Chapter Text
The ringing in her ears had barely gone before she opened her eyes again. Phone still in hand, her eyes flick to the unfinished message in her text bar;
At Shibuya Crossing now, I have something important t
Despite the heat, a cold sweat forms all over Hotaru's body. Shibuya is empty. Completely empty. She spins around, hoping but not expecting anyone to be there. She pushes her bangs off her forehead, looking back at her phone. No service, no internet.
Tears prick her eyes and she shouts, “Hello?”
Chest tight, she shoves her phone into her shorts pocket and takes off running. Trying to figure out where to find someone, anyone else. She keeps screaming Hello and asking if anyone is there as she passes buildings and runs down alleys.
“What the fuck is going on…?” she pants to herself. She rests her hands on her knees, long ponytail falling forward.
She grabs her phone checking for service again. Despite herself, Hotaru clicks her mother’s picture from their conversation and calls her. The phone drones on as she lightly bites her nail. Call disconnected.
She screams in frustration, throwing her phone into the wall in front of her, “What the fuck!”
A shock of pain runs up her leg as she kicks the wall behind her. Not a dream then? She thinks, wincing. The tears that had formed almost an hour ago now finally spilled. She rakes her fingers through her hair before pulling it and sliding down the wall.
She could feel her body getting hot and her chest tightening. She rips off her Hawaiian shirt and covers her face. Inhaling through the fabric slowing her breathing.
The pressure behind her eyes started dissipating and the feeling started coming back to her legs. She raises her head and deeply inhales, tracing over one of her many tattoos. The sun is setting now. At least it wasn't fully dark yet, who knew if the street lights would work.
After wiping her face Hotaru stands. She shrugs her shirt back on and picks up her now-cracked phone. Sighing, she starts heading back to Shibuya crossing.
"It can't be an evacuation or drill of some kind," she thinks aloud, flipping her phone in her hand, "No one would be able to get that many people out that quick. Unless I fainted standing up they couldn't have pulled that off. And if it was a weapon then why didn't it kill me too?"
She stops and lays down where she was standing earlier in the crossing. Taking out her ponytail, she lays her head down and looks up at the stars. The sky was so incredibly clear. It reminded her of her mom's old house in the country.
A loud thunk rings out as light floods from Hotaru's right. She props herself up on her elbow, covering her eyes with her other hand. A big screen in the square was lit up in blinding white light. Another thunk sounds and words appear on the screen.
[ WELCOME, PLAYERS ]
[ THE GAME WILL COMMENCE IN A MOMENT ]
"Game?"
[ THIS WAY TO THE GAME ARENA ]
The screens display an arrow pointing to the left. She looks and screens light up along the street, all saying that the “arena” was in that direction. Her eyes finally adjust to the light and she stands, dusting herself off.
"There has to be someone there."
🃏
After a few minutes of walking, Hotaru sees a screen saying;
[SHIBUYA JUNIOR AND SENIOR HIGHSCHOOL THIS WAY]
[GAME ARENA THIS WAY]
She hums to herself, "A high school?"
She shoves the front door open and walks through a lighted hallway. Voices grow louder as she gets closer to the cafeteria. She almost starts to run towards the noise.
Around the corner, there are eight people gathered around a table. Four phones are scattered across the table in seemingly random locations. There is a sign hanging from the table;
[ONE PER PERSON]
Shaking her head quickly she walks up and grabs a phone. The screen lights up and it reads;
[FACIAL RECOGNITION IN PROGRESS]
[KUTSUKI HOTARU]
[ PLEASE WAIT A MOMENT ]
A female voice speaks from everyone's phone, "Please wait for the game to commence. One minute until registration closes. There are currently nine participants."
Her eyebrows raise and she goes to a back wall. She lifts her eyes and scans the other people in the room. Two men sat to her left, talking to each other nonchalantly. In front of her, huddled around the table was an older woman in a sweat suit, a couple in high school uniforms, and two girls clinging to each other, they had bruises all over their legs and one had a black eye. Leaning on the wall perpendicular to her was a lone, younger man.
The older woman in the sweat suit speaks up, her voice shaking, "I'm sorry, does anyone know what's going on? Where did everyone go?"
"I don't think anyone knows," the girl with the black eye says, "We've been here for 3 days now, all we know is you have to play the games…or you die," the other girl starts quietly crying.
"What do you mean, we die?" The high school boy asks.
"If you leave the game arena, if you refuse to play, if you lose the game, you die."
Everyone is silent for a moment before the high school girl asks, "What if we win?"
Hotaru feels a presence lean on the wall next to her as the group continues talking, "How long have you been here?" She turns and sees the younger man next to her.
"A few hours. This is my first game, not sure if it's a good idea to broadcast that I'm new, though."
He lets out a dry laugh, "You're right about that, at my first game when people found out I was new, they left me to fend for myself," he turns his body to face her, his long black hair falling into his face, "I'm Imai."
"Kutsuki,” She turns her attention back to her phone, “Are you going to leave me to fend for myself?"
He opens his mouth to answer, but everyone's phone screens light up, "Registration has closed. The game will now commence. Game, "Mafia"
[MAFIA]
"Difficulty, Two of Hearts."
"Two of Hearts…" she repeats to herself.
Imai leans over her shoulder to whisper in her ear, "The number is how difficult it is, the suit is the type of game. Hearts are psychological, they get into peoples’ heads.”
Her eyes slightly widen as the phone continues, "Rule, go to the office on your right and sit in one of the chairs provided. Await further instructions."
A light turns on above a door across the room. The group slowly makes their way to the room. Nine chairs sat in a circle, strange mechanisms on the backs of them. All of them sit down, and mechanical belts bind them to their chairs from behind.
Hotaru's heart drops into her stomach and her hands run over the metal. As she tries to breathe deeply, her body begins to shake. Suddenly, a hand slips into hers, she snaps her head to the left, and Imai is already looking at her. He just nods, as if to say they were okay, and squeezes her hand.
The robotic, feminine voice sounds from a speaker somewhere in the room, "Two participants will be chosen as "mafia members". The other six participants will be "villagers". Two phases will occur, day and night. Day will last 5 minutes. Night will last 1 minute. During the day, villagers will vote on one person to vote out by the majority, if someone is voted out it is game over for that person. During the night, only mafia members will be able to have their eyes open, they vote on someone to assassinate. If a villager opens their eyes during the night, it will be game over for them. If a mafia member shares their role, it will be game over for them." Everyone looks at each other, already suspecting everyone but themselves, "Game clear condition, villagers, vote out both mafia members. Game clear condition, mafia, outnumber or be equal to the villagers."
Her screen lights up again and reads;
[ROLE, VILLAGER]
She takes her hand away from Imai’s.
[GAME START]
[DAY 1, TIME LIMIT]
[00:05:00]
Hotaru's eyes scan the people around her, and one of the duo men in swim trunks speaks first, "We should just vote people out until a team wins."
"That's idiotic," the girl with the black eye snaps.
Sweat suit's eyes are darting everywhere, tears streaming down her face, "We can't just choose people to die! I don't want to do this anymore!" She struggles with the belt, trying to pry it away from her body.
"Calm down, lady," the other swim trunks man says, rolling his eyes.
"No! No!," She's thrashing in her chair now, "I'm one of the Mafia, let me out! Game over, let me out-"
Her scream is cut off abruptly as a red laser pierces her skull. Everyone is silent again. Hotaru looks up to where the laser came from, a smoking hole in the ceiling. A matching hole was on the floor under the woman.
"Three minutes remaining." The phone's voice says.
Chaos erupts in the room as the girl from the high school couple starts screaming. She tries to pry away her belt as well. "You knew this would happen!" she screams at the two girls.
"And we told you it would."
"You're crazy! You're fucking crazy!"
"Shut the fuck up!" One of the men barks at the couple, "Now, thanks to that idiot, we only have one mafia member to vote out. And if it wasn't a majority vote I would just start voting all of you out. So, are we going to work together, or are you all going to die?" His eyes moved to Hotaru who was still looking at the hole in the ceiling, "What about you, honey? You'd make a nice addition to our team."
She slowly turns to look him in the eyes, "I agree that we need to work together, if we're smart about this, only two more people have to die."
He smirks at her and opens his mouth before the high school girl points to the girl with a black eye, "We should vote her out first! She knew what would happen!"
"I'm fine with that," the man says.
She turns to her boyfriend and he nods. The other girl grabs black eye's hand and starts to cry. One minute remaining.
Hotaru turns to Imai and he shakes his head. "Okay, so the majority is in agreement, bitch one goes first-"
"No!" The other girl wails, "We were just here before all of you! We didn't know what game it was-"
"And her friend is next," he finishes.
"Day 1 is now over," the voice sounds. Hotaru watches as another laser cuts through the ceiling and through the girl's head. Her friend sobs and holds her hand, bringing to her face, "Night one will now begin. Please close your eyes."
She tears her eyes away from the gruesome scene. The remaining girl continues to scream for her dead friend. The sound of another laser rings out and her crying silences.
"The remaining mafia member may open their eyes and choose someone to assassinate. There is one minute remaining."
A quiet moment passes before yet another laser sizzles through the air, “Everyone may now open their eyes. Day 2 starts now. Five minutes remaining.”
Both girls lay dead, slumped in their chairs in front of her. Her heart aches for them, she could’ve gotten information out of them. She looks to Imai whose looking straight ahead. She follows his gaze and sees the quieter man dead. The other simply looks at him, almost unimpressed.
Did he kill his friend? Her eyes glide to the high schoolers. Or is it one of them? The fact that neither of the kids was dead told her that the last mafia member had to be one of them or Imai. He met her gaze when she looked back at him. No one dared to speak.
“Four minutes remaining.”
The girl fidgets in her chair, not even looking at her boyfriend. She’s the one to crack first, “It has to be him!” she points to the remaining man in swim trunks, “Him and his friend were fighting before the game started!”
Imai leans forward to see her better, “How do you know what they were talking about? You were talking to those three women.”
She stutters and her boyfriend speaks up for the first time, “I heard them. I wasn’t listening to the girls talking.”
You’re lying, kid. Hotaru thinks to herself. He seems outwardly calm, but his hands are shaking and sweat is forming all over his face. The girl looks at him appreciatively.
“2 minutes remaining.”
“Both of you are lying because we were talking about that one,” the man retorts, jabbing his thumb in Hotaru’s direction, “Who hasn’t said much, by the way.”
“It’s not you,” she says, earning a surprised look from Imai.
“Of course, it’s not me, sweetheart. And what about your boyfriend there?”
Imai shakes his head, “I would’ve chosen the high school girl to assassinate.”
The girl exclaims in frustration, “You can easily lie about that and you know it!” he just shrugs at her.
“30 seconds remaining.”
“I vote for her boyfriend,” Hotaru says.
Imai nods quickly, “I agree,” the man nods as well.
They share a glance as the girl screams in rage, “You fucking bastards, do you know how important he is to Japan! All three of you look like criminals, just look at her!” she screams, pointing at Hotaru, “She’s covered in tattoos, he looks homeless, and why are you wearing swim trunks!” her face starts turning beet red as she continues berating everyone.
“Time has run out,” the couple looks at each other, but before they can say anything, the laser sears through his skull and he slumps over. Blood spatters on the girl’s face.
“Congratulations.”
[GAME CLEAR]
The belts release from around their waists.
[WE WILL SUPPLY ALL GAME SURVIVORS WITH A TWO-DAY VISA]
Visa?
Before she can stand, the high school girl tackles Hotaru to the ground, “You fucking-!”
The girl claws at her face before Hotaru grabs a fistful of the girl’s hair. She gives it one hard yank and the girl is on the floor, she holds all of her weight on the girl’s head to keep her pinned. Kneeling, she leans over her.
She speaks quietly to her, “I am truly sorry. But I was right, wasn’t I?” she doesn’t answer and just starts to sob into the floor.
Releasing her hair, she stands and starts to walk out of the school. Imai calls out to her, “Kutsuki,” he catches up to her, “Do you wanna partner up? You were pretty good in there, you didn’t even flinch when those people died.”
“Worse things have been done to me and I’ve seen plenty of people die,” she shoves the front door open, checking the new phone for service.
“Wow…” he fake shudders, “I knew you must’ve been hardcore from all your tattoos but that’s…” he stops walking.
“If you want to come with me, I’m going to my apartment for supplies. Hopefully, it’s still there,” she pockets the phone, turning back to him.
He pushes his hair out of his face and grins, “That was a sick move you did to disarm that girl, Kutsuki. Where’d you learn that?” he asks, both of them starting to walk again.
“I’m the second oldest of five sisters. And you can call me Hotaru.”
“Okay, Hotaru,” she can practically hear the grin in his voice, “I’m Ryotaro.”
🃏
Do you think this is the real world? The question bounced around in her head as she tightly french braided her hair. All of her earrings were laying on the sink in front of her. They would’ve been a liability to keep in and her hair was too long to leave down.
No running water or electricity, of course. The phone she got from that game at least had a flashlight. She ties off the second braid and grabs some toiletries before exiting the bathroom. Two backpacks lay open on her couch.
She made Ryotaro wait at the stairwell for her to keep watch. After changing into cargo pants she starts shoving items into both backpacks and her pockets. Weapons, food, water, clothes, anything that could help them survive this place. Two was better than one, but if there was a game where only one could come out alive, would she sacrifice herself or him?
Zipping up both packs, she chugs half a bottle of water before loading them onto her front and back. The front door clicks and she ducks behind the couch. Quiet footsteps walk by her. A man with white hair and a white hoodie walk by her hiding spot. So much for a lookout.
She braces herself before jumping up and over the couch. Shoving the man, she runs through the door and slams it shut, “Ryotaro!”
His head peaks out from around the corner, eyebrows raised. Throwing his pack at him she tells him it’s time to go and they start down the many stairs. They reach the outside panting, Ryotaro sputtering. She shoves him to the ground once they get far enough away. He just lies on the concrete, trying to catch his breath.
“What the hell?” she yells, “Why did you let that guy past you? Are you working with him? Was this a ruse to-”
“Woah, hey,” he stands again, holding his hands out, “What guy? No guy went by me.”
She pauses, taking deep breaths, “He must’ve been in one of the rooms already.”
He nods, “Did you recognize him, did he live in the building?”
“No,” she says after thinking a moment.
“He must've been raiding apartments just like us. It’s okay,” he puts his hand on her arm but she flinches away. He shrugs off his backpack and takes off his flannel, holding it out to her, “Trade me.”
“What?”
“Your arm is freezing cold, we’re going to trade shirts. No fighting.”
After a moment she does the same and lets out an involuntary sigh of relief at how warm the flannel was. It fit almost perfectly, except for the length, “I’ve been thinking about your question.”
“Hm?” his eyebrows quirked up.
“You asked if I thought this was the real world or not,” she looks up in time to see a laser appear from the sky, “No. My answer is no, I don't think this is the real world. If it was, I’d be the last person to be spared.”