Chapter 2
For the first time in quite a while, Chishiya was very frustrated. He didn’t understand why Usagi and Arisu fought so hard to try and save him, of all people, the very same person who betrayed Arisu and nearly got him killed.
Yeah, he knew he had saved Arisu once, but he didn’t consider that much of an important thing. And there was no reason for Usagi to care. So why?
He pushed those emotions aside, focusing on assessing the damage done to his body. It was the worst in his head, the raging headache that had formed was so bad that he felt sick and dizzy.
The blondes back ached as well, his elbows were scraped from when he was thrown to the ground, and he was sure that a noticeable bruise had formed on his face.
Over all, he was pretty badly beaten and not very mobile. At this point, he wasn’t sure if he would be able to even make it to the Jack of Hearts. He could hardly think above the pain in his head.
So I have a bad concussion? He thought to himself, stopping to hold onto the railing and prod at his hair, until he found a goose egg at the back of his head. It hurt to touch, and when he pulled his hand away, there was a little bit of blood.
Chishiya tried to keep walking, but found that he was stumbling, he caught himself against a pole and looked around, his vision blurry and ears ringing. This was the adrenaline wearing off.
The blonde took a deep breath, concentrating on walking. He was going to have to drag himself to a hospital. Chishiya managed to get out of the building they had been in, but that was about as far as he could get before his vision began darkening.
Knowing that he was about to faint right in the middle of the street, which would leave him completely vulnerable, Chishiya steeled himself, breathing calmly and deeply, he was stumbling as he got into a building, looking around.
Everything was blurry. He couldn’t see any good hiding spots, and couldn’t tell if anyone was in here. But he also couldn’t afford collapsing and possibly hitting his head again.
Chishiya lowered himself to the ground, managing to remove his hoodie to put under his head, then he laid on his back with his head turned to the side.
His vision swirled and blurred, the edges of it darkening. Then everything faded away.
…
When Chishiya awoke, his head was still aching, but he felt less sick. He took it slow, staring at the ceiling for a bit, then carefully raised to a sitting position.
His head pounded, as if someone was punching his skull over and over again. Chishiya felt like he’d vomit, wincing slightly.
The blonde allowed himself to sit like that for a while, taking in his surroundings. He had stumbled into a bank, and there was a dead body near him. From the looks of it, pretty fresh.
Chishiya wasn’t sure how long he’d been out for, until he gazed out the window and saw the position of the sun. Early morning. He was out for about five hours.
Touching the bump, Chishiya was pleased to feel that the swelling had already lessened a bit, and he was no longer bleeding.
Eventually, he rose to his feet, stepping out of the building to see that the Jack of Hearts had still not been beaten. Chishiya made his way over to the building, which was a prison, without any kidnapping or fainting involved.
Upon getting inside the building, he had to put a collar on, and there were no phones. He put it on and made his way to the central guardroom, where many others had gathered.
“Difficult, Jack of Hearts. Game, Prison Cell. Rules. Guess the suit that appears on the back of your collar. However, you cannot see your own suit.”
At that, some people tried moving the collars, as if they would somehow be able to see the suit. Chishiya remained leaning against a doorway, listening to the voice speak. “The time limit per round is one hour. Five minutes before the time is up, enter one of the prison cells and guess what your own suit is. If you do not guess your suit correctly, the game is over for you. When the time runs out, the collar will explode and you will die. In addition, your suit will change at every round.“
There was a pause in the speaking, and whispers erupted amongst everyone. “But we just need to have someone tell us what our suit is, right? That’ll be easy.”
“I wouldn’t be so sure. They haven’t told us how to clear the game,” Chishiya looked back at the screen, noticing someone staring at him in his peripheral vision. He didn’t meet their gaze, pretending that he didn’t notice.
Though, Chishiya did recognize this person.
“Prison Cell is a test of how much you can trust others,” The voice resumed speaking, hushing everyone. “In addition, the Jack of Hearts has secretly joined the game as one of the participants.”
“See? There it is,” Chishiya said, quiet enough that only he and the one beside him could hear.
“Clear condition. Every hour, this will be repeated. The game is cleared when the Jack of Hearts, who is hiding among you, is killed. Prohibited activities. Using reflective objects to see your suit. You also may not use violence or weapons to kill others.”
“In other words, until the Jack fails to answer correctly and dies, this game won’t end. Which means unless we lie to the Jack, we won’t clear the game,” The person was still staring. Chishiya had identified him as Sunato Banda, a murderer of four women.
Chishiya was only partly listening to the rest, as he got distracted by the dark stare of the other, and the way he was smirking slightly. Everything else was explained, then groups started to form, people telling each other their suits.
“Here, I’ll tell you yours,” The boy beside Chishiya - who introduced himself as Ippei - offered.
“Why don’t you guys join our group?” A girl who wore a blue dress suggested. Ippei agreed, along with Chishiya. Then they all told each other their suits.
The first round, no one died. Chishiya had wandered away from everyone to go grab a snack, but as he reached for the biscuits, a hand grabbed his wrist.
Chishiya looked at Banda, who held his wrist firmly, and raised an eyebrow. “Sunato Banda. What do you want from me?”
“The newspapers gave it away?” Banda smirked, releasing Chishiya’s wrist. The smaller immediately grabbed his biscuits, opening the package to eat some. Then he offered it to Banda.
He took one and ate it, which surprised Chishiya a little. “Yeah. Why have you come up to me?”
“I like how you look,” Banda replied, Chishiya turning so that he could lean against the shelves that held the food. When the blonde didn’t seem to understand, Banda reached up and put pressure against the bruise on his face, causing Chishiya to wince and lean his head away.
Lowering his hand, a very dark, evil smirk formed on Banda’s features. He definitely enjoyed seeing others in pain. “And if there wasn’t a rule against violence, I’d have to be worried?” Chishiya inquired. “Would you torture me, murderer?”
“I have someone else in mind,” Banda glanced over his shoulder, confirming there was no one around. “The Jack of Hearts, after this is over.”
“So you expect to survive? And you think you know who he is?” Chishiya already had an idea, but he’d be surprised if this murderer knew.
Before Banda could respond, they heard the order to go to a cell and guess their suit. “I’ll be seeing you,” The taller said, taking his leave.
Chishiya felt his body relax as soon as Banda was gone, wondering when he’d even tensed up. Sunato Banda. He was smart, but not a direct threat. Chishiya wouldn’t have to worry about him until later.
Round two, and one person was dead. Round three, another.
By round four, more people were losing trust in each other, losing their sanity, and Chishiya was just watching as everything fell apart.
The woman, Urumi, was cunning and kept up the chain of killing players. Chishiya was pretty sure that she was just enjoying herself, she liked having control of the other players and she liked killing them. too.
She had probably forgotten about wanting to kill that Jack of Hearts. Chishiya wouldn’t doubt that.
In the end, she was so confident of her control over the others, that she didn’t think they’d lie to her. The blonde thought the game got a little more boring when she died.
And soon, there were only five players left.
…
Chishiya was tending to his wounds in the washroom, doubting that anyone would come by, the round was almost over and there were only six of them left anyways.
His head wound was healing nicely, even without proper treatment. Chishiya had been experiencing some dizziness and confusion, but it was nothing too concerning. Along with a pretty bad headache. His elbows were well on their way to being healed, as Chishiya had stopped by a clinic and gotten some bandages and rubbing alcohol to clean the wounds.
Now, it was just the bruise on his face, and the bruise crawling across his entire lower back from when he was slammed against a railing by the Queen of Spades.
“Damn you, Lisa…” He murmured to himself.
He flinched in surprise when there were three loud knocks on the door. Frowning at it in silence, Chishiya waited, then there were three more knocks. He reached for his shirt, to put back on, but the door swung open, slamming against the wall.
Chishiya raised back to his full height, to meet Banda’s gaze. “I didn’t miss you,” The blonde said, pursing his lips when Banda shut and locked the door behind him.
“That’s quite the bruise,” Banda’s eyes weren’t focused on Chishiya, but rather the mirror behind him. “Who did this to you?“
“She’s dead,” Chishiya didn’t move even as Banda got closer to him, now staring at him.
“That’s too bad,” Banda commented as stopped in front of Chishiya. “Turn around. I’ll tell you your suit.”
“I don’t need you to tell it to me,” Chishiya had barely finished speaking before Banda pushed him against the sinks, which were unfortunately level with the dark bruise on his back, causing him to hiss in pain.
“People like you are the best kind to break,” Banda commented, reaching up to touch Chishiya’s face, putting pressure on his bruise.
Having had enough, Chishiya pushed Banda away, the latter catching himself while still smirking. “I’m not interested in you,” Chishiya tilted his head. “I’ve seen many people like you before, so there is nothing left to learn. Leave me be from now on.”
“And why would I listen to you?” Banda asked. He was getting on Chishiya’s nerves.
“I don’t know. You decide. I’m leaving,” Chishiya picked up his shirt and hoodie, putting them back on while Banda watched. Then he turned to face him again, expression blank. “Your partner?”
“Yes,” Banda nodded.
“I thought so,” Chishiya walked away, and thankfully, Banda didn’t follow. If the violence rule wasn’t in place, Chishiya would be worried. If he and Banda both survived this game, he’d have to avoid him.
…
The next round, Chishiya found his partner dead. He didn’t lie to him, so Ippei must have committed suicide. He was a kind soul, not someone meant for a game like this.
“Well, it looks like I’m in quite a bind.”
He knew that Banda would probably tell him his suit, but at the cost of more abuse and teasing, so Chishiya avoided even thinking of him. Instead, he asked the Jack of Hearts himself.
The taller told Chishiya that his suit was hearts - an obvious lie - so his next target was… Well, whoever showed up to get food first.
It ended up being the girl who was with Yaba, Kotoko. He told her his suit was club. And by her reaction, it wasn’t.
That was all he was able to collect before the round was over. He had to guess between diamond and spade.
…
Chishiya exited his cell after getting bored of the Jack’s psychotic laughter. Of course, upon seeing him, the Jack looked sick. He explained to him why he knew he was the Jack, and at that point, Banda exited his cell too.
It was likely that Kotoko was the one who died. If Banda was alive, then he and Yaba must’ve teamed up and told each other their suits.
He knew he was right when Yaba revealed himself, walking down the stairs.
This was his only chance. While those two were distracted with the Jack, he’d have to escape, otherwise they’d turn their attention on him and that wouldn’t end up too great for the small blonde.
He gladly took his leave once the round ended and the Jack was dead, exiting Teio Prison and trying to spot which game he wanted to play next.
King of Diamonds, most likely.