"Ow."

Keijiro's head pounded as he groggily pushed himself onto his back. There was a soft surface underneath him and he sat up a little too quickly which just made his headache worse.

Keijiro observed his surroundings to see that he was in his room- well the room he took. No one else was there with him but he did spot a note on the dresser next to two pills.

Can't believe the Beach actually has medicine here. Take it or feel like crap. Your choice.

- Michael

Keijiro scoffed at the note and took the medicine after finding some water before getting back into bed. A part of him just wanted to stay in his room for the rest of the day even though it was only morning but a knock at his door, which he was getting often, told him otherwise.

"I'm not getting up again so come in!" Keijiro called out then heard his room door open.

A pair of feet shuffled in and Keijiro could feel a presence tower over him even though he didn't look up.

"See? A mess."

Keijiro wanted to scream into his pillow and finally looked up to see Chishiya smirking down at him.

"How'd I get back in my room?" Keijiro asked him.

"I don't know, I left before you, remember?"

"No."

Chishiya sighed. "Then I guess you don't remember that I was going to show you something."

"Hmm." Keijiro rubbed his head. "I vaguely remember you saying that."

"Then let's go."

"Uh, I have to get dressed," Keijiro told him.

Chishiya waited.

"Get out."

Chishiya put his hands in his pockets. "Meet Kuina and I on the roof."

"The roof?" Keijiro asked, "why there? What if it's cold?"

Chishiya left the room and Keijiro wished he could ignore the command and stay in bed. But still, his curiosity got the best of him so he began to prepare himself for the day.

As always, he got dressed in beach attire and made sure to have a gun on his back at all times. He then contemplated on if he wanted his hair down or in a braid but then remembered he didn't know how to do a braid in the first place.

"Maybe Kuina knows," Keijiro said, taking the hair tie with him and made his way up to the roof.

When he arrived he saw Kuina and Chishiya waiting for him.

"Why are you two standing like anime characters?" Keijiro asked them as he saw how far apart they were.

Kuina side eyed Chishiya. "Are you sure you want to show him?"

Keijiro watched their silent exchange then held up his hair tie. "Right, before you get started, I need one of you to braid my hair."

Chishiya only stared at him and Kuina laughed.

"What's funny?" Keijiro asked, "I'm serious, I don't want my hair bothering me today."

"Then cut it off," Chishiya told him and Keijiro gasped.

"Well, I don't know how to braid hair like that, sorry," Kuina said.

Keijiro glanced at her. "Really? You've never braided your Barbie doll's hair?"

Kuina rubbed her arm. "... I wasn't really allowed to have toys like that."

"That's dumb." Keijiro looked to Chishiya. "What about you? You have long hair so you should know how."

"We're wasting time." Chishiya folded his arms.

"It'll go a lot faster if you braid and talk." Keijiro held out the hair tie to him.

Chishiya clenched his teeth then eventually took the tie and began to work.

"Don't hurt me on purpose," Keijiro told him, "cause I know you'll try to."

Kuina cleared her throat. "So, I'm assuming you already know the rule about traitors at the Beach," she began.

"Yeah," Keijiro said, "something about death but I doubt they actually kill anyone. They probably just get banned, right?"

Kuina's eyes fell to the ground and Keijiro got a sinking feeling in his stomach.

"Right?" Keijiro pressed.

Chishiya finished the braid. "Over here." He led Keijiro to the edge of the roof and gestured to a blue dumpster. "This is usually around the time they dispose of them but of course the Beach residents don't notice. They're too busy partying."

Keijiro continued to observe the scene right as two men came out the back each carrying a person over their shoulders. He saw how they both had weapons on their backs so he assumed they were also militants since militants were the only ones allowed to carry firearms.

The two men approached the dumpster and when one of them opened it, Keijiro had to swallow hard from the sickening sight.

Inside the dumpster were countless bodies of deceased Beach residents. It was filled to the brim but the men still threw the two on their shoulders inside before closing it. Keijiro could see them discussing something then actually laugh before going back inside the building.

"Those two residents were caught hiding cards from the Hatter," Chishiya explained, "which is possibly the number one thing Hatter considers as betrayal."

Keijiro gulped. "There were a lot of bodies in there. Are you sure all of them were traitors?"

"Anything the Hatter deems as traitorous behavior is valid whether you think so or not," Kuina said and crossed her arms, "it's messed up."

"Then why are you two still here?" Keijiro asked, "I'm sure you could escape without anyone noticing, it's a big place."

Kuina looked as if she knew something he didn't but Chishiya surprisingly let him in on it.

"We have a plan that'll get us out of the Beach and out of this world," he said, "we're just waiting for the right time."

"Well, have fun waiting," Keijiro said, turning on his heel, "I'm getting me and my friends out of here."

***

Keijiro searched for his friends through the hotel and found Fujitaka and Tatta outside in the pool area. The two were talking and sitting on lounge chairs.

"Hey, where have you been?" Fujitaka asked once he spotted him. His eyes then observed Keijiro's braid. "Your hair is different, I like it!"

"Thanks," Keijiro said and gave Tatta a suspicious look, not really trusting anyone at this so called Beach anymore. He then sighed and whispered to Fuji.

"We're leaving this place, alright? I don't know when but it's... it's not safe here anymore." Keijiro shook his head. "Inori was right, this is a cult."

Fujitaka eyebrows furrowed. "What do you mean? The Beach doesn't seem so bad to me."

"Yeah, to you it doesn't. Where's Michael?"

Fujitaka pointed across the pool and Keijiro saw his friend speaking with the same girl from last night.

"Everyone's getting too comfortable," Keijiro murmured.

Just then, the music and conversations quieted down and Keijiro knew what that meant. He looked over and saw Aguni and the stupid looking samurai dude walking towards him.

"What do you think they want?" Tatta asked.

"How would I know?" Keijiro responded and stood straight when the two approached him since he knew Aguni would've had something to say if he didn't.

"You're coming with us," Aguni simply told him.

"Can I ask why?"

Last Boss put his hand on the hilt of his sword so Keijiro guessed that was a no. He gave Fujitaka a reassuring nod before following the two militants away from everybody else.

As they walked, the party continued without them from behind and Keijiro was shocked when Aguni actually spoke to him.

"Hatter wanted you to witness an executive meeting." Aguni eyed Keijiro. "Said he offered you a position."

And there was no way in hell Keijiro was accepting it now.

"Yeah but I'm already a militant," Keijiro said, "isn't that enough?"

Aguni averted his gaze. "You can never have enough power in the Beach."

After climbing up a floor, Keijiro was brought to a fancy looking room with red walls and a long table where the rest of the executives were sitting. Hatter was obviously seated at the end of it and Aguni and Last Boss took their seats as well.

Keijiro observed the other executives and his eyes widened slightly at the sight of one of them.

Chishiya grinned and waved back at him.

"You've gotta be kidding me," Keijiro muttered. He figured that's why the guy was so baffled when Keijiro said he had been offered a position. But if Chishiya was an executive then what kind of plan could he have to escape? Keijiro assumed it would be harder to escape when you're apart of such an important group.

"Keijiro!" Hatter beamed. "Have a seat."

Keijiro looked to the empty seat next to Last Boss then to where Mahiru was sitting next to Chishiya.

Keijiro walked over to Mahiru. "Get up."

"Huh?" Mahiru blinked then whispered. "There's a seat over there—"

"I know there is but I don't want to sit next to that creep," Keijiro hissed, "switch with me."

The two continued to bicker for a while and Aguni appeared embarrassed by the action. Eventually, Mahiru lost the battle and went to sit next to Last Boss while Keijiro happily sat next to Chishiya.

"That's the childish first impression you want to make?" Chishiya said, lowly, to him.

Keijiro responded. "Technically, second impression but who's counting."

"Right, then let's get started!" Hatter announced.

"We can start with how none of the residents have come back with a new card yet." Ann instantly cut to the chase. "The last one we got was from this guy." She gestured to Keijiro.

Kuzuryu fixed his glasses. "It's not like they can predict which game they will be attending."

"Maybe we all need to simply play more games," Mira suggested, "have everyone go out day and night instead of just at night."

"She may be right." Chishiya input. "There can't be that many repeat games. Besides, all people do around here is party."

Hatter rubbed his chin. "Then I'll have everyone depart earlier! We need everyone cooperating this time."

"Even you?"

All eyes turned to Keijiro and Keijiro felt Chishiya kick him from under the table.

"What? It's a valid question." Keijiro wondered why they were always so uptight. "I thought the leader wouldn't have to participate in the games."

"Ha! What kind of leader would that be?" Hatter said, "I assure you I'm a team player."

Keijiro doubted that but said nothing else.

"We're so close to the end, we can't slack off now," Hatter said then his expression turned dark, "militants, be on the lookout for any more traitors."

Keijiro gulped at that but the other executives were unfazed. He'd be damned if he had to be apart of any senseless killing. Yeah, he's killed before but that was for survival, this was just a power trip.

"Will do," Aguni complied and Last Boss just grunted.

Hatter then looked to Keijiro and Chishiya. "I know I excused you and your friends from participation but I'm sure you see how things are now."

"It's not a problem," Chishiya said.

Keijiro spoke when he figured Hatter was waiting for a response. "Yeah, whatever."

Hatter laughed then gestured to the other executives. "How about one of the officials accompany you in your game tonight? Make sure you return safely."

That's when Keijiro got an idea.

"Why would I need that?" Keijiro leaned back. "I've been doing just fine on my own."

Aguni watched him. "Maybe it would be good to finally join a game with the militants."

"Never."

Aguni massaged the side of his head. "This kid..."

"Ah, don't worry Aguni, he'll join you next time, right?" Hatter said.

Keijiro grinned knowing full well that there wouldn't be a next time.

"Of course."

The day passed by fairly quickly and right before it was time to join the games again, Keijiro pulled Fujitaka and Michael into his room, excluding Kuina, Chishiya, and Tatta this time.

"What is it?" Michael asked him, confused to where the rest of the group was.

"I only need to speak to you two," Keijiro started, "and you cannot tell the others what I'm about to tell you."

Fujitaka scratched his head. "Why? Is it bad?"

Keijiro took a deep breath then looked to Fujitaka. "Like I said to you before, this place isn't safe anymore. When we leave to play the games tonight we're not coming back."

They both stared at him wide eyed.

"Are you really sure that's a good idea?" Michael asked, "this is the best we've had it since we've been out on the streets."

"Yeah and what about Tatta, Kuina, and Chishiya?" Fujitaka added.

"We can't risk them telling the Hatter about our plan. Especially since Chishiya's an executive."

"Wait, what?" Michael said, "how do you know that? He wasn't there when Fujitaka and I got kidnapped."

"I don't know why he wasn't there but Aguni brought me to one of the executive meetings." Keijiro sighed and sat down. "Of course, Chishiya was there looking smug as ever. Hatter probably wanted me to see how things were run but after seeing what I saw this morning I'd rather not."

Michael looked confused. "What did you see?"

Keijiro swallowed hard as his two friends waited for an answer. "On the roof, Kuina and Chishiya showed me what happens to traitors."

"Didn't they say death?" Fujitaka asked, "weren't they just trying to be intimidating..."

Keijiro shook his head. "No, there were militants that disposed of two resident's bodies into the dumpster behind this place. It was full."

"Full?" Michael spoke, "there can't be that many traitors."

"That's what I said." Keijiro looked over to his guns and bags. "That's why we need to leave."

"But you're a militant and soon maybe an executive," Michael said, "I know I was unsure about the offer but maybe they won't hurt you or your friends because of it."

"Then I'd be hurting people," Keijiro argued back, "I'm a militant so it's only a matter of time before I have to participate in getting rid of "traitors" as well. And..." Keijiro sighed and said what he was really afraid of. "And I could do it."

"What?" Fujitaka said.

"I've killed before so I know I would be capable of doing it again. Whether the person is a traitor or not. I'm afraid the longer I stay here I'll finally become numb to it..."

Fujitaka shook his head and put his hands on his hips. "Then we have to leave!"

"How will we do that?" Michael asked, "Hatter made it clear that once you're admitted to the Beach, you can't leave."

Keijiro side eyed him. "Do you want to leave or not, man? Is it because of that girl?"

Michael tilted his head. "Huh?"

"The one from last night."

"Oh, her?" Michael laughed. "She took me to her room last night where another guy was waiting for her to ask why she was avoiding him. They got into an argument so I left. This morning she tried to clear things up, that's all."

Keijiro nodded slowly. "In other words, she's for the streets."

"What does that mean?" Fujitaka asked, innocently.

Michael dismissed it and continued. "And I have no problem with leaving. After you've seen everything and partied, things start to get a little..."

"Boring?" Keijiro finished.

"Yeah."

Keijiro stood up and walked over to his belongings. "I'm thinking we combine all of our things into one bag so we don't look suspicious. If someone asks why we have a bag we can just say last time we were unprepared and got stuck in another game cause of it."

"What if they search us?" Fujitaka asked.

"Why would they do that?" Keijiro said then thought about it. "Fine, we'll cover our food and clothes with weapons in case they try to peak inside. Happy?"

Fujitaka grinned. "I guess that works."

"You know, once we leave they'll probably send people after us," Michael told them, "I doubt they'd just leave us be."

"That's why we'll get a head start," Keijiro said, "now go get ready." He then turned to the balcony and saw the sun beginning to set.

"We're leaving the Beach."