Chapter Text
The abandoned sandwich shop was cold and eerily silent. The overhead fluorescent lights flickered, casting long shadows against the cracked tile. The faint sound of water dripping from a pipe echoed through the empty space.
Chishiya stepped inside, the heels of his shoes clicking softly against the ground. He was still in his hospital uniform—white coat unbuttoned, hands buried in his pockets, an unreadable expression settled on his face. The moment he crossed the threshold, he spotted a table with a handful of phone sitting on it, a note read to grab one. He did.
"Face registration in process. Please wait for the game to commence.” A timer on the screen began to tick down from two minutes. Chishiya looked up from the phone as a soft chuckle broke the silence.
Leaning against a nearby table, a girl idly twisted a ring on her finger, the heart-shaped gemstone catching the dim light. She didn’t look nervous like the others scattered around the room, shifting uneasily and whispering among themselves. No, she was watching, as if she already knew how this would play out.
Chishiya met her gaze briefly, assessing. She tilted her head, a small smirk playing on her lips, before looking away.
A door closed. A mechanical beep filled the air, and all the phone screens flickered to life. "Registration closed. The game will now commence. Difficulty: ace of hearts. Game: sacrifice. Time limit: 15 minutes"
The tension in the room thickened instantly. Someone let out a shaky breath. A man near the front hesitated before stepping forward, scanning the room for any hint of what was coming.
Chishiya remained still, waiting.
A soft murmur spread through the group as players exchanged uneasy glances. Chishiya’s eyes narrowed slightly, his mind already dissecting the meaning behind the name. Reina, still leaning against the pillar, simply exhaled through her nose, unimpressed.
A robotic voice rang through the space. "Rules: one player must be chosen as a sacrifice. If no decision is made within 15 minutes, all players will be eliminated."
The murmurs turned into panicked whispers. Someone cursed under their breath. Another player, a man in his late forties with sweat already beading on his forehead, spoke up.
“What the hell kind of game is this?”
Chishiya remained still, watching. Reina did the same, though her fingers never stopped twisting her ring.
A timer appeared on a screen on the far wall. 15:00.
"The countdown had begun." The mechanical voice said.
Silence stretched for a long second before the first argument broke out. “We can’t just pick someone to die!” a younger woman protested.
“But if we don’t, we all die,” another man snapped back.
The debate escalated quickly, voices rising, fear thickening the air. Accusations were thrown. Justifications were made. Some players clung to their morals while others immediately began trying to shift the target onto someone else.
Chishiya’s lips curled into a small, knowing smile. “Predictable,” he muttered under his breath.
From the corner of his eye, he caught Reina watching the chaos unfold with detached amusement. Her head tilted slightly, and for the first time, she spoke. “You’d think they’d take a moment to think before panicking.”
Chishiya turned his head slightly, studying her. “Most people don’t have the luxury of thinking when fear takes over.”
Reina hummed in agreement, but her gaze flickered toward the timer. 12:43.
The group was already starting to fracture.
Chishiya and Reina, however, simply observed, waiting for the inevitable breaking point. It wouldn’t be long now.
The timer ticked down. 10:30.
The tension in the room coiled tighter with each passing second. What had started as desperate reasoning had devolved into full-blown chaos.
“Why should it be me?” one man yelled, stepping away from a small group that had begun cornering him. “I have a family, I need to get back to them!”
“We all have reasons to live!” a woman snapped. “But we don’t have a choice! We need to decide!”
A younger player, no older than twenty, was shaking his head violently. “No, no, no… there has to be another way!”
Chishiya’s gaze drifted lazily between the arguing players. His posture remained relaxed, hands tucked into the pockets of his white coat. He wasn’t concerned. If anything, he looked bored.
Reina, still twirling her ring, sighed. “They’re running out of time.”
“Mm.” Chishiya tilted his head slightly. “They’ll reach a decision soon.”
Reina glanced at him. “You think so?”
Chishiya’s smirk deepened. “I know so.”
Right on cue, one of the players, an older man who had been silent up until now, spoke up. His voice was eerily calm. “I nominate myself.”
Silence crashed over the room like a wave. The others turned to him, expressions ranging from disbelief to reluctant acceptance. “…You’d do that?” someone asked, hesitant.
The man nodded. “I don’t want to die, but if it’s the only way to save everyone else…”
His words carried the weight of sacrifice, the kind that made people feel safe enough to accept it. It was the moment of hesitation that Chishiya had been waiting for. A small chuckle left his lips. “And there it is.”
Reina smirked faintly. “Human nature’s so predictable.”
The remaining players, desperate for a way out, latched onto the man’s offer like starving animals. Some thanked him, others apologized, but none of them truly tried to stop him.
The timer continued counting down. 05:15.
Chishiya turned slightly toward Reina. “What do you think? Will they let him go through with it?”
Reina’s fingers stilled around her ring. “They will.”
And they did.
The man approached the console at the center of the room, hesitating only for a second before pressing the "Sacrifice." button. The screen flickered.
The robotic voice returned. "Sacrifice accepted. Game clear."
The door unlocked. The remaining players gasped in relief, but no one spoke as the sacrificed man collapsed to his knees, realizing what he had done.
Chishiya and Reina exchanged a glance before walking toward the exit, leaving behind the weight of yet another predictable ending.
The door slid open with a mechanical hiss, revealing the cool night air beyond the game arena. Outside the shop on a small white table, not unlike those that were in the shop sat a playing card. The Ace of hearts. The two of them walked past it, and Chishiya slipped it into his pocket. The air outside was a contrast to the suffocating atmosphere they had just left behind.
Reina stepped outside first, inhaling deeply as she stretched her arms above her head. “That was fun.”
Chishiya walked out beside her, hands still tucked into his coat pockets. “Fun?” he echoed, his smirk returning.
Reina rolled her eyes. “Don’t look at me like that.”
Chishiya tilted his head slightly, studying her. “I just think it’s interesting. Most people would be shaken after something like that.”
She twirled her ring between her fingers, watching the remaining players. Some were crying. Others were simply frozen in place. She didn’t feel pity for them. Not really. They had made their choice, and it had been an easy game.
“Why would I be shaken?” she said finally. “It was obvious how it would play out. They were all just waiting for someone to offer themselves up. Besides no one died.”
Chishiya chuckled. “So, what now?”
They stood there for a moment, watching as the other players dispersed, stepping into the eerie glow of the city beyond.
Reina glanced at Chishiya.
Chishiya turned his gaze upward, looking at the night sky, he could see the stars much clearer. "This world is interesting."
Reina raised an eyebrow. “You’re already thinking ahead?”
He smirked. “Aren’t you?”
A slow smile stretched across Reina’s lips. Reina and Chishiya walked together in silence, their footsteps echoing against the empty streets. The game’s glow had faded behind them, but its weight still lingered in the air.
They passed by the vending machines outside an abandoned convenience store. Reina kicked at a stray can, sending it clattering down the sidewalk. “Guess I should find somewhere to sleep,” she mused.
Chishiya stopped a few steps ahead, glancing at her over his shoulder. “You don’t have a place?”
She shrugged. “I crash where I can.”
He smirked, as if that answer amused him. “Not very strategic of you.”
Reina grinned, twirling her ring between her fingers. “Maybe I just like the unpredictability.”
Chishiya didn’t respond immediately. Instead, he pulled a card from his pocket, the one he had claimed from the game. He studied it for a moment before slipping it back into his coat.
“Stay alive long enough,” she said finally.
They reached an intersection, the city stretching out before them in dark, endless streets. Chishiya gave her one last look before turning down one path, his figure disappearing into the shadows.
Reina lingered for a moment, watching him go. Then, with a quiet exhale, she turned in the opposite direction.