Chapter Text
PROLOGUE
"So, any ideas for a game we can all participate together as a group?" Lisa asked, as the twenty-five girls huddled together in CiRCLE's studio. The five bands were having their very first training camp together, and had received prior permission from Marina to stay overnight for the sake of convenience.
"How about Russian Roulette?" a voice chirped.
Misaki sighed. "Kokoro... That's the first game we're going to play together? Definitely not the best idea for an icebreaker..."
"Eeeh? Why not?!" The blonde retorted, pouting.
"Well, it doesn't seem like we'll be engaging in any bonding if we were playing a game like this, right?"
"I think it's still a fun game we can play though," Kasumi butted in. "We can treat this as a pre-icebreaker warm up! Also, we can use this toy gun I've coincidentally brought along."
"Why would you bring that here in the first place?" Saaya asked, laughing. "That seems like something Jun would play around with."
"Eheehee..." She laughed hesitantly, scratching her head. "I wanted to scare Arisa just now when she wasn't noticing, but she caught me sneaking towards her so quickly, I never stood a chance."
"I should've just ignored you completely when we first met."
"That's meaaaan, Arisaaaaaa!!!"
"Alright alright, let go of me already!"
"So anyway, back to the topic girls!" Kokoro pressed on. "Shall we proceed with Russian Roulette?!"
"I don't mind." Ran and Yukina uttered simultaneously, before glancing at each other in surprise.
"Seems like fun!" Hina cheered, with the other Pastel Palettes members nodding in unison.
"If it's gonna make everyone smile, we should do it!" Hagumi exclaimed.
"Rinrin says it sounds like it's gonna be fun too!" Ako chimed in. The quiet girl blushed and stammered, "It's like an online game, s-so I think it's going to be interesting."
"My little kitten, what do you think about this glorious game to the death?" Kaoru asked, her eyes glowing in anticipation.
"W-Well, If everybody else is up for the game, I-I don't mind participating as well..." Kanon replied, stumbling over her words.
"Okay okay! Anyone in objection of playing the game then?" Lisa asked around.
Misaki sighed again, but shook her head. As did Arisa and Sayo.
"Looks like nobody's objecting to the game, so let's do it!" Lisa confirmed. "So, are we really gonna use that gun of yours, Kasumi? It doesn't look like the revolver type, and we'll need one which can hold up to 25 bullets."
"That won't be a problem!" Kokoro smiled nonchalantly, snapping her fingers.
"Fueee... I don't feel so good..." Kanon whispered faintly, as The Suits entered the room, handing a revolver over to her.
Tae's eyes opened wide. "Is that a real gun? And how did those people get in here? Are those people even real?"
"Nope! The Suits would never let me near a real one. So this is just a dummy. They've already modified it to fit a maximum of 25 'bullets'. I just need to press this button on the side," she explained as she took the revolver from Kanon, a red light emitting from the grip. "There! Now one of the twenty-five contains a bullet!"
"So those aren't real people?"
"Anyway... Are there any other rules we need to know about?" Tomoe asked, giggling in Tae's direction.
"Chisato-chan and I were thinking about it, weirdly enough, and we think these would be sufficient," Aya said. "Here are the rules.."