any feedback in the comments! It's always appreciated!!!

Also, I love interacting with you guys in the comments, so if any of you want to talk about fics/shows/ask me any questions, feel free to add me on tumblr (I'll link it at the bottom of the chapter). I'd love to get to know my readers more and I love making friends!!!

Chishiya sat down in the meeting room and began writing his report. He couldn't go back to his room, Arisu and Kuina would find a way to barge in, and he didn't want to stay in public, where he'd be bothered by a bunch of girls in skimpy bikinis trying to sleep with him.

Objectively Chishiya knew he was attractive, while he was short, he had a lot of muscle and a decent looking face. But he didn't feel like it, anytime Chishiya saw himself, he wanted to be sick.

It started after Hayato, after he killed Hayato. Chishiya couldn't look in the mirror for a month after that. Eventually, it got better. Chishiya started feeling normal again, feeling human, until another unfortunate little girl wandered into the ER with chest pain. The outcome was the same, and once again Chishiya couldn't look at himself anymore.

Chishiya learnt to live with himself. To survive the guilt of what he had done, which is where the hoodie came in. It was a shield, a mask, a barrier between him and the real world. He never left the house without it, even in this world, he kept it. Now it was gone, his shield was gone, and people could see him for who he truly was.

People would finally see Chishiya how he saw himself.

Realistically Chishiya knew that wouldn't happen. But that didn't stop the anxious part of his brain telling him he would. Most people thought Chishiya didn't feel anything, that he was a sociopath who couldn't understand emotions. But that wasn't true, if anything Chishiya felt more than anyone, he just hid it better. He turned it off in order for a more practical response.

However, there were sometimes that turning his emotions off wasn't enough, sometimes his hidden feelings would slip through the cracks of his unfeeling persona. Which is why Chishiya was hiding away on his own, pretending to work on his report, like a child. While Chishiya knew most people wouldn't be able to tell something was wrong, Arisu definitely would. Arisu could always tell.

“You’re here early.” An walked in, sitting down next to him, opening up her book. Chishiya wasn't happy his personal time was interrupted, but at least it was An, and not Niragi or Last Boss.

“So are you.” Chishiya replied.

“I had nothing else to do, my report on Arisu was fairly easy to write up.” An responded, looking over the top of her book. She was clearly looking for some kind of reaction. “You're not interested in reading it?”

“No, I already know what it says. ‘Arisu is a capable player that shows promise as a Beach executive, however, he second guesses himself too much and would potentially struggle in a leadership position. However, his intelligence and medical knowledge outshine this fact, meaning I recommend him for an executive position.’ Am I right?”

An just rolls her eyes, going back to reading her book. Clearly Chishiya was right then. It would work better for his plan if Arisu was an executive. He needed everyone at the Beach to trust Arisu, especially Aguni, which doesn't seem like a problem so far.

“Hello~” Hatter says, sauntering into the room, a bottle of tequila in hand, followed by Aguni. “My my, you two are early, I hope you weren't up to anything too scandalous! Poor Arisu~”

Chishiya and An just exchanged a tired look, An handed over her report and Chishiya did the same.

“It seems like our Arisu did very well, right Chishiya?” Hatter asks, clearly trying to rile Chishiya up. Hatter was clearly out of his mind if he thought they were sharing Arisu.

“Of course he did.” Chishiya responded, quickly trying to change the subject. “Usagi also performed well.”

“Certainly, both you and Niragi have given her quite high praise. She will certainly have a high ranking at the Beach, especially from the games she cleared before coming here. Did either of you find out what specialty she was?”

“Spades. She's a climber.” Chishiya responded coldly, he didn't need to check her phone to know that.

What a lot of different players don't realise, is that the phones were a lot more useful than just registering you for games. It kept track of your visa days, what games you'd cleared and even gave you a specialty. Chishiya had noticed during his first game, as he immediately went to check his specialty. Before he had even played a game, he had been assigned a diamonds specialty. Meaning, whoever brought them to this world, had a large understanding of each player's strengths and weaknesses.

Chishiya had also checked Arisu’s specialty, the first night they were here, while he was sleeping, and it was Hearts, as Chishiya had predicted. Chishiya hadn't known it at the time, but in this world, Heart’s specialists were extremely rare. In fact, Arisu was the second one at the Beach and that had hundreds of players.

“What about Arisu?” Hatter directs his question over to An. “What's his specialty?”

“I'm not sure, I didn't get to see his phone.”

“No matter, he will be here soon, Mori can check.”

“It's hearts.” Chishiya said, “I checked it the first night we got here.”

“Oh.” Hatter’s eyes lit up, while a weird look appeared on An’s face. Aguni didn't look surprised, but then again, anyone that actually knew Arisu wouldn't be.

“Hearts, are you sure?” An asked sceptically, “they are so rare, they don't just assign that specialty out to anyone?”

“It makes sense, I've got Arisu’s cards here, the majority of games he's cleared are Hearts. The 2 of hearts twice, the four of hearts, even the 7 of hearts.” Hatter says, his smile growing bigger as he stares at the cards. “No one has ever cleared that high of a hearts card. Even Mira has only cleared the 5 of hearts.”

“What about me~” Mira says as she quietly enters the room, followed by Kuzuryu. Chishiya hadn't even sensed they were there. Chishiya was definitely getting too comfortable, he needed to up his guard.

“You've got a friend, Arisu is a heart specialist too.” Hatter says, smiling at Mira as he checks out her swimsuit.

“How exciting~” Mira smiles, a smile that doesn't quite reach her eyes. “Chishiya, where did your hoodie go?”

“Someone set it on fire.” Chishiya tried to avoid Mira’s analysing stare. Maybe Arisu wasn't the only one who could sense how Chishiya was feeling.

“I'm sorry, am I at the right room?” Arisu says, standing nervously in the doorway, he relaxed slightly when he caught sight of Chishiya.

“Arisu welcome! An was telling me how well you did in the 4 of Diamonds.” Hatter started, but paused as Niragi and Last Boss arrived.

“Are we just brushing over the fact I cleared the ten of clubs? Why does he get a standing ovation for clearing a four?” Niragi growled, pushing Arisu out of the way as he entered the room. That earned an angry look from Aguni, causing Niragi to swiftly apologise before sitting down. Last Boss just stared at Arisu as he took a seat next to Niragi.

“Niragi please, the 10 of Clubs is basically as hard as the two of diamonds.” Hatter dismisses. “Anyways, have you got your report for me?”

“Here.” Niragi throws over a crumpled bit of paper.

“The girl stood around like an idiot for an hour, then cut the leg off a dead guy and set Chishiya’s hoodie on fire.” Hatter reads, letting out a big sigh as he rubbed his forehead. Aguni glares at Niragi, mouthing something about punishments.

“What? That's exactly what happened.” Niragi rolled his eyes, angrily looking around the room. Mira let out a small chuckle.

“Thank you for that insightful recounting of the game.” Hatter says sarcastically. “Arisu, sit down, you're one of us now, you don't need to hide in the doorway.”

“Okay…” Arisu looked around nervously, there weren't many spots open, one next to Last Boss and one next to Mira. Honestly, Chishiya didn't know which one was worse.

“You could always come and sit on my lap?” Hatter purrs, making Arisu blush and everyone else in the room groan. Arisu hurries up and sits next to Mira.

“Anyways, back to business. Arisu, An tells me you performed well in your assessment game. Congratulations, you are officially a Beach Executive.”

“Thank…you…” Arisu responds nervously.

“Now, we have a few admin things to get out of the way. May I please have your phone?” Hatter holds his hand out, Arisu fumbles with his pocket before producing the phone. All the other executives watch interested. “You see, these phones are a lot more interesting than people think. They are very useful, they keep track of Visa days, what games you've played, you even get assigned a specialty.”

“I didn't know that…” Arisu looks away embarrassed.

“Ah, not many people do! Chishiya, it seems you were right, Arisu is indeed a heart specialist.” Everyone in the room turned to look at Arisu, even Niragi and Last Boss looked interested. “And you’ve cleared quite a lot of games. Your very first game was the four of hearts? Mira it looks like you've got competition, he might end up outranking you.”

Mira just giggles in responses, clearly not threatened by Arisu.

“Why is everyone staring at me?” Arisu whispers to Mira nervously, clearly not very quietly as Hatter ends up being the one to respond.

“Heart specialists are very rare.” Aguni explains, “We only have one other one at the Beach and that's Mira.”

“Yes, most players fall into the clubs category, then spades, then diamonds and finally hearts.” Hatter explains. “Anyways, now that we have settled that matter, we need to move onto the matter at hand. The cards.”

Hatter paused dramatically, as he opened the curtains, revealing the card tracker at the back. Chishiya glanced at Arisu, studying the wall intently.

“Thanks to our wonderful executives, we have cleared two games tonight, the 4 of Diamonds and the 10 of Clubs. No one from any of the other teams we sent out came back. Meaning tomorrow night, we will be sending two teams out, each with at least two executives. One to the game we were trying to complete tonight, and one to a new game. Kuzuryu, do you want to take it over from here?”

“According to my calculations, both of the games should be spades, the one we have been attempting to clear should be a 5 or 6 and the new one an 8 or 9.”

“Fantastic, so, Mori you can take the 8 or 9 difficulty, and Niragi and Last Boss, you can take the 5 or 6. Take any players, or executives you need.” Hatter demanded, he was actually an excellent strategist and leader when he needed to be.

“What's the point of us going to the 5 of Spades, we already have one of those?” Niragi asks loudly.

“There's a chance it could be a 6, which we have yet to clear, and it never hurts to have a second backup card.”

“Won't it just be the same game though, if it is the 5?” Niragi pushes further.

“No,” Arisu interrupts, “not necessarily, I played the two of hearts twice and the games were wildly different.”

“Precisely, thank you Arisu.” Hatter replied, Niragi sent a death glare in Arisu’s direction.

“So are we clear on the plan?” Hatter asks, grabbing his bottle of tequila.

Aguni nodded, glancing in Chishiya's direction. Chishiya made a mental note to charge his taser in preparation, there was no doubt that he'd be dragging Chishiya with him.

“Off you go then, go party and celebrate until your hearts are content. Oh and Arisu, stay behind won't you dear?” Hatter responds as he takes a big chug from his bottle.

Arisu has a panicked look on his face, while Aguni also looks slightly nervous. This could go really badly, really badly. But there was nothing Chishiya could do about it now.

“Kuzuryu.” Aguni’s voice cut through the silence in the room, he gave a glance to Chishiya before continuing, “What time does the arena for the new spades game close?”

Now that certainly was interesting, Aguni was trying to protect Arisu. If Aguni could convince Hatter to let them attempt the game tonight, Arisu could volunteer himself to go. That meant Arisu could escape his ‘alone time’ with Hatter.

“From what I've observed, it should be open for another few hours.” Kuzuryu stated, giving Aguni a questioning look.

“Takeru, why don't we clear it tonight?” Aguni says, ever so often glancing at Arisu. “I'll take Chishiya and Niragi.”

“Are you sure?” Hatter walked over, tugging on Aguni’s shirt. “You've been working a lot recently, you might burn yourself out.”

“It's fine.” Aguni says, “I’d rather it get cleared. I can relax when we are back safe.”

“Hmm, fine. I guess me and Arisu will just have to hang out all night.”

“Actually…I was hoping it was okay if I joined them. I've only just got here and I want to show my loyalty.” Arisu really was a terrible liar, however, Hatter didn't seem to know that. Instead his face lit up at the idea of Arisu being so loyal to him, that he'd risk his life to clear a spades game.

“I suppose, if you're all really that motivated, there's no point stopping you. Make sure you all come back, I mean it, especially Arisu, we need all the hearts players we can get.”

“Thank you.” Arisu said, he was genuine this time. Arisu glanced at Chishiya.

“Okay, everyone meet at the car on an hour. Don't be late.” Aguni says, storming out, probably to go and find Niragi.

Chishiya just walked out to his room. Arisu tried to chase after him, but Chishiya managed to shake him off. He couldn't deal with him right now.

-x-

Arisu ran to the end of the hallway, trying to find out which direction Chishiya had gone. Arisu was worried, really worried. Chishiya never got like this, had something happened in the game with Usagi? He would have to ask her later.

Arisu just wandered around aimlessly, he wasn't entirely sure where Chishiya’s room was. Arisu didn't feel like going to find the others right now, he was too worried about Chishiya.

In the end, Arisu decided he wanted wait by the car, with nothing else to do, he didn't want to risk being late. At least after the game, Arisu could make sure not to lose Chishiya again.

The issue was Arisu wasn't sure where the car would be, he tried looking at a map, but it all seemed confusing to him, curse his terrible sense of direction. Tatta would probably know, in fact, he'd probably be down there right now. But that didn't help Arisu’s current predicament.

“Are you lost?” Mira asked in a sing song voice. Arisu hadn't sensed her, yet she was stood directly behind him. It was scary how easily she snuck up on him.

“Yeah.” Arisu murmured,rubbing the back of his neck, embarrassed.

“That's okay.” She responded, Arisu had no idea what she meant by that. “If you don't get lost, you'll never have chance to see the flowers.”

“Right…”

“Where are you trying to go?”

“I'm supposed to meet Aguni at one of the cars.” Arisu responded.

“Ahh, follow me! I'll show you.” Mira smiled, however, Arisu didn't miss how her eyes remained lifeless.

They walked in silence for a bit, Mira practically skipping down the hallway. Arisu had to force himself not to stare, only sneak small glances. He could have sworn he'd met Mira before, or at least heard her.

“Hey, Mira.” Arisu said, he may aswell ask, there was no point walking in awkward silence.

“Hmm?”

“What did you do before ending up here?”

“Well, I was a doctor. I have two PHDs, one in neuroscience and the other in psychology. Dr Mira Kano.”

“No way! I recognise that name! I absolutely love your books!” Arisu fawned over here, Arisu had read every single book she had ever published. The way her mind worked was incredible. Maybe, when they both made it out of this world, Arisu could ask her to sign them.

“Ahh, I'm so glad you like them!” Mira smiled, almost genuine this time.

“I would love to pick your brain sometime.” Arisu responded, trying not to be too pushy. However, how could he not, she was literally the closest thing Arisu had to a hero.

“I'll do you one better.” Mira responds, “how about every day, you and I meet up and we can play a game together. That way we can get to know each other. I always find the easiest way to understand a person is to play with them.”

“I would love that! If it's not too much trouble that is.” Arisu responses excited. Mira Kano, his hero, was willing to get to know him. To teach him.

“Excellent.” Mira said in a singsong voice. We are here, just head down the stairs and you’ll be in the parking garage.”

“Thank you! I'll see you tomorrow.”

“See you soon!” Mira waved, as she turned and walked away.

“Oh, where are we meeting?”

“Hmm, how about that's our first game?” Mira hummed before walking away.

Arisu just laughed as he made his way down the stairs. He just needed to get through this game, find out what was wrong with Chishiya and somehow find Mira tomorrow. That should be easy, right? It was only three things.

“NO YOU IDIOT, THE CAR NEEDS TO BE WORKING NOW, YOU CAN’T GO GET A GLASS OF WATER.” Arisu heard Niragi’s voice echo across the parking garage.

“But I'm thirsty…oh hey Arisu.” Tatta says, noticing Arisu walking towards them. Niragi also spots him and rolls his eyes.

“IF YOU DON’T HURRY UP, I’LL GET AGUNI TO BRING YOU WITH US!” Niragi yelled.

“Oh god, please no, Chishiya’s going, right?”

“YOU SHOULD BE SCARED OF ME, NOT CHISHIYA!” Niragi yelled back.

“Why are you always talking about me?” Chishiya appeared from around the corner. Sending Tatta jumping about 3 feet in the air.

“I'm not, we weren't, I was saying… Cheshire. We were taking about …Alice in Wonderland, not everything is about you Chishiya jeez!”

Niragi just gives him a side eye, before assessing the car again. “THE TYRE ISNT EVEN ON!”

“I DIDN’T REALISE THERE WAS ANOTHER GAME TONIGHT.” Tatta yelled back, in an act of bravery. Arisu hadn't decided if he was actually being brave or if it was just a stupid idea.

“SO WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN DOING ALL NIGHT, STANDING DOWN HERE WITH YOUR DICK IN YOUR HAND?”

“What, no!”

“Ha, I bet you were thinking about Arisu weren't you.” Niragi joked, while Tatta’s face flushed, giving nervous glances to Chishiya. “Oh my god, you actually were.”

Niragi cackled at Tatta’s reaction.

“Well maybe I was, what are you going to do about it!” Tatta said sarcastically back. Or Arisu was guessing it was meant to be sarcastic, but it sounded way too genuine to be that way.

“Wow Chishiya you hearing this. Tatta kissed your man, and was thinking about him while he was rubbing one out. If I were you I wouldn't stand for that.” Niragi said, Tatta started panicking even more.

“Wait no, I didn't mean it like-”

“Niragi.” Aguni’s voice echoed across the car park. “Is the car ready?”

“No, Tatta’s not done, we will have to take another one.”

“Fine, Tatta, you’re driving, go get the keys to the other car.” Aguni says. If Tatta wasn’t panicking before, he was now.

“Y-yes sir!” He said, before running to the back room.

“I didn't realise he was coming.” Chishiya said flatly.

“He wasn't, but I don’t trust any of the cars not to break down.” Aguni responds.

“I'm back!” Tatta yells, jingling the keys, before he throws them at Aguni, clearly forgetting he was the one that's supposed to be driving. Aguni didn't call him on it, instead he made his way to the driver's seat.

“What game are we playing?” Tatta whispers to Arisu, as they watch Aguni, Niragi and Chishiya pile into the car.

“The 8 or 9 of Spades.” Arisu whispered back soothingly, trying to calm Tatta down.

“WIAT WHAT?” Tatta yelled, as Arisu pushed himself into the middle seat. It made no sense for him to sit there, seen as he was taller than both Chishiya and Tatta, but this was his best chance at getting closer to Chishiya.

“Get in.” Aguni ordered, causing Tatta to leap into the car.

Arisu shuffled closer to Chishiya as Tatta got himself situated in his seat. Chishiya was still refusing to look at him, probably still trying to hide whatever was wrong with him earlier. Unsure of what else to do, Arisu grabbed Chishiya’s hand, intertwining their fingers. Arisu counted it as a win, when Chishiya didn't pull his hand away.

Arisu laughed as Niragi made faking vomiting sounds, when he noticed Arisu and Chishiya holding hands. Maybe, if they could convince Niragi they're in love, they had a shot at convincing everyone else at the Beach too.

Notes:

I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Feel free to leave any feedback in the comment, it's always appreciated!!!

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Chapter 35: 8 of Spades: Cops and Robbers (1)

Notes:

Hi guys! I hope you like this new chapter! Just a couple warnings about this chapter, there are brief mentions of PTSD, bullying and Bipolar Disorder, so if you struggle with any of these just be mindful when reading this chapter. I have never experienced any of these, and a lot of the information about them I got from google, so I apologise if anything about it is incorrect!

This is a new game I came up with, it's not in the show or manga, so feel free to let me know what you think! It is pretty difficult to come up with game ideas, so I hope you like it! Also, out of curiousity, if you don't mind sharing, what's your favourite game in this fic so far! I was thinking about this the other day, and I don't have an answer for my favourite so I'm curious what you guys think!!!

Anyways, I hope you enjoy this new chapter! Feel free to leave any feedback in the comments!

Also, I love interacting with you guys in the comments, so if any of you want to talk about fics/shows/ask me any questions, feel free to add me on tumblr or twitter (I'll link it at the bottom of the chapter). I'd love to get to know my readers more and I love making friends!!!

Don't forget to check out the lovely Eggoshalo's fanart of this fic, and just their art in general (I've linked it in previous chapters)

Guys?” Tatta interrupts the silence, “what happens if there can be only one survivor?”

“Well then you're not surviving then. are you?” Niragi snorts out, mocking him.

“Hey I might!” Tatta said, then immediately shook his head. “No, you're right, I probably wouldn't survive."

“There's no point worrying about that until it happens.” Chishiya said, shutting down the conversation.

Arisu would be lying if he said he wasn't worried about that. He had only played one spades game, and barely remembered it because of the head injury. If it came down to it, Arisu wanted Chishiya or Aguni to survive. Despite how abandoned Arisu felt by Aguni, he still loved him. So, Arisu would want either one of them to survive.

Aguni would probably have the edge in a spades game, but Chishiya was incredibly smart, so depending on the game, it might not matter how strong Aguni is.

“What do you think the game will be?” Tatta whispered to Arisu.

“How is he supposed to know?” Niragi interrupted.

“I don't know! It's so me and Arisu can be prepared, you guys are scary!” Tatta yelled back.

“I don't think Arisu has anything to worry about.” Niragi snickers.

“You're so mean to me!” Tatta pouts. “You're such a bully!”

Arisu saw something in Niragi’s face shift as Tatta said that. His eyes went wide, before his face suddenly went red with anger. Niragi probably had quite serious PTSD to react like that, at the mere mention of the word bully. Arisu could relate on some level, he was bullied when he was younger, getting his ass kicked on a regular basis, however, he always had Karube to stand up for him. He doubted Niragi had anyone like that, given how he acted now.

“What did you just say to me-” Niragi says calmly, calmer than Arisu had ever seen him react before. Even Chishiya seemed unnerved, watching Niragi intently. Niragi just stared at Tatta, that crazed look in his eyes, Arisu couldn't by tell, but he looked like he was reaching for his knife. Tatta nervously burrowed into Arisu’s side.

“I was just joking! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!” Tatta covered his head, as he leaned closer into Arisu. Niragi didn't seem to be listening to Tatta’s apology.

“Niragi.” Aguni says warningly, causing Tatta to panic more. However, that does seem to be enough to calm Niragi down, as he keeps fiddling with this seatbelt, trying to get it off.

Chishiya seems completely unfazed by the situation, just casually watching as Niragi spirals further into madness. Arisu can see his hand holding something in the pocket of his shorts. He was probably holding his taser, or some sort of pocket knife.

Niragi had managed to get the seatbelt off, reaching his hand back, trying to hit Tatta, while Aguni had to slam on the breaks, sending him flying back, hitting his head against the dashboard.

“Niragi.” Arisu started, trying to make eye contact with him, Niragi seemed dazed enough to not attack him. Watching Arisu carefully, Chishiya leant forward, his taser in his hand now. “Tatta didn't mean it, he's sorry.”

If Arisu had to guess, Niragi had some form of bipolar disorder and was currently in a manic state, exaserbated by his PTSD, likely due to severe bullying in his past. What Arisu needed to de-escalate the situation.

“Niragi, I understand you're upset, but Tatta didn't mean it, he didn't realise it would upset you.” Arisu tried to keep his voice as calm as possible, while maintaining eye contact with Niragi. Niragi seemed more docile the more and more Arisu talked, almost like he was hypnotized. “It's not going to make it better if you hurt Tatta. You just need to breathe in and out. Follow my count. Breathe in for 1…2…3…4…5…6…7, hold for 1…2…3 and breathe out for 1…2…3…4…5…6…7…8.”

Arisu watched as Niragi followed his instructions, he seemed to be a bit calmer now. His pupils were smaller, a sign he was coming out of whatever episode he was in. His breathing was still heavy, and he was glaring at Tatta but other than that he was fine.

“Are you feeling better now?” Arisu asks, with a smile. Niragi just stared at him for a minute.

“You really are a heart’s player.” Was the only thing Niragi said before he turned around, slamming his back into the seat. He mouthed something to Aguni, but Arisu couldn't make out what it was.

They couldn't risk anything like that happening again in the game. They were lucky this time that Niragi managed to calm himself down before he seriously hurt anyone. But if that were to happen in the middle of the game, who knows how it would end up?

What if one of Niragi’s bullies ended up in the borderlands and they had to work together? There were too many unknowns and while Arisu liked Niragi, he was a ticking time bomb waiting to go off.

-x-

Chishiya absolutely was not pouting, no matter what Arisu said. He wasn't a child and he didn't pout.

He was simply annoyed that Niragi’s mental breakdown caused Arisu to have to let go of his hand to talk Niragi down. So no Chishiya wasn't pouting, he was just reviling in his hatred of Niragi. However no matter how many times Chishiya brushed him off Arisu just kept making fun of him, only stopping once they had parked in front of the arena.

“Fuchū prison?” Tatta asked nervously. “Are we sure we should be playing a game here, isn't this like the most secure prison in all of Japan.”

“Stop being a baby.” Niragi rolled his eyes, before shoving Tatta in the direction of the prison.

“I'm not being a baby. I'm just not used to scary prisons, unlike someone I can mention.” Tatta shot back, he still seemed slightly nervous from Niragi’s reaction earlier, but that didn't seem to stop him from joking around with him.

“Please, even I don't know anyone that's ever been here.”

“Sure you do. Chishiya’s been imprisoned here before.” Arisu laughed out, avoiding eye contact with Chishiya. Chishiya suddenly regrets drunkenly admitting that to Arisu at that house party.

“WHAT?!” Tatta and Niragi yell simultaneously, way to close to Chishiya for comfort. The glare Chishiya sent Arisu’s way was enough to kill a lesser man. Tatta looked even more scared of Chishiya than he did before.

“How do you get locked up somewhere like Fuchū prison before me?” Niragi asks, genuinely shocked.

“I allegedly blew up part of my high school.” Chishiya responded, wanting this conversation to be over as soon as possible.

“But you’re a doctor? How can they let a bomber be a doctor?”

“Nepotism.” Chishiya responded, his stomach tensing at the mere thought of his father.

“Surely, that's not enough to send you to Fuchū though?” Niragi countered.

“It is when you went through five court appointed psychiatrists, that claim you're a ‘danger to others’, an ‘unfeeling sociopath’ and are name checked in one of their suicide notes."

“But if your dad is powerful enough to get you a doctor job after being in prison, surely he could have got those charges dropped.”

“He wanted me to learn my lesson.” Chishiya said, deciding that was the end of the conversation. “He got them expunged eventually.”

“Wow, your family is crazy.” Tatta marvelled, it was easy for him to say that on the outside. “Who is your dad anyways?”

Wow, Tatta was really stepping on everyone's trigger points today. Maybe he was secretly a hearts player after all, and just enjoyed watching them all suffer. That would certainly explain why he was all over Chishiya’s boyfriend all the time.

Chishiya just ignored Tatta and carried on into the game arena, hoping everyone would get the hint. If not, then not everyone would be making it back to the Beach tonight.

-x-

“Wow, this place is scary.” Tatta cried out, grabbing Arisu’s arm.

Arisu didn't have the heart to push him off, but the look he got from both Niragi and Chishiya made him think he should.

“Players, please head to the Guard tower to register for the game.” The announcer’s voice echoed down the empty hallway.

“What's a guard’s tower?” Tatta asked nervously, Niragi didn't even make a snarky comment, instead he genuinely looked concerned.

“Just follow Chishiya, apparently he should know where we are going?” Niragi said sarcastically.

“If you need me to identify a tower for you, I dread to think how you're a diamond’s player. They really scraped the bottom of the barrel with you.” Chishiya responded, his voice filled with venom.

“HEY-” Niragi started, but stopped when he saw Aguni giving him a stern look. Aguni was much quieter when he was around other people, he talked a lot more with Hatter, and even Arisu than he did with Niragi, despite him being his second in command.

Chishiya was clearly in an even worse mood than before, most likely because Arisu revealed a lot of personal information earlier. He didn't mean to, he was just trying to lighten the mood after Niragi’s meltdown, however, he seems to have made Chishiya’s mood a lot worse.

Arisu ignored the pang of guilt every time he looked at Chishiya. He could make it up to him after they cleared this game.

“Registration closes in 3 minutes.”

The announcer says, as the group approaches the guard tower, Aguni being the first to enter. There was a large spiral staircase, leading to the top building.

Arisu and Tatta were the last to make it up the stairs, both pausing before entering the room trying to hide how out of breath he was. The last thing Arisu wanted was for the other players to know how out of shape he was and he gathered Tatta felt the same.

“Registration closes in 1 minute.”

“Fucking finally.” Niragi murmurs under his breath, as Arisu and Tatta both register for the game.

“Registration has now closed.”

Arisu went and stood next to Chishiya, bumping his arm. He needed to know Chishiya wasn't angry at him. Going into a spades game, Arisu wasn't sure what would happen, he didn't want to die thinking Chishiya hated him. Even if they weren't actually dating, Chishiya was still important to Arisu, and Arisu didn't like it when they would fight. Was this even a fight? Were they even close enough to have a fight? Honestly, Arisu was just confused. Something had been off with Chishiya this entire night and Arisu was struggling to figure out what it was.

Chishiya glanced in his direction, before reverting his gaze back to his phone. He was still angry at Arisu then, perfect. Now Arisu had no choice but to survive so he could interrogate Chishiya later.

“There are currently 20 participants.”

Arisu took this time to look around the room, it seemed everyone had come in groups of 5. There was one group of girls, who were all wearing the same football jersey. They looked around college age, so they must have been transported to this world together. Another group was filled with guys like Aguni, big, strong and in military gear. If they had to fight them, Arisu was in a lot of trouble. He could hear Tatta audibly gulp as he glanced in their direction. A few of the members seemed interested in the college girls, so if the groups had to partner up, Arisu would guess they would go for them.

The final group didn't seem all that impressive. There were five men and one woman, and the most notable thing about them was the fact that one of their members was completely naked. Arisu had to force himself to look away because he was hot. Really hot, extremely hot. His abs could rival Chishiya’s with the V that lead down to his ginormous dick. If Arisu looked like that, he imagines he would also walk around later.

Niragi let out a wolf whistle as Chishiya smirked in the direction of the man. Tatta was refusing to even look up from the floor, while Aguni just seemed uninterested.

Arisu couldn't help the jealousy that built up in his stomach, as he watched Chishiya stare at the man. How could Arisu ever compete with that? The man's abs alone, compared with his height and the size of his dick. Based on Chishiya’s definition of his past relationships, that guy would be the perfect guy for Chishiya to hook up with. Compared to him, Arisu was so ugly it hurt.

“Players must organise themselves into two groups of ten. You have 10 minutes.”

“The announcer is making us group before explaining the game or the difficulty.” Niragi noted. “This will most likely be quite a high difficulty game then.

As Arisu predicted, the military guys went straight over to the college football girls. They most likely didn't view any of them as a threat, except Aguni, so why wouldn’t they try to save the ‘hot girls’.

“It seems like the others have already decided to group up. I'm Kyuma, that's Uta, Goken, Shitara and finally Maki. We look forward to working with you.” The naked man walked over, extending his hand to Aguni, who just stared at it. Arisu was even angrier now, how was he that hot and had a sexy voice?

Arisu also couldn't help the envy that was building up. How was it that Kyuma could survive with his friends but this world had ripped Karube and Chota away from him. What made him so special he got to keep and protect the people he cared about?

“Where are your clothes?” Tatta squeaked out. Kyuma’s friends all started laughing behind him.

“Nudism is an upstanding practice, a social movement with hundreds of years of history.” Kyuma starts, Arisu could see the other group staring and laughing at them. Fantastic, what they definitely needed was the other group not to take them seriously. All of them look like a joke now, and his friends don't even seem to care.

“So you don't have any.” Niragi laughed, checking the man out.

“Your friend doesn't seem to care about clothes either.” Kyuma said, referencing Chishiya who was only wearing his swimming shorts. Chishiya seemed amused by the whole situation, snaking glances at a sulking Arisu. “Truly a man after my own heart.”

If Arisu wasn't angry before that comment, he certainly was now. Who was this guy, to come in and start hitting on his boyfriend. Is this how Chishiya felt when he saw Arisu and Usagi, because if so, Arisu owed Chishiya a huge apology.

“Now that all teams have been selected, the game will now commence.”

Everyone stood in silence, waiting for the announcer to give the rules. Although the other group was still snickering occasionally.

“Game: Cops and Robbers.”

That would explain why they were located in the prison, very on theme.

“Difficulty: 8 of Spades”

“Kuzuryu was right then, it seems his formula is getting more accurate.” Chishiya says to Aguni, Kyuma just stares at him again. Seriously, what was with this guy?

Aguni was yet to say anything, instead he kept observing the other team, specifically the men. Did he know them? It wasn't impossible, seen as Aguni was in the special forces.

“Rules: robbers must evade capture by the cops, and collect special items that allow them to protect themselves. Cops must hunt down, capture and eliminate the robbers.”

“So we have to kill everyone on the other team, huh?” Niragi asks, a psychotic smile plastered on his face. “Now we're talking, this is my kind of game!”

“Clear condition: the game is clear when only cops or robbers remain.”

“How do we know who is the cops and who is the robbers?” Tatta asks nervously, earning a sympathetic tap on the shoulder from Kyuma.

“They've not finished explaining the rules.” Niragi hissed, “so shut the fuck up and listen, you might find out.”

“It is game over for the team that is completely eliminated.”

“No shit Sherlock.” Niragi cackled out, the other team was looking more concerned now. Between Niragi’s deranged laughter every two seconds, and Aguni’s stoic demeanor, they seemed to be more concerned now.

“In order to decide which team is the cops and which is the robbers, each team must choose one player to compete in an arm wrestle. The winner of the arm wrestle may choose which role their team will play as.”

“An arm wrestle?” Tatta asks, looking at his arms. “I'm not very good at those.”

“As if we would ever ask you to compete for us.” Niragi shot back. “Aguni, are you going to do it?”

“I’ll do it.” Chishiya volunteers himself.

“WHY YOU?” Niragi yelled, “AGUNI MAKES THE MOST SENSE!”

Chishiya ignored Niragi, instead he made eye contact with Aguni. Arisu couldn't understand why Chishiya would volunteer himself to go? There must be a strategic reason Chishiya volunteered himself.

“Fine. Don't let me down.” Aguni responds.

“Fine by us!” Kyuma agrees.

“Now that both representatives have been selected, will each participant take their seat.”

Chishiya sat down, looking as calm as always. Arisu was feeling good, until he saw the other man. He was huge, almost Aguni’s size, clearly the strongest member of their group. Chishiya would have a hard time beating him in an arm wrestle.

“Remind me why we sent Chishiya up there again.” Niragi starts, “SEEN AS THAT GUY IS FUCKING ENORMOUS!”

“Chishiya probably has a plan!” Arisu said, backing him up. He was really worried about Chishiya. “Who would you prefer to arm wrestle, that guy or Chishiya?”

“He has a point!” Tatta responds.

The man laid his arm out in the table, flexing his giant bicep, that was almost the size of Chishiya’s head. Arisu hoped that whatever Chishiya had planned worked. Arisu’s stomachs sank again when he saw Chishiya grab the man's hand. Why was he jealous of an arm wrestle?

The man already had a smug smirk on his face, clearly already anticipating the win. Chishiya’s face was completely unreadable, clearly waiting for something. The man was being cocky, refusing to actually push Chishiya’s arm, instead just holding it up. While Chishiya’s face remained unchanged, Arisu could see a glint of something in Chishiya's eyes. If Arisu had to guess, it was excitement. Chishiya had always loved it when people underestimated him.

“What's that sound?” The woman from Kyuma’s group, Uta, asked. Before Arisu had chance to answer the announcer spoke.

“Congratulations to player Chishiya Shuntaro, you have 5 minutes to discuss with your team about which role you would like to pick.”

Arisu glanced over to the table, it was now covered in blood, with the large man desperately clutching his neck., His team huddled around him, as they inspected the gaping wound.

“What the fuck was that?” Uta spoke up again, all of them looked more wary now, even Kyuma.

“I won the arm wrestle.”

“I can see that, but what the fuck.” She repeated.

“Well, I was never going to beat him in an actual arm wrestle-”

“WHY WOULD YOU VOLUNTEER TO GO UP?”

“-so I made it so it was easy to win. I tased him under the table, then stabbed him in the jugular.”

“AGAIN, WHY?” She repeated, horrified.

“Think about it logically, everyone's first instinct was to send Aguni, why? Because he's our strongest player. Meaning, the other team would have the same reasoning and send their strongest player. This way, I ensured we could get the role we needed, and I've taken their strongest player out of commission, making our life easier, seen as he's about to die.”

As if on cue, the announcer spoke up again. “One player has been eliminated. There are now 19 players remaining.”

“He is so scary…” Tatta whispered, the woman nodded in agreement, while everyone else on Kyuma’s team just stared at them.

“Player Chishiya Shuntaro, please select which role your team would like to play as?”

Shit. They were so worried about how Chishiya won the arm wrestle, that they hadn't had chance to decided what they wanted to play as.

“Robbers.”

Notes:

I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Feel free to leave any feedback in the comment, it's always appreciated!!!

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Chapter 36: 8 of Spades: Cops and Robbers (2)

Notes:

Hi guys, I hope you enjoy this new chapter!!! It's official, this story is now over 100k words, and is nowhere near being done, buckle in guys this is gonna be a long fic haha! Also, I aim to get every comment replied too at some point this week!!!

Anyways, I hope you enjoy this new chapter! Feel free to leave any feedback in the comments!

Also, I love interacting with you guys in the comments, so if any of you want to talk about fics/shows/ask me any questions, feel free to add me on tumblr or twitter (I'll link it at the bottom of the chapter). I'd love to get to know my readers more and I love making friends!!!

“Chishiya I have a question?” Tatta asked, as the group made their way through the cell block A. The game had given them a 10 minute head start over the cops. “WHY WOULD YOU MAKE US THE BAD GUYS?

“Maybe because he just stabbed a guy in the neck?” Uta said sarcastically. Kyuma gave her a look that made her back off. Seriously what was his obsession with Chishiya?

Arisu was curious too. He had a couple theories as to why Chishiya picked robbers, but he wasn't too confident in them. He also didn't want to embarrass himself, especially when Kyuma was all over Chishiya.

“Being the robbers has a better pay off in the long run.” Chishiya states, everyone stared at him waiting for him to continue. “Cops will most likely be given guns, batons and tasers, as they have in real life. That will give them an advantage at the start of the game, however, my theory is that the hidden items are much more powerful, and much more useful than anything the cops have. Therefore, the robbers have an advantage at the end of the game. Which is where you'd want the advantage, tactically speaking.”

“But that means we have to find the hidden items… I don't want to get shot.” Tatta whined.

“5 minutes have passed.”

“We should split up.” Aguni says, side eyeing Chishiya. “Standing as a group like this will make us a target.”

“I agree, the smaller the groups, the more we can spread out, meaning the more people we have looking for the hidden items, the faster this game will turn in our favour.”

“So how are we splitting up?” Tatta asked, standing way to close to Arisu again. Arisu liked Tatta, he was a good friend but he really didn't want to be partnered with him in a spades game. The last one, he pushed Arisu down the stairs.

“Hmm, how about we do one of the stronger players paired with one of the weaker players.” Kyuma chimes in, “Maki and Shitara you team up, Goken and Uta, you team up.”

“What about you?” Uta asked, she sounded quite worried, causing Arisu’s stomach to pang with jealousy again. Why did Kyuma get everything? Arisu would literally kill to have Karube and Chota be worried about him again.

“I'll team up with someone on the other team.” Kyuma smiled reassuringly at her.

“Niragi, you stay with Tatta.” Aguni says flatly.

“ARE YOU SERIOUS, HE WILL JUST SLOW ME DOWN! I’D BE BETTER ON MY OWN.” Niragi yelled, but stopped after one stern look from Aguni. Tatta just sighed dejectedly, Arisu did feel a little bad for him, but Niragi probably wouldn’t kill him, maybe.

“Arisu.” Chishiya said, staring directly at him. “You should go with Aguni, I'll go with Kyuma.”

No. No. No. This was not happening. Chishiya could not team up with Kyuma, not now anyways, he was already angry at Arisu, now he wanted to jump in the arms of a naked stranger. Arisu had seen a lot of documentaries, he knew what happened in male prisons.

No, Arisu could not let them team up. It seemed apparent Chishiya didn't want Arisu on his team, seen as he was trying to palm him off with Aguni, so Arisu would have to try to be on Kyuma’s team.

“No.” Arisu said, louder than he intended, causing the three to stare at him. “I mean, it doesn't make sense. Aguni is our strongest player, so he will most likely be on the attack. I'd just slow him down, he'd be better off with Chishiya or Niragi.”

Chishiya nods in response, clearly not taking that fact into account, he had been pretty distracted recently. Was it because of Kyuma?

“Okay. I'll team up with Aguni and you go with Kyuma.” Chishiya said in response.

“Fine with me~” Kyuma said, placing his arm around Arisu’s shoulders. Arisu had to avert his eyes, in order to not look down.

“Hey Chishiya, wanna make a bet, see who kills the most people?” Niragi says, his eyes manic.

“What's in it for me?” Chishiya responded calmly.

“Well, if you win, you can ask for anything you want, and if I win, you have to do anything I want.”

“That sounds really creepy…” Tatta says, side eyeing Niragi, who just shoved him.

“Fine. If I win, I get to hookup with Arisu.”

“HEY.” Arisu shouted, angry he'd not been part of this discussion. He was not losing his virginity to Niragi as part of a bet. Sure he was hot, and had piercings and reminded him of Karube, but that didn't mean Arisu was going to spread his legs and let him have at it.

“Fine. Arisu has to go on 5 dates with me.” Niragi said as he rolled his eyes.

“Are you really that desperate?” Chishiya asked, an amused look in his eyes. “Fine, I'm game. You’re one behind Niragi, better catch up soon.”

What the hell was Chishiya’s problem? Was he really pimping Arisu out, for a bet? Chishiya better hope he gets caught by one of the cops first, because Arisu was going to kill him. Arisu didn't care how angry and upset Chishiya was, he didn't get to treat Arisu like this.

“You have 1 minute remaining until the cops may hunt down the robbers.”

“Well then, guess we should split up.” Kyuma says, grabbing Arisu’s hand dragging him away.

“Good luck!” Arisu yelled back. They would all make it. He was sure of it this time.

“Game start.” The announcer said, as everyone split up. “The cops are now free to hunt down the robbers.”

-x-

“Hey, Niragi! Slow down!” Tatta shouted, trying to catch up to Niragi who was storming down the hallway.

“Jesus Christ, I knew you would slow me down.” Niragi spat back.

“Don't get mad at me, I didn't even want to come with you guys in the first place.” Tatta argued back. He was less scared of Niragi now, sure he was psychotic and angry and prickly. But it seemed like they'd developed a little routine for how'd they interact with each other.

Except for that outburst earlier, Tatta wasn't sure what he did, but he was glad Arisu was there. Otherwise that could have gone quite badly for Tatta.

It made sense why Niragi had calmed down because of Arisu though, seen as he actually had a crush on him, what other reason would he be competing with Chishiya. Tatta had only seen Niragi hook up with people, never date them so the fact that he wanted to date Arisu was huge. And if Tatta helped him do that, he'd have two shields from Chishiya. Plus, Niragi would have to be nice to him.

“Fair enough.” Niragi says, continuing down the hallway.

“Geez I can't believe you like Arisu too.”

“Huh? Like Arisu, what do you mean? And too?”

“Yeah, you and Chishiya are competing to date Arisu.” Tatta explains, even more confused now.

“I don't care about Arisu.” Niragi cackled.

“But you-”

“I only did that because Chishiya’s only weakness is Arisu. It's the easiest way to get to him. That's why. I mean, Arisu is hot, I would definitely tap that, but I don't actually want to date him.”

“Oh…” Tatta said, feeling embarrassed. Why was he always so wrong?

“Wait a second.” Niragi said slowly, a smile appearing across his face, “you said too.”

“What, no I didn't.” Tatta denied.

“I'm pretty sure you did.”

“NO I DIDN’T!” Tatta yelled, confirming Niragi’s suspicions.

“Oh my god, you have a crush on Arisu. I was just joking before, but wow Tatta, that's messed up. Kissing your crush who already has a boyfriend. No wonder you're scared of Chishiya.” Niragi chides, the smug look still on his face.

“You can't tell me that's messed up, when you literally have a bet going about how many people you can kill.”

“I know, we need to hurry up, Chishiya is already in the lead.” Niragi continued down the hallway, reaching into his pocket, grabbing his knife.

“That's not what I meant…” Tatta said, chasing him down the hallway, before stopping in his tracks.

A loud gunshot echoed down the hallway. Tatta was too scared to turn around, instead frozen still like a deer in headlights.

“WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING?” Niragi yelled, watching Tatta with wide eyes.

Another gunshot went off, much closer than the others. Tatta could hear the bullet passing his ear, it sounded like a bee, or a wasp. How had the shooter not hit him yet. He couldn't move. He was going to die, he was actually going to die. At least he wouldn't slow Niragi down anymore.

Tatta closed his eyes tightly, as he braced for impact. But it never came. Except, he felt something grab is his hand.

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING YOU IDIOT?” Niragi grabbed him, running down the hall. Dragging Tatta with him.

“You came back for me.” Tatta said meekly, genuinely surprised. He had to ignore the way his heart was thumping in his chest. It was just the running, right?

-x-

“Arisu, I get the feeling you don't like me very much.” Kyuma states, as they walk side by side. Arisu could feel the blood rush to his face, he didn't like the fact people could read him so easily, especially a random stranger.

“It's not that I don't like you, I just-”

“You’re wary, I understand that.” Kyuma responded. “Trusting strangers can be a death sentence in this world. But there's something beautiful about it.”

“Beautiful?” Arisu asked, his mouth agape. There was nothing beautiful about this world. His friend’s deaths weren’t beautiful, Aoi’s death wasn’t beautiful. Nothing about this world was beautiful.

“Think about it this way. How many real conversations have you had? How many heart-to-hearts? Our flaws, our pride, they're all exposed in this world. When we look death in the eye, we face true human nature and reality. That's beautiful.”

“Right…” Arisu didn't know how much of that he agreed with, but he could at least see where Kyuma was coming from. He clearly didn't understand how ugly this world could be, seen as he'd somehow managed to survive with all of his friends.

“These games are conversations. Let's really talk, you and I, let's expose our true hearts to each other. Face me with everything you have.” Kyuma continued. Arisu didn't know whether to be disturbed or intrigued, either way he certainly didn't know how to respond.

“Are you a clubs player then?” Arisu asked, desperately trying to change the subject.

“Good eye, yes, I'm a clubs player. You’re a heart’s player, I presume.”

“Yeah, how did you know that?” Arisu asked, genuinely curious. Kyuma certainly did seem to know a lot more than he was letting on. Was he a dealer? That would certainly explain his view on the game.

Kyuma didn't respond, just smiled at him. Arisu needed him to talk more again, he wanted to see if his hunch was right.

“So, what did you do before ending up here?” Arisu asked, maybe he could learn more about him.

“I was in a band.” Kyuma responds, “we all were, together.”

“That's so cool!” Arisu said excitedly, Kyuma looked surprised, clearly not expecting Arisu to take that much of an interest in his profession. “I always wanted to be in a band, I used to play the guitar religiously.”

“Really, why did you stop?”

“My father threw it away and got my teacher fired. He said music was a profession for drug addicts and pornstars.” Arisu starts, before he had chance to stop himself. “Not that I think that.”

“It's true, the music industry certainly does have negative connotations, especially in this country. It's an amazing profession though, our group, we travelled the world, we have performed to thousands. I can't think of anything else that would have been more fulfilling.”

“It sounds amazing.” Arisu said, his stomach knotting. Kyuma literally had everything he wanted and more. How was Arisu supposed to not be jealous?

“It was. So, Arisu, if you aren't a musician, what do you do?”

“I'm a psychiatrist, or at least I'm about to be. It was supposed to be my first day, before I got here.”

“Well, while it may not have been your first choice, it certainly is a noble profession.” Kyuma responded. He really was a good person. Or that's what he wanted Arisu to think? Arisu hadn't eliminated the possibility he could be a dealer, or even a game master.

Arisu had spent a lot of time thinking about what he would do, if he was a game master, and the only thing that made sense for him to insert himself into games. He'd want to be around the players, want to see how they react in real time. Meaning they'd probably join games, groups and teams. So it was completely plausible for Kyuma to be a game master.

“Thanks.” Arisu responded, unsure what else to say.

“Is that why you're so protective of your friend then. I noticed the bruising around his ribs, they look broken.”

“Yeah, I guess.” It's not like Arisu could admit the real reason he was wary of Kyuma. It's not like Chishiya would actually ditch Arisu for him. “He’s not my friend, he's my boyfriend.”

“My apologies.” Kyuma smiled at him. Maybe he wasn't actually interested in Chishiya, he was just observing his teammates. That makes sense, seen as they were supposed to be working as a team, kind of.

“Where do you think an object would be hidden?” Arisu asked, 5 minutes had passed as they were talking, and while the game didn't really have a time limit. He would prefer to not be here all night.

“Most likely somewhere it would be difficult or dangerous to find.” Kyuma starts. “We need to be careful not to get ourselves trapped in a cell, if Chishiya was right and the robbers do indeed have guns, that would basically be a death sentence.”

“If I was on the other team; what would I do?” Arisu started. “First, I would want to control the other teams access to the hidden items. It didn't say that only the robbers could use hidden items, so in theory, the cops can use them as well, or at the very least prevent us from finding them. Second, I would want the other team in a position where I know I could kill them, like you said in a cage, or in a large open area that doesn't impede my line of fire. Third, I would hunt the stronger members of the group down, and pick the weaker ones off when I encounter them. In this group, they will most likely see you, Chishiya, Niragi and Aguni as the biggest threats, so you will be the main targets, and the rest of us will be kill if convenient but not a priority.”

Kyuma just stared at Arisu, before letting out a small chuckle. “That's what you think they'd do, and it's smart, but what if the other team isn’t smart enough to come up with a plan like that?”

“I think they are, almost half their team are military veterans. It's a fairly basic military tactic, I doubt they will do anything differently.”

“Okay, so what does that mean for us?”

“We need to counter attack, I don't have any weapons on me, and I doubt you do, so we need to either find a hidden object before the other team, or find something we can use as a makeshift weapon.”

Kyuma started to nod in agreement, before his eyes shifted to the side slightly. Before Arisu even had chance to process what was happening, he was on the floor, with Kyuma laid on top of him, putting his finger over Arisu’s mouth.

“-did you hear something?” A woman asked, Arisu didn't have a clear view, as Kyuma had tackled them into a cell, but she seemed nervous.

“Shut up, Akemi.” Another girl said, sounding way more confident. “According to our map, one of the hidden objects is this way. We need to get it back to Botan, before he gets mad at us.”

“Maybe we should have teamed up with the others-”

“SHUT UP AKEMI! You don't get to ruin this for me just because you have a crush on that tall guy with the shaggy hair, he looks like a nerd anyways. Botan is a real man, and I'm trying to impress him, so suck it up and help me.” Arisu didn't know whether to be flattered or offended. As much as he didn't like to manipulate or hurt people, maybe this girls small crush could be something Arisu could use.

“But Aiko…”

“But nothing, hurry up.” Aiko said, stomping down the hallway, followed by Akemi who was chasing after her.

“Did you hear that?” Arisu whispered from underneath Kyuma, making sure the girls were out of earshot “the other team has a map of where the hidden items are.”

“If we can steal it, we can find them all.” Kyuma whispered back excitedly.

“My, my isn’t this cozy.” Chishiya says from the doorway to their cell. Aguni standing directly behind him. “So did you find anything yet?”

“No.” Kyuma says, jumping off of Arisu; seemingly unfazed by Chishiya’s glare.

“What have you been doing?” Aguni asked flatly, like he regretted his decision to team up with Chishiya in the first place.

“We've been exploring each other's raw and naked souls.” Kyuma said, completely serious. Did he really not understand how that sounded?

“Seriously Arisu, you're fucking him but you got all offended when I offered!” Niragi yelled, as he came around the corner, dragging Tatta behind him.

“No one is fucking anyone!” Arisu yelled back, staring at Chishiya.

“Wow, Chishiya are you really that bad in bed that you can't get your own boyfriend to fuck you.” Niragi laughed, Chishiya just rolled his eyes.

“Guys, isn't it weird that we all ended up together?” Tatta chimed in, very loudly, considering they were all stood next to eachother.

“Well, we ended up here because some girls from the other team came down this hallway.” Kyuma states, rubbing the dirt off of his stomach.

“And you didn't just kill them?” Niragi yelled, looking disappointed.

“We’re here because someone started shooting at us.” Chishiya said, “We were trying to find a better vantage point.

“Wait Tatta, are you bleeding?” Arisu asked, staring at the side of Tatta’s head. Tatta seemingly didn't notice, but there was a large amount of blood coating the side of his head.

“Bleeding? WHAT?” Niragi said, as he whipped around to look at Tatta. “THIS IS WHY YOU DON’T JUST STAND STILL WHEN PEOPLE ARE SHOOTING AT YOU!”

“I didn't do it on purpose!” Tatta yelled back.

“Wait, you guys were shot at too? And Tatta stood directly in their line of fire, and didn't get killed.” Arisu said, his stomach churning as he put everything together.

It seems everyone had all come to the same conclusion, except Tatta. Arisu and Kyuma practically ran out of the cell, at least in the hallway they had a fighting chance. Niragi grabbed Tatta’s hand again, most likely to drag him if the shooting started up.

“This isn't good.” Chishiya said calmly, his hands still remaining in his pockets.

“No it is not.” An unknown voice says, coming from behind them. Arisu whips his head around, to see three of the military men and presumably Ameki and Aiko. One of them was hanging off of the man in the middles arms, so Arisu guessed they were Botan and Aiko. Meaning the other girl must be Ameki. “You know, I expected you all to be smarter than this, based on the arm wrestle, but it seems like you are all a bunch of amateurs.”

Tatta had to hold Niragi back as he burned with rage. Chishiya didn't seem too worried, neither did Aguni. So maybe, they weren't in as much trouble as they thought.

“Is that right?” Chishiya asked, in that smug tone.

“Of course. Don't worry, we will put you out of your misery soon.” Aiko spat, clinging onto Botan’s arm and nuzzling her face into his neck.

“Soon? Why not now?” Chishiya asked, studying Botan carefully. Arisu didn't miss the look of panic that crossed his eyes.

“Because he can't.” Arisu chimed in.

“What do you mean he can't!” Aiko yelled, “he can; he could kill you right now! Do it Botan, kill him!”

“He can't.” Chishiya explained, staring directly in her eyes. “Did you even listen to the rules?”

“Of course I-”

“Cops just hunt down, capture and eliminate the robbers. Your leader, Botan, has only completed one of the things on that checklist. He needs to capture us first, then kill us. Meaning, you probably have a designated place you can kill us, you can't just shoot us now.”

“Well, it seems at least one of you is smart.” Botan says, slow clapping, how did you work that out, surely not from the rules alone.

“Tatta. You’re trying to tell me that three military veterans can't hit a completely still target in an open hallway?”

“Holy shit, I WOULD HAVE DIED!” Tatta yells. Niragi smacks him over the back of the head, shushing him.

“Oh well, it doesn't matter, capturing you shouldn't be too difficult.” Botan says, prompting the two men with them to raise their weapons. “We can just shoot you in non fatal areas after all.”

Niragi had a manic smile on his face, as he looked towards Aguni. Who still seemed completely unfazed by the situation.

“Now, if you will all do me a favour and come quietly, I will reward you with a swift and painless death.” Botan continues.

“You really think you have the advantage here.” Niragi snorts. “You have two girls, and two guys that are useless at short range.”

“Oh really.” One of the men say, aiming their weapon at Niragi, and pressing the trigger. Niragi, to his credit, didn't even flinch, just stood still as the bullet grazed his arm.

Niragi laughed maniacally as he lunged towards the man, running faster than the man could adjust his aim. He grabbed the knife from his back pocket, and swiftly cut the man, in the exact same place the bullet had grazed his arm.

“What did I say!” Niragi yelled, as he pried the gun out of the man's hands, pressing the knife against his neck. “Terrible at short range.”

The other man went to aim his pistol at Niragi, but was stopped as Chishiya threw his knife, pinning the man's hand to the wall, causing him to drop the pistol. Aguni was there first, picking up the pistol and shooting the pinned man in the head. Niragi also shot the man on the ground, before aiming his gun at Botan, who decided to use Aiko as a human shield.

“YOU SON OF A BITCH, I TRUSTED YOU!” Aiko shouted as she started scratching at Botan’s hand.

“Niragi, do you have a clean shot?” Aguni asked, also lining his pistol up to fire.

“No, but I could shoot through her.” Niragi says, still laughing.

“Do it.” Aguni orders, preparing his own gun for when the woman dies and Botan tries to escape

Aiko struggles and screams, but that didn’t stop Niragi, who laughed even harder once the woman died. Aguni was quick to shoot Botan, as Aiko’s dead body hit the floor.

“Well that was easy!” Niragi laughs out.

“What about the other girl? Ameki?” Kyuma asks.

“Who?” Niragi asks, but his attention was drawn to Tatta who was whimpering now.

“I'm sorry…” Ameki whispered, as she held a knife to Tatta’s neck.

Notes:

Also, I'm looking at adding a couple of sideships into this fic, I'm definitely thinking An/Kuina and Hatter/Aguni (doomed yaoi haha!) and maybe Tatta/Niragi. I've not fully decided yet, but I was wondering what everyone thought! So feel free to leave your opinion in the comments.

I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Feel free to leave any feedback in the comment, it's always appreciated!!!

If any of you are interested, you can follow this link to my Tumblr account or this link to my Twitter account. Feel free to DM me or ask me any questions on there!

Chapter 37: 8 of Clubs: Cops and Robbers (3)

Notes:

Hi guys! Hope you enjoy the new chapter, sorry it's taken me a bit longer to upload, work kicked my ass for the past couple of days! Just as a quick warning, this chapter contains some themes around child abuse so just be mindful while reading if that's triggering for you.

Also, I'm not sure if I've mentioned this yet, but I'm looking at maybe doing Chirisu whumptober as a collection as I've never done it before and it seems fun! I was just wondering if any of you would be interested in reading it! I will probably do it no matter what but knowing people are interested is more motivating hahaha!

Also, I'm sorry! I genuinely didn't mean to make everyone want to fuck Arisu! It just happened because I love writing jealous Chishiya, but it's happened now and I'm just gonna roll with it! (I hope it's not too annoying haha)

Anyways, I hope you enjoy this new chapter! Feel free to leave any feedback in the comments!

Also, I love interacting with you guys in the comments, so if any of you want to talk about fics/shows/ask me any questions, feel free to add me on tumblr or twitter (I'll link it at the bottom of the chapter). I'd love to get to know my readers more and I love making friends!!!

“I'm sorry.” The woman whimpered, pressing the knife even closer to Tatta’s neck. Tatta’s eyes were darting frantically between them. “I’m not a bad person, really I'm not. I just…I want to survive…I have people at home…waiting for me.”

“And Tatta doesn't?” Chishiya said bluntly, he had lost all sympathy for this woman the second she started making excuses. Chishiya could understand why she had taken Tatta hostage. If he was completely honest, he respected her for it, it's exactly what he would have done in her situation. However, what he didn't respect was the whining and the excuses. He'd prefer the woman stab Tatta in the neck, than continue running her mouth about how unfair her life was.

Chishiya didn't really like Tatta, he didn't hate him, he was more neutral about his existence. However, Kuina and Arisu seemed to care a great deal, meaning if he were to die here, it would be a pain in Chishiya’s ass for weeks.

“You don't understand!” The woman whined. Seriously, more complaining? She was getting more and more pathetic by the second.

Chishiya could see Niragi raise his gun, pointing at her head. However, the woman was a lot shorter than Tatta, meaning his body basically acted as a shield. Chishiya was surprised that Niragi hadn't taken the shot, he could easily kill her if he was willing to shoot through Tatta, yet he showed no signs of pulling the trigger. Had that been anyone else, that woman would have been dead already. Chishiya made a mental note to keep an eye on them, it could prove useful if Tatta served as a weak spot for Niragi.

“Akemi.” Arisu said softly, taking a small step forward. The woman, who was apparently called Akemi, tightened her grip on the knife, causing Tatta to whimper. Chishiya didn't miss how Niragi’s face tightened at the sound. So there really was something going on with them?

“Y-yeah?” She responds, staring at Arisu, a pained look in her eyes.

“How about we make a deal, yeah?” Arisu asked, keeping his voice steady.

“What kind of deal?” Akemi asked, her gaze softening, did she have a crush on Arisu too? Jesus Christ, why was everyone interested in Chishiya’s boyfriend? Arisu was never this popular when they were in medical school, when he was arguably more appealing to be dating.

“If you just let Tatta go, we will let you go. You can run off, hide, do what you want!” Arisu responded, moving even closer to them.

“But, you’ll just kill me later then.” Akemi said, eyes darting to Niragi, who had the gun trained on them.

“Akemi, think about this logically for a second, okay? You kill Tatta, then what? You lose all leverage, and Niragi will kill you instantly. If you just let him go, you can meet up with the rest of your team, make a plan, there's a chance you can make it.”

“You really think so?” Akemi asked, in a meek voice.

“I think it's your best shot.” Arisu responded, honestly.

It was times like this that Chishiya truly feared Arisu, because it was his ability to get into other people's head. To say exactly what they need to hear, to comfort them even when they didn't deserve it, that made him endearing. It was probably the reason everyone seemed to like him.

But it was also the thing that made Arisu terrifying.

It was something that Chishiya had noticed over the years he'd known Arisu. How he could instantly tell how people were feeling, it was almost like he could become them. To inherently understand how they think, feel, their thought processes. It was astounding. Chishiya prided himself on being manipulative, cunning and observant. But even he was nowhere near Arisu’s level. If one day Arisu decided to let go of his morals, and lean into that side of him. He would become a very dangerous man.

Chishiya had noticed they were slipping recently, since Karube and Chota died. Arisu’s moral compass didn't weigh as heavily on him anymore. Like what he was doing with Akemi now. Arisu knows there's no way she will make it two steps down the hallway before either Niragi or Aguni puts a bullet in her head. Yet, he has her hanging on every word, there is so much trust in those eyes. Yet Arisu is the one manipulating her.

Arisu always likes to poke fun and comment on the fact that Chishiya has changed. But Arisu was changing too, and Chishiya doesn't think it's for the better.

“I don't want to die…I just wanted to win the tournament…I wanted to kiss and go on a date with a cute boy…I wanted to get married and have kids.” Akemi sobbed. Chishiya just rolled his eyes, if that was her idea of living, maybe she didn't deserve to live. That's what his mother would have told Chishiya anyways.

”Shuntaro, what is this?” His mothers shrill voice echoed down the cold empty hallway of his childhood home.

Chishiya had looked up from his book, to see his mother holding his family crayon drawing, his preschool teacher had forced him to draw.

“Mrs Ito made me draw it.” Chishiya responded bluntly. He hadn't wanted to draw the picture.

“WHAT HAVE I SAID ABOUT WASTING YOUR TIME DRAWING POINTLESS PICTURES.” His mother screamed again, ripping it up. “YOU ARE ALREADY BEHIND, YOU SHOULD NOT BE WASTING YOUR TIME THINKING ABOUT FAMILY.”

“I wasn’t.” Chishiya said meekly.

“I am raising you to be extraordinary Shuntaro.” His mother said coldly, rubbing his favourite book from his hands. “Family. Love. Drawing. Those are for mediocre people, average people, weaklings. I have wasted too much of my life raising you for you to turn out ordinary.”

“I understand mother.”

“SO WHY DO YOU INSIST ON FIGHTING ME ON EVERY TURN.” His mother screamed in his face, but quieted down when she heard a bang on the wall from the next room. The only thing his mother was scared of was angering his father while he worked.

“I'm sorry.” Chishiya said, looking down.

“Apologies are for the weak Shuntaro.” His mother sighed, calming herself down, as she inspected the book in her hands. It was a thick encyclopedia about the Mona Lisa, one of Chishiya’s most treasured possessions. Not that he’d ever admit that to his mother.

“I understand.” Chishiya said, resisting any urge he had to reach for the book.

“Tell me Shuntaro, how many minutes did you waste on this foolish drawing?”

“37.”

“Well, I suppose a fitting punishment is in order then.” Chishiya's mother said, gesturing for Chishiya to sit up straight on the chair. “I will hit you with this book 37 times, and if you manage to show no reaction, no emotion, no crying, all will be forgiven.”

Chishiya sat unmoving throughout his mothers assault. She was a trained surgeon; so she knew exactly where to hit him to make it hurt and where to avoid forming bruises so others wouldn't ask too many questions. He was used to this reaction from his mother, so it had become easier over the years to not react. A characteristic that brought his mother immense joy.

“You did adequately Shuntaro.” His mother said, wiping the blood from her hands. “Make sure this doesn't happen again. I will be having a word with the school, I doubt Mrs Ito will be working there for much longer.”

She then left the room, leaving Chishiya to tend to his own injuries. While he never showed any reaction on the outside, something broke in Chishiya that day. He never was able to touch that book again.

Chishiya thinks back to this memory often, and while he despises his mother, he is thankful of the way she raised him. Chishiya would rather shoot himself in the head, than act like Ameki was.

“Ameki, look at me.” Arisu says, standing directly in front of them now. “Tatta hasn't done anything to take that away from you. He just got caught in the wrong place at the wrong time. He doesn't deserve to die because of that.”

“I know.” Ameki was crying now. “I just-”

“Just let him go, okay.” Arisu continues, reaching for the knife in her hands. Tatta was still shaking but he seemed to calm down while Arisu was there.

“Oh my god. I'm going to die right?” Ameki cries out, however this time it was less of a pained cry and more of an expectant cry. “That's okay.”

To Chishiya’s surprise she actually pushed Tatta out the way, dropping the knife.

“Before you guys kill me, can you do me a favour?” She says, staring directly at Arisu.

“Ok-” Arisu starts responding, but is cut off as Ameki grabs his face and plants her lips on his. Arisu’s face goes bright red, as Ameki keeps kissing him. Chishiya saw her trying to force her tongue in Arisu’s mouth. Seriously, what was with everyone trying to fuck Arisu? At this rate, it would have been easier to pretend to date Kuina.

Chishiya debated what to do, on the one hand, Arisu was perfectly capable of pushing her away, if he was truly uncomfortable. They weren’t actually dating, so technically Arisu hadn't done anything wrong. It's not like he was cheating in Chishiya or anything but for the sake of their fake relationship, Arisu could have at least pushed her off.

Chishiya ignored the anger building up in his stomach, as he picked up the knife that had been dropped on the floor. Arisu and the woman both seemed too preoccupied by the kiss to notice what he was doing, so Chishiya took the opportunity, to plunge the knife into the back off her neck.

The woman was dead instantly, dropping to the floor. Leaving Arisu stood staring at him in shock. Without thinking, Chishiya walked over to him, grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled him down.

Chishiya crashed his lips onto Arisu’s already wet ones, he could vaguely taste the leftover lip balm from Akemi. That made the anger in Chishiya even worse. Gripping Arisu’s shirt even tighter, he pressed his lips harder into Arisu’s.

Arisu stood frozen for a second, before his lips melted against Chishiya’s. There was the sound of someone wolf whistling behind them, most likely Niragi, and someone letting out a long sigh, most likely Aguni.

“You love birds gonna do that all night, because some of us actually want to sleep at some point.” Niragi drawled, clearly amused by the whole situation. Arisu quickly pushed himself away from Chishiya, clearly forgetting they had company. This was why Chishiya had wanted to practice kissing beforehand, but it was too late now. “Besides Chishiya, you’re already behind on our bet. Before you know it, it'll be me and Arisu doing that.”

Chishiya didn't miss how Arisu’s cheeks pinked at Niragi’s statement. Seriously, why was everyone trying to fuck his boyfriend?

“You like that baby. The tongue piercing makes it even better.” Niragi says, using the same voice he'd put on with all the bimbos he'd try to fuck at the beach.

Chishiya just rolls his eyes, before throwing the knife at Niragi’s neck. Niragi managed to dodge it just in time, before flipping Chishiya off.

“WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT FOR?” Niragi yelled.

“Evening the score for our bet.” Chishiya said, not lying, because despite what anyone said, or the looks they were giving him. Chishiya was not jealous.

“Guys, can we just clear the game, and go?” Tatta said quietly from Kyuma’s side. Ameki must have scared him.

“Whatever. It should be easier now, seen as most of the military guys are gone.” Niragi says, flipping the knife in his hands. “What do you think Aguni? 20 minutes to finish them off?”

“Players remaining: 13” the announcers voice cut through the hallway.

“Even better, that means we only have three to finish off.” Niragi cackles out.

“If it was the people on the other team that died.” Tatta says, ducking behind Arisu after Kyuma gives him an angry look.

“Chishiya, what’s the plan now?” Aguni asks.

“Arisu, Kyuma? You two mentioned something about a map?” Chishiya asked.

“Yeah, one of the girls had it. Aiko.” Arisu said, still refusing to look at Chishiya, as he rushed over to the girls dead body. Sure enough, there was a map, detailing where all their hidden items were.

“The other cops have probably collected most of them by now.” Chishiya says, trying to come up with a plan. “Aguni and Chishiya only have about 8 bullets left combined, so we need the rest of those items. If I was on the cops team, and the rest of my teammates hadn't returned, I would probably barricade myself in a room and play defensively. We should split into teams and look for them again.”

“Same teams as before?” Aguni asked.

“No.” Chishiya responded, “I’ll go with Arisu this time. You can take Kyuma and meet up with the others, explain the situation.”

“Seriously? I gotta be with Tatta again.” Niragi moaned, “He basically pissed himself last time.”

“I DID NOT.” Tatta shouted back. “I got shot.”

“Please, a bullet grazed your ear.”

“A BULLET SHOULDN’T HAVE BEEN ANYWHERE NEAR MY EAR.”

“IT WOULDN’T HAVE BEEN IF YOU HADN’T FROZEN UP. SERIOUSLY HOW ARE YOU NOT DEAD YET?”

“I DON’T KNOW!” Tatta yelled. Chishiya agreed, it was truly a miracle Tatta had survived this long.

“Well, we should get going then.” Kyuma says, staring at Aguni.

“Chishiya grabbed Arisu’s hand and started leading him away.”

“Why did Chishiya want to team up with Arisu this time?” Tatta whispered to Niragi.

“How the fuck should I know?” Niragi spat back, before dragging Tatta in the opposite direction.

-x-

Arisu and Chishiya walked in silence for what felt like an eternity. After what had just happened, Arisu didn't know what to think. He was happy Chishiya finally wanted to team up with him, he was happy Chishiya had kissed him but he wasn't happy that Chishiya thought it was okay to just pretend he wasn't there.

“So what was that?” Arisu asked, if Chishiya wasn't going to explain, Arisu would just have to force it out of him.

“What was what?” Chishiya responds, still refusing to look at Arisu. Seriously? He was going to play dumb now?

“You know what.”

“Oh right. Well you see we foolishly got trapped by the other team, then one of them tried to shoot Niragi, then Niragi and Aguni shot them-”

“-Chishiya.”

“-and then the main guy took Aiko hostage and used her as a shield-”

“CHISHIYA!” Arisu yelled, actually shutting Chishiya up this time. Arisu didn't yell a lot, especially not in anger. “That's not what I meant and you know it.”

Chishiya just rolled his eyes and carried on walking. Arisu was even angrier now.

“You know what. No. I'm not doing this.” Arisu says, planting his feet firmly on the ground. “I don't know what is wrong with you, but you can't keep doing this to me.”

“Doing what?” Chishiya stops, and turns around. Did it really take Arisu throwing a temper tantrum to get his attention? If Karube were here, he'd be laughing his ass off at how Arisu was acting. Arisu can only hope he's watching from wherever he is, he would have loved this confrontation.

“This! The messing with my feelings, the ignoring me, the mood swings the kissing. Are you making fun of me? Is this all a joke to you.” Arisu starts, getting angrier with each word. “I’m a human being Shuntaro. I have feelings, that you're just trampling all over by the way”

Chishiya doesn't respond, just stares at Arisu with an unreadable expression on his face.

“Hey, they're over there.” Arisu hears a man yell. He didn't recognise the voice, so it must have been someone from the other team.

“Arisu, we have to go. We can talk about this later.” Chishiya says sternly, beginning to walk in the opposite direction.

“No.”

“No?”

“Not until you tell me what's wrong!” Arisu said, stomping his foot.

“Arisu, you're being ridiculous. Do you want to get shot?” Arisu could hear footsteps getting closer to him. This was a risky plan, but he didn't know how else to get Chishiya to open up to him.

“I'm not going anywhere until you tell me what's going on with you.”

“Arisu. I will walk off without you.”

“Okay.” Arisu was calling Chishiya’s bluff. He wouldn't actually leave him right?

“Arisu.” Chishiya said, warningly. Arisu could hear the man getting closer, he must have been at the end of the hallway now. “Arisu.”

This was it. This was where Arisu was going to make his stand. He couldn't keep going on like this, pretending that everything with him and Chishiya was fine, when it clearly wasn't. So either Chishiya would open up, or Arisu would die. Either way, whatever issues they had would be resolved, or Arisu wouldn't have to deal with it anymore because he'd be dead.

“Fine. I like you. That's it, that's the problem. I didn't know what to do about it. Or how to feel about it but I like you and it makes me all weird and emotional and I hate it.” Chishiya says flatly. “Can we go now?”

Arisu goes to take a step forward before he feels a searing pain in his right side. Chishiya’s face remains the same, but his eyes are filled with panic.

Arisu staggers on his feet slightly. Reaching to put his hand on his side. He could feel himself getting dizzier as the pain radiated throughout his side. He looks at his hand, and it's coated in a warm, red liquid.

Had Arisu just been shot?

Notes:

I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Feel free to leave any feedback in the comment, it's always appreciated!!!

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Chapter 38: 8 of Spades: Cops and Robbers (4)

Notes:

Hi guys! I hope you like this new chapter! As a forewarning, this chapter is going to be very angsty! I've gone for a more darker take on this chapter, that I've not really delved into in other chapters yet, so if any of you are sensitive to child abuse or torture, I would just be careful when reading this chapter, as it is relatively dark and has those themes.

It took me a long time to decide whether or not to go this direction with this game, as it was what I had planned initially, but I wasn't sure if it would fit the story (and I was kind of scared people wouldn't like it). However, I decided to go with it!! A big thing I wanted to do in this fic was to not make my characters invincible and give them 'main character protection' and I thought it would be interesting to explore the darker themes, and how departed people could be during the games which I felt wasn't shown to its full extent in the show or manga games, which is why I chose to go this route with this chapter! (I'm trying to explain without ruining anything so I'm sorry if this is confusing, I can delete this explanation later if it doesn't make sense haha)

Anyways, just be mindful of the content warnings guys, stay safe while reading!!

I hope you enjoy this new chapter! Feel free to leave any feedback in the comments!

Also, I love interacting with you guys in the comments, so if any of you want to talk about fics/shows/ask me any questions, feel free to add me on tumblr or twitter (I'll link it at the bottom of the chapter). I'd love to get to know my readers more and I love making friends!!!

Chishiya watched as Arisu went limp and collapsed to the floor, blood pooling around his unconscious body. He wanted to run over to him, assess the wound, bandage him up, but he could see the man moving further down the hallway. It didn’t seem like he’d spotted Chishiya yet, which was good. He'd have the element of surprise then.

Chishiya could feel the panic in his body. It had been a long time since he had felt anything as strong as this and he didn't like it. It was making him irrational, and being irrational would get Arisu killed. No he needed to think logically.

The most life threatening thing for Arisu was blood loss. Chishiya watched the bullet pass straight through Arisu’s torso, so that meant there was nothing to stop the bleeding. The man couldn't kill Arisu yet, based off of the rules of the game. Having high levels of military training, he will have known not to shoot anywhere vital. Meaning Arisu had a good chance of surviving if Chishiya could get to him in time.

Niragi had taken Chishiya's knife, so that was out of the question. He had his taser, but that only worked at short range, and the man had no reason to get that close to Chishiya. If he ran fast enough, he could rush the man, maybe get the gun off of him. No, that wouldn't work, the chance of him getting shot was too high.

“Shit. I shot him in the wrong place.” The military man said, looking over Arisu’s unconscious body. “He will die at this rate. Shit.”

This was bad. This was really bad. There was absolutely no way Chishiya could get to Arisu now. And with the man's aim being off, that most likely meant he'd hit an organ. That drastically decreased Arisu’s odds of survival.

“Muroi, did you get one?” A woman in a football jersey came round the corner. She had a captain band on her arm, so she must have been the ‘leader’ of the girl’s group.

“Yeah, but at this rate he will bleed to death before we can get him to the execution zone.” Muroi sighed, running a hand through his hair. He still had a firm grip on his gun, so Chishiya attacking him wasn't an option. He needed Niragi or Aguni here, but they had both gone in the opposite direction. It was unlikely they'd hear the gunshot, so they wouldn't even know to come help.

“Can't you patch him up? Weren't you an army medic.” The woman responded, looking more concerned, however she didn't seem too bothered by the whole situation.

“Probably, but he will probably scream like a bitch giving away our location.” Muroi responded, lifting Arisu’s shirt to assess the wound. “The last thing we need is his friends showing up. Especially that big guy.”

“Maybe that's not a bad thing. It could draw them to us, we could create a trap. From what Aiko said, they all seemed to be quite fond of him.” The woman said, a sing-song tone in her voice, all the worry from earlier disappearing. Chishiya would guess she was also a hearts player, based on that one sentence alone.

“You think it'll work?” Muroi responds.

“I think we are 7 people down; and the element of surprise will work in our favour.” The woman responded, gesturing for Muroi to grab Arisu. The man sighed, but followed her orders. Chishiya didn't miss how Arisu’s face tightened in pain as the man dragged him up.

While Chishiya wants happy with this development, it wasn't the worst for Arisu either. If they wanted to use him as bait, that meant they'd have to keep him alive. If the man was an army medic, he could probably patch Arisu up well enough that he'd survive until Chishiya could get to him. The issue was it'd hurt, and the man would most likely hurt Arisu more, in order to attract the others.

Wait, what was Chishiya thinking? It didn't matter how much it hurt Arisu. It mattered if he was alive or dead. This is why Chishiya didn't let himself feel anything. It was like his mother had always said. Love and feelings, they are for the weak. Even now, they were clouding Chishiya’s judgement. Why did he care so much?

Sure, the confession was true. He did like Arisu, and he didn’t know how to deal with it. He wasn't made to be loved, to love. It wasn't something Chishiya had ever thought he'd be capable of. Yet Arisu had defied the odds and managed to worm his way into Chishiya’s heart.

That's why it broke Chishiya's heart to manipulate Arisu in this way. The best lies were always the ones that contained the most truth. That was the same for manipulation. He needed Arisu to trust him, and if he thought Chishiya loved him, which he did, he truly did, it would be easier to use him for the plan. The cards were his priority. He would get over Arisu eventually and he could finally purge himself of his only weakness. But he needed Arisu alive to do that, so Chishiya needed to stop thinking so emotionally. His priority was to make sure Arisu made it out alive. That's it.

Chishiya watched as the man dragged Arisu’s body away, leaving a trail of blood. That would be fairly easy to find them again then. He had to let them take Arisu now. That was the best strategic option. He needed to meet up with either Aguni or Niragi, preferably both, and come up with a plan. Arisu would be fine. Not that Chishiya needed him to be fine. But he would be.

Despite the fact that Chishiya did not care what happened to Arisu at all, he still found himself praying, to a God that he didn't believe in, that Arisu would be okay.

-x-

“Did you hear that?” Tatta asked Niragi nervously. He had been unusually kind to Tatta since the incident with Akemi and it was scaring him a bit. Niragi was never nice to Tatta, to anyone really, but definitely not Tatta.

“Hear what?” Niragi asked, lazily looking in Tatta’s direction.

“A gunshot.” Tatta whispered back again. “Maybe I've been shot again.”

“You weren't even shot the first time.” Niragi rolled his eyes, “Anyways, you should focus up, you might get taken hostage again. This time it would be less embarrassing if it wasn't by a girl half your size.”

“Hey! She had a really strong grip, okay!”

“Sure she did!” Niragi said sarcastically.

“She did! Look, even Arisu couldn't push her away when he kissed her!” Tatta argued back; his cheeks blushing thinking back to the kiss, it was awkward to watch. Tatta hadn't even dared to look at Chishiya, for fear that he'd take his anger out on Tatta.

Niragi just rolled his eyes. “It's a shame, I would have been happy to give her a final make out. It would've been better than that shit Arisu gave her.”

“Yeah but she wanted to kiss a cute boy.”

“You don't think I'm cute!” Niragi said, a lot more offended than Tatta expected. For Niragi, Tatta would have guessed he'd find the word cute offensive.

“Not as cute as Arisu, he's like a deer.”

“I CAN BE CUTE AS WELL YOU KNOW! Is it because I've got piercings, because they make me so much hotter than Arisu.” Niragi argued back, Tatta didn't know what to say to make this conversation stop.

“Yeah but Arisu is the full package.”

“Oh I bet I've got a fuller package than Arisu!”

“THAT’S NOT WHAT I MEANT!” Tatya said, shaking his head trying to erase that mental picture. “He's like really kind and smart and he's a doctor.”

“Yeah, and he's like super rich.” Niragi comments nodding.

“Rich?” Tatta asks confused.

“Yeah, he's super rich. Like top 1% in the world Rich. How have you never heard of the Arisu foundation?”

“I don't know what that is…”

“It's a corporation that essentially owns every single car dealership, real estate company and casino in Japan. His father is one of the richest men in Japan.”

“But Arisu is so normal!” Tatta yells, “All the rich people I've met are super stuck up and snobby. And I've met a lot of rich people, I used to work on their cars. I once had one of them hit me in the parking lot with their Ferrari, film it, then post it on YouTube. The guys at my garage would play it all day every day for weeks. Even my nana would laugh every time she saw the video. She was 82! I had to teach her how to load up the video each time she wanted to watch it.”

“That's pathetic.” Niragi snorts out.

“I can't believe Arisu is that rich.”

“In all fairness, I imagine it's his fathers money. I've not seen his name anywhere in connection with the company. And if he's in medical school, I imagine he's given away all claim to the business.”

“Oh.” Tatta says. “Why would he do that? If I had the chance to make that much money, I'd take it in a heart beat! I could have so many cool cars!”

“Money like that makes most people monsters.” Niragi says, an unreadable expression on his face, but Tatta could see the pain in his eyes. “That kind of money makes you untouchable.”

“Hey, what's that?” Tatta says as he spotted a small bag on the floor, he was desperately trying to find a way to change the subject. Niragi had already freaked out on him once today, he didn't want to do it a second time.

Niragi pushed past Tatta, as he walked towards the bag. Tatta wasn't sure if he was supposed to follow him, or keep a distance.

“Hey, it's got your name on it.” Niragi yelled, throwing the bag at Tatta. Sure enough, there was a small green bag. Tatta eagerly opened it up, only to find a car jack.

A car jack…

No. How did they know?

“Dude, what's wrong with you?” Niragi says, looking over Tatta’s shoulder. “A jack, that's lame, I thought they would have given us something more useful than that.”

“Congratulations to player Tatta Kodai. You have found your hidden item.”

“Why would a jack be your hidden item?”

“I don't know…” Tatta knew he was a terrible liar, and Niragi probably wouldn't believe him. But he wasn't ready to talk about this yet. He wasn't ready to talk about what he did.

“Fancy running into you two again.” Kyuma joked, Tatta quickly zipped the bag back up, attempting to hide it behind his back. Earning a strange look from Niragi. “Tatta, I heard you found your hidden item.”

“Y-yeah.” Tatta says trying to hide his nerves.

“What is it?” Aguni asks bluntly, causing Tatta to move closer to Niragi’s side.

“A jack. Nothing useful, although you could probably smash someone's brains in with it.” Niragi responded for him. Aguni looked even more annoyed now.

“Aguni. Niragi.” Tatta heard Chishiya’s voice, coming from behind him. He actually sounded out of breath. In the very short time he'd known Chishiya, Tatta had never seen him run, not even when he'd been shot at. So something must be very wrong.

“Where's Arisu?” Aguni asked first, sounding genuinely concerned for what.

“He got shot.” Chishiya responded bluntly.

“Is he dead?” Aguni asked, his eyes fixed on Chishiya.

“Not yet. The guy that shot him is an army medic. They can't kill him, until they take him to the ‘execution zone’ so they're going to stitch him up in order to make sure he doesn't die, then use him to lure us over into a trap.”

“How would they lure us over, when we don't even know where their hide out is?” Kyuma asks, his face full of concern.

“Most likely, torture.” Chishiya says bluntly. His tone was so cold it sent chills down Tatta’s spine. He didn't miss how Aguni’s eyes hardened.

“So what's the plan?” Niragi asks, inspecting the gun in his hands. Tatta wasn't sure where he'd fit into Chishiya’s plan, but he wanted to help any way he could. Arisu had saved his life in the Tag game, Tatta really wanted to return the favour.

-x-

Arisu could feel himself drifting in and out of consciousness. The searing pain in his side getting worse with every breath. Was he dying? Was Chishiya okay? He didn’t remember much of what happened, but he knew Chishiya was probably smart enough to get himself out of it.

“Oh hey, you're awake! That's good!” A woman sat next to him said, she was smiling but her eyes looked dead. Very similar to Mira’s actually, Arisu wouldn’t be surprised if she was a hearts players. “You see, my friend here needs to stitch up that bullet hole, but we needed you to be awake for it. So you can scream and attract your other friends.”

As if Arisu would ever do that. They could win without Arisu surviving he wasn't about to be the reason his friends died. The reason Chishiya died. No matter what they did, he could hold out for them.

“Don't feel like talking huh?” The woman said. “that's okay, soon you'll be screaming anyways. I wouldn't try to get up if I were you. We tied you down to the table just to be safe, and any struggle will just aggravate that wound even more.”

Arisu’s body felt so heavy, he hadn't even noticed he was tied up. That didn't matter, even if he wasn't, he was too weak to even push himself up, let alone get away from them. Chishiya would probably come up with some kind of plan. He was good at that, he'd come up with a better plan than Arisu could ever think of.

Arisu could hear another person fiddling with some tools, he could see a bottle of vodka, a scalpel, a pair of scissors and a needle and thread. Was he seriously going to sew Arisu up with absolutely no pain relief. Arisu had to stop himself from panicking. If the man didn't stop the bleeding, Arisu would die. He could handle pain if it meant he could make it back to Chishiya. He just wasn't sure how he would be quiet throughout it, but he'd have to be. He could do this.

The man got the bottle of vodka, opened it before pouring large quantity of it over the make shift surgical tools. He then lined up the bottle with Arisu’s wound and poured the rest of it all over it.

Arisu had to bite his lips to prevent himself from screaming as he felt the vodka seep through into his wound. It burnt, so badly, he felt like his side was on fire. The wound was throbbing even more now, irritated by the sheer volume of vodka poured on top of it.

“My, my, you're holding out quite well~” the woman said, staring at Arisu’s face. “You know, if you don't make enough noise to attract your friends, we will just have to keep hurting you until you do.”

Arisu refused to answer her. Refused to give her the satisfaction of hearing the pain that's seeping into his voice. Arisu would withstand this, or he'd die trying.

After a nod from the woman, the man got to work. Arisu felt the cold, sharp edge of the scalpel cutting the skin around his wound, making an incision big enough the man could reach inside his stomach.

“Well, is it bad?” The woman asked

“It looks like I've only nicked his appendix. It'd be easier just to take it out. No other organs are damaged, so if we remove the appendix and show him up, he should be fine. There would be the worry of infection, but he won't have to worry about that because he won't live long enough for it to set in.”

Arisu winced at the thought of having surgery with no anesthesia. Now he could finally understand why people were so nervous about surgery. It was terrifying. The only silver lining of this situation was the fact that Arisu wasn't going to die, not from this gunshot anyways. Appendixes were relatively easy to remove, and all army medics were trained to remove them, just in case there's ever an emergency that requires it to be removed immediately. This would be agony for Arisu, but it wouldn't kill him.

Arisu got 5 minutes into the makeshift surgery before he couldn’t hold it anymore. He started off whimpering, then it progressed into agonizing, bloodcurdling screams. Every cut, every stitch, every incision made Arisu want to scream. He just wanted it to stop. Why wouldn't it stop.

Arisu didn't miss how the woman's face would light up with every pained sound Arisu would make. Arisu had never hated anyone as much as he hated this woman, he wanted to scream at hurt, to attack her, to make her suffer the same pain he had been through. Instead, he only had the energy to let out a pained whimper.

Arisu just wanted to be back with Chishiya. He felt safe with Chishiya.

”Father, I fell over and hurt my arm.” Arisu cried, holding his arm as he banged on the door to his fathers study. He was in agonizing pain. His brother had pushed him off his bike and Arisu was pretty sure his arm was broken.

“Ryouhei, how many times have I told you not to bother me while I'm at work!” His father said angrily, yanking open the door.

“But, I hurt my arm. Hajime pushed me off.”

“I don't care Ryouhei. If you keep bothering me with this nonsense, I'll give you a reason to complain about your arm hurting.” His father said angrily, going to shut the door.

“But I think it's broken Daddy.” Arisu whines, and immediately regrets it from the angry look on his fathers face.

“What did you just call me?” His father said, grabbing the front of Arisu’s T-Shirt, lifting him up in the air. “YOU WILL ADDRESS ME AS FATHER OR SIR, DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME BOY.”

“Yes sir.” Arisu whispered back, refusing to look at his father.

“WHAT WAS THAT?” His father roared.

“Yes sir.” Arisu replied, louder this time.

“Now, I told you there would be consequences for complaining about this Ryouhei. Put your arm out, into the doorway.”

“What?” Arisu asked, holding his injured arm even closer to his body.

“Do it now, or I'll hurt the other one aswell.”

Arisu obliged, out of fear of his father. To him, Arisu’s father was the scariest man in the world. Sometimes Arisu whished he'd just leave so it could just be him and his mother.

Arisu’s house was quite old, with very sturdy oak doors. His father was quite a large man, so when he slammed the door onto Arisu’s arm, he felt the bone shatter instantly.

Arisu let out a bloodcurdling scream, drawing the attention of his mother.

“Tatsuya what did you do?” She screamed, as she cradled a sobbing Arisu in her arms.

“I’m teaching him how to be a man.”

“He is 6 years old Tatsuya, you just broke his arm!” She argued back, as she rotated Arisu’s arm trying to assess how bad it was.

“Yes, but you've learnt your lesson haven't you Ryouhei.”

“Yes sir.” Arisu responded, as he burrowed his face into his mothers neck.

“Good. I'm going back to work.”

“Of course you are.” His mother yelled back, bundling Arisu into her arms and lifting him up. “I'm taking our son to the hospital.”

“This is why he's so pathetic, all you do is coddle him.”

“MAYBE I CODDLE HIM BECAUSE YOU PULL SHIT LIKE THIS” his mother screamed as she ran down the hallway, cradling Arisu’s limp body against hers. He was in so much pain, but he was too afraid to say anything more. At least he was safe with his mother now.

Arisu was brought out of his flashback was he felt something burning down the back of his throat.

“Rise and shine~” the woman says, holding another bottle of vodka over Arisu’s head. “You're lucky, Morai let you stay asleep for the rest of your surgery, so you're all stitched up now.”

Arisu glanced down at his torso, he couldn't see very well, but his wound seemed neatly stitched up and it wasn't bleeding anymore.

“But, you don't seem to have drawn a lot of attention from your friends? So what do we do about that now. From those cameras over there, it shows that they’re nearby, maybe they don't like you as much as I thought they did. If they are willing to just stay complacent and let you suffer like this.”

Arisu had never felt more relieved. He would understand if they just left him. He was already injured, so he'd just slow them down anyways. It'd be better this way, if they just left him to die. That way, at least Arisu could know they were all safe.

“What about the taser?” The woman says, throwing her taser in her hand. “These are police grade, so they're a lot stronger than you'd think.”

Before Arisu had a cha cow to say anything, the woman shoved a makeshift gag in his mouth, sealing it with duct tape. Why was she gagging him when she wanted him to draw attention?

“You should thank me. I'm just testing this method out, this way, I can stop you biting your own tongue off. Can't have you killing yourself here.” The woman says, pressing the taser against Arisu’s incision. “Maybe I'll try it here.”

Arisu closed his eyes as he felt the electricity coursing through his body. His muscles contracted so hard that the ropes he was tied down with dig into his skin. His gunshot wound throbbed even worse, as Arisu tried to scream, but he couldn't. The muscles in his jaw were preventing him from even making a sound.

The woman tased him for what felt like an eternity before she finally stopped it. Arisu tried to take a deep breath in but was stopped by the gag. Instead, he was forced to take shorter, more panicked breaths.

“Hmm, that won't work. It was fun watching you squirm though.” The woman laughed, a sadistic kind of laugh as Arisu’s head lolled to the side. “You're not passing out on my again now, are you?”

Arisu tried to shake his head, but he was too weak.

“Hey I'm talking to you.” The woman says, kicking Arisu in his injured side. Arisu screamed in pain, as much as he could, around the gag. “Oh right! You can't talk, that's my bad!”

The woman ripped the gag out of his mouth, before kicking him in the side once again. That must have been Arisu’s loudest scream yet, as the accumulation of all the pain was taking its toll on Arisu.

He really wished Chishiya was here to help him. Chishiya would know what to do. He always knew what to do.

“Hmm, what should we do next? Morai, what do you think?”

“I think you're a fucking nutcase.”
The man responded, giving Arisu a sympathetic look.

“Hmm, pass me that scalpel. I have an idea.” The woman says. “What date do you think it is today?”

“How the hell should I know?”

“Hmm, I would guess it's about the 29th of July.”

“Why does it even matter?” Morai asks.

“I'm going to carve his date of death into his skin of course.”

“You're sick, you know that. You need professional help.”

“Maybe~” the woman just laughed, before cutting Arisu’s shirt off completely. “You know, I think this would be the perfect place for it. Directly over your heart.”

Arisu tried to protest, he really did, but his voice just came out hoarse and dry. The woman didn't seem deterred by this, instead she just carried on cutting, and slicing. Arisu screamed with every single stroke, wincing with pain. Each cut she would inspect to make sure it was deep enough and if it wasn't, she'd go back in with the scalpel.

“There we go, that's better!” The woman said, stepping back to admire her handy work. “Oh, you know what, I forgot to sanitize everything. Silly me.”

“Please no…” Arisu croaked out as she watched the woman grab the bottle of vodka. This just seemed to excite her more as she took the lid off and poured it all over his chest. Arisu screamed once again, while the woman just laughed.

Arisu was this close to giving up, he didn't think he could deal with this anymore. It was too much. He was in too much pain.

“I'm sorry, Chishiya.”

-x-

Chishiya could hear every one of Arisu’s agonized screams as they went through their plan. With every passing second, Chishiya could feel himself getting angrier, he just wanted to go and beat whoever was hurting his Arisu to death. He would make it slow and painful and replicate every single wound he found on Arisu’s beautiful body.

Chishiya watched Tatta wince as Arisu let out the most agonising gut wrenching scream yet. Niragi had to physically stop Aguni from storming through and going ti get Arisu.

“Niragi, get out of my way.” Aguni commanded, in his stern voice that would usually get Niragi to fold like a wet paper towel.

“With all due respect, you'll die if you barge in there, you need to wait. Arisu wouldn't want you to give your life for this. If he's screaming, that means he's alive.” Niragi argued back, struggling against Aguni’s giant frame.

“Kyuma and Tatta, go start on the distraction now.” Aguni ordered.

“Tatta.” Chishiya said coldly, causing Tatta to jump practically three feet in the air. “Give me the jack.”

“O-okay.” Tatta said as he practically threw the jack at Chishiya.

“You remember the signal?” Niragi asked Kyuma who just nodded in response, he also seemed very disturbed by Arisu’s screams.

Chishiya waited for Tatta and Kyuma to get into position, before extending a makeup mirror he attached to one of the girl’s selfie sticks. It was amazing what college girls found important enough to put in their pockets. Arisu could see a woman, sat on Arisu’s stomach as she held a knife against his chest. Chishiya pushed down the anger he was feeling. He needed to focus right now. Arisu needed him to be smart.

“There’s two of them. A man, who seems to be sat off to the side, and a woman on top of Arisu. One of you shoot the man in the head, and the other shoot the woman in the stomach.”

Aguni and Niragi just nodded in response, clearly not wanting to argue with Chishiya while he was like this.

Kyuma was fairly quick with his task, setting off the fire extinguisher directly into the room. Aguni shot the man in the head before he even had the chance to react, while Niragi shot the woman in the stomach. She screamed in agony, however it wasn't nearly enough to make up for what she'd done to Arisu.

Chishiya grabbed her by her hair, dragging her off Arisu onto the floor, before hitting her over the head with the jack. It was fairly heavy, but Chishiya’s anger was enough to stop him from getting tired. The woman groaned in pain as she tried to crawl away from Chishiya. But Chishiya stopped her by taking the scalpel she was using on Arisu and plunging it into her hand, pinning it to the floor.

Chishiya started at her for a good second, as she watched her whimper, and start begging for her life. He didn't feel any guilt for this woman, the only reason he hesitated was because he wanted to give her the most painful death imaginable. However, that would take time and resources they didn't have in this game. Arisu needed medical attention quickly, so he didn't have time to make her suffer as much as he wanted to.

Instead, Chishiya just settled on beating her to death with the car jack. He savored every hit, every drop of blood, every pained whimper or scream. This woman could never suffer enough for what she’d done to Arisu. There wasn't enough pain Chishiya could enact on her that would ever make up for what she's done.

“Chishiya. That's enough, she's dead.” Niragi says calmly, holding Chishiya's arm. Chishiya just a glares at him. Niragi seemed relatively unfazed as he urged Chishiya to look over to Arisu. Chishiya yanked his arm out of Niragi’s grip, before walking over to Arisu.

Arisu was barely conscious, leaning against Aguni’s chest, blood dripping down his chest onto his stomach. He didn't look like Chishiya’s Arisu. He just looked broken.

“Shiya.” Arisu croaked, his voice hoarse from all the screaming. He tried to lift his hand to grab Chishiya’s. “I'm sorry.”

Notes:

There was very little comfort in this chapter guys, but the next one, I promise it'll be so cute and fluffy it will make up for all of this angst!!!

I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Feel free to leave any feedback in the comment, it's always appreciated!!!

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Chapter 39: Safe Adjacent

Notes:

Hi guys! I hope you like the new chapter!!! Everyone might be a little OOC in this chapter, but I think it was a sweet chapter! As promised, there's some fluff in this chapter to make up for all the angst last chapter!

I hope you enjoy this new chapter! Feel free to leave any feedback in the comments!

Also, I love interacting with you guys in the comments, so if any of you want to talk about fics/shows/ask me any questions, feel free to add me on tumblr or twitter (I'll link it at the bottom of the chapter). I'd love to get to know my readers more and I love making friends!!!

The game had been fairly easy to clear by the end, with Niragi killing the final player on the Cop’s team. Chishiya was relieved, as that meant they could get Arisu back to the Beach as soon as possible. The Beach wasn't safe per se, but it was the safest place for Arisu while he recovered. It was more safe adjacent, but it'd have to do.

Chishiya watched as Niragi held Arisu’s shaking body upright, as he gently tried to buckle him into the middle seat in the car. Chishiya had wanted to be the one to look after Arisu, but he was still too worked up from the game. He could still feel the anger coursing through his veins, it getting even worse anytime he looked at Arisu. That, and the fact that Chishiya and Aguni couldn't go two seconds without a heated argument about who was better to look after Arisu. Chishiya rarely put any energy into arguments, however, this was a hill Chishiya was willing to die on. He wasn't going to trust the health care of the most important person in his life to Aguni. He'd probably break Arisu even more with how he tried to muscle through everything.

 

“Do we need to stop anywhere for supplies. The hospital maybe?” Niragi asked, sitting down in the drivers seat and starting the car. Niragi was driving as Aguni had also decided he also needed to keep an eye on Arisu.

“The hospital is a game arena, so we can't go there right now.” Aguni responded.

“I've prepared for something like this. Just start driving, I’ll give you directions.” Chishiya responded, as he stroked Arisu's hair away from his forehead. He felt so cold, he must be going into shock.

“Of course you have.” Niragi said, however his tone lacked the usual venom.

Tatta was yet to say anything, much to Chishiya’s delight, he couldn't handle Tatta’s stupidity right now.

They sat in silence the entire car journey, the only sound was an occasional pained whimper from Arisu.

“Is this it?” Niragi asked, looking at the giant gate in front of him. “Where are we anyways?”

“Arisu's house.” Chishiya responded.

“Arisu lives here…it's huge.” Tatta said quietly. Niragi nudged him gently on the shoulder, urging him to be quiet.

“What are we doing here Chishiya?” Aguni asked bluntly, he clearly didn't like this house. Maybe that's something Chishiya could use against him later aswell? However, coming up with ways to manipulate Aguni wasn't at the top of his priority list right now.

“When Arisu and I first came to this world, this was our hide out. I already collected supplies just in case something like this happened, so they should still be here.” Chishiya says, reaching into his shoe for the key. He needed to keep it somewhere safe in case he ever needed to flee the Beach.

“Chishiya.” Tatta asked warily, “why do you have a key to Arisu’s house in the first place?”

“His father loves me.” Chishiya says, twisting the key. He could feel Aguni’s stare burning the back of his head. He didn’t know what Aguni and Tatsuya’s relationship was and he didn't care. All he cared about was making sure Arisu was safe.

“Wow, this place is huge.” Tatta says, admiring the hallway they were walking down, earning a glare from both Chishiya and Aguni. Arisu was asleep in Niragi’s arms, once again, Niragi was having to look after Arisu to avoid more arguments between Chishiya and Aguni.

Chishiya creaked open the door to Arisu's room. It was exactly how they both left it last time they were here, with Chishiya’s original white hoodie folded neatly on the chair; and the medical equipment arranged neatly on the desk. Arisu’s clothes he had foolishly gathered up for his first day of residency were scattered all across the floor. Chishiya didn't cry, he can't remember the last time he ever cried really, that's why he was surprised when he could feel water prickling in his eyes. It must just be allergies, there is no way Chishiya was worked up enough to cry about this. Arisu wasn't even dead.

“Sick. I didn't know Arisu was into video games.” Niragi says, as he gently placed Arisu on the bed. For someone so emotionally unstable and violent, he certainly was doing a good job of taking care of Arisu.

“Look at all these pictures.” Tatta said, amazed as he stared at Arisu’s picture wall. “Who are all these people?”

“The guy with the stupid blonde hair is Karube. The shorter guy is Chota.” Chishiya responded, as he saw which photo Tatta was pointing to.

“Oh yeah, I recognise that guy from the tag game. Oh look, Chishiya you're up here too!” Tatta pointed to the few photos that included Chishiya. Personally Chishjya hated all of them, but they seemed to make Arisu happy so Chishiya sucked it up every time Arisu pulled the camera out.

“Of course I am. We are dating after all.” Chishiya responds sarcastically, as he carefully places his hoodie over Arisu, who was shivering on the bed.

“Right, I forgot about that…” Tatta said, rubbing the back of the neck. Chishiya knew that Tatta was afraid of him, which is why Chishiya was surprised he kept trying to make conversation. Was he seriously trying to cheer Chishiya up? Because he was going about it the wrong way. There was only one thing that could cheer Chishiya up, and that was Arisu making a miraculous recovery and be okay to play the games before his visa runs out.

“Who's that lady?” Tatta says, pointing to the picture on Arisu’s bedside.

“My sister.” Aguni responds, before Chishiya had chance to. “Arisu’s mother.”

“She is really hot. No wonder she married so rich.” Niragi snorted, earning another glare from Aguni.

“Was. She's dead now.” Aguni responded flatly, before placing the picture frame back on the table.

“Aguni, you're in some of these too.” Tatta points.

“Holy shit, is that what you looked like when you had hair? No wonder you shaved it off.” Niragi laughed, clearly trying to make Aguni feel better.

“You have everything you need?” Aguni asks.

“Yeah.” Chishiya responds. We might need to pick up some more antibiotics, but I have some IV ones already. If they don't work, we will have to play the game at the hospital and find stronger ones.”

“Okay. Let's go. The faster we get back to the Beach, the better.” Aguni says, holding the door for Niragi, who had picked Arisu up once again. Chishiya glared at him as he walked passed.

Why couldn't it just be him and Arisu again? Chishiya would be able to take care of Arisu all on his own.

-x-

“Oh dear, that doesn't look good.” Mira says, as Chishiya barrels past her, carrying Arisu to their shared room. Aguni and Niragi following closely behind.

“It's not.”

“Is there anything I can do to help?” Mira asked, in that sing song voice she used during games.

“Get An.” Chishiya responds through gritted teeth. Arisu was even more feverish than before. He needed to assess how bad the wounds were before he even thought about giving pain killers, or antibiotics. He might need to go back in and redo the surgery.

Mira skipped away, hopefully to get An. Chishiya didn't have time to think about it, but how did she know she was waiting for them? She didn't seem surprised to see Arisu injured, and she seemed to be in the exact place to see them walking through the hotel. It could be a coincidence, but it's almost as if she was expecting them?

Whatever, Chishiya didn't have time for this. That would be a problem he could think about later. Right now, his main focus was Arisu.

-x-

Tatta didn't know what to die. Chishiya, Aguni and Niragi had all rushed off to help Arisu, but if he went with them, he'd just get in the way. He was really worried about Arisu, and wanted to do everything he could to help. But how? Tatta wasn't good at anything, what was he supposed to do?

He had tried to cheer Chishiya up as they were exploring Arisu’s gigantic house. But he didn't seem to be getting anywhere. If anything, he was just making Chishiya’s mood worse; so he gave up in the end.

Tatta had never felt more useless than he did right now.

“Hello~” a voice from behind Tatta says, causing him to practically jump in the air. He hadn't realised anyone was around him.

“Hi Mira.” Tatta says, finally composing himself. Mira had always scared him.

“What's wrong?” She asks, tilting her head to the side. As if she were analysing everything about Tatta. It really threw him off.

“I'm just worried about Arisu.” Tatta responded.

“Hmm, is that all?” She asks, squinting her eyes.

“Yeah…”

“You're a bad liar Tatta.” Mira giggles. “But that's okay, you don't have to tell me. Did something personal come up in the game? Something traumatic?.”

Tatta didn't respond, partly because he was scared he'd give himself away. And partly because Mira was just straight up terrifying. If Tatta was stuck in a room with Mira and Chishiya both trying to kill him and he had one bullet, he'd probably shoot himself in the head to ensure a swift death. But if that wasn't an option, he'd shoot Mira. She was the only one scarier than Chishiya.

“I just- I wanted to be able to help more. I can't do anything for Arisu. I'm too stupid.”

“Hmm, I see.” Mira answered, Tatta was slightly offended she hadn't even tried to challenge the stupid part. “Why don't you help me find An?”

“Okay, I can do that.”

Mira and Tatta walked in silence checking every empty room, or white hallway. They even tried to knock on An’s door but they couldn't find her anywhere.

“Hmm, where could she be? She doesn't normally like the pool, she always says it's too loud .” Tatta asked, puzzling.

“No, but she likes Kuina, who likes the pool.” Mira responds, skipping down the hallway.

“Did you know that's where she was the entire time?” Tatta asked, staring at her in disbelief.

“Maybe~” Mira laughed.

“Then why didn't you find her sooner, Chishiya said he needed An’s help.”

“Hmm, why do you think?”

“HOW SHOULD I KNOW?” Tatta responds, he really didn't understand how Mira’s brain worked and he wasn't about to try and decipher it. Not when Arisu needed help.

“Well, Chishiya and Aguni are both very protective over Arisu in different ways, meaning they will have different views in his treatment options. Which means, they will be arguing about them, until Niragi eventually gets bored and intervenes, which should be the time An arrives, if I've timed it correctly.” Mira explains, most of it went over Tatta’s head. However, it did confirm one thing, that Mira was really scary.

The pool was loud, and crowded, just like it always was. Tatta usually tried to avoid hanging around here, most of the militants picked on him, and the girls just laughed at him. He preferred it in the garage where it was just him and the cars. He preferred it that way.

“TATTA! You're back!” Kuina yells, jumping on him excitedly. “I can't believe you got dragged to a spades game!”

“Yeah, about that, Kuina do you know where An is.”

“I'm here.” An says, sat on a tanning bed to the right of them, Usagi was sat directly next to her. Tatta really needs to work on his observational skills. “What do you need?”

“I-” Tatta didn't know what to say. How could he explain to all of his friends, all of Arisu’s friends that he might die?

“Arisu is hurt~” Mira explains.

“What? How bad?” Usagi asks, jumping to her feet. Kuina’s face morphs from excitement to horror.

“Bad.” Tatta responds, feeling tears prick his eyes. “Really bad. Chishiya asked for An, to see if she could help.”

“Where are they?” An asks, handing Kuina her book.

“Chishiya’s room.” Tatta says, An walks away swiftly. Kuina and Usagi move to follow, but Tatta stops them.

“Tatta, what the hell. Get out of the way?” Kuina yells, pushing Tatta.

“No. Look Chishiya only asked for An and you don't want to get in the way right now.”

“Tatta, you're overreacting.” Kuina says. “You're just saying that because you're scared of Chishiya.”

“No, I mean it Kuina. He beat a woman to death with a car jack. Niragi had to stop him because he wouldn't stop hitting him after she died. Niragi had to stop him. Arisu is hurt badly, he got shot Kuina. Not to mention all the other stuff that woman did to him. Chishiya isn't handling it well at all.”

“Arisu got shot?” Usagi asked panicked.

“Wait, what other stuff?” Kuina asks.

“They tortured him, Kuina. It's really bad.” Tatta says between sobs. “It was so bad, I just- I don't know what to do. They carved something into his chest. Chishiya and Aguni wouldn't let me close enough to see, and I- they did some kind of surgery on him.” Tatta said, between sobs. He didn't want to make this about him, but he couldn't help himself.

Usagi and Kuina stared at him for a long time, before their faces softened. “Tatta, it's going to be okay.” Kuina pulled him in for a big bear hug. “It's going to be okay. Chishiya and An are the two smartest people we know, if anyone can help Arisu it's them.”

“Arisu is a fighter too.” Usagi chimed in, patting Tatta on the back.

“Why don't we head over to Chishiya's room, and just wait outside until they're done.” Kuina says, linking her arms through Usagi’s and Tatta’s.

They all walked in silence to Chishiya’s room. Tatta wasn't sure where Mira had gone, but maybe it was for the better that she wasn't here anymore.

“What the fuck are you three idiots doing here?” Niragi said, leaning on the door, lighting a cigarette.

“We came to check on Arisu.” Usagi said, staring at Niragi. “How is he?”

“Bad.” Niragi said bluntly. “But not dead. He's lucky he has so many visa days, or he'd be fucked.”

“Can we go in?” Kuina asked.

“Yeah, if you want to get shot.” Niragi snorted out. “Chishiya and Aguni are both on edge now, it's a miracle they let An in there. I doubt they'd want to hear anything from the peanut gallery.”

“Can we wait out here?” Usagi asks.

“I'm not going to stop you, but it's pointless. I doubt Chishiya is going to let anyone in there.”

“What game was it?” Kuina asks, clearly uncomfortable with the silence.

“8 of Spades.” Niragi answers.

“I feel really guilty. I kept joking saying I got shot, and Arisu actually got shots and now he's hurt and-” Tatta cries out, sobbing into his arms.

“You're such a fucking idiot you know that.” Niragi laughs, flicking Tatta's head.

“Niragi-” Kuina starts, ready to defend Tatta.

“-You did get shot, the difference is you got shot in the side of your ear and Arisu got shot in the stomach.”

“Tatta, you got shot?” Kuina asks, looking at Arisu’s ear. “Oh god, you're bleeding. We will have to get someone to check that out when they're done with Arisu. Hopefully An can look at it for you.”

“I can look at what?” An says, stepping out the door, closing it gently behind her. Kuina let out a small giggle as Niragi almost fell as she opened the door.

“Tatta's ear.” Kuina responds, “When you're done with Arisu.”

“Honestly, Arisu’s injuries are out of my realm of expertise. I was just assisting Chishiya for most of it.”

“Are they that bad?” Usagi asks, worried looking at the door.

“Luckily, they aren't fatal. However, it will be a very difficult recovery.” An says, removing the gloves from her hands. “Arisu is lucky Chishiya is as skilled as he is, otherwise the prognosis would have been very bad.”

“Can we see him?” Usagi asks, but is interrupted as the door opens again, as Aguni and Chishiya both strop out.

“Niragi. Tatta. Come with me.” Aguni says, “Hatter needs a report, and Chishiya is too busy with Arisu.”

“O-okay.”

“Yes sir.” Niragi says, pushing himself off the wall. Agunu didn’t even wait to acknowledge their confirmation, instead he was already halfway down the hallway.

“An, you come too. Hatter will probably want an assessment of Arisu’s injuries.” Niragi adds, grabbing Tatta by the back of his collar, and pulling him down the hallway.

“But, I wanted to see Arisu…” Tatta whispered.

“You can visit him tomorrow. He's probably not going to be up to a lot of visitors tonight. If Chishiya lets anyone visit that is.”

-x-

“Chishiya, how is he?” Kuina asks, moving closer to him. This is the last thing he wanted now, he had finally gotten everyone out of the room, now he had to deal with Kuina and Usagi.

“Stable.” Chishiya responded.

“What happened?” Usagi asked. Was she stupid? Did Chishiya really look like he wanted to talk about that right now? If ever, because let's face it, this was all Chishiya’s fault. He pushed Arisu too far, and it got him hurt. Seriously hurt. The last thing he needed was Kuina and Usagi judging him for it. Chishiya would have to live with the guilt of this for the rest of his life.

“Can we see him?” Kuina asks, going to hug Chishiya, who just stood still awkwardly.

“No.”

“Are you serious?” Usagi asked. “You can't just keep us from him.”

Chishiya was in no mood to deal with this right now. He was still steaming with anger, and was itching to find someone to take it out on. Usagi was lucky she was so important to Arisu, otherwise she would be dead already.

“I said no.”

“She's just worried Chi.” Kuina says, “We all are.”

“Tomorrow. You can see him tomorrow. He needs rest tonight.” Chishiya responded, it would be more work that it's worth arguing with them. He needed to get back to Arisu.

“Okay.” Usagi says she didn't seem happy with the compromise, but it was her only option.

“How are you doing?” Kuina asked. Chishiya just rolled his eyes and walked back into the room, slamming the door in her face. He didn't feel like talking about his feelings right now. It ever, especially not with Kuina. Or anyone that wasn't Arisu.

Speaking of Arisu, he looked so small curled up in Chishiya's bed. He seems to be doing a lot better after Chishiya had properly cleaned and examined his wounds. The IV antibiotics and painkillers also seemed to be doing the trick. He seemed like he was actually sleeping as opposed to being passed out from the pain.

“You should be nicer to them Chishi…” Arisu said in a croaked out voice, Chishiya hadn't expected him to wake up this soon, but hopefully that was a good sign. “They’re just worried about you.”

“And you're supposed to be asleep.” Chishiya said softly, stroking Arisu’s hair. “And I think everyone is more worried about you, than they are about me.”

“Did we clear the game?” Arisu asked, his eyes looking more panicked.

“Everything worked out fine, except for you that is. We cleared the game and we are back at the Beach.” Chishiya said, in the most soothing voice he could. “We didn't lose a single person.”

“That's good, I was worried you guys were going to get hurt, coming to save me.” Chishiya could see the tears welling in Arisu’s eyes. “You should have just left me behind, I'm sorry I was so much work.”

“Now that might be the dumbest thing you've ever said.” Chishiya laughed, a small smile on his face. His Arisu was finally starting to shine through the cracks.

Arisu had a big smile on his face, as he reached his hand up to cradle Chishiya’s face.

“What's got you all happy?” Chishiya asked, genuinely curious, he must be in so much pain, how could he be happy now?

“I love your laugh.” Arisu responded, “your actual laugh, and smile, you should do it more.”

“You’re just saying that because you're high on pain killers right now.”

“Maybe.” Arisu giggles, before lowering his hand. “I'm tired.”

“You should rest more.” Chishiya says, pulling the covers over Arisu’s torso.

“Thank you, for taking care of me.” Chishiya just nodded in response before he laid down next to Arisu, and started stroking his hair again. “Will you stay with me?”

“I'm not going anywhere.” Chishiya responds, and he means it. He truly means it this time.

“Hey Chishiya?”

“Hmm”

“I love you.”

Notes:

I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Feel free to leave any feedback in the comment, it's always appreciated!!!

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Chapter 40: It gets worse before it gets better

Notes:

Hi guys! Sorry for the late update! I have been moving into my third year university accommodation so I hadn't had much chance to write! Hopefully this chapter will make up for it as I tried to make it a bit longer than my usual chapters for you!

Just a couple of warnings for this chapters as there are brief mentions of suicide and child abuse, so if you're sensitive to any of those things, just take care while reading!!

Also, I love interacting with you guys in the comments, so if any of you want to talk about fics/shows/ask me any questions, feel free to add me on tumblr or twitter (I'll link it at the bottom of the chapter). I'd love to get to know my readers more and I love making friends!!!

I hope you enjoy this new chapter! Feel free to leave any feedback in the comments!

Edit: I have started replying to some of my comments, but I haven't had chance to reply yo them all, but I will try and reply to all of them tomorrow!!! I appreciate every comment I receive, I just get so wrapped up in writing more chapters for you guys!!! However, I will try my best to respond to them all!! Thanks for all your patience!!

Arisu groaned as rolled over, pain radiating in his side and chest. He had almost forgot he was injured, but the painful throbbing was enough to remind him of what he’d endured. Arisu didn't remember much from the game; but that woman's face was burned into his brain. The smile, the excitement she got from Arisu’s screams. Something about her just seemed wrong to Arisu. Something had been gnawing at him since he'd left.

The woman didn't look surprised when Chishiya had killed the man during the arm wrestle? And she didn't look surprised when Arisu was shot, or how he reacted to the torture? Was she a dealer? She seemed to have a bigger role in that game than just a random player. Like she was following someone else's orders.

There wasn't anything she did that confirmed this, so Arisu could only speculate, but there was something just off about it.

“What are you thinking about so intently?” Chishiya asks, from the window sill, Arisu hadn't even noticed he was there.

“The girl from the game.” Arisu said truthfully, lying would only stress Chishiya out more. And from what he had overheard last night, Chishiya was already struggling.

“Why?”

“I don't think she was a player.” Arisu started.

“Why do you think that?” Chishiya asked, his head tilting to the side.

“Just a feeling.”

“You shouldn't waste your time thinking about someone like that Arisu.” Chishiya responded, getting up from the windowsill, to check Arisu’s IV. “She is dead now anyway.”

“Oh.” Arisu responded, guilt pooling in his stomach. Even though she had hurt him, Arisu still didn't want her to die. “How?”

“That's not important. You should just focus on getting better.” Chishiya responds flatly.

“Will you stay with me?” Arisu said in a small voice. He didn't like asking people for things, with how he was raised, Arisu was punished whenever he needed anything from his father. So he learnt to not ask. But right now, all Arisu wanted was Chishiya. He was the only person that made him feel safe.

“As long as I can. I have a meeting with Hatter later, but I'll get Kuina and Usagi to come spend some time with you.”

“Oh.”

“I wouldn't leave if it wasn't important.” Chishiya responded flatly again. Arisu couldn't shake the feeling that he was angry at him. Was it because Arisu kept asking for things? That was probably it, his father had been right to condition that out of him.

It was a mistake to ask Chishiya to stay with him. They were only pretending to be together after all.

“I'll come back.”

Arisu nods, trying to force down the bile rising in the back of his throat. He was fine; he didn't need Chishiya to look after him. He'd be fine on his own.

Arisu rolled over, refusing to let Chishiya see any of his pain. He had already inconvenienced him enough, he didn’t need to distract Chishiya anymore. No, Arisu needed to leave for a bit. He had medical training, he could look after himself.

“Can you not get Usagi or Kuina? I'm tired and I just want to sleep.” Arisu asked, his voice small, he was faced away from Chishiya, he didn't want him to know he was lying. If he wanted to go, he couldn't have anyone here to stop him.

“Ok.” Chishiya says, raising an eyebrow but not pushing it further. “I have about an hour before I need to leave. Do you need anything?”

Chishiya goes to stroke Arisu’s hair again, but Arisu curls into himself, moving his head away. The pain in his chest stings even more, but he ignores it in favour of hiding away from Chishiya.

Arisu looks briefly over his shoulder at Chishiya, his face as unexpressive as always, however Arisu sees a flash of hurt in his eyes. It didn't matter, Arisu didn't want to burden Chishiya with looking after him. Brushing him off was the best way.

“I need to look at your wounds.” Chishiya says, grabbing Arisu’s shoulder and pulling him onto his back. Arisu rolls back onto his side, curling in on himself.

“I'm fine. I'm just tired.”

“You are not fine, you have already started showing signs of an infection. If it's not properly dealt with, you could get sepsis and die. Now stop acting like a child and roll over.” Chishiya said sternly.

Stop acting like a child and deal with it Ryouhei.

His fathers words rang in his head as Chishiya tried to pull him over again, scolding him for a third time.

“JUST LEAVE ME ALONE.” Arisu screamed, putting his hands over his head, curling in on himself even more. He could feel blood rushing down his side and from his chest but he didn't care. He just wanted to be left alone. He didn't want to feel like a burden anymore. He didn't want to feel anything.

Arisu just wanted to die.

Chishiya didn't say anything, just stood up off the bed, grabbed his hoodie and walked out the door.

Arisu was half happy he got what he asked for, but part of him just wanted Chishiya to say. To tell him it would be okay. To just hold him to make it feel all better.

To make him feel like less of a burden.

It was okay. If Chishiya was gone, there was absolutely nothing stopping Arisu from leaving.

Arisu had to grit his teeth as he stood up. The blood from his stomach and chest stained his shirt. He needed to grab Chishiya’s medical kit and he could sew himself up. Then he could go find a pharmacy for antibiotics and painkillers.

Sneaking out was fairly easy, easier than expected. That most likely had to do with the fact it was relatively early in the morning and everyone was sleeping over their hangovers. He had almost made it to the back exit when he heard footsteps behind him. Had Chishiya noticed he was gone already?

“Arisu~” Hatter said, as Arisu was halfway down the hallway. “I thought you'd still be in bed right about now. What are you doing up?”

“I just wanted to get some fresh air…” Arisu said, with a smile. Hatter didn't seem convinced, but he didn't seem angry either.

“Hmm, with an overnight bag, and Chishiya’s medical equipment.” Hatter asked, looking Arisu up and down. He was a surprisingly observant man. “I understand. Mori used to be the same, he still is in fact, he couldn't handle people worrying about him or looking after him, so he'd sneak himself off somewhere and come back when he felt better.”

“Yeah…” Arisu wasn't surprised, his mother was the same. Which is how she got away with hiding her mental illnesses for so long. Arisu knew what he was doing was wrong, but he didn't care. He didn't want to burden Chishiya anymore. He could look after himself.

“Well, I won't stop you, as you have informed me, I'll allow you to leave the beach for a few days.” Hatter yawns.

“Why would you do that?” Arisu was genuinely surprised that Hatter was letting him leave. Sure he was planning on coming back, but from what Kuina has said, Hatter didn't really like people leaving.

“Well our cat-like friend came banging on my door, demanding to move our meeting up. He interrupted my ‘alone time’ with Mori.” Hatter explained, Arisu tried not to wince at the visual. “Well Arisu, the same rules still apply, any cards you earn belong to the Beach. And we still don't tolerate traitors.

“Of course, I'm not planning to betray anyone, I just need some time…”

“I understand, dear. But I'm not dealing with an angry Chishiya, if he asks, I'll tell him you left.”

“That’s okay, I understand. Thank you, Hatter!” Arisu smiles, causing Hatter’s face to soften.

“Don't mention it darling.” Hatter says, waving his hand as he walks away. “Now, I have a meeting to attend. Be safe Arisu.”

Arisu pushes himself out the door, the cold air hitting him like a freight train. He pulled the jacket he was wearing closer to his body, trying to block the wind. It was the first time Arisu had taken the time to look at the jacket. It was Chishiya’s white jacket. His white jacket that was now stained with Arisu’s blood. Shit. Chishiya was going to be so angry. He loved that jacket more than anything. Definitely more than he loved Arisu.

”Ryouhei, how dare you stain my carpet!” His father’s voice roared down the hallway. Arisu was too busy trying to stop the bleeding in his arm, to care what his father had to say.

Arisu had injured his arm trying to break up one of Karube’s fights. The man had taken a smashed bottle and stabbed Arisu in the arm; while his back was turned. It wasn't serve enough for a hospital, but Arisu was still bleeding quite a lot.

“Ryouhei, where are you? Get here right now!” His father screamed.

“I'm in the bathroom,” Arisu yelled back, trying to get his father to calm down. Maybe if his father sees he is injured, he will let Arisu off easy.

“Ryouhei.” His father’s stern voice came from the doorway. “What happened? What are you doing?”

If Arisu didn't know better, he'd think his father was worried. However, he'd learnt not to expect that kind of reaction from his father.

“I got stabbed by a beer bottle.”

“And you thought it was a good idea to stain my white carpet and now sink.” His father’s voice echoed in the bathroom. At least he was too preoccupied by Arisu’s arm to hit him.

“I'm just trying to stop the bleeding! I'll clean it up once I've done.”

“You better. I have to go, Hajime has got a piano recital. It better be cleaned by the time I'm back.”

“Yes sir.

Arisu quickly hid the jacket in the bushes next to the exit, trying to ignore the flashback. He was shivering even more now, but he could probably find another jacket at some point.

He just needed to find somewhere to hide, and then he could finally relax and stop being a burden to those around him.

-x-

“Chishiya what are you doing here, I thought you didn't need us for another hour?” Kuina asked, jumping up from the sunbed.

“I moved it up.” Chishiya responded, his hands clenched in fists in the pockets of his shorts.

“I swear, you're the only one that can tell Hatter what to do. You're so scary~” Kuina giggled.

“Do you need us to go over now?” Usagi asked, “We can grab Tatta on the way.”

“He said he doesn't want you there. He's tired.” Chishiya responded, he wasn't in the mood for Usagi to argue back with him. He had already been yelled at by Arisu, which he could ignore on account that he was injured, however he wasn't willing to give Usagi the same grace.

“Should we just go anyways? We can check on him, and if he asks us to go, we will leave.” Kuina asks, it wasn't a terrible idea, if Arisu wanted to sleep and was tired, he could ask them to leave.

“Do what you want.” Chishiya responded.

“Geez, what's got you so grumpy?” Kuina asks, patting him on the shoulder. “Did Arisu kick you out?”

Chishiya just rolled his eyes and started walking away. He had already pissed Hatter off by banging on his door, demanding they move their meeting up. He didn't want to make him even angrier by being late.

-x-

Tatta stood patiently outside the door of his room. He wasn't supposed to meet Kuina or Usagi for another hour, but he couldn't just sit and wait knowing Arisu was injured. So instead, he stood waiting, ready to go the second Kuina and Usagi came to find him.

“Oi loser, what are you doing stood out here?” Niragi yells from down the hall, followed by a few other militants, snickering behind him.

Tatta wanted to crawl into himself, he didn't mind Niragi on his own, but when he was surrounded by the other militants he got a lot meaner and a lot scarier.

“I'm waiting for Kuina and Usagi. We're going to go see Arisu.” Tatta mumbled, refusing to look at the group. He could hear a few of the men laughing at him, but he couldn't understand what was so funny about what he said.

“Oi you lot, fuck off and go do some work.” Niragi yelled, causing the group of militants behind him to disperse. Tatta let out a sigh of relief. Niragi was always better when he was on his own.

“Thanks for that.” Tatta mumbled out, smiling at Niragi.

“I didn't do it for you.” Niragi snorted, “I wanted to go see Arisu too, I doubt Chishiya would let any of the other militants join.”

“Yeah, that's true. I didn't realise you liked Arisu that much.” Tatta says.

“He's alright. Reminds me of a friend I used to have.” Niragi says, looking off to the side.

“The most surprising part of that sentence is the fact you used to have a friend.” Kuina joked as she walked around the corner, Usagi following behind her. “Hey Tatta!”

“Why are you such a bitch to me, but you’re so nice to Tatta?” Niragi responded angrily.

“Because you're you, and Tatta is Tatta.”

“THAT MAKES NO SENSE.” Niragi yells.

“I think it makes sense.” Usagi laughs, earning a pat on the back from Kuina. Tatta can't help but giggle either.

“You guys are here pretty early.” Tatta says, looking at the others expectantly.

“Chishiya demanded Hatter move their meeting up, so we are going to check on Arisu.”

“Seriously…entitled son of a bitch.” Niragi mutters, “Hatters late to most meetings I have with him, and Aguni would shoot me if I demanded he move the time forward. This morning too, that's Hatter and Aguni’s hook up time.”

“Gross.” Tatta mutters out, trying to erase the mental picture from his brain.

“Yeah but you're angry all the time. Chi never gets angry, it's super scary.” Kuina says, chewing on the stare in her mouth.

“Hey I'm scary.” Niragi protests.

“Yeah, but like not as scary as Chishiya.” Kuina giggles out again, Usagi nodding in agreement. “He’s a doctor dude, he could kill you in the most painful and scary way possible.”

“And he was locked up in the worst prison in Japan.” Usagi added, “for 'accidentally’ blowing up part of his high school.”

“And he's super rich.” Tatta adds.

“How is him being rich scary?” All three of them ask at the same time, staring at Tatta.

“Rich people are scary…”

“By that logic it means Arisu is scarier than me.” Niragi yells, looking even more offended now.

“Well yeah!” Tatta confirms, “He's a super rich hearts player. They're the scariest kind of player.”

“THAT BEANPOLE IS NOT SCARIER THAN ME.” Niragi yells. “HE’S A TWIG, ONE STRONG WIND AND HE’D BE KNOCKED OVER.”

“Yeah, but when I first met Arisu, he didn't have to worry about that because he had that scary guy with him.” Tatta nods.

“What scary guy?” Niragi asks, looking curious.

“It was Arisu’s friend, they'd known each other for like 20 years.” Usagi explains. “He was pretty tall and muscular. A very good fighter, he helped Aguni in the spades game. Aguni used one of the militants as bait instead of Karube.”

“Well if he was so strong and scary, why isn't he here now?” Niragi said, his face darkening.

“He died in the 7 of hearts game. He gave his life so Arisu could survive.” Usagi confirmed, a look of guilt appearing on Niragi’s face.

“You could have started with that.” Niragi gets out through gritted teeth, trying to hide his face from the others.

“Even that guy was scared of Chishiya.” Tatta whispered; the memory of Arisu’s friend shouting at him forcing its way to the front.

“We should go check on Arisu.” Usagi says, storming down the hall.

“Wait for me.” Kuina says skipping after her, followed by Niragi.

“You coming or what?” Kuina asks, looking over her shoulder at Tatta. Who was jogging down the hallway trying to catch up to them.

“I'm surprised Chishiya didn't stay with Arisu until we got there.” Niragi says, trying to make conversation.

“Welllll” Kuina starts, “apparently Arisu said he's too tired for visitors.”

“So if we go barging in there and upset Arisu, Chishiya is going to be pissed off at us.” Tatta asks nervously.

“Well, Chi seemed to disagree with Arisu on this and he said we could do whatever we wanted. So, what we're going to do is go and check on Arisu and if he's asleep or asks us to go, we will go.”

“Okay, that seems okay.” Tatta takes a long breath out.

“It seems unlike Chishiya to let you do ‘whatever you want’ when it comes to Arisu.” Niragi says.

“It looks like they had a fight. Chishiya was in a really bad mood.” Usagi says.

“Great, so we have an even scarier Chishiya.” Tatta whines.

“It'll be fine, stop being a big baby.” Kuina flicks him on the head as she approaches the door.

Usagi is the first to knock, hitting her fist gently against the door. There wasn't any sound coming from the other side.

“Maybe he's asleep?” Tatta asks quietly.

“Maybe, we will see.” Kuina says as she starts pounding on the door. “Arisu, we've come to look after you! Open up!”

There was yet again no response.

“Hmm, maybe he is asleep.” Kuina says, scratching at her chin as she stares at the door. “Tatta you try.”

“Hell no, I'm not going to be the one to upset him by waking him up.”

“Fine, Niragi you try.”

Niragi walks to the door, about to hit it before he stops.

“Hey, you guys see this?” Niragi asks, inspecting the wood on the door.

“See what?” Kuina lazily looks in the direction of the door.

“Blood.” Niragi says, wiping his hand against the door handle. “Oh gross! Now I’ve got Chishiya’s aids.”

“Blood.” Usagi and Kuina yelled at the same time, going to inspect the door.

“That's not a lot, maybe it's just from last night?” Kuina theorized, trying to calm down Usagi.

“That's true. We should just go in, to check on Arisu.”

“Yeah that's a good idea! Niragi open the door.”

“Why me?” Niragi said angrily.

“You already have blood on you.”

“Fine.” Niragi said, pushing the door open. Tatta peeked in to the room to find Arisu not there.

“Holy shit that's a lot of blood.” Niragi says, pushing into the room.

“Where’s Arisu?” Usagi asks, panickedly. Her eyes darting around the room.

“Bathroom maybe?” Kuina says, trying to keep her shaky voice calm.

“Well that's not good.” Niragi kicks the door to the bathroom open. There was no sign of Arisu in there either, but at least there wasn't any blood.

“Maybe he went to find Chishiya? If he's on pain medication he might be confused.” Kuina asks.

“If he's bleeding, there will be a blood trail we can follow.” Niragi says, “with the state he's in he probably won't get far.”

“Yeah, that's a good idea, should we go and get Chishiya?” Kuina paces back and forth, shaking her hands.

“That could waste time.” Usagi says. “It's fine if he's still at the Beach, but if he's left, minutes could be the difference between finding him alive or not.”

“Kuina and Tatta, you go and find Chishiya and tell him what's happened. Usagi and I will follow the blood trail to see where it leads. I have my radio, tell Chishiya to use his if he needs to find where we are.” Niragi commands, taking charge of the situation.

“What if you run into trouble, Usagi and Tatta should find Chishiya-”

“I have my gun, we will be fine. Chishiya likes you most out of everyone here, and Tatta is Tatta, so he's unlikely to take his anger out on either of you.”

“Okay, we can do that.” Kuina grabs Tatta’s hand and starts dragging them in the direction of the conference room. She is running way too fast for Tatta to keep up, but somehow she's practically lifted him off the floor to drag him over.

“Chishiya!” Kuina yells from outside the conference room, banging on the door. No one seems to respond, so she starts yelling louder. “CHISHIYA! CHISHIYA!”

“Jesus Christ, what can I do for you?” Hatter answers the door, almost sending Kuina falling through. “Some of us are very hungover and can't handle your yelling.”

“I'm really sorry sir, I need to speak to Chishiya, now.”

“We are in the middle of a meeting, it can wait.

“No it can't.” Kuina argues back, prompting Aguni to come to the door.

“Mori, go get some militants to remove them, now, before I shoot them in the head.” Hatter waves his hand away before going to sit down.

Tatta gulped, fear welling up at Hatter’s threat.

“Arisu is missing.” Tatta looks straight at Aguni, based off how he was in the game, Aguni would be on there side. “The hallway is covered in blood, and we can't find him anywhere.”

“What do you mean he's missing?” Aguni asks angrily, staring directly at Tatta, who shrinks under his gaze.

“I don't know, we went to check on him and he wasn't there. Niragi and Usagi have gone to look for him, but Chishiya knows him best so he might know where he would have gone.”

“CHISHIYA.” Aguni yells, ignoring Hatter’s orders, earning a long sigh.

“What's going on?” Chishiya walks to the door, his face less tense than it had been yesterday. Tatta didn't want to be the one to make him angry again.

Kuina and Tatta shared a look before Aguni finally spoke up. “Arisu is missing.”

“What do you mean he's missing?” Chishiya asked, Kuina groaned at having to explain the situation again.

“We went to check on him and he wasn't there-”

“Oh are you talking about Arisu?” Hatter interrupted. “I saw him in the hallway earlier, he said he was going to get some fresh air.”

“And you didn't think to stop him?” Aguni asked, his voice steady but his eyes filled with anger. This is the angriest Tatta had ever seen him get angry at Hatter.

“He seemed fine. He said he was going to get some fresh air. I was too tired to know what was happening.” Hatter said passive aggressively , clearly still annoyed Chishiya had pulled him out of bed an hour early for their meeting.

“So you're angry at me and you decided to take it out on Arisu?” Chishiya asked, his voice so cold it sent shivers down Tatta’s spine.

“He seemed fine.”

“He has a 40 degree fever, and is on the verge of sepsis, he is not fine, he is practically dying.” Chishiya says flatly, pushing his way past Hatter and Aguni.

“Chishiya, we aren't done with our meeting.” Hatter warns, his eyes darkening.

“Takeru.” Aguni says warningly, “We can finish it later.”

“If he's that ill, he can't have gone that far. Niragi and Usagi will have found him by now.

“Niragi.” Aguni’s voice crackled down the radio.

“Yes sir.” Niragi responded back, seeming out of breath.

“Have you found Arisu yet?”

“Negative Sir. We were following the blood trail he left behind; but it's been raining and most of it has been washed away, we've hit a dead end. We found Chishiya's white hoodie outside the door covered in blood. He's definitely bleeding a lot, probably reopened his wounds.” Niragi’s voice crackled down the radio once again. Aguni gave Hatter a pointed look, causing the man give up.

“Fine, you can go. I'm going to get high, seeing as this meeting probably won't happen anytime soon.” Hatter brushed them off, walking over to the cupboard in the netting room, pulling out a bottle of tequila and a bag of white powder before storming out of the room.

Aguni was the first one storming down the hallway, followed closely by Chishiya.

“Niragi.” Chishiya's voice echoed down the radio now. “Where are you?”

Tatta listened as Niragi rattled off a location, trying to keep up with the others. Chishiya's face was thunderous, as he kept talking down the radio.

Tatta just hoped they could find Arisu in time.

-x-

Arisu had been walking for what felt like hours, trying to find his bearings. He was hot, confused and had no idea where he was. He could feel the blood escaping from his wounds but he was too exhausted to care. He just wanted to find someplace warm and safe, then he could make himself feel better.

His chest burnt with agony, with every breath. Whatever injury was there was causing him the most pain. He couldn't really remember what had happened, but he knew Chishiya was desperately trying to keep Arisu from looking.

Arisu’s original plan was to head towards the house out he had with Karube and Chota. That way he had a bed, food and he could go and collect Aoi’s teddy, that she'd entrusted him with. However, that plan quickly went out of the window, when Arisu turned down a street he didn't recognise and promptly got lost. It was even worse after it had started raining. He was cold before without a jacket, but now the rain was turning his blood to ice. He was shivering and yet he felt so hot at the same time. He either had a fever or was about to die of hypothermia.

He wanted to turn back, to go home and run into Chishiya’s arms; where it was safe, and dry and the pain seemed to fade away. But he couldn't burden Chishiya with the chore that was looking after him. No, Chishiya had his own things to do, Arisu could deal with this on his own. Even Hatter agreed.

Arisu was practically walking from muscle memory alone at this point. He had no idea where he was going, but his legs wouldn't stop moving. Hopefully, he would end up somewhere he recognised sooner or later because Arisu wasn't sure how long he could carry on like this.

Was anyone even looking for him? Probably not. Arisu had intentionally asked Chishiya for the others to stay away, and Chishiya’s meeting would probably be quite a while. It would take hours for the others to find him, if they ever did. Chishiya would probably be relieved he didn't have to deal with Arisu anymore.

Arisu has finally managed to stumble upon a street he recognized, breathing a sigh of relief. He was so exhausted, he couldn't wait to finally get indoors.

Arisu had to ignore how the tears pricked his eyes as he entered Karube’s bar. Arisu knew he kept quite an extensive first aid kit there, with antiseptic wipes, painkillers and bandages. Arisu had used it thousands of times, patching Karube up after countless fights. Hopefully, that paired with Chishiya’s med kit would be enough for Arisu to patch himself up.

Arisu grabbed one of the bottles of rum off the side. Chugging it before he started patching himself up. Logically, Arisu knew he shouldn't be drinking when he was bleeding this much and trying to perform a medical procedure on himself, but he didn't care. He was in so much pain. He just wanted it to stop.

Arisu wanted the world to just stop.

Arisu winced every time the needle entered his skin, luckily, he hadn't torn too many stitches in the wound on his stomach, despite losing a large amount of blood. So it was relatively simple to patch himself up.

Arisu went to remove the bandages from his chest before a wave of dizziness came over him. Maybe he should have started with those first, but it was too late now. Arisu was lucky he was even conscious at all. He tried to grab one of the cushions from the bar stools before he fainted, but all he managed to do was hit his head, before falling to the floor, the bottle of rum shattering around him.

-x-

Chishiya replayed the argument they'd had this morning in his head. Looking for any sign that Arisu was planning to leave. Sure he was acting weird but Chishiya had never expected him to do anything as stupid as this. Is it because Chishiya didn't cancel his meeting to stay and take care of him? If he would have known this would have happened, he would have blown Hatter off. He didn't realise Arisu was feeling that bad. He would have stayed.

This was all Chishiya’s fault.

“Hey.” Kuina says, trying to grab his hand. “We will find him okay.”

Chishiya yanks his hand away, in favour of trying to catch up to Aguni.

“Where do you think he will have gone?” Aguni asks Chishiya, leading them down to the parking garage.

“He's feverish and in pain, he's not thinking straight so he will probably go somewhere his brain associates with being safe.” Chishiya responded, racking his brain for places that could be.

“So like his house?” Kuina asks, her hands shaking.

“No.” Chishiya responded, not willing to elaborate further. “Probably somewhere related to Karube. His apartment, his bar, maybe his hideout before he joined the beach.”

“Isn't Arisu really bad at directions though?” Tatta asked.

“Yeah, so we need to pick the one which is easy to stumble upon if he gets lost, and search outwardly from there.” Aguni adds.

“Karube’s bar is closest to here, then his apartment, then their previous hideout. I'll check his bar, you check his apartment, and Niragi can check the old hideout.” Chishiya demands.

“Fine. Kuina you're with me. Tatta you go with Chishiya.” Agunu demands, throwing the keys at them.

“Be safe Chi.” Kuina yells, jumping in the car after Aguni.

Chishiya just rolls his eyes, he didn't care about his safety, he only cared about getting Arisu back.

Chishiya snatched the keys out of Tatta’s hands before jumping in the driver's seat. Tatta didn't say anything, he just sat in the passenger seat, waiting for Chishiya to start the car.

The car ride was silent the entire time. With Chishiya completing the 15 minute drive in 5. He hadn't had chance to pick up his medical kit before setting off, but all bars were required to have them, so hopefully, it'd be enough to keep Arisu stable until they got back to Chishiya's room.

Chishiya jumped out of the car, rushing to the front door of the bar, which was wide open. That was a good sign, that meant someone was here, hopefully it'd be Arisu.

Chishiya walked through the open door, his hand over his taser just in case. There was blood on the floor, as well as some smashed glass and brown liquid. From the smell it, it was most likely rum.

Hopefully, that was from someone else because Arisu couldn't drink with the medication he was on.

Chishiya rounded the bar, to find Arisu unconscious on the floor. Relief flooded his body as he took in the man’s form. He looked even worse than he had before but at least he was alive.

Chishiya noted the two medical kits open on the floor next to him, as well as the smell of alcohol on Arisu’s breath. This was bad. He had the medicine roughly 8 hours ago; so luckily the alcohol shouldn't kill him; not with how weak he was, it could cause serious harm.

A normal Arisu would have known this, and if he was conscious and alert enough to stitch himself up, he would have known it too.

Was Arisu trying to kill himself?

Notes:

Edit: I have started replying to some of my comments, but I haven't had chance to reply yo them all, but I will try and reply to all of them tomorrow!!! I appreciate every comment I receive, I just get so wrapped up in writing more chapters for you guys!!! However, I will try my best to respond to them all!! Thanks for all your patience!!

I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Feel free to leave any feedback in the comment, it's always appreciated!!!

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Chapter 41: Chishiya's decision

Notes:

Hi guys! I hope you like the new chapter! This one is a bit shorter than normal, but I did that slightly on purpose! There is a decent bit of Chishiya introspection on this chapter!!

I don't know if any of you will be interested, but I've started a new Hunger Games Chirisu fic, with tribute Arisu/mentor Chishiya! So if you're a fan of the hunger games, I think you'll like it and I'd really appreciate if you'd check it out! You can follow this link here!!

Also, I love interacting with you guys in the comments, so if any of you want to talk about fics/shows/ask me any questions, feel free to add me on tumblr or twitter (I'll link it at the bottom of the chapter). I'd love to get to know my readers more and I love making friends!!!

Chishiya was angry. Angry in a way he hadn't been in a while. Even angrier than he was at the woman who tortured Arisu. He couldn't quite pinpoint where this anger was coming from, after all it's not like he actually loved Arisu. There was nothing that should be making Chishiya this angry. And yet, he couldn't shake it. Was it because this entire situation put his plan in jeopardy?

Sure, he needed to get the cards sooner rather than later, as Hatter had been sending even more groups out recently, earning cards at a much quicker rate. But Chishiya still had enough time for Arisu to recover before he needed to worry about executing his plan, so what was it?

The angry feeling had been present since Arisu was injured. Chishiya knew that. The anger flared when he killed that woman and it got even worse after he had that argument with Arisu. Nothing could calm him down; not even when Arisu confessed he loved him, or when he could see Arisu safe in his bed. There was nothing Chishiya could do about it but sit in his anger, contemplating where it came from.

Chishiya could only recall one other time he'd felt this way, and that was after Hayato’s death. His anger so overwhelming, he shut everyone out, stopped talking to anyone and threw himself into his work. Granted he didn't have many people to ignore, but it was enough to ruin every positive relationship he'd ever had. Including his friendship with Arisu.

Chishiya wasn’t interested in making friends when he first started medical school. In fact, his plan was to not interact with any of his peers the entire time it was there. However, that plan went to shit when he met Arisu. Chishiya made it his mission to mess with Arisu at any point he could: inserting himself in family dinners, purposefully making wrong turns, anything he could to get a rise out of him. Arisu was so naïve and gullible, he fell for every trick, prank and manipulation. Chishiya started it as a way to pass the time, but eventually, he'd grown rather attached to Arisu. Developing a small crush that he didn't even know he was capable of.

A feeling that was all well and good when they were in medical school, however, it had no place in this world. A world where every small feeling could be used against them.

And yet, despite everything, Arisu had actually managed to love Chishiya. Despite the fact Chishiya had ignored him for a year, despite Chishiya being a manipulative, lying bastard. Despite Chishiya being a cold blooded murderer. Arisu, the human embodiment of sunshine, had managed to fall in love with Chishiya. Chishiya hadn't addressed Arisu’s confession, and he didn't plan to. Had Arisu made this confession sooner, when they were in the real world, Chishiya would have been overjoyed, as overjoyed as his broken brain would allow him to feel anyways.

But now, it was too late. Chishiya wasn't in a position he could let himself even consider confessing back. Because he wanted to, he really wanted to. But he couldn’t. Chishiya was too broken for Arisu, too cruel and indifferent. That's why Chishiya didn't have a problem with using Arisu for his plan, not anymore. Chishiya knew it would break Arisu, but Arisu was so broken already, it would hardly make a difference. This way, if Arisu survived, Chishiya would keep him away for good this time. And if not, Chishiya wouldn't have his weakness anymore. It was a win/win scenario.

Yet, looking at Arisu’s bloody and unconscious body on the floor of the bar, Chishiya still burned with anger. How could he feel angry at someone hurting Arisu, when he was planning the same thing?

He could sense Tatta shifting nervously behind him. Chishiya wanted to tell him to fuck off. Wanted to shoot him in the head so he couldn't remember how vulnerable Chishiya looked right now. He wanted to take Tatta and swap him with Arisu so he didn't have to suffer anymore..

“Tatta.” Chishiya said coldly, causing Tatta to jump in the air. “Go get the car ready.”

“Yes sir.”

Sir? Seriously, how scared of Chishiya was Tatta? That wasn't necessarily a bad thing. Tatta seemed to be serving as a weak point for Niragi at the moment, so he could prove useful in the future.

Chishiya carefully scooped Arisu up in his arms, princess carrying him to the backseat of the car. His fever was even worse now, luckily it seems like he managed to stitch up his stomach wound quite well, so Chishiya wouldn't have to worry about that. His chest wound was still bad though. And there was the issue of infection to deal with. Arisu was already on the verge of a severe infection, but the antibiotics Chishiya had him on were keeping it at bay. But with Arisu walking around in the rain and missing about two doses, they wouldn't be enough anymore. He needed hospital grade ones, but the hospital was blocked by a game.

Chishiya looked at Arisu’s unconscious body, the anger burning his veins. He truly loved Arisu he really did. But that feeling was changing now, morphing into something ugly.

Because Chishiya was starting to hate him.

-x-

Chishiya placed Arisu back down on the bed, gently stitching his chest wound up again. He had a much bigger audience this time, with Kuina, Usagi, Niragi, Tatta and Aguni all watching him. It made Chishiya want to scream. He hated this, being stared at, being the centre of attention. He hated all of it.

Luckily enough, the others were smart enough to sense this. Giving Chishiya a lot of space and not talking to him about pointless shit while he was trying to work.

An infection had definitely set in now, Chishiya could tell from the wound. So they needed to clear that game at the hospital soon, or else it wouldn't matter what antibiotics Chishiya used, it'd be too late.

“Well, how is he?” Aguni asked, his gaze softening as he looked at Arisu.

“Bad. We need stronger antibiotics, hospital grade.” Chishiya says.

“Why don't Kuina and I go to get them?” Usagi suggested, Chishiya just rolled his eyes. If they felt like trying to clear an unknown game together, they were more than welcome to.

“The hospital is a game venue.” Niragi stated, “Kuzuryu hasn't worked out what that one is yet, we'd be going in blind.”

“It needs clearing anyways, may as well do it now.” Aguni states. “Niragi and Tatta you stay with Arisu, make sure he doesn't run off again. The rest of you, be ready in two hours and we will leave for the game.”

Everyone silently agreed to their roles, and left leaving Arisu and Chishiya alone. Chishiya appreciated how they were all being careful not to wake Arisu.

Chishiya just looked at Arisu, with how he pulled away that morning, Chishiya didn't want to risk touching him anymore, so he just stared. A knot forming in his stomach, as tears prickled his eyes. He wanted so desperately to love Arisu back, so why couldn't he let himself?

Chishiya couldn't do it anymore, he couldn't keep playing pretend boyfriend, it was killing him. He had always known his weakness was Arisu. From the moment they met, Chishiya knew Arisu was dangerous for him. But he ignored it and kept pushing it, he always found a way to get closer or insert himself in Arisu’s life. He'd grown so attached to Arisu he couldn't picture a life without him in it.

That's why he needed to sever this attachment to Arisu for good. Chishiya would never willingly give Arisu up, he was too selfish for that. No, he needed to push Arisu to do it. Something so bad that even Arisu wouldn't forgive him.

That's where the plan came in.

The cards were the foundation that the Beach was made on. The only reason Chishiya stuck around was so he'd have a shot at getting those cards.

For his plan to work, Hatter had to die, and he needed Aguni to kill him. At first, Chishiya thought he could use Aguni’s protectiveness over Arisu, but he still seemed too loyal to Hatter to ever kill him over that. No, he needed Hatter to think Aguni was going to betray him. Aguni was faster, stronger and had better aim; there was absolutely no way Hatter would be able to kill him in a standoff. Once Hatter was dead, the role of number one at the Beach would be passed over to Aguni, meaning that’d be Chishiya’s opening to find where the cards are hidden. He was already fairly certain of the code, it was just the hiding place he needed to find.

Chishiya had noticed a safe in one of Hatter’s wardrobes. Chishiya strongly doubted the cards would actually be in that safe, Hatter may be a drug-addicted, crazed cult leader but he wasn't stupid. Far from it actually. Meaning, that safe was most likely there as a red herring to catch anyone trying to steal the cards. That meant he needed a decoy, someone to try that safe, so when Aguni caught them, he could find the real location of the safe. Much like tourists when they see a ‘beware of pickpocketers’ sign, humans will automatically look to check on their most valuable items when someone is trying to steal from them. It's a human instinct, completely uncontrollable, and that was Chishiya’s ticket to finding the cards. Once the decoy safe was attacked, Aguni wouldn't be able to help himself and he'd automatically look in the direction of the real safe.

He had originally planned on using Kuina, Tatta or even Usagi for the plan, but they would never work because they didn't trust him. Chishiya didn't blame them, because fundamentally, Chishiya was an untrustworthy person. He was programmed to always look after himself and no one else.

But Arisu, sweet naïve Arisu, trusted him. He trusted him implicitly. Chishiya had shown what a terrible person he was, time and time again and yet, Arisu still trusted him completely.

And as much as he hated it, Chishiya trusted Arisu too. And that's why he was the perfect sacrifice in his plan. One of the militants would most likely shoot him on sight, the second he tries to break into that safe. But on the off chance he does survive, it will be enough for Arisu to never love Chishiya again.

And Chishiya could live with that, it was a small price to pay to get rid of his only remaining weakness.

Chishiya needed to make sure Arisu got better first though, before he could even think about setting his plan in motion. He needed to prepare for his game.

Based on how most people felt about hospitals, Chishiya wouldn't be surprised if it was a hearts game. A club game made sense too. A diamond game would be less likely, as well as spades.

So he needed to prepare for a hearts or clubs game. No one going with them was a hearts specialist, so if it came down to it, Chishiya would probably have the edge when it came to manipulation. Clubs they should be more than fine with the team they were going in with.

The worrying part was the game being based in the hospital. That most likely meant desperate people with injured loved ones were playing, and desperate people act recklessly when they feel like they're at risk of losing everything. It made them unpredictable.

In the end, Chishiya settled on his taser, a screwdriver, a knife and his old hospital ID card, as it should still work even in the Borderlands. Chishiya didn't have enough room in his shorts to store these, and his white hoodie was completely covered in blood, so he had to begrudgingly take one of Arisu’s hoodies. Chishiya doubted Arisu would mind, and even if he did, Arisu owed him two replacements for the hoodies he managed to trash anyways.

Chishiya took a big breath in as he looked at Arisu. His anger from earlier still as strong. He just needed to get through this game, make Arisu better and follow through with his plan.

Then he’d never have to see Arisu Ryohei again.

Notes:

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Notes:

Thank you so much for reading!! I hope you enjoyed it! Feel free to leave any feedback in the comments!!

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Series this work belongs to:

• Part 1 of I hate that I don't hate you