Keijiro wasn't sure what exactly he was looking at and was confused to why a dead girl was now on the ground.

Michael, Inori, Ousuke, and Saeko came up behind him and Michael covered the little girl's eyes. Keijiro turned to the group and saw phones in their hands.

"Uh, where did you get those from?" Keijiro asked.

Michael pointed back to a white table carrying a mountain of phones which the residents were now fighting for. Michael handed his friend one.

"Is... is this a game?" Ousuke asked.

Inori stared down at her phone. "We have one of these so it has to be. Who's that girl anyways?"

"Momoka!"

Keijiro watched as another girl ran over to the dead one, crying.

"They must've been friends." Michael put together. "From the way it looks, someone might have killed her."

Just then, a sound Keijiro knew all too well, filled the air and an automated voice spoke to them.

Difficulty: 10 of Hearts ♥️
Game: Witch Hunt

Keijiro heard a few gasps from around him and he held his breath at the sign of the difficulty.

"It's the last card," he heard one of the residents say.

"Last card?" Inori perked up. "Really? It's not like I was keeping count or anything."

"This should be good, right?" Ousuke said, "if we win this game then we can go home."

Keijiro glared down at the rules on his screen. "Nothing good can come from a game of hearts."

Rules: The murderous witch who killed this girl is hiding amongst you in plain sight. The witch role is not limited to women. To clear the game you must find the witch and burn him or her in the Fire of Judgement.

Time limit: 2 hours

Keijiro looked up from his phone and now saw a bonfire that was outside, simmering high.

"How'd they even do that?" Inori asked.

Keijiro then turned at the sound of a commotion. He saw that Niragi was making a scene and Ann and Mira were trying to deescalate the situation. He even saw Usagi arguing with him but Keijiro didn't care about that and dragged his group away from the crowd instead.

"So, much for leaving this place, huh?" Inori groaned, annoyed by the outcome.

Saeko sniffed. "Another hearts game? Are we going to—"

"No." Keijiro interrupted. "We're going to stick together and make it out of this. Something tells me this game doesn't even have anything to do with us so I suggest we hide until it's over."

"But what if we can help?" Ousuke said, "all we need to do is find the witch, right?"

"How would we even go about that?" Michael asked, "we didn't know the girl and—"

This time Michael was interrupted by another commotion. The group turned to see a few Beach residents picking up the dead girl's friend and carrying her towards the fire.

"Huh? What are they doing?" Inori shook her head at their idiocy.

"Shouldn't we burn the body that's already dead?" Keijiro said then saw Usagi and Mira stop them from burning the girl.

"All of us are suspects!" Usagi argued with them.

Ann then stepped up as well. "Everyone will take turns explaining what they did in the last hour."

One Beach resident pointed to something in Ann's hand. "Look, blood!"

That question sparked a few gasps and whispers throughout the crowd and Ann held up the bloody cloth she held.

"This is Hatter's blood," she announced to the crowd. "I was examining his body and that's how the blood got on me."

"His body?" One resident asked.

"Hatter was murdered," Ann finally told everyone but of course Keijiro and his group already knew that.

That caused another dispute between the crowd and Keijiro turned back to the others.

"I don't like the way this is going," Keijiro said and the gasps that came next proved him right. He turned back around and saw that one Beach resident, a girl, had been impaled by a long sword. Her body then fell to reveal Last Boss standing behind her.

Aguni then entered the scene with the rest of the militants which made the situation worse.

"If someone here is the witch," Aguni began, "then everyone in this room except me could be the witch." He turned to the crowd. "So, who is it? Step forward."

No one stepped forward.

"If no one here will admit it, then all of you will burn," Aguni stated.

All of a sudden, Niragi started to fire his gun into the air causing a few residents to run for their lives.

"He's crazy!" Ousuke stated the obvious.

Keijiro pulled Saeko close to him when the militants began to now fire into the crowd.

"They're killing innocent people!" Michael said, backing up.

"Let's get out of here!" Inori took off first and the group followed.

Keijiro had picked Saeko up and they were running down the hall looking for a room or anywhere they could hide.

"Wait!"

The group turned around and saw Tatta running towards them. He panted and put his hands on his knees when he reached them.

"This is crazy!" Tatta shut his eyes. "You were right about this place. I... I think I'll go with you now."

Keijiro would've laughed at that if they weren't in a dire situation and he pulled the guy along as they began to run again. They made their way up to the second floor and the militants were taking out any resident within their sights. It didn't matter if they begged or pleaded, they still got shot regardless.

"Look!" Tatta pointed and Keijiro thought it would've been to a safe place to hide but instead it was a person. Well, two people.

Usagi and the dead girl's friend.

"It's me, Tatta!" He held up his hands to the girls and approached them. "I think we should work together like we did last time," he said to Usagi.

"Last time?" Keijiro asked, "you two know each other?"

Tatta nodded. "Usagi and her friend, Arisu, were stuck in a game with me at some point. We only won because they got everyone to work together."

"Small world," Michael commented and Usagi smiled at the group.

The dead girl's friend then bowed to them. "My name is Asahi. I promise, I'm not the witch."

"We know," Inori said, "you don't look like you could kill someone."

Asahi tilted her head. "Thanks?"

Ousuke then looked behind Usagi and Asahi. "So, where is Arisu?"

Usagi glared at the ground. "He was betrayed by someone who told us they had a plan. He ratted Arisu out to the militants and Niragi beat him pretty badly. All I know is they locked him in a room but I don't know which one." She bawled her fists. "It was the guy from the tag game, I knew we shouldn't have trusted him..."

Tatta blinked at her. "Chishiya?" He asked and Usagi nodded.

"Of course, it's him," Ousuke said then glanced at Keijiro, "still like him?"

"No. And I never said that." Keijiro looked to Usagi. "We can split up and look for Arisu together."

"Thank you," Usagi said, gratefully.

Keijiro pointed to Tatta. "Go with those two girls and we'll look elsewhere."

"Okay!" Tatta complied. He, Usagi, and Asahi then ran off down the hall as the sounds of screams still surrounded them.

Keijiro then turned to look Inori in the eye. "I have a special job for you." He set Saeko back down on the ground. "Get you and Saeko somewhere safe."

Inori's eyes widened. "What? But I want to fight!"

Keijiro gave her a serious look and she sighed.

"Fine, fine." Inori looked down at the little girl. "Let's go, Saeko."

Saeko shook her head with her eyes closed and reached her arms back out to Keijiro. Keijiro was at a loss for words at the gesture. He didn't think the child would get so attached to him and that was the last thing he wanted to happen during his time in this strange world.

Inori was a little surprised by the gesture as well and bent down next to Saeko. "Look, Keijiro has a job to do and so do we. Don't you want to help him?"

Saeko nodded and Inori picked the girl up.

"Then let's go find a safe place like he wants us to do," she said then nodded to the group before departing.

"Alright, let's search the hallway rooms first," Michael said and led Keijiro and Ousuke away.

Ousuke cupped his hands to his mouth as they ran down the hallway. "Arisu?!"

There was no answer but Keijiro spotted two militants coming their way from around the corner. A few residents had been running away from them but unfortunately they were all shot and killed.

Keijiro held up his gun and shot one of the militants and ducked when the other one started to fire at them. Michael and Ousuke ducked as well while Keijiro kept firing until he made a clear hit.

Keijiro then walked over to the bodies and took their guns before giving them to Michael and Ousuke.

"Don't hesitate to shoot," Keijiro told them but was mostly talking to Ousuke.

Keijiro took the lead this time, and the group did their best to search through every room but still no sign of Arisu. They then made their way to the area Ann worked in and headed to a door that seemed to be unlocked next to the place.

Keijiro signaled for Michael and Ousuke to be ready to shoot if necessary before slowly opening the door.

"Oh, you've got to be kidding me," Keijiro muttered, staring at the two people already inside.

Chishiya and Kuina.

Again.

The group walked inside and closed the door behind them. The room was pretty small and had monitors of the entire Beach where you could see residents still fleeing for their lives and ultimately getting killed.

"So, you guys are just hiding in here like cowards and watching people get murdered?" Keijiro spoke first.

Chishiya glanced at him. "How do you manage to always find us?"

Keijiro ignored the man entirely and kept speaking to Kuina. "Look, we know something happened to Arisu so tell us where he is."

Chishiya scoffed at the childish silent treatment.

"We don't know what the militants did with him," Kuina told them, feeling guilty, "I'm... I'm sorry."

"It's okay," Ousuke said then glared at Chishiya, "something tells me this wasn't your idea in the first place."

"It feels like everyone in here has some personal vendetta against me," Chishiya commented.

"I wonder why," Michael said then looked at the screens, "there's none that show the inside of the hotel rooms?"

Kuina shook her head. "No, they don't. That would be creepy anyways."

Keijiro sighed then looked back to the door. "Well, this has been a waste of our time. We need to continue searching."

"Shouldn't you spend your time trying to solve the game?" Chishiya said, "we have two hours but time goes by fast—"

Keijiro was the first to leave and his group followed behind him, shutting the door.

"I think they're still mad at us," Kuina spoke and looked over to see Chishiya closing and unclosing his fist in annoyance.

Chishiya then glanced down at the cards in his hands. "Now I'm irritated, so I think I'll go blow off some steam..."

"Huh?" Kuina gestured to the screens. "You'll get yourself killed."

Chishiya looked to one screen that showed the pool where people were getting shot by an unknown person they couldn't see. It seemed the aim was coming from above.

"I'm sure I'll be fine," Chishiya told her before also leaving the room.

Keijiro, Michael, and Ousuke rushed through the hallways and back up to the second floor as gunshots came from all around while the bodies of deceased residents littered the floor.

"This is just inhumane," Ousuke said, while stepping over a girl's body.

Michael gripped the gun in his hands. "What's their plan? To kill everyone in the Beach and burn their bodies, hoping to find the witch like that?"

"Seems like it," Keijiro said as they came across another militant.

The militant didn't see them though because the man was too busy focusing on the girl pleading for her life before him.

"It's... it's not human!" The man shouted before firing at the girl multiple times.

"Whatever you have to tell yourself to make you feel better," Keijiro said loud enough for him to hear.

The militant looked up from hearing the voice but Keijiro instantly shot the guy in the head and kept moving, stepping over both bodies.

"I hope Inori and Saeko found a safe place already," Ousuke said, "you think they'll be okay?"

"They'll be fine," Keijiro assured him, "Inori is tougher than she looks and she has a knife she's been dying to use."

"Is that Tatta?" Keijiro heard Michael say from behind him.

Keijiro turned around and saw the boy in the hat running through the hall, looking for something. When he spotted the three he grinned and ran over.

"I was looking for you guys." Tatta panted.

"Why?" Keijiro asked, "shouldn't you be looking for Arisu?"

"That's the thing! Usagi found him." Tatta gestured for them to follow. "Come on!"

They began to follow Tatta back down the hall and to a specific room. He made sure the coast was clear before opening the door and allowing them all to step inside.

The first thing Keijiro saw was Usagi, Asahi, and... Arisu.

Arisu's current state was horrible to say the least. His face was bruised and bloody just like the rest of his body and he looked like he could barely see out of his swollen eyes.

Keijiro glared at the sight and cracked his fists. "Don't worry, Arisu. I'll give that cat a major beating since I know you don't have it in you to do it yourself."

Arisu was confused by the statement and Usagi turned to the three guys.

"I filled him in about the hearts game," Usagi mentioned.

"It's just like those horse masked people we met before," Arisu began to speak. Usagi and Tatta were the only ones to understand that while the rest looked confused. "I'm pretty sure the witch had to kill that girl to start the game and survive until the end of it."

"But who the hell could the witch even be?" Tatta thought out loud.

"If I were the witch, I would join the hunt because it'll be game over if I get caught," Usagi said.

"A militant." Keijiro concluded.

"Could it really be one of them?" Asahi asked.

Ousuke scratched his chin. "That would make the most sense. I'm betting it's that Niragi guy."

"Or Aguni," Michael added, "he's the one who started this massacre in the first place."

"Fair point," Keijiro said, "but I have a feeling it's not him."

"I agree," Arisu said, "if that were the case, the militants would simply kill each other. It doesn't feel like that's the purpose of the game."

"The purpose of the game?" Usagi asked while stepping closer to him.

"This is a hearts game," Arisu continued, "it's not all physical. I've cleared a hearts game before so I know that."

Keijiro knew he had a point. The hearts game he played with Fujitaka had physical elements as well but it was more than that...

Arisu gulped as if he didn't want to relive whatever he was thinking about in his head. "Hearts are the most evil games. They toy with people's feelings to get them to betray and kill each other."

"In other words, the heart games can eat away at your soul," Keijiro said, holding his gun tight.

Arisu started to think and grabbed at his hair. "But something's not right... what could it be?" He spoke again but mostly to himself. "If I were the witch, how would I steer the game to win?"

"Is he asking us?" Ousuke whispered to Keijiro and Michael.

Arisu's eyes widened with an epiphany. "No. I shouldn't be putting myself into the witch's shoes. I should be putting myself into the game master's shoes."

"What do you mean?" Usagi asked.

"Don't you think it's weird the Beach became a game?" Arisu said, "it was like the game was designed to suit its location and its players. Right after Hatter was killed, Momoka was murdered..."

"So the two deaths happening at the same time wasn't just by chance?" Michael asked and Arisu nodded.

"The game master was waiting for this moment," Keijiro said and folded his arms, "this person really is devious."

"Seriously?" Tatta scratched his head. "I don't understand any of this."

"Then who's the witch?" Asahi asked.

"Hatter's death was announced after Momoka was killed," Usagi said as she walked over to the curtains, "the only people who knew about Hatter's death before this happened were the militants and the executives."

"Wouldn't the game master have known as well?" Keijiro asked, "seems like they would have eyes everywhere."

"Then that means everyone at the Beach is still a suspect," Asahi said, "we're back to square one."

Tatta spoke up next. "When I passed the lobby before the game started, I didn't see Momoka's body at all."

"Someone could've just moved the body there during that time period," Asahi responded.

"The question we should be asking is why did the game start when it did," Arisu said, "why wait for Hatter's death before starting the game..."

"To throw the Beach into chaos?" Keijiro guessed, "considering the residents didn't know about it and all."

"If that's true then..." Arisu began to rack his brain again.

30 minutes remaining

Ousuke looked up at the ceiling. "Already?!"

Just then, Arisu jumped to his feet which startled everyone.

"What is it?" Usagi asked him.

"I think I know..." Arisu looked them all in the eye.

"Who the witch is."