"(Y/N). It's time to wake up..."

"Five more minutes," I mumbled, turning over to my side. Apparently, there wasn't anything there, so I just dropped to the ground. At least that is what I assumed it was. I open my eyes before shutting them again. A big ball of light dances between my eyelids, just wanting me to wake up. 

What happened?

I jolt up, remembering my situation. 

"Joe!?" I scream, "Sara!?" I stand up feeling a little bit woozy from whatever happened before. 

Am I trapped? 

I felt something buzz in my pocket, taking me from my thoughts. Grabbing the device, I bring it up to my face. It was a phone, mine to be exact. I felt my heart drop and blood run cold as I let the light on my phone darken.

There is no way that this is happening. 

Hearing a click, I heard a door swing open from behind me. I didn't even dare to turn towards them. I already know who it is. I just wish that I wouldn't have to see him again, seeing that the last time was ten years ago.

"So, you are telling me that you built and designed this horrid game?" I stated in disgust. I turn my head away from him, not giving him the pleasure of my attention.

For the past hour, this old man explained how he decided to partner up with an organization named ASU-NARO. He was a need for entertainment, and this was it. A game on which death was given if they got a majority vote. Their only problem is who they should select to participate.

"You and your mother fled the country ten years ago to escape death due to your father's treason." The old man stated, "So it was only fair to punish those who have kept you hidden from me." I clenched my fists together to help control my anger. Making sure that my hands are hidden under the table that I am sitting at.

"Though my dear, you aren't really at fault since you were only a little child. After we arrested your father, I wanted you to be taken under my arm. I wanted to raise you as my own since your father neglected his role." I heard him stand up from behind his desk and walk over towards me, "(Y/N) (L/N), you don't have to hide anymore. No more wigs, no more colored contacts. You are safe as long as you are right by my side. All you have to do is take it off the wig and contacts you are wearing right now."

"I just don't think this game will fix anything." I forced myself to look his way, trying to withhold as much emotion as possible, "This game is sick and inhumane. No one should go this, no matter what their crime is."

It has been a while since I have last seen him, but he looks like he hasn't aged at all. Tall, muscular build that screamed dominance to anyone in his way. His now pepper freckled hair, which ironically is still kept the same way. Those ice-blue eyes that can cut through diamonds if he would try. Definitely don't miss seeing those eyes. 

"That doesn't matter. Princess-" I harden my eyes at the name, "Oo? Did I hit a nerve there?"

Oh~ I wish I could kill him right now.

"Isn't what that young boy called you?" He asked after some silence, "I'll make sure that you will be treated like that."

"What do you mean by that?" I questioned, not liking where this is heading.

"Well, let's say that young boy, Joe, right? Dies, I can always program him into one of these dolls over here." The old man points over to the set of empty dolls, "So then you will always have your knight in shining armor."

"You wouldn't?" I whispered horrified. He walks over to the window where it overlooks the first floor.

"I can also do that one boy, Alice, to be your second doll." 

"Enough!" I screamed, standing up, slamming my fists on the table, "Father was right about you. You have a sick twisted mind, old man." 

"You should be careful of what you say next, (Y/N)" He warned, walking back to his desk, "You may say something that you will regret."

I walked over towards the window, hoping that I would get some light on what is happening. From what it appears, this room is right in the middle of the floor. There hung three large chandeliers that were illuminating the floor below with gold hue. From being at least three stories high, I can see people talking at the bottom of the floor. The look of terror filled those people's eyes. All just because of me.

"Sir, these are my friends we are talking about," I pleaded, turning towards him, "The only one that is going to be affected the most by this is me."

"That is exactly the point of this game." 

What?!

"Since there has been too much time since we last met, I need to teach a lesson to you harder than I would've liked." I could feel the blood drain from my face.

"T-There must be some other way!" I cried, "They have done no wrong to me!" 

"I'm not arguing with you about this," the old man scolds, "Whether you like it or not, it will happen." His ice-blue eyes pierce into mine, making me shiver unknowingly. 

"I won't let you!" I shout with venom, "I will do everything in my power to make sure that they will come out alive, you fucker!" His eyes widen at my sudden outburst before laughing.

"Ah! Haha! That was a good laugh," he narrows his eyes at me before aiming a gun at me, "Are you sure that you want to do this?" I felt my body froze at the sight of the gun.

Fuck, I didn't expect him to do that. Where in the hell did that gun come from?

With his gun pointed towards me, he slowly approaches me. That is when something shinney caught my interest.

What's in his pocket?

"You know, sweetie, I really don't want to do this."

Come on, get closer to me.

"Then don't do it," I state with my eyes watering, "It doesn't have to be this way..." I felt the cold gun shaft against my forehead. I quickly lower my head, so my eyes can see his pocket. 

"I'm sorry, (Y/N) (L/N)," I heard the gun click, "Say hi to your mother for me." 

Before I could even think, I grab his wrist where his gun was away from my face, making him fire a bullet through the window. The sound of glass shattering fills my ears as I bring my knee up to his crotch. I pushed him away from me before he had any time to react. The silver device slides out of his pocket, thankfully towards the direction of me. I quickly run to pick it up, knowing that this will be the only leverage against him.

"You son of a bitch-" He yelled, quickly getting a hold of his gun again, "I'm going to kill you!"

"Let's see if you can aim," I joked, "You already missed once" My feet start on its own, making their way over towards the broken window. 

I jump, feeling nothing before gravity kicked in. The wind rips through my body, making the reality of falling more prominent. The chain of the chandelier comes closer to me each second. Gunshots echoed in the room as bullets zip past me. 

Apparently, he can't aim.

Finally, my hand catches the chain, making me twist down and around it. I felt myself slowing down, and in no time, I finally landed safely on top of the chandelier.

"(Y/N)!" I whip my head up towards the room where I just jumped from. I probably fell at least two stories already, indicating where I am.

"You sure that you want to do this?!" The old man shouts, "There is no turning back after this!"

"I just jumped out the window to get away from you, old man!" I yelled, "Besides, your aim is horrible! You would think that being a guy would make it a lot easier!" 

"(Y/N)!" I look down at the floor to see Joe and Sara with horrified expressions.

"I'm okay, don't worry about me" I heard another gunshot, making me look up again. The old man isn't even aiming at me anymore.

What is he aiming at now-

I felt the chandelier shake, which almost made me fall off. My eyes widen in the realization of what he is trying to do. 

Shit!

"Guys! Get out of here-" Another gunshot slices through the air, "Oh fuck!" That is all it took for the chandelier to disconnect from the ceiling. I push off a couple of seconds later, hoping that it would be a better outcome. At this time, I don't want to be impaled by the glass. 

I quickly tucked my body together before hitting the ground. Feeling my body roll over and over before my back impacted a wall. Sounds of crashing glass echoes afterward, before everything goes silent. 

Did you know the rule of stop, drop, and roll can help you in this situation?

"Ah, shit," I swore, unwrapping myself from my ball, "I'm going to feel that later."

I sit up, looking around to see the damage. Glass scattered around the middle of the now broken chandelier, which was ungracefully dropped. No one was seriously injured from the looks of it. 

"Is everyone okay?!" I yell, slowly getting up with the help of the wall. Each breath I took hurt to my dislike.

I wouldn't be surprised if I had a few broken ribs...

I quickly checked my pocket, and much to my relief, the silver device survived. It shined in the dim light with no cracks nor scratches. I place it back into my pocket for safekeeping.

"(Y/N)!" I feel someone turn me around and pull me into an embrace, "Oh god (Y/N)." 

I know this chest...

"Hey, hey, I'm fine" I felt my heartbreak in two; I have never seen him so week before. My legs buckle, pulling both of us down to the ground. He tightens his hold on me, not wanting to let go.

"I-I thought I lost you," He choked out, "We heard the gunshot shatter the window. Then the next thing I knew, you jumped." Joe was sobbing at this point, his body shaking. 

Oh, Joe, why did I bring you into this mess?

"Shush, I am right here," I pull him away from me, his face wet with tears, "I promise you I am alive." I bring one of my hands up to his cheek while my other grabs his hand and puts it on my neck. I felt him shiver under my touch as he feels my heartbeat. Then I let go of his hand so my other hand onto his cheek. I let our foreheads touch together without losing eye contact.

"See, I'm right here. Though I may have a couple of ribs broken," I joked as I gently rubbed my thumb on his cheek, "But I'm here, and I'm not planning on leaving anytime soon." He chuckled, placing both of his hands on top of mine. 

I hope we can stay together like this forever...

"Alright, man up, pretty boy," I joked once more, "My knight and shining armor aren't supposed to cry, you know." Joe nods before standing up, giving his hand help me up. I smiled before grabbing his hand. He carefully hoists me up onto my feet, knowing that he is wary of my condition.

"(Y/N)!" before I knew it, I felt another pair of arms around me, "I can't believe that you did that!" I felt my chest tighten in pain due to the force of pressure.

"Sara," I choked, "My ribs-" She let go instantly. I leaned my weight once more on Joe, knowing that I will topple over if I didn't. His arm snaked around my waist, hugging me sideways.

"You could have died!" Sara scolds, placing a hand on her hip, "Don't you ever do that again, got it?" 

"Well, it was either that or being shot in the head," I shrugged, "I prefer to take my chances."

"Well, isn't that one hell of an entrance." I turn my attention to the sound of their voice. A tall man with a muscular build who has short, bleached blonde hair came into view. 

 "I guess it was," I giggled, "So what's your name, blonde?" His grey eyes stare at me suspiciously before softening.

"Keiji Shinogi, just your friendly neighborhood policeman." 

So I do know him...

"Well, nice hair, Mr. Policeman Jr.," I winked at him before turning my gaze at everyone else. There stood eight more people, making a total of 12 in the room. 

A tall, muscular man with shoulder-length red hair accompanied by a green baseball cap and a chin beard. I recognized him right away since, of course, he is one of my favorite players in the baseball industry, Q-taro Burgerberg. Besides, there is no way I will forget a name like that.

A school teacher, known as Sensi Mishima, has disheveled, gray hair and light brown eyes hidden behind his circular spectacles. Ironically, I had met him when he substituted for one of my art classes for one year. I remembered calling him Crazy Bill Nye in class, and ever since then, the name just stuck.

Right next to Crazy Bill Nye was Nao, one of Sensi Mishima's former students. He mentioned her multiple times during that class, describing her unkempt long, dark pink hair and eyes of the same color. I don't think he was into her, more like he admired her longing and talent in art.

Gin is a 12-year-old boy that I met while I was at the zoo. We connected right away because of the animals, and ever since then, we have been good friends. Mrs. Ibushi, his mother, would sometimes let me babysit him if she would be out for too long. He was wearing his favorite outfit, the one he only wears at home. It consists of denim shorts with a tail behind it, a grey t-shirt, a grey medical mask, and a cape with a hood on it made to look like cat ears. He has cat paw mittens and pawed shoes, and a cat cushion that I gave him from the zoo.

However, there were a couple of people who I didn't know.

A guy/girl with a slender build, shoulder-length black hair parted down the middle and dark eyes, and their face held a blank, inexpressive face. They wore a red-orange apron over a long-sleeved black changshan. He also is holding various kitchen utensils behind his back, specifically a ladle, spatula, and frying pan.

Is that a guy or a girl? And they are holding kitchen utensils? What a weird choice of weapons...

Next was a young male who looked pretty frail, not to mention his poor posture. His fluffy, light teal hair held up a green beanie with complemented his slightly darker teal eyes.

Then there was a slender woman with blackish-brown hair with lighter brown bangs that frame her face's left side. She wears heavy black droplet-shaped eyeliner beneath her dark eyes. Not to mention she is really tall, she makes me feel shorter than I am already.

A short, frail-looking girl who was a bucket on her head came into my view. She has pale lime-colored hair, which held a yellow hair clip shaped like screws on her right. The one thing I noticed was her big green eyes, which looked lifeless.

Those screw accents look familiar...

Before I could go over to the little girl, Sara poked me on the shoulder. 

"(Y/N), who was that?" I raise my eyebrow in confusion, "That man by the window that you jumped out of." I could feel the room filling with tension. 

"He's the guy responsible for this hell hole." I heard a couple of gasps of surprise, "I'm sorry for dragging you guys into this. You guys don't deserve to go through this because of me."

Mom...

"What do you mean? This is not your fault-"

Dad...

"It is," I choked out, cutting her off. 

I'm all alone now...

 "That man has ruined my life over and over again over the years. Now, he is punishing me by forcing you guys into a death game." My body shook in rage, "Anyone who I had in contact with these past ten years is in danger. I couldn't watch you guys die. You're all I have now." 

But it doesn't mean that I should stop fighting.

"At least by playing the game with you, it will give you guys more of a chance to live." At this time, tears were streaming down my face, "I will do everything in my power to make sure that you guys will come out alive."

Even if I die at the end...