Chapter Text
Chishiya
The colourful decorations in the room almost startled his eyes after stepping out of the glass box. The mockery of the circus-esque room was somehow more striking without a clear barrier.
There was the sound of vomiting- probably Heiya, as Aguni went to comfort her. To his left, there was a thump- Shuntarou glanced over and saw Arisu collapsed on the ground.
“Arisu!” Usagi was by his side in an instant, fretting over him panickedly. “Arisu, are you okay?”
“Shit,” Kuina swore loudly as she came to kneel by him as well. “Chishiya, do you know anything? What do we do?”
Shuntarou studied Arisu’s face carefully. He was deathly pale- there was sweat beading at his temples and his brows were furrowed despite being unconscious. He felt carefully at the area between Arisu’s nose and lip, then pinched his cheek gently. No reaction, though he was breathing steadily. His lips were cracked and pale. “A case of stress overload. He’ll be fine with some rest, though I wouldn’t recommend waking him.”
“I’ll carry him,” came Aguni’s gruff voice as he came to look at Arisu. “Anyone have water?”
Usagi scrambled to her feet, hurrying over to her backpack. abandoned by the door, and extracted her bottle of water, which she offered to a similarly-pale Heiya. “Thanks, Usagi.”
“Let’s find the playing card,” Ann said shakily. “I’d rather we get out of here. We’re vulnerable right now with Arisu unconscious.”
“Aguni, will you be okay?” Kuina asked. “You’re still using a crutch.”
“I’ll be fine,” Aguni said. “He’s not heavy.” He demonstrated by hefting Arisu’s entire body onto his shoulder and determinedly making his way over to the door, his other side still leaning heavily on his crutch.
“I keep telling him he should eat more,” Usagi fretted, still looking worried. “He’s too skinny.”
“You’re not his mother,” Aguni said, rolling his eyes as they all went to gather their backpacks. “He’s about as heavy as a sack of flour, and I doubt it’ll ever get better.”
“U-um,” one of the girls piped up, “By playing card, do you mean this?”
Shuntarou glanced at her. In her hand was indeed the playing card, a neat five of diamonds.
“Yes, that’s right,” Ann said, smiling. “Do you mind if we take that?”
“Why?” The other girl asked, her eyes narrowed. “Is it some sort of tool?”
“Mizuki!” The first girl- Kimiko- said, tugging on her friend’s arm. “It’s okay, we’ll give it to them.” She smiled at them weakly. “Some latch on the podiums opened and this came out.”
“No,” Mizuki said, snatching the card out of KImiko’s grasp and holding it close to her chest. “Not unless they tell us what it does!”
Shuntaru felt annoyance rising in his chest. It wasn’t like Arisu would suffer the longer they stayed here, but he was probably dehydrated and he’d really like to get him on an IV drip in a proper bed.
“I’ll tell you what it does,” he said casually. “It’s fine, I doubt you’ll want to keep it afterwards anyway.” He smirked, just to watch the two girls flinch in fear. “The playing cards are a marker. They determine who the player that cleared the game is.”
“W-what? Why would that matter?” Kimiko asked, her eyes wide.
“The gamemakers keep track of exceptional players,” Ann explained, crossing her arms. Good- she caught on to the lie he was trying to tell. “Sometimes they give them rewards, but sometimes they give them very hard games to test them. It’s a gamble that we like to take.”
“Gamemakers?” Mizuki whispered fearfully. “There are gamemakers?”
“We don’t know,” Shuntarou said, shrugging. “We just know that whoever runs these games gives rewards and punishments based on the playing cards.”
“We played the three of spades last time, and Aguni here was the one that took the card,” Ann said, gesturing at him. “They gave us guns and weapons afterwards. But the harder the game, the higher the chance of receiving a punishment instead.”
“The guy who’s passed out?” Shuntarou added. “That’s Arisu. He cleared the five of spades and they gave him a punishment- they put him in the seven of hearts right after. Not fun.”
“How do these punishments work?” Mizuki asked, clutching the card tightly. “It’s just giving you harder games?”
“Nah, they personalise the games to torture you,” Shuntarou said lightly. “I’ve played the seven of hearts before, or a version of it. It was just a trivia game with really hard questions. The one Arisu got was pretty damn terrifying and killed a lot of people. He barely made it out alive.”
“Mizuki,” Kimiko said, her eyes welling with tears, “Just give it to them. It’s not worth the risk.”
“What if they’re lying to make us give it up?” Mizuki asked her friend, clutching her hand. “What if it’s actually a good tool?”
“It’s not worth it!” Kimiko shrieked, properly crying now. “I don’t care! Let’s just leave!” She tore the card out of Mizuki’s grasp and practically threw it in Shuntarou’s face before taking Mizuki’s hand and bodily dragging the girl out of the venue, protesting the entire time.
“Well,” Ann said, picking up the card. “That was easy. Now let’s go. I doubt Arisu wants to spend any more time being worn like a scarf.”
Shuntarou glanced at the other team, collapsed in their glass boxes.
They collected their bags, trying very hard to ignore the eleven dead bodies in the room, and piled back into their car. Shuntarou’s phone dinged- his screen now displayed 6 days left on his visa.
“Here, lay Arisu across our laps,” Kuina said, arranging the guy like he was a surfboard. “I feel bad about wrangling him like luggage.”
“Why is he so tall and skinny,” Heiya griped, seemingly having recovered from her bout of vomiting. “What is this build ?”
Their resulting arrangement was a little uncomfortable- Arisu’s face was shoved into Shuntarou’s shoulder and he had to subtly adjust his head so he could breathe without his nose being assaulted by Arisu’s hair. Arisu’s knees were bent awkwardly and his feet were wedged between the door and Heiya’s neck.
“At least he doesn’t stink,” Kuina joked. “Poor Heiya.” Said girl rolled her eyes.
“I hate diamonds games,” Usagi muttered under her breath. “I didn’t play a single diamonds game last time and I tried so hard not to break that streak.”
Shuntarou tried not to quip back at her- it was getting hard, this whole teammate thing, having to be careful to rein his mean streak back. It wasn’t like Usagi couldn’t handle herself against him- heavens knew she’d made fun of him plenty of times, but if he got too comfortable he was liable to say something truly off.
He hadn’t minded the whole friends shtick back in the real world all that much- it had been comforting, sometimes, but sharp, like warming frozen hands against a fire, the first sensation not comfort but pain. Something unused to warmth takes a while to adjust. In those scant months, he’d let himself adjust.
Then he’d been thrown back into this place.
Kuina and the others hadn’t seemed to mind continuing their little group- Shuntarou could see that even Aguni was beginning to relent under Heiya’s aggressive companionship, and Ann had never truly been like he had. Still, though- they were all surely thinking it- sooner or later they’d enter a hearts game, and then the fight for survival against each other would begin.
So they went back to the house, cramped up in the tiny little car, and made notes of several game centres along the way. By some unspoken agreement no one woke Arisu up, by the pallor of his skin and the waxy, pale tinge to his complexion. His lips were very, very pale.
Shuntarou, sensing that he’d be automatically volunteered to give an unconscious Arisu a very awkward sponge bath if he didn’t do something, sidled his way up the stairs before anyone thought through the logistics of how they were going to take care of an unconscious Arisu. He slipped into bed, tapping away idly at his phone.
Somehow, this time around, everything felt a little muted. A little while later Kuina emerged with Arisu slumped over her shoulder, and she gave him a dirty look as she heaved Arisu into bed. That was Shuntarou’s cue- he got out of bed lazily and extracted the hydration materials he’d snagged on the way upstairs, hooking Arisu up for a night of IV.
“He won’t be up until tomorrow at least,” Shuntarou told Kuina, who was frowning down at Arisu’s messy hair. “You can go to sleep. I’ll be here, it’s not like he’s going to explode overnight.”
She rolled her eyes. “The thing I’m most worried about is you being here,” she said in a teasing tone. “If you smother him we’ll be down a player.”
Shuntarou shrugged mockingly. “If he doesn’t give me a reason to smother him, I’ll make his death quick and painless.”
She smacked him on the shoulder and he had the decency not to dodge.
It was getting late- Kuina and the others went to bed fairly quickly, evidently all still shaken from the diamonds game, but Shuntarou found he couldn’t sleep right away, tired as he was. He spent a while staring at Arisu’s face, tense even in sleep.
That second-to-last question had been the one on Fibonacci sequences. Shuntarou had known Arisu was educated and clearly smart and that panicking wouldn’t do him any good in that situation. It was possible that Arisu’s was one of their 7 incorrect answers, but seeing as only 3 had gotten the question right, Shuntarou was inclined to believe it was them.
It was far from the most impressive maneuver Shuntarou had ever witnessed from Arisu. Still, he had had the impression that Arisu didn’t work well under pressure or time constraints. He’d fainted right after, so maybe he was still right, but it called for a reevaluation of his mental profile regardless.
Shuntarou knew staying awake too long wasn’t good for him. His sleep since arriving back in the Borderlands had been spotty, which would hinder his thinking in a game.
They had five days before they would have to play another game, thanks to the wiggle room they’d given themselves by playing early. He’d be partnered with Aguni and Heiya, the two people in their little group he liked the least.
He couldn’t say why he disliked Heiya, only that he did. She was smart enough to not be dead weight but dull enough to manipulate, and her archery skills alone would’ve made her valuable to keep around. Still, something about her rubbed him the wrong way, perhaps her snarky optimism or the way she sidled too close to everyone in their group.
Aguni required much less deliberation. A stubborn blockhead who refused to die. Shuntarou didn’t hate him per se, the same way he didn’t hate Heiya, but he would much rather have been paired up with Kuina.
Kuina, who was likely going to try and get a girlfriend while playing death games. Oh well.
.
The next day, by the time Shuntarou blinked his way out of his sleep, Arisu was gone and his side of the bed neatly made. There was the sound of conversation from downstairs- the analog clock in the room told him it was nearing noon- so Shuntarou dragged himself out of his blankets and down the stairs.
“Chishiya,” Usagi said, holding out a cup of coffee. “Here, you’re up.”
“Finally,” Kuina added under her breath. “Took you long enough. Even the coma patient woke up before you.”
Arisu, sitting around the dining table with the rest of them and looking much better (though still a bit pale), winced and smiled. “Coma patient, that’s harsh…”
Shuntarou took the coffee from Usagi with a murmured thanks and glanced at what everyone was doing. There was a map of Tokyo, the playing card, and an assortment of paper and pens.
“Ann’s not up yet,” Heiya sighed, twisting her hair in her fingers. “We’re starting our little strategy meeting without her.”
Shuntarou gladly snagged the last open seat. “Not sure the police precinct is a good idea.”
Kuina blinked. “Why?”
“It’s an enclosed, crowded space that includes cells, locks, handcuffs, and keys. Pretty sure it’ll be a hearts game with only one survivor.”
Arisu sighed and resolutely crossed the local police precinct off the list of game venues. “He’s right. I think Usagi and I will take the daycare, Ann and Kuina will take the school, and Chishiya, Heiya and Aguni should go to the restaurant.”
“No objections,” Aguni grunted. He was thumbing one of his crutches.
“We still have five days left before we have to play,” Kuina said optimistically. “We shouldn’t worry too much about it now.”
“The players here seem experienced,” Arisu continued, his gaze pensive as he stared down at the map in front of him. “There are some old players, even if new ones are constantly arriving at any given time. Let’s assume, at the moment, that we’re halfway through the first stage, and work from there.”
It was then that Ann emerged from the stairs, makeup and hair done already, and they splintered off to eat lunch. In the afternoon, Ann, Kuina and Heiya left in the car to scout for supplies, taking advantage of the sunroof to perch Heiya up there like a medieval turret with her bow drawn, looking tense. Meanwhile, Shuntarou continued to try and patch Arisu and Aguni up.
Arisu’s wound wasn’t too major- it would probably heal completely in another week or two, though it might leave a slight scar considering the less-than-optimal medical conditions they were under. Aguni was just as stone-cold as he always was even as Shuntarou disinfected his bullet wound yet again.
That night, Ann returned triumphantly from their scouting trip with another diesel car: a 2002 Volkswagen Touareg SUV, apparently, which Shuntarou had no idea the value of but Arisu seemed extremely excited by. She took it upon herself to start trying to teach the others how to drive- Aguni and Heiya were spared on account of their injuries, which meant Arisu, Usagi and Kuina took turns looking extremely nervous behind the wheel of their smaller BMW. By midnight, they all managed to fit themselves into the new Volkswagen without Arisu having to lay himself horizontal anymore, and by luck scrounged two pistols and a few magazines of submachine bullets from a discarded spades venue. Even luckier, the playing card was right there on the floor- clearly the players had been too disoriented to take it, or they simply hadn’t known its significance.
“The 6 of Spades,” Kuina said, picking it up from the pavement and valiantly ignoring the enormous puddle of blood leaking out from a room with a closed door that none of them wanted to approach. “Lucky, I guess.”
They all hurried back to the house after that, getting ready for bed once again in the wee hours of the morning. By the time Shuntarou felt sleepy, Arisu’s steady breathing had made him think he was long asleep. His quiet voice came as a shock as the clock ticked near 3 in the morning.
“Hey, Chishiya?”
Shuntarou huffed, stretching a little and pulling his blankets tighter over himself. “Yeah?”
“I’m still thinking about who sent us back here.”
Now that was a conversation Shuntarou wanted to have. He rolled over to face Arisu, who was staring up at the ceiling with a pensive look on his face. “Mmm-hmm. So am I.”
“Ann originally assumed it was another survivor, but I don’t think so,” Arisu said slowly, as if rolling each word over his tongue. “Who would have the resources to pull off all of those crazy stunts? We still don’t know who we heard in the backyard that night, or how we got back here in the first place.”
“I wonder if it’s only us they sent back here,” Shuntarou murmured, “or the other survivors as well.”
Arisu paled. “I hadn’t thought of that. Do you think Niragi’s here?”
“I hope not. Worst comes to worst, I’ll set him on fire again.”
Huffing out a dry laugh, Arisu threw a hand over his eyes and groaned. “There’s only so many times you can set the same guy on fire before you run out of stuff to burn…”
.
The next few days passed relatively quickly, to Shuntarou’s surprise. He’d expected the days to drag on like they had before, but with their previous experience, the first stage seemed almost a breeze when they weren’t participating in games. Without the King of Spades relentlessly pursuing them across Tokyo, scouting for supplies and staking out game centers wasn’t particularly difficult, just time-consuming.
Still, though- Shuntarou knew that even split up into little groups, the gamemakers would be coming for them hard. Soon the games they’d face would be tailor-made to torture them and force them apart. It was very unlikely they’d all still be alive to enter the second stage.
The teams Arisu had proposed were curious. As expected, Arisu and Usagi were working together, but the fact that he and Kuina were split up was merit for further consideration. Ann would work well with Aguni and Heiya- how come the teams weren’t organised that way?
He doubted it was a conscious, calculated strategy on Arisu’s end. Much as he tried to deny it with his innocent demeanour, Arisu was a hearts player through and through. Shuntarou didn’t know him as well as he’d like to, but there was something that lurked under the wide-eyed, joking college student that manifested only in subtle bursts, lingering at the surface but never rearing its head. He constantly made little comments and analysing statements that wouldn’t be any cause for suspicion but were enough to establish a causal pattern.
Arisu was someone who viewed the world like a chessboard, whether he liked it or not. Every situation could be thought through with meticulous reasoning. More importantly, every action of every person was something that could be deducted with enough evidence. He was like a deep learning model, some sort of AI. The way he did it, from the slivers that Usagi and Kuina had revealed about the King of Clubs game, was by getting into the head of the person he was trying to figure out. A shapeshifter of sorts.
Strangely, Arisu wasn’t very perceptive. He hadn’t seemed to pick up on whatever puppy crush Kuina was harbouring on Ann, and he also didn’t seem to realise the soft looks Usagi kept sending him weren’t entirely platonic in nature. How did someone like that manage to be such an effective hearts player?
Fascinating.
Still, the upcoming games were more important. Shuntarou knew he wasn’t a spades player- he was fairly athletic, but he wasn’t particularly tall, strong or fast. He had excellent reflexes, dexterity and decision-making skills but not the physicality to follow through. Aguni and Heiya were both spades, but they were also both injured and newly-disabled. If they ran into a spades game, they would probably have a hard time.
Diamonds also wouldn’t be ideal. They usually had minimal survivors, and the five of diamonds had been sheer dumb luck. It would be hard enough keeping himself alive, never mind two dead weights.
Ironically, it would be either hearts or clubs that would work the best. Clubs, because teamwork makes the dream work or whatever.
Hearts, because Shuntarou probably wouldn’t care too much about betraying either Aguni or Heiya.
The restaurant they’d been assigned to play in was on the 47th floor of a fancy high-rise building. From the pamphlet Arisu had snagged a few days ago, it was very fancy, very expensive and very exclusive. The kind of place Shuntarou’s father would take potential investors for a business dinner.
What kind of game would occur in such a place? Nothing too physical, which is probably why Arisu had picked it. It would be full of enclosed, relatively small spaces of private dining rooms and also include potential weapons like knives and hot oil.
When the eventual day arrived, Usagi and Arisu set off on foot to head to the daycare, which was only about a ten minute walk away. Ann and Kuina left for the high school in the old BMW, and Shuntarou carefully drove him, Aguni and Heiya to the restaurant.
They were all carrying radio transmitters, with a signal amplifier that Ann had looted from an electronics store in the BMW, since the school was halfway between the daycare and the restaurant. With a reach of over 50 kilometres, they’d be able to communicate with each other through the radios before and after their games. Ann set a reporting schedule of every 15 minutes until the games started, and they were all equipped with a few knives hidden on their person. Each car had a submachine gun and a pistol in the trunk in case the games allowed the use of their precious looted weapons, though they were faced with the problem of a limited amount of ammo. There were only so many magazines each dead dealer could carry, not to mention that other players had already picked over a lot of the venues.
Shuntarou was still bad at driving. He nearly crashed a few times even though he was sort of getting the hang of it, so by the time they had arrived at the restaurant it was nearly midnight.
“Hurry,” Aguni grunted as Heiya helped him out of the car. “Only ten minutes left.”
Shuntarou got the weapons out of the back and took the submachine for himself. Aguni gave him a pointed look but took the pistol. Heiya had her bow and arrows, and Shuntarou’s shit aim meant spraying his opponent with a shower of bullets was a better strategy than trying to aim the pistol.
They hid the Volkswagen in an alley. The lobby of the building was dark, but a dim light shone out of a corridor. Only one of six fancy elevators was working, and the button for the 47th floor was already lit up. Heiya pressed it hesitantly, and it glowed red. Smoothly, the elevator began to ascend.
The inside of the elevator car was almost completely dark, illuminated only by the glow of the display showing which floor they were passing. Soon enough, they were deposited onto the 47th floor.
The swath of light which greeted their eyes made Shuntarou wince. Unlike the five of diamonds, the entire floor was lit up to reveal a bright, lavish hallway decorated with crystal light fixtures and shiny marble floors. The entrance of the restaurant was marked with a hostess stand which held the familiar paper sign: One Per Player, No Weapons Allowed.
There were only four phones left. Shuntarou picked one at random.
“We can hide our weapons behind the curtains,” Heiya whispered, pointing at a set of heavy velvet curtains which likely covered a custodian’s cabinet. Quickly, they used the golden ropes holding the curtains closed to tie their weapons to the fabric, out of sight.
The restaurant doors were big, made of glossy dark wood. Shuntarou extracted his radio, preparing to make his last transmission.
“We’re at the doors,” he said quietly so none of the players inside would hear. “About to enter the game, over.”
Seconds later, a transmission crackled through with Ann’s voice. “Understood. Good luck, over.”
With that, Aguni pushed open the door, and the three of them made their way into the restaurant. It was a curious sight- most of the tables inside had been cleared off to the side, chairs stacked up on top, and there was a singular enormous round table in the middle with 12 seats. 8 of them were filled already- miscellaneous players sitting in miscellaneous places, some looking nervous. Each seat had a notepad, a number placard and a single pen in front of it. On top of the table was a rotatable glass wheel, what they called a Lazy Susan in the West, with a single black serving dish with a round lid so they couldn’t see inside the dish.
The game screen was behind the table up against the far wall of the dining room, still blank white.
Shuntarou leaned closer to Aguni. “We should sit apart,” he said under his breath, and went to sit between a stone-faced woman and a teenage boy. Aguni sat two seats away from him, and Heiya right in-between the two of them.
They waited in relative silence. Only two minutes before midnight, a random man stumbled into the room, rushing to fill the last seat in a panic. Almost as soon as he’d sat, the screen blared to life.
Ding-ding-ding-ding! “Registration closed! Number of registered players: twelve. Game difficulty: six of hearts. Game: Diplomatic Hindsight.”
Well. At least it wasn’t spades. Shuntarou caught sight of more than a few tightened faces around the table.
“Rules: players will be divided into guilties, judges and innocents. Players will not know their own role. Each round, vote to eliminate one player. Guilties must eliminate either all innocents or all judges. Innocents and judges must eliminate all guilties. Game will begin in thirty seconds.” A countdown appeared onscreen, ticking down the seconds.
The table was silent. Heiya caught Shuntarou’s gaze, but he ignored her.
“What the hell?” The man who had joined last finally spoke. “So we just eliminate people randomly?”
“Is there no difference between innocents and judges?” The woman sitting next to Shuntarou asked, her voice sharp.
As always, the system did not reply. The countdown struck zero, and the screen flashed with pictures of each of them, as well as their names and numbers.
“Round one! First to speak, Player Number 1!” The system announced cheerfully. A picture of a middle-aged woman flashed onscreen, and her number placard lit up. Her face twisted, looking confused.
“Um…” she began, her voice hesitant. “Is this a little bit like a game of werewolf?”
Shuntarou kept quiet, shooting a glance at Heiya, who had been about to open her mouth. She shifted, having caught his glance, and kept her mouth shut.
“I think so,” said the teenage boy next to Shuntarou, whose number was 7. “A really weird one, at least.”
All of a sudden, the screen flashed red. “Player Number 7 has spoken out of turn,” the system announced. “Player Number 7 is eliminated.”
The boy’s eyes widened. “What-’ was all he managed to say, his tone shocked, before a laser descended from the ceiling and struck clean through his skull. Shuntarou couldn’t stop himself from leaning away as the boy slumped over in his chair and slid slowly to the ground, his empty gaze frozen in confusion.
Heiya’s hands were over her mouth to keep from speaking, face twisted in terror. A few let out quiet whimpers of fear, but it seemed everyone had gotten the memo- don’t speak when it’s not your turn.
“Player Number 7’s role was: Innocent!” The system said. A small cartoon halo symbol appeared over the teenage boy’s profile picture, now slashed through with a red X.
Player 1’s eyes were welling with tears. “Why didn’t it kill me,” she moaned. “I’m the only one who can talk?”
No one responded. She groaned lowly. “I- I’m sorry, I didn’t think. One of the innocents is dead… does that mean the guilties are going to win?” Glancing around the room, player 1 fidgeted with the pen in front of her. “Um… I don’t know who we’re supposed to eliminate. At least… at least we can confirm 7 was innocent…”
Exactly one minute after her turn had started, the screen flashed again and player 1 squeaked, going silent immediately.
“Next: Player Number 2!”
Player 2 was a small, mousy girl with straight-cut bangs. She looked to be about Heiya’s age, but her eyes were clear and confident. “I think we’re meant to deduce each player’s role through context clues,” she said, voice strong even though she leaned back in her seat. “For example, there are twelve of us. The name of the game is Diplomatic Hindsight- I think that means we use the announcements after they die to figure out who else might be the same role. I assume the number of guilties, innocents and judges will be split evenly: four each. One just died, so there are 3 innocent left. ”
A diamonds or a hearts player, then. She was wearing a schoolgirl’s uniform, and her hair was tied back neatly- probably diamonds.
“There must be a pattern to our numbers which reveal our roles,” she continued. “7 was innocent. There are many traits that the number 7 belongs to: prime numbers, odd number, etc. There are more than four prime numbers between 1 and 12, so innocents aren’t prime numbers. There must be a numerical rule.”
Ding! 2 stopped with her mouth half-open, settling back in her seat as 3, a businessman with glasses who looked a little like Kuzuryu, cleared his throat. “Even if 2 is right,” he said pointedly, “the issue is that at the end, it’s guilties versus innocents and judges. This is a game of hearts- it’s likely that the guilties who figure out the rule will try to lie to us so that we accuse the wrong people. Additionally, there must be a distinction between innocents and judges, otherwise there would just be eight judges against four guilties.” He cast a suspicious gaze at each of them.
“The only designation we each have is our numbers. 2 is correct in that there’s probably a numerical rule. Each proposed trait of the rule must go through strict analysis and careful consideration in case a guilty is deliberately stirring the waters.”
Ding!
4 was a young woman, delicately pretty, who looked very shy. Her hair was done in a neat braid, and she wore business clothes. “Um,” she said quietly, “I work as a math teacher. If 7 was innocent, the rule might be prime numbers excluding 1 and 2.” Player 2 shot her a look and she cowered back. “I mean- uh, there’s no real reason for them to exclude 1 and 2, except maybe… I don’t know,” she whispered, her voice going lower and lower until it eventually faded.
Player 3 nudged her as if to encourage her, and she swallowed hard. “Maybe 1 belongs to a different category,” she said, a little stronger but still slowly. “For example, it could be 1, 10, 11 and 12: they all include or are the number 1. 2 is also the only prime number that isn’t odd…” She seemed to remember Player 2’s cold look and coughed. “That doesn’t mean that those are the guilties! They could be the judges…”
With how slowly she was speaking, though, her turn was up quickly. Ding!
5 was the man who’d joined last, looking nervous enough that he was sweating. “What player 4 said makes sense,” he stammered. “Um, I don’t really know what to say, I’m not any good at math.” He fell quiet for much of his turn, wringing his hands. “Yeah, uh, she’s right. Let’s go with 1, 10, 11 and 12 as one of the groups… either guilties or judges. Just not innocents.”
Ding! 6 was a middle-aged man, balding slightly, looking like the stereotypical pervert. He leered at 4, making her shrink back. “I think the pretty lady is right too. That means our next job is probably to eliminate a person out of 1, 10, 11 and 12. After all, if you’re not innocent, you might be guilty. There’s eight of us who aren’t guilty- even if we get a few wrong, we can still win, right?”
10 was Heiya, and 12 was Aguni. Not ideal. Shuntarou didn’t sigh, but he did carefully inspect the faces of each of the players. There was something to this game that was more than what it seemed.
“I mean,” 6 continued, “If number 2 is right, then we have to eliminate a few people to validate our guesses anyway. Let’s just start with player 1. After all, she did get 7 killed, even if it was on accident.” He smirked at 1, who looked close to tears again. “She probably deserves it even if she isn’t guilty.”
Ding!
Since 7 was dead, it was now Shuntarou’s turn. He blinked slowly. “That makes sense,” he said simply. “However, player 6, you seem a little off. It’s not damning since we don’t know our own identities, but your enthusiasm is a little suspicious to say the least. Guilties being 1, 10, 11 and 12 isn’t a confirmed rule yet, and 7’s death was a complete accident. What makes you so eager to eliminate 1?”
6 glared at him, but Shuntarou ignored him. “7 was an innocent, that’s a fact. It’s just as likely that the innocents are 1, 4, 7 and 10: every fourth number out of twelve. Again, that’s just a guess, but it’s just as valid as 4’s proposition. There’s no need to take the 1, 10, 11, 12 rule as fact.”
Ding!
The stern woman, number 9, cleared her throat. “8 is right. In fact, I vote to eliminate 6. Even if he isn’t guilty, the fact that he was so callous about eliminating 1 means he is dangerous.”
Player 6 snarled at her soundlessly, but she met his gaze calmly. “I would like to propose another possible rule: 3, 6, 9 and 12, the multiples of three. Yes, that does include myself: I don’t know my own role, after all. I suppose we’ll know if what I said makes sense after we eliminate 6.” With that, she sat back in her chair and kept silent for the rest of her turn.
Ding!
Heiya was next. She cleared her throat. “3, 6, 9 and 12 seems too easy,” she said firmly. She was probably trying to protect Aguni. “I don’t know what the rule could be though, I’m not good at math.”
Remembering the way Arisu had tutored her before their arrival back, Shuntarou sighed mentally. That wasn’t a lie.
“1, 10, 11 and 12 also seems kind of random,” she continued. “Like, the rule wouldn’t be that obscure, would it? Maybe it’s not even based on our numbers, but something else, like… I don’t know, our previous games here. The system can probably see that, right?”
Ding!
“10, are you stupid?” 11 asked harshly, glaring at Heiya, who glared right back in indignation. “The system can’t control who comes to play this game. How would it make sure the amount of innocents, judges and guilties are even, then? It’s definitely our numbers. In fact, I think 3, 6, 9 and 12 makes a lot of sense, and 1, 10, 11 and 12 does too. The only common factor between both these rules is 12. If it’s a question between killing 1, 6 and 12, I think we choose 12. Eliminating a possible guilty is more important than finding out the rule first.”
Ding!
“You can vote me if you want,” Aguni said stonily. “The fact remains that killing me won’t bring you any closer to your rule. If I’m guilty, you don’t know if it’s 3, 6, 9, 12 or 1, 10, 11, 12. If I’m innocent, you’re completely out of options.” He fell silent, unwilling to say more.
Ding! “Please cast your votes now!” The system chirped. The screen flashed with an animatic of a hand putting a folded piece of paper inside the black dish.
Reaching for his pen, Shuntarou tapped the notepad silently, trying to convey his vote to Aguni and Heiya. He wasn’t sure if they got it, but he eventually wrote 6 on the paper. Might as well go with the flow for the first few rounds, and he sure wasn’t going to vote Aguni. At least not yet, not while it didn’t benefit him.
1 cast her vote first, rotating the glass turntable slowly. When the serving dish came in front of Shuntarou, he tore off his vote, folded it and placed it inside.
After Aguni had voted, the system dinged once again. “Thank you for voting!” it said. “The player with the most votes is: Player Number 6! Player Number 6 will be eliminated.”
Player 6 leapt out of his seat with rage. “What’s wrong with all of you!” he roared, practically foaming at the mouth. “I don’t-’
That was as far as he got before the laser struck. He fell forward onto the table with a huge thump, sliding off onto the ground with a wet schlap a few seconds later. Player 5 flinched as the corpse narrowly missed brushing against him.
“Player Number 6’s role was: guilty!”
Shuntarou inhaled slightly. This changed things.
“Round two! First to speak, Player Number 1!”
Immediately, player 1 sat up straight. “This proves I’m not guilty!” She said frantically. “Player 6 was guilty, so the rule was 3, 6, 9 and 12, not 1, 10, 11 and 12! Even if the rule isn’t exactly 3, 6, 9 and 12, I don’t think 6 has anything to do with 1, so it’s definitely not me! Uh, as for who to eliminate next… the rules we have right now are… 3, 6, 9 and 12, then that’s it, right? Maybe we eliminate…” she cast a fearful glance at Aguni, “12 next?”
Ding!
“We’ve established 6 was guilty and 7 was innocent,” Player 2 said. “I’m inclined to say that maybe it simply alternates. 1 is innocent, 2 is judge, 3 is guilty, 4 is innocent, 5 is judge, 6 is guilty, like that. As such, the guilties are probably still 3-6-9-12. Having said that, 12 is no more likely to be guilty than 3 or 9, but since 1 has said she will vote for 12, I will too.”
Ding!
“I realise this sounds self-serving,” 3 said tightly, “but I simply don’t believe it’s as simple as 3-6-9-12. This is a six of hearts- the rule wouldn’t be so easy. There must be another pattern. If 6 was guilty and 7 was innocent, perhaps it’s because 6 condemned 1 that he was guilty. 7 died before he managed to incriminate anyone, after all.”
Ding!
“I’m sorry the rule I proposed was incorrect,” 4 said nervously. “Umm… 3-6-9-12 does sound likely, but maybe we should consider other options if we eliminate a player this round and it’s incorrect? Let’s at least think of backup rules. Since 1-10-11-12 is incorrect, maybe… 6-8-9-10? They’re the only numbers with circles in the symbols…”
Ding!
“3, weren’t you the person that said the guilties might lie to get themselves out of a bad situation?” 5 said, glancing at 3 out of the corner of his eye. “Over 12, I say we eliminate you this round! You’re clearly trying to stir the pot! 4, the rule is definitely 3-6-9-12, don’t try to change anything.”
Ding!
“Well,” Shuntarou said slowly. “That does make things more interesting. Contrary to what you all said, the rule being 3-6-9-12 is not all that important. We can vote 12 out if you all really want to, but let’s focus on a key detail: the conditions to winning this game are either the guilties all dying, or all the innocents or judges all dying. We’re not trying to just find the guilties. We might be guilties ourselves and not even know it. I think figuring out our respective identities is more important. What if we tried eliminating someone who probably isn’t a guilty to find the rules corresponding to innocents and judges? There has to be some difference between innocents and judges, and one of those two groups might suffer in the end if we prematurely kill everyone we think is a judge.” There. He’d done his part trying to help Aguni, and whatever happened next wasn’t his responsibility.
Ding!
“8’s reasoning makes sense,” 9 said. “I agree. We eliminate someone else this round. I am the one who proposed the 3-6-9-12 rule despite it including myself, so I think I am allowed at least a little leeway when I say that I’m trying to help everyone. I propose we vote out player 5. Your reasoning and mood have been all over the place: not conducive to proper deliberation. You have been overall unhelpful. Additionally, eliminating a player who is numerically consecutive to 6 and 7 is useful in figuring out the rules.”
Ding!
“Yeah, I agree with 8 and 9,” Heiya hurried, sensing that Aguni was in danger. “I still stand by what I said earlier. 3-6-9-12 is too easy. Even if the rule is 3-6-9-12, we shouldn’t eliminate 12 right away since that would be rushing things. What if the innocents and judges have to duke it out later? It’s clear that our game is divided into three camps- innocents, judges and guilties. Let’s not rush to eliminate all the guilties before we know who’s innocent and who’s a judge.”
Ding!
“No, we should still eliminate 12!” 11 said. “Obviously we should rush to eliminate all the guilties! Innocents and judges being later enemies is still just a theory with no evidence, but the guilties having to die is a fact! Why are all of you getting caught up on hypotheticals? Next round, after we eliminate 12, we can vote out 5 if that’s what 9 wants.”
Ding!
“Do whatever you want,” Aguni said. “Next round, though, go with what 8 said. Don’t eliminate 3 or 9. Assuming I am guilty, by then you’ll know exactly what the rule is. If I’m not guilty, though…” he shrugged. “Then you’re back to square one.”
That idiot. Shuntarou sighed mentally, debating between trying to figure out something to save him or not. On one hand, it wouldn’t be his fault if Aguni died here. On the other hand… Aguni was useful as long as he stayed loyal to them and didn’t have another mental breakdown Beach-style.
Whatever. He’d try one more time. Conscious of not being allowed to speak, Shuntarou tapped his notepad loudly, getting the attention of most of the people on the table. He gestured at 5, then mimed voting and raised 3 fingers and shrugged. Why? He mouthed clearly to everyone else on the table, then pointed at 9 and gave a thumbs up.
The system interrupted him before he could do any more. “Please cast your votes now!”
Shuntarou voted 5, and he was sure 9, Heiya and Aguni would too. That was at least four people for 5. Whether that was enough to save Aguni, though…
“Thank you for voting! The player with the most votes is: Player Number 5!”
Wow. Shuntarou mentally patted himself on the back.
Player 5’s face went deathly pale. He slumped back in his seat, his eyes wide. Before the laser struck, though, the system’s voice started again. “Player Number 5, Player Number 9, and Player Number 11 will be eliminated.”
What?
Before anyone could react, three lasers struck at the same time. 5, 9 and 11 all slumped over, dead, in the dead silence.
“Player Number 5’s role was: guilty! Player Number 9’s role was: guilty! Player Number 11’s role was: guilty! Round three! First to speak, Player Number 1!”
“What’s going on?” Player 1 cried. “Why did 9 and 11 die too? We didn’t vote them out! Does this mean anyone could die? Why were they guilty?” The tears that had been building finally tipped over- she broke into quiet sobs.
Ding!
“Maybe this is the special ability of the judges,” Player 2 said, her tone excited. “Whoever the judges vote die. If you voted for 9 or 11, you could be a judge!”
Ding!
“More importantly,” 3 said harshly, “Four guilty have died. The game should be over. The fact that it’s not means that there are more guilty, and the roles are not split evenly. The possibility of there being a numerical rule is also low: there’s nothing connecting 5, 6, 9 and 11.”
Ding!
“If there’s no numerical rule, then how do we determine who’s guilty and how many there are?” 4 cried. “I think there’s still a rule, it’s just that there are a lot of guilty people!”
Ding!
“All three who died last round were guilty,” Shuntarou said. “Let’s say we got lucky and we voted 5 right- he was guilty. More importantly than who’s guilty, how did 9 and 11 die? Everyone would’ve voted for either 5 or 12. What did 9 and 11 have in common? They both suggested eliminating 5. Perhaps if you’re guilty and you expose a fellow guilty, you also die.”
Ding!
Something wasn’t right, Shuntarou thought, even as Heiya began talking. The rules of this game were more complicated than he’d assumed. After 5, 9 and 11’s deaths, though, he had a faint inkling…
Ding!
“Focus on the voting,” Aguni stated. “I assume if we don’t vote someone out we all die, going from the past pattern of these games. Just vote for someone random. If you get eliminated, tough luck.”
Shuntarou frowned at his notepad as the system asked them all to vote. If his theory was correct…
“Thank you all for voting! The player with the most votes is: Player Number 2! Player Number 2 will be eliminated.”
The girl’s eyes bugged out of her head. Shuntarou sighed mentally. Everyone had likely voted in a panic, and she’d been far too assertive earlier on in the game to survive when eliminations were done on instinct.
Thud . The laser descended and player 2 slid off her chair, dead.
“Player Number 2’s role was: innocent!”
I was right. We’ve won. Now all he needed to do was carefully ensure Aguni and Heiya would say exactly what he wanted them to say. They were the last three people in the speaking order, after all.
“Round four! First to speak, Player Number 1!”
“What do we do?” She asked, her gaze hopeless. “I don’t know who to vote for. What could this rule possibly be?”
Ding!
Player 3 had his head in his hands. He remained silent for the entirety of his turn.
Ding!
“I have no idea what the rule could be,” 4 sniffled. She was now crying as well. “Maybe I was wrong and there isn’t even a rule.”
Ding!
“Everyone,” Shuntarou said carefully. “Let’s focus on voting. I know it seems hard to continue on right now, but if we don’t vote someone out, we all die. 2 was innocent, and 5, 6, 9, and 11 were all guilty. Who was it that’d been throwing us all off this whole time, giving us untested rules that we all followed blindly?” He turned his gaze on player 4, who shrank back in her chair, looking terrified. “Let’s vote 4. Player 8 and Player 12, it’s important that you confirm verbally. Otherwise, we can’t all be sure.”
4 would definitely vote for Shuntarou. It was possible, of course, that 1 and 3 would vote with her. At a time like this, though, when everyone’s mental states were as fragile as possible, Shuntarou would take that gamble.
Ding!
“Okay,” Heiya said quietly. “I’ll vote for 4.”
Ding!
“I will vote for 4 too.” Aguni said stonily.
When the system prompted them, Shuntarou wrote 4 neatly on his notepad. The black serving dish completed its rounds, player 4 with clear despair written on her face.
“Thank you for voting! The player with the most votes is: Player Number 4!”
Player 4 cried out in terror, leaping up from her seat. She was so fast she nearly made it past the table before the merciless laser struck her in the head, killing her instantly.
“Player Number 4’s role was: judge! The guilties have succeeded.”
The others’ heads all snapped up, shocked. Scarcely a second later, two lasers took players 1 and 3 out, leaving only Shuntarou, Heiya and Aguni sitting unharmed.
“Congratulations! Game clear!”
“What,” Heiya breathed, gripping the armrests of her chair tightly. “We made it?”
“I figured out the rule,” Shuntarou said calmly. “We were never assigned roles from the beginning. Your actions, or rather your words, determined if you were innocent, judge or guilty.”
“What?” Aguni asked, his eyes narrowed. “Does this have anything to do with you asking us to say we were going to vote for 4 out loud?”
“Yup,” Shuntarou said, standing and stretching his back. “I figured it out when 9 and 11 died. If you explicitly ask for someone to be voted out or state you’re going to vote someone out, you’re guilty. If you try to figure out the rule or deduce something, you’re a judge. If you don’t contribute anything useful, you’re innocent.”
“How did 9 and 11 die, then?” Heiya asked, gingerly getting to her feet. “What does being guilty have to do with dying?”
“If you’re guilty twice in a row, you die even if you don’t get voted out,” Shuntarou explained, peering around for the playing card. “If you’re a judge twice in a row, you get moved down to guilty. At least, that’s what the pattern suggests. I’m not sure of the details.”
“So our roles were constantly changing,” Aguni said grimly. “There was no point in trying to figure out a rule.”
“Yeah. In fact, the more you tried to deduce and help everyone, the faster you die,” Shuntarou said, shrugging. “That’s a hearts game for you. No dealers in this game, otherwise they would’ve made sure of their own survival.”
“I found the playing card!” Heiya gasped, thrusting the card in her hand at them. Indeed, it was the 6 of hearts. “It was in the serving dish. All the votes were gone, just like magic.”
“It’s the Borderlands, anything can happen,” Aguni said gruffly. “Let’s focus on getting back soon. Chishiya, radio the others.”
Shuntarou pulled his transmitter out of his pocket, turning it back on as they went back outside to retrieve their weapons. “This is Chishiya. Aguni, Heiya and I cleared the 6 of hearts with no problems. We got the playing card and we’re on our way back, no weapons and no dealers to loot. Over.”
There was no response, which he wasn’t too worried by. Some games could take hours. His phone told him the 6 of hearts had only taken about an hour. Outside, the sky was still dark- it was barely 1 am.
“Let’s drive by the others’ game venues to see if their games are still going,” Heiya suggested. So Shuntarou drove painfully slowly to avoid crashing. They made their way to the school first- it was still lit up, but there were no windows with which to see inside, so they moved on to the daycare.
By the time they arrived at the daycare, the lights were dim, which meant the game was over. Heiya let out a worried shout when they saw the darkness, as they hadn’t received a transmission from Usagi and Arisu. Shuntarou’s heart leapt into his throat- were they dead?
No, turns out they weren’t dead. On the road outside the daycare was a frantic Usagi desperately performing CPR on an unconscious Arisu.