Chapter Text
The air in the room was heavy. No one moved or spoke, waiting for something to happen, and yet no one made any move to address the elephant in the room, or, at least, look away from it. Kai Satou’s body still lay limp, blood pooling around him. It was horrific, Joe thought, and yet he couldn’t peel his eyes off of it. The tension among the participants was thick, palpable. All of their eyes focused on the same thing. The result. Of their vote. Of their choices. Another dead man on the floor. There was nothing anyone could say to that. The fear, the horror, the shame, that was welling up inside of them. “Congratulations, everyone, for making it past the first main game!” Sue Miley’s voice boomed through the hall, “Please, exit the main game grounds and go to the next floor through the left exit! I sincerely hope you enjoyed the thrill of the main game! I know I did!” The intercom cut out with Miley’s cruel giggles. The noise had become nails on a chalkboard to Joe. He dug his fingernails into his legs, finally looking up. The rest of the group looked just as unsure as he felt, a few of them also looking more than just a bit irritated at hearing Miley’s voice. The room was still just as silent, but the group slowly began to break from their ‘trance’ as they all looked around, gauging the other’s faces. Keiji was the first to leave, Gin trailing behind him. One by one, everyone left, leaving just Joe and Sara. Joe finally took a step away from his podium, for the first time in what felt like an eternity. “…Sara?” His voice was hoarse, but he didn't care. Sara was still staring at the body, making no move to acknowledge Joe, he gave an anxious look. “C’mon… Sara?” He gently shook her shoulder. Still unresponsive. An irrational sense of panic welled up inside of him. She wasn’t dead. She was sat right in front of him. So why was his body reacting like she was the one limp on the ground? He slowly took a shaky breath, grabbing her arm and pulling her up. “…Joe,” she dragged her eyes up to him. “Sorry.” Joe felt a pang of relief.
“You’re alright,” he said, studying her face. Her expression was somber, her brows were furrowed and she was biting her lips so hard Joe thought they might bleed. Her expression softened as she tore her eyes to Joe. “C’mon. The speaker said we can go, now.” He let go of her arm as they both walked in silence across the bloodied main game floor, and up the stairs. A lot was left unsaid. That was tomorrow’s problem.
The new floor was nice, all things considered. An artificial sky decorated the room, the sky was dim, fake stars and a full moon dotted across it. At least it was on time, Joe thought. Or maybe his perception of time had just been shattered. Just another way to be controlled by the kidnappers. As the pair began to look over the floor, they were met by a familiar blonde-haired detective. “Hey. Joe, Sara.” He nodded at them.
“Oh,hey…pal.” Joe bit his lip and looked away. Yup. Incredibly awkward. Sara made a face at him. “Were you waiting on us? Where’s everyone gone?”
“Mhm. Your friendly policeman here just wanted to make sure everyone got to the third floor okay.” he paused, analysing the pair. Joe hated it. Keiji freaked him out. He could never really tell what went beyond his eyes, but he always felt like he knew what Joe was feeling before he himself even did. “There’s bedrooms here. Everybody’s gone to bed.”
“Holy crap! Bedrooms?”
“Yup. In other words, you two get some rest. No use in exploring now,” he said, leaving for a hallway. It was also somewhat nice. Hotel-like. Joe followed him, with a cautious Sara trailing behind him. Keiji stopped at a door, pointing to two doors down the hallway. “Those two are yours,” he opened the door, his gaze softening, “Just try and rest some, okay? Can’t have you two falling asleep while investigating.” he said, closing the door. They were left alone, in the hallway, cool air suffocating them, lights dim and extra creepy. Wonderful. Joe looked at the two doors. “So…” he said, stalling. Sara wasn’t really giving much room for stalling, though- raising a brow and gesturing to go on. He didn't want to enter that room, alone knowing that the second he walked in there, the image of Kai’s dead body that cemented itself into his memories would be plastered across to room like some fucked up projector. He waited for Sara to say something, before sighing and reaching for the handle. Sara grabbed his arm “W-wait!” she said, her voice quivering, for the first time in the 2 years he’d known her. “Please. I don't want to be alone right now… I can’t,” he looked at her teary eyes, and gave an exaggerated sigh. Joe gave her hand a squeeze, giving a comforting smile, before his demenor changed back to his usual loud, boisterous self, “Fine. Since you asked *so nicely*, I guess I can stay with you,” he said.
The rooms were just as cold as the hallway, and a window and mirror decorated the left wall. Along with a decently sized bed, a lamp, and a chair. Joe immediately flopped onto the bed, not even bothering to take his shoes off, while Sara, quite precisely, took off her blazer and shoes, placing them neatly on the chair, then promptly plopped herself into bed. They both relaxed, the day had seemed like it lasted multiple, and it was finally coming to an end. A comfortable silence engulfed the room.
“Hey Joe…”
“Hm?”
“…Thank you.”
“Don’t you worry, man!…I mean, I’m so amazingly spectacularly reliable, it’s only natural that you can count on me, anytime.”
“You can count on me, too, anytime, Mr Spectacular,” Sara gave a weak smile, turning to face Joe. He flipped from his back, to his side, flashing her a small grin. “Man, I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I actually kinda-sorta miss school…”
”Jou Tazuna! Am I hearing this correctly? Have you been switched out with a clone?” Sara said, He rolled his eyes.
”C’mon! It’s not that unbelievable! I’m actually a super amazing student!” Sara scoffed
”Wasn’t it like, two days ago tried to bribe me with kebabs to show you my homework, and got us both in trouble for talking? Not exactly ‘star student’ behaviour.”
“Seriously? Dude, I said I was sorry like, a gajillion times! Way to beat the dead horse! What more do you want from meeee?!” He dramatically placed a hand on his chest
”Alright, alright, you’re forgiven”, she says, chuckling. “On one condition: you take me to that kebab place if we get out of here.” Joe paused to look at her, ’if’he was not touching that with a ten-foot pole.
”Well, you have yourself a done deal, Kebab girl. When we get out, I’ll be sure to treat you to the finest in town.” The pair exchange a brief look. Sara, ever the confrotnational one, chimed in.
“Do you seriously believe that we’ll ever get out?” She asked, her eyes boring holes into his.
“Real talk, man? Dunno. But, what I do know is that there’s no point in—” He gestured to Sara “Whatever you’re doing right now. Not with everything that’s happened.”
“So, what? We keep up with the ‘teamwork’, close our eyes and hope we get led to a way out?” Sara ran her hand through her hair in a self-soothing motion. “We tried that. Two people still died. Now everyone’s gonna go back to pretending it never happened. Like there’s no chance it's gonna them next. Yourblind optimism is never going to get us anywhere.” That's funny, Joe thought, when she was the one who inspired the whole ‘blind optimism’ thing. He guessed that he was finally hearing her true thoughts, and not what she though people needed to hear, for the first time since they fell down here. For the first time since it was ingrained into their heads that go in against the group is fatal. He’d missed that. Her genuine, unfiltered thoughts, the reassurance of being next to someone who also, didn't know what the hell they were doing.
“I dunno. What I do know is, whatever ‘the way’ is, we’ll find it, together.” there was a beat of silence, before he continued. “Even if it's the blind leading the blind, there's no point thinking negatively now. You think everyone needs you to have the perfect answer. Trust me, I know. So… when you feel like everybody’s leaning on you, feel free to lean on me, anytime,” he said. Sara looked at him, her smile reaching her eyes this time, before rolling over onto her back, staring at the ceiling and leaving the room in a comfortable silence.
“…”
“Hey Joe?”
“Yeah?”
“Goodnight,” she whispered. That was the last thing Joe heard from her before the sound of faint snoring met his ears. he turned onto his back and looked up at the blank ceiling. No images projected onto it, like he had thought. Just the sound of Sara breathing next to him. Maybe, Joe thought, this place wouldn't be quite so scary with her by his side.