Chapter Text
In golf, you are always entirely alone.
It was the very first lesson Grace Madison had mastered the moment she first picked up a club, long before she ever held her first trophy. On the green, there is no team to absorb your mistakes, no partner to pass the ball to, and no coach to step in mid-swing. It is just you, the club in your hands, and the weight of your own thoughts. There is no one there to offer support when the pressure mounts, and no one to drag you down when things don’t go as planned.
As Grace became more competitive and the stakes grew higher, she realized that people were nothing more than obstacles. They were hurdles in her pursuit to make a name for herself on her own merit, entirely detached from the heavy shadow of her family's wealth. Coming from money meant her achievements would always be dismissed as bought, and she refused to let her legacy be anything less than earned.
Following this philosophy, she cleared the fairway. Cutting off her family, her closest friends, and anyone else who dared to disrupt her trajectory became a necessity. To secure the title of Ultimate Golfer, Grace had gladly kindled the fire to burn those bridges. She couldn't afford to carry dead weight when she was aiming for perfection—especially not in a sport heavily weighed down by systemic misogyny and cheap comments, mostly about her foul mouthed language or her body. If they wanted to reduce her to a stereotype or a distraction, so be it. Every cynical whisper from any tournament crowd only fueled her fire.
It only proved that the only person she could ever truly rely on to protect her legacy was herself. To survive a world that constantly looked down on her, she had to become untouchable. She lived by that philosophy throughout her short but successful golf career – eventually that same mindset leaking into everyday life.
That was, until she met Wolfgang Akire.
Wolfgang had been the exact opposite of everything she was. He was proper, determined, and looked perfect in every way since they first stepped on the train. Even to Grace’s tastes, he had a somewhat theatrical authority that filled whatever room he walked into, instantly positioning himself as the group’s self-appointed savior. An esteemed defense attorney with 200 successful wins, no wonder he had received his title. He was someone who defended justice and stuck to his morals, which Grace respected in a person. He was also pretty hot as well, not like Grace cared about that certain thing when she arrived in that shithole of a “school”.
But even a man like that had cracks in his form. Grace had noticed that even if he claimed to openly invite the burdens of others, he did disclude the Mathlete and Damon, and even ridiculed them not even two days in. Not that Grace didn’t disclude them as well; she did think their motives and ridiculing of talents was fucking ridiculous. Especially the part where Damon claimed that some people didn’t deserve their talents—what did he know? He didn’t know jack shit about how hard she worked to receive that title. Blood, sweat, and fucking tears went into getting her Ultimate, all for a stupid debater to clown on the group? How could she have not gone with the rest of the group on their unanimous decision?
As the days crawled by, Grace had found herself doing the one thing she swore she’d never do: not following her number one rule, and blindly trusting someone. But Wolfgang was different to her in many ways. He didn’t look down on her when she had fits of rage due to the “watches” shocking her. He never scoffed at her title or dismissed her hard work, in fact, he was interested in it. He always asked about her tournaments and wanted to know how she got her title.
Because of that, a tiny, unfamiliar crack had formed in her mindset. She had rationalized it to herself with her own strategy: the group of students she was stuck with already disliked her. Most of the group found her annoying and abrasive, and some just found her scary. So, it only made sense to align herself with the strongest player on the board. If everyone else hates her and the so-called “leader” doesn’t, why wouldn’t it make sense to latch onto security? She already had a huge target on her back from beating Tozu to a pulp and making snarky comments to the lot.
Maybe it wasn't a strategy, maybe she just wanted a friend. Everyone in her life did eventually disappear if it wasn’t for her making the decision to leave them. Maybe she just wanted someone to talk to, or someone to be there when she was scared or stressed. Grace had thought Wolfgang was that singular person. Even switching rooms with Wenona and Ulysses was a huge step for her; but it was her sole goal, anyway. Of course, Wolfgang couldn’t say no to her, or he’d probably get a smack in the jaw just like on the first day. Even in his dorm, in the quiet moments away from the group, she had let her guard down and wanted to even get closer to him. She had handed him her trust, something she had never done.
Good things come to an end, though, as later he was ripped away from her.
When his body was found in the boiler room, Grace couldn’t even yell or scream or let her anger out on a wall. She was just completely shocked, with nothing coming out of her mouth. The face he was making is something she will never forget. He looked so… scared. Nothing like she’d seen from him in the mock trial. His death had shattered her, honestly. In the trial, she defended him even while getting accused by Desmond and Eloise over something so unimportant. So what if she spent the night with him? Why didn’t they listen to her and take her opinion into consideration? Why didn’t they understand she wanted to protect the last moments they spent together in his room? And more importantly, what was the point of staying close to him?
The walls she had spent years building around her imploded. It broke her in a way she didn't think she could recover from. She wanted revenge for him, whoever killed him deserved it; they were just a sick, lowlife asshole who deserved death. And for it to eventually end up being Eva? Good fucking riddance, she thought.
For everything he had done for her, she just had to carry the weight of his absence, and she was going to make sure that everyone knew that. She couldn’t die now in this shit hole.
Grace continued to keep her philosophy strong after Wolfgang died. She refused to let anyone else get close to her after him, she had witnessed it from many of her other classmates; Wenona watched Ulysses die in her arms, Damon had built a somewhat relationship with Kai, only for the gremlin to take Kai’s life and shatter Damon’s heart. Even the annoying drag racer she couldn’t stand watching Mark be executed.
As the numbers dwindled and the true weight of the school pressed down on the remaining survivors, she decided to change her approach.. somewhat. She didn’t lower her guard completely, no, she wasn’t an absolute jackass; but, she learned how to clear a path for the few who deserved her respect. Most notably with Diana, and, surprisingly, with Damon.
It hadn't happened overnight — no, she really did fucking hate Diana’s guts for trying to be like Wolfgang. She openly hated Damon for his stunt in the mock trial as well. He had no right to be so crude to the group about their talents, who even used debating skills in the real world? However, as the killing game gnawed away at everyone’s mind, Grace began to see past the insufferable, arrogant personality the debater put up and the mindset Diana had to put on for the group.
Especially with Damon, though, she uncovered the truth he kept away from the group and had learned bits and pieces of his story as an immigrant, navigating himself as someone who could barely speak English and trying to help his parents afford rent. She learned about the exhausting pressure from his years of debating to alter his appearance to fit a bullshit beauty standard, he even went as far as dying his hair and literally forcing his voice lower just to be taken seriously.
The realization hit Grace with a punch to the gut. He wasn't like Wolfgang at all, but Damon had done the exact thing she did; building walls around himself just to make a name and become successful in his field. Looking at him now, the irritation she used to feel softened into something protective. She began to view him almost like an annoying brother— don’t get her wrong, she found him annoying and harsh most of the time, but she would even consider to defend if anyone dared to hurt him. Still, Grace kept her distance. She maintained a careful boundary between them, but she would protect him from the sidelines.
…..Which brought her right back to the task at hand. After investigating the new area that Tozu unlocked, she and Damon walked side-by-side into the cafeteria to process what they’d just uncovered. They were exhausted, to say the least. Damon automatically pulled a chair from the table and slumped into it, while Grace began to make coffee to keep herself awake. She had noticed he kept zoning out, something of a habit he’d picked up after the third trial. She knew what he was probably thinking of, though.
The third trial had taken Kai, and that loss had broken Damon, shattering his composure in the exact same way Wolfgang’s death in the boiler room had completely leveled her weeks ago.. She felt.. sorry for him, honestly. It was upsetting to watch his thoughts take over him for something he couldn’t prevent, though he wasn't even at fault for it; it was the gremlin’s fault for taking his life, though she couldn’t exactly blame her as well. She was the youngest out of the group, and just took the opportunity in the moment. Grace did feel a bit of remorse towards Toshiko, she looked so terrified in her execution; so much so that Diana had to cover Damon’s eyes. He would’ve probably ended up killing someone if he witnessed that disgusting execution towards a literal child.
The aggressive hum of the cafeteria's old coffee machine filled the heavy silence between them. She tapped her foot and scoffed as he began to fidget with his tie. Grace grabbed two mugs, filled them to the brim, and sped walked back over to the table. She slid one across the smooth surface toward him.
“Oi, drink it.” Grace muttered.
Damon blinked, his focus snapping back as he wrapped his hands around the warm mug.
“Yeah, sorry.” He said as he sipped his coffee.
Grace pulled out the chair across from him and sat down with a rough sigh. She stared at him and waited for a response.
“Is it good or what?”
“Sure. Though, you didn’t have to make this for me.”
“Are you ever appreciative? Just drink the damn thing before we have to investigate more.”
“.....Right, sorry.” Damon softly muttered under his breath.
What?
Hearing him actually apologize only proved how exhausted he really was. His voice sounded completely flat and his normal appearance looked extremely disheveled; he had dark circles and his black roots were showing from his hair dye.
She scoffed and crossed her arms, her eyes tracking the anxious way his fingers lingered on his tie. He was trying so hard to keep his walls up, but Grace could see right through the cracks. It’s not like she didn’t understand him, no, she knew exactly what she was feeling at that moment.
Right before she was about to ask him something about what they’ve found, the stupid goat appeared adjacent to the table next to them.
“Cheerio to you both!” Tozu happily cheered as he clapped his hands together.
Grace quickly became startled and smacked her hand on the table from frustration.
“Fucking hell.. what do you want?” She demanded.
The force from her hand hitting the table ringed loudly in the cafeteria. Damon jumped slightly, his grip tightening around his coffee mug; however, he quickly composed himself and deadpanned at Tozu.
“My, Miss Madison! Is that any way to address your host?”
“Don’t call me that. You have no right to after the shit you’ve put us through.” Grace scoffed, her eyes narrowing into slits.
Tozu simply clapped his hands together, completely unfazed by the weight being carried from her voice. He tilted his head with a theatrical flare to further push his motive on them.
"Always so prickly, aren’t we? And here, I thought we were making such wonderful progress together!"
Damon let out a deep exhale through his nose, his voice flat as he cut in their conversation.
"State your business, Tozu. If you aren’t going to give us valuable information, can you leave us alone?”
"Wasting time? Me? How dare you accuse me of such trivial accusations!" Tozu gasped dramatically, placing a hand over his chest.
The two blondes glanced at each other and shared a brief look of pure irritation. Grace could tell they shared the same exact thought, or at least something of the sort. Grace had gotten better at maintaining her emotions and not letting her anger get the better of her; she had learned her lesson after repeating the same act from the mock trial of punching Tozu after the third trial and almost paying with her life, again. She assumed Damon wanted to just get this conversation over with, so she decided to listen to the goat man yap about whatever he had to tell them.
"Trivial?" Grace scoffed as she forced her voice down to get her point across. "Do you ever listen to when people fucking talk to you? Cut the crap and get to the point."
"But it's not crap, Grace! It is, what I would call it, a token of gratitude! " Tozu corrected, completely unfazed by her tone as he dropped his hands and gestured grandly toward the door.
“A what?” Damon asked as he sat up in his seat to listen.
“That’s right! Because you lot have survived four trials.. I decided, why not show my appreciation by helping you?”
“If you appreciated us as you say... maybe you shouldn’t have put us in a fucking killing game?” Grace shouted as she stood up to face directly to the host.
Tozu completely brushed off her outburst, waving a dismissive hand as he began to explain about the various clues left scattered around the unlocked areas, specifically regarding the classmates who had died early in the game. Grace’s focus immediately locked in when the conversation shifted to Wolfgang. The more the Tozu rambled about him, the more a sinking feeling settled deep in her gut; something was seriously wrong. Especially when the sarcasm bled through his voice whenever he was talking about his talent as a lawyer or his character in general. If Grace’s initial thoughts were correct that something was up with him ever since they started rooming together; how he used to stonewall when she asked about how he got his talent, his mother, his cases.. Had he been lying to her the entire time? Is Tozu seriously suggesting he is something other than a lawyer?
No.
Surely it’s not sarcasm? It couldn't be. Wolfgang was the Ultimate Lawyer, for fucks sake! He was like a rock that everyone leaned on in the beginning. He was the person who had given her a sense of safety when this stupid game began. He was the person she confided in about how she received her talent.. Yet, when she had turned the question back on him, he had given her absolutely nothing regarding the types of cases he took on, or his law office’s name, or just anything regarding studying for that damn bar exam! It was nothing but evasions. Just beginning to think about the worst case scenario made her stomach churn.
Grace had zoned out for the rest of Tozu’s advice, knowing Damon would most likely remember it all. She didn’t have the energy and mindset to think about anything else. She needed to read whatever Tozu had said about Wolfgang first. And once Grace Madison is determined on something, she will do anything to get to it. That’s how she’s always been, to get her talent or just to even make connections to further boost her talent. But this wasn’t about her talent, no, it was to figure out something that had been gnawing at her for weeks or even months.
She only snapped back to reality when the irritating host finally paused his dramatics, tilting his head to ask if they had any questions about the information. Without skipping a beat, Grace flipped him her middle finger and told him to fuck off. Tozu dropped his head low, dramatically acting like he was bullied; but he took the crude gesture as his cue to leave. With a wave, the host turned and vanished.
Grace immediately jumped out of her seat and began to make her way out of the dining commons. She needed to go in his dorm and figure out whatever was happening right now.
“Where are you even going? Don’t you want to talk about what he said?” Damon bluntly called out to her.
“Shut up. I need to go into Wolfgang’s dorm right now. Did you not hear what he said about him? It sounded like he was fucking mocking him! ”
Damon snorted, a sharp, bitter sound that stopped her dead in her own tracks. He slowly pushed himself up from the table and began to walk in front of her.
"Of course he was mocking him, Grace. That's what he does," Damon said, adjusting his tie and ruffling his hair in an attempt to fill the little silence.
"I don't give a damn, I'm going and looking for this shit myself." Grace croaked as her thick accent began to pierce through her voice.
“Grace, rushing in there blindly with your emotions running high is exactly what Tozu wants. He probably knows what you and him were up too — are you sure you’re ready for whatever the hell is in that room?”
“I don’t— I don’t care. I’m going in that damn room and looking for whatever he is talking about. I can deal with whatever he gives us.”
“Tch. Just warning you, Grace.”
“Feh. How do you think I managed to get my talent, soybean? By letting whatever life has in store play out?" Grace snickered as she turned to look at him, "Absolutely fucking not, I did it on my own pace. So shut your trap.”
“Enough with the nicknames and let’s go, then. I’m coming with you, since I want to know if my suspicions were correct as well.”
Suspicions? Is he thinking of the same thing she was? Grace didn’t put it past him, after all, he did most of the heavy lifting in the trials – they wouldn’t even be here if it wasn’t for him.
Grace fiddled with her watch and touched her bruises that it left with it as she began to walk to the dorm areas.
“Oi, what do you mean 'suspicions'?" She bluntly asked.
“Back when we first got here, I would talk to Wolfgang about both of our talents. Of course, I could answer any question he gave me; but for him? He was very evasive and couldn’t even tell me simple details about a case — like the age of the defendant or what type it was.”
Grace stayed silent for a minute, thinking of how to even respond to that. But maybe they were both wrong in some way. Perhaps whatever Tozu left behind would just give more context on that blackmail Damon had received when they first got in the school? The one about Wolfgang’s parents and that cryptic quote printed on the back of it. Grace knew Wolfgang’s father was a complete piece of shit, so maybe all of this secrecy was just tied back to that family trauma. Maybe it wasn’t anything regarding his talent.
"A supposed defense attorney who can't recall basic case information or client demographics is odd, Grace.” Damon continued, his voice cutting through her thoughts. "I’ve learned a lot about people from debating — such as body language or what political side they could be on based on a simple sentence. However, let’s take the body language example – every time I asked a simple question, he would fidget with a button on the side of his pants or tense up. I suspect he is fabricating something."
"Shut up," Grace muttered, her hand shifting from her bruised wrist to her hip. "You don't know that. His dad was a monster, Damon, a complete piece of shit. Wolfgang probably just blocked out the details of whatever cases he was forced to handle because of him. You don't know what that yuppy went through."
Damon stopped dead in his tracks when they arrived at his dorm and turned to look at Grace dead in the eye.
“I know you’re a very determined person, Grace. But, do not let your emotions fabricate your mind from the truth. Whatever is in there could make or break you for however long we’re stuck here. Don’t lose sight of your morals.”
Grace stared back at him, her chest heaving slightly as she held his gaze. The word 'morals' made her throat go dry. He was right, though. Whatever stupid information was in the room surely wasn’t bad enough for her to get rid of her moral code. She wanted to snap at him, to tell him to shut his trap, but his words made complete sense.
"Oi. I'm not losing sight of anything," Grace said, her voice dropping into a harsh whisper that barely hid the tremor underneath. She then turned around to look at Damon again, this time with her brows furrowed and hands on her hips.
Damon softly smiled at her, showing a soft dimple on his cheek as he nodded.
Her shoulder brushed his as she stepped up to open the door. "But I'm not turning back either. Let’s go in there, yeah?”
With a tense, trembling hand, she reached out and shoved the door completely open.