[4]

Tag, you're it

"so we'll have to keep playing then, huh?"

...Time skip...

"i think chota needs to see a doctor" you converse with arisu and karube as you find your way to the game

"given his personality he must be enduring the pain, but he's at his limit" arisu says

the rest of the walk was silent with the only noise coming from the sound of your shoes scraping against the road as you walk

"looks like we're here" karube announces

"toei sendagaya apartment" arisu whispers the name of the building under his breath

as you through the borderline you know you're at the pint of no return, you have to play.

you, karube, and arisu walk up to the stand and you each pick up a phone

you take a quick scan across the room and see quite a few people, there is a short haired woman who looks to be about your age, a man standing close by her, two other men up ahead, one of them seemingly very buff while the other skinny, two girls who appear to be quite young are standing next to an older woman, next to the older woman is an old man who is still in his work attire, next to him there is another man dressed in a suit, and next to him is a man dressed in a white and next to him is a man dressed in a white hoodie.. he also seems to be about your age, maybe a bit older and he seems to be charging something behind him

- registration has closed -

- there are a total of 14 participants, the game will now commence -

the man who was previously standing next to the shirt haired woman walks up to you

"what is this? i just ended up here and i have no idea what's going on" he says

you were about to answer him when karube spoke up "beginners will only get in our way, now stop talking"

- difficulty, five of spades -

"five of spades?" karube asks

"it's a physical game, strength is everything here" a random man with a black top hat speaks up

"im nitobe. nice to meet you" he holds his hand out

you stick your hand out and shake his, then introducing yourself

"i'm yn"

ignoring nitobe's introduction, arisu speaks up

"each mark has a different meaning?" he asks

"exactly!" nitobe sticks his hand out again, only this time it's to arisu

arisu hesitates for a moment but then shakes his hand

"the mark on a trump card signifies the game's genre. clubs refer to team battle, diamonds refer to a battle of wits, spades are a battle of strength, and as for hearts" he pauses for a moment

"it's the most troublesome one" he says

"troublesome?" you question

nitobe now looks to you

"yes, it's a game of betrayal where you play with people's hearts"

"okay and what about the numbers on the card?" you ask

"the difficulty level, the larger the number, the harder it is to clear" nitobe explains

- a game of tag -

- rule. run away from the tagger -

"stay close to me" arisu grabs ahold of your hand

you slightly nod your head and tighten your grip on his hand

"but who's the tagger?" arisu asks

"how should i know?" karube asks

- clear condition: discover the safe one hidden in one of the building rooms within the time limit. you clear the game when this objective is fulfilled. time limit is 20 minutes. after 20 minutes has passed, the time hidden in the building will explode -

"b-bomb?" you question

"we'll be okay" arisu assures you

- two minutes until the game starts -

the grip arisu has on your hand remains as you all walk up the stairs of the apartment building

"stop following us" karube tells nitobe

"im trying to gauge you guys? maybe you three are suitable to be my allies" he says, continuing to walk beside you

"how many times have you played the game?" you ask

"let's see, maybe five times?" he says

"and you've always won?" arisu questions

"well i'm still here aren't i?" nitobe responds

"arisu i want to go up to the seventh floor!" you whine

"y/n i already said no, you're sticking right next to me" he says

you've been trying to get him to go up to the seventh floor for awhile now. getting sick of his antics you release the grip you previously had on his hand and run away

"y/n!" arisu screams after you

"don't be an idiot!" karube also screams

"if you need me i'll be on the seventh floor!" you yell back at them

"be careful" they both tell you and walk the other direction

you give them a slight nod and continue running to the seventh floor

as you make your way to your desired place you see someone already, looks like they had the same idea as you

you walk over to where the man in white hoodie is standing and look at all the people

"oh? looks like i'm not the only one with a brain here" he says and looks at you

"well any fool should know that this is the perfect starting point, i mean you can see everything from here.. and everyone" you whisper the last part

"and here i thought i would have to do all the thinking myself" he walks over to you

"i'm chishiya" he sticks a hand out

"y/n" you shake his hand

"let's see... everyone looks like they're about to die, as usual" chishiya says

you scoff and look at him

"okay then mr. brains, what should we do?" you ask him

"wait it out" he says

"wait it out? are you kidding?? we only have twenty minutes before this place blows up" you tell him

"well if my idea goes wrong, you can beat my *** in the afterlife, but for now just trust me" he gives you an annoying grin

"i mean come on, there has to be some kind of clues we can spot, right y/n?"

"right"

a/n: sorry for not posting in a while. but here's a chapter.

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