●・○・●・○・●
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO,
mix

-

༇ FIVE days later, all of them are required to play a new game. They got lucky last time: since the game difficulties were the same, they all got the same amount of days on their visa— an opportunity they'll probably never get again, so Kaoru and Nozomi decided that they might just have to play the following games together, all of them.

"Well." Kaoru puts his hands on his hips, staring at the arena: a circus tent. It's supported by large, thick pole in the center and has a mix of white and red stripes. Images of cards, from numbers to jokers, are showed on top of the tent, staring down as they enter it.

A table is resting in the middle of it all, displaying not just a few phones, but at least 100 of them.

"I don't know if that makes it better," Nanaka murmurs. She glances at the other players. There are already many, maybe fifty.

"So we wait until all the phones are gone?" Renji asks.

"Yeah. That's when the game starts. Shouldn't have to take long. I saw other groups heading here."

"But the last few days were so peaceful. It was like we were alone, and now there are so many people. Wait a minute, if there are... 52 cards in a deck, and there 150 joker games— that makes 202 games!" Shoma realizes. "And if there are so many people in this arena, doesn't that mean there are like... thousands of players?"

Kaoru already calculated this days ago.

About 37,000,000 people live in or around Tokyo. About 11,000,000 of them are between the ages of eighteen and forty— Kaoru assumes that's the range in the Borderlands. Since their hearts must've stopped, say that about half of them actually died. That leaves another 5,500,000 people. After five nights and playing 202 games on the first night—

Doesn't even make sense, Kaoru thinks. It's impossible that so many people are in the Borderlands. Maybe he shouldn't count the area of Tokyo, but only Tokyo itself. That gives about 3,000,000 younger adults. And perhaps not everyone got infected—

Because of you, he then thinks. His fists clench at the thoughts. If he hadn't grabbed those cards... 

"Hey, are you okay?" Elikai shoots Kaoru a worried look.

"Yeah, fine," he mutters. "Thanks."

About half an hour later, all the phones are gone and the players are set and ready— to Hana's disappointment. Somewhere, she had hoped that the game wouldn't continue because there weren't enough players. That the laser would just shoot down and end it all. She's having trouble searching for a reason to keep going, other than the people she cares about. They'd get over it, she keeps on thinking.

"Welcome, players. Difficulty: Two of Orange Joker. Game: Mix. Please gather around the pole. Once entered, do not cross the white circle surrounding it unless the rules tell you to do so."

Their group looks over at the pole. Indeed, there is a gigantic white circle on the ground, big enough to fit each player in there.

They stick close together as they stand in position, all ears.

"Stay in the circle until the music stops. A number will be called out. Players have thirty seconds to form groups according to the announced number, enter a room, and close the door. All doors will lock automatically when the time has passed. Players that fail to enter a room or enter a room that does not contain the required number of players within the time limit, will be eliminated."

"What rooms?" Seika asks.

She barely gets to finish that sentence. The fabric walls of the circus tent are already flying upwards, revealing all-white doors with metal numbers latched onto them, going up to forty.

"But we're with eleven! That means there will always be someone left out or we don't have enough people."

Kaoru's thinking too hard to properly discuss anything. In his mind, he thinks of his personal priorities. No matter what has happened the past years, Hana is his little sister. She's number one. Nozomi comes second. After that, he's not sure about the sequence. He'll just allow others to pull him into the larger groups, but go for Hana and Nozomi when two or three people get called.

"And if the groups are too big, there won't be enough rooms. We have to be fast," Hana adds. "Everyone is quite capable of running fast, right?"

"I suggest we just grab whoever is closest to us. If you notice you're left alone, just immediately grab a stranger," Shirabi suggests. "We don't have time to figure out who goes with who. Just make sure you survive."

The lights flicker into a pretty yet horrifying mix of red and blue, swarming around like it's supposed to be a happy celebration party. Unfamiliar, instrumental music echoes through the circus tent. It heightens the tension.

"Three."

Kaede grabs Shirabi and Hana by their wrists, dragging them away immediately. Nozomi takes Kaoru and the nearest person: Kiyoshi, while Nanaka, Elikai, and Seika run off together. Thinking fast, Shoma and Renji grab a random guy and also sprint towards a room.

The buzzing sounds of lasers shooting downwards doesn't come long after.

●・○・●・○・●

"So... the bodies will just stay here throughout the rounds?" Kiyoshi grimaces as he pushes a dead body away with the tip of his shoe.

"At least thirty people are gone because there weren't enough rooms," Kaoru mutters. "Are we supposed to remove the dead bodies from the rooms?"

"I suppose we do," Kaede responds. "We shouldn't risk it."

A few minutes later, the monitored voice calls out again, "Two."

Kaede hesitates for one second, looking between Shirabi and Hana. And just when he decides to go for Shirabi, his friend is already pushing him towards Hana. "I'll go with Kiyoshi!" He yells.

"Okay!" Kaede yells back, dazzled by the eerie blue light flickering in the room, along with the dozens of people running around him. He spins around to reach for Hana, but gets met with the sight of Kaoru running away with her. Nanaka, Elikai, Shoma, and Renji are long gone.

His hand reaches out to Nozomi, desperate, but she slips from his grip when Seika sprints away with her.

15 seconds. "Do you—" Kaede cuts himself off when the man runs off. He spots a woman nearby. "Would you want to—" Also already gone.

He slaps his own cheek, then snaps his fingers. This time, instead of politely asking if someone wants to pair up, as if they have all the time in the world, Kaede just grabs a guy and forcefully shoves him into a room, right before the timer ends.

"Thank you." The man presses his hands together and bows. Kaede gives him a curt nod, then runs back to the center of the tent.

"That was scary!" Nanaka comments, hugging Kaede after she already hugged half of their group.

Shirabi slams his hand on Kaede's shoulder. "Okay, shit, maybe we should just grab each other and not focus on the lovers, huh, Kaelyn."

"Kaelyn?" Kaede snorts. "I won't grab you if you call me that, Shayla."

"We sound hot with those names." Shirabi stretches his arms with a dramatic groan. Once the music starts, he swings Kaede left and right as if they're dancing.

"Ten."

Shirabi's mood fades. "Okay, what the—"

Kiyoshi, with smart thinking, just pulls a few people from their group with him and starts running towards a door. Instinctively, everyone follows.

Everyone.

"No, no, no— too many!" Shirabi nearly pulls out his own hair. "You should've split up and found five other people!"

"We don't have time!" Kaoru warns, stepping forward. Nozomi holds out her arm to stop him from reaching the door. "Leave, leave! We'll all die if some of us don't leave! I see a group of five over there!"

"That doesn't make sense!" Nanaka peeps, panicked. "We won't make it—"

Kaede takes several steps back towards the corner where Hana is standing, purposely locking her in place.

"I'll go!" Kiyoshi finally offers. "I see seven people over there! We'll make it—!" At the same time, Shoma, who is closest by the door, shoots forward.

"No— oh my God," Seika grunts, frustrated. "We only have three seconds—"

In a split second, Shirabi pulls Kiyoshi back inside the room by the collar and kicks Shoma further out with his leg, slamming the door closed.

The final buzz of the timer echoes through the room, followed by several lasers shooting down. Shoma's body slumps to the ground.

Dead silence.

Shirabi leans back against the wall, breaths heavy. Kaede slowly, very slowly, steps away from Hana. Nozomi's arms drop to her sides as if she just lost all energy. Nanaka's bottom lip starts shaking, and she clutches to Elikai, knuckles turning white.

"What the hell!" Renji eventually bursts out. He grips Shirabi by his shoulders and smashes him even harder against the ground. "Why would you do that—Shoma—how dare you?! You—"

"I did what I had to do," Shirabi snarls. "Otherwise, we'd all be dead right now!"

"Then why didn't you just run out of here?! Why would you sacrifice my best friend—"

"He was the one who ran out the door with three seconds left on the clock! Kiyoshi happened to be closest to me, that's why I grabbed him instead of Shoma. It's not like I purposely chose to kill him— but someone had to go!"

"Yeah, and what if it was Kaede who ran out? Would you have done the same?" Renji grunts as Shirabi pushes him off, slamming into the other wall. "I bet you wouldn't have, you—"

"It happened how it happened! There's no time to think about what I would do in other situations," Shirabi yells back at him.

"Why?" Renji screams, "Why, you— you selfish coward! Why?" His voice drops lower, and so does his body: he slowly slides down the wall until he hits the ground, burying his face in his hands. "Why?" He whispers.

Shirabi's jaw is clenched so hard that it hurts when he walks out of the room, stepping over Shoma's dead body. Kaoru wipes his eyes, hands shaking as he walks past the body.

Nanaka and Elikai drop beside it, cradling his face. Hana stares from a distance. Shoma had always looked like a kind boy to her, even though she was never extremely close to him. He has a true baby face, one that makes him look fifteen instead of twenty-four.

Kaede also wipes his eyes. After all, he's been friends with Shoma throughout his high school years as well. "Sorry," Shirabi mutters under his breath. Kaede simply nods, a lump in his throat.

Elikai, Nanaka, and Renji are still crying by the time the next round starts. Only about thirty players are left. Blood paints the walls and floor in a bright red color, with splatters here and there. It's still pouring from nearly every dead player's head.

"I'm not good with blood," Elikai mutters, almost too pale. "Especially not..." Her eyes trail back to Shoma.

Kaoru gently takes her wrist and firmly presses down on a specific spot. He moves his thumb around. "Does that help?"

"A little," she whispers, sniffing. "Did your dad teach you that?"

"Mhm. He often does it to my mom. Not just getting rid of any nausea, but also to feel her heartbeat. It calms him down somehow."

Elikai manages a tiny hint of a smile. "That's sweet."

"Yeah." He bites his lip. "I miss them."

"I miss my parents, too," she mutters.

Then the music stops, and they're back in hell. "Five."

Kaede, Shirabi, Hana, Seika, and Kiyoshi take one room, and Kaoru, Nozomi, Elikai, Nanaka, and Renji take the other. The fact they're even now is a horrible feeling, yet some kind of relief at the same time.

"How many rounds do you think this game has?" Kiyoshi wonders out loud once they exit the rooms and walk back to the circle. His tone has changed. It's rather hollow now.

"We've had four of them by now, and there are still about thirty people left. I'm hoping this is the last round," Seika mumbles. "The smell of that blood is making me sick."

"What would the number be?" Nozomi asks. "Do you think they'd repeat numbers?"

"There are forty rooms. No matter the number, we won't have to worry about the amount of doors, since we're left with so few players. They won't base it off that. I don't think they'd call a low number for that reason. Too simple. Especially since we're... wait, let me count."

A few seconds later, Kaoru continues, "—Especially since we're with thirty people left. It's an even number. They want people to lose. It won't be two, three, five, six, ten, or fifteen. Maybe seven? Perhaps four, eight, or nine. I don't think it will be anything above that."

"I sure hope it's not nine," Shirabi responds.

"Because you'll have to sacrifice someone else?" Renji spits out. "Oh, poor you—"

"Seven."

Kaoru reaches for Hana and Nozomi, pulling them out of the circle, then he yells for Elikai and Nanaka. Renji and Kiyoshi quickly follow.

The three who are left behind in the rush grab each other while yelling desperately for four more people.

"Go to that room, Seika!" Shirabi points at a door. "Kaede and I will get the other four!"

With a curt nod, Seika sprints towards the doors. She opens it, checks if no one else is inside, and waits in front of it. Meanwhile, Shirabi is literally lifting a man off the ground and shoving him towards Seika, who grabs him. Kaede does the same to another guy.

"You!" And then suddenly, a group of six people runs past, grabbing the one closest to them: Seika.

"Kaede! Shirabi!" She screams, not even fighting it. There is no time to protest or hesitate. "Get five others, not four!"

"Okay!" Shirabi yells. They continue forcing lonely people to come with them, forcefully jolting them inside the room and slamming the door closed with such power that it rambles.

Seika allows herself to be dragged into another room, accompanied by six others— perfect.

"If that wasn't the last round..." Shirabi wipes sweat off his forehead.

"Yeah," Kaede mutters in agreement.

The circus tent gets lit up by the color of bright red lasers, and then a duller sort of red: blood.

"Congratulations. You won the game."

"YES!" Shirabi screams, throwing his arms around Kaede. "Oh, Kaelyn!"

"Shayla!" He laughs brightly. For a moment, it feels like they've forgotten what kind of world they're in and that one of their friends died.

However, they're eventually met by the sight of over a hundred dead bodies. They're not just in the center, but also in rooms. Blood pools from beneath the doors that are no longer white.

"Kaede! Shirabi!" Relieved sighs escape the mouths of their group members. They inch closer to each other until they're standing in a circle. "I'm glad you made it. Sorry for running off without you."

"Hey, we did what we had to do," Shirabi responds. He looks up at Renji. "I'm genuinely sorry. I won't excuse my actions, because they were needed, but... eh, it's nothing personal, and I hope you forgive me."

"I don't," Renji says stiffly. He turns away with crossed arms.

"Just move slowly. Don't hit him with all this all at once," Elikai says quietly. "Let him grieve. Shoma was his best friend."

Shirabi nods. "I'm sorry for you, too. I know you guys were close— wait, no, that made it worse. I just mean— well, you know what I mean."

Nanaka shows him a small smile. "We understand, don't worry."

A short silence that gets broken by Kiyoshi: "We're with nine."

"Huh?" Suddenly alert, Kaoru straightens. He counts all of them, not once, not twice, but three times, before swallowing. "Go look for her," he says, though the tone in his voice says enough: he already knows what they'll find.

Half of them check the center out, while the others keep themselves busy with opening each door. Sometimes, they have to move the bodies to identify them.

The wail that bounces off the walls after a minute or three says enough.

"No, no, no," Hana cries, lifting Seika's limp body from the floor and out of the room that doesn't contain seven people, but eight. One too many.

"Oh, fuck," Shirabi curses. His eyes widen slightly. "We shouldn't have let them wander off with her."

The blood doesn't dry quickly. It sinks, dark and syrupy, into the fibers of Kaoru's jeans as he kneels beside the door. It's smeared with handprints and the number '27' on it is crooked, dangling from a single screw.

Hana's tears fall quietly, pooling on Seika's cheek and sliding down.

"I— we thought there were six others," Kaede mumbles. "It was so fast. Maybe... maybe someone else forced themselves into the room or there was already someone there."

The others trickle in slowly. Nozomi stands by the door, arms wrapped around herself, while Nanaka stays back, flinching at the sight of Seika's body. Elikai moves to Hana's side, kneeling without a word. Her hand rests on her shoulder.

"I never apologized," Hana whispers, finally.

●・○・●・○・●

They bury Seika and Shoma in a field of flowers that are barely alive. It's the best location they could find. Peaceful, yet broken and dead. Maybe that's the point. At least once you're broken, you can't get worse. At least the worst is over. At least when you're dead, you're no longer in pain.

The group that now consists of nine people slowly walk back to the parking garage. They're all covered in blood. Some of them only have it on their clothes, others also have it on their face.

"We should clean up," Nozomi announces. She tries to smile, but it only makes the dried tears on her cheeks more visible. "There's a river nearby. Let's go there. We no longer have clean undergarments and clothes, though. We should go find those first."

"All of us?" Nanaka asks hoarsely.

"No. Some should stay here to rest and protect whatever we have left." Nozomi motions at the sleeping bags on the floor. "I'll go gather clothes with Elikai and Hana. If Kaoru and Kiyoshi could find us soap and new toothbrushes, that would be great. The rest can stay here."

From the corner of his eyes, Kaede looks at Hana. She's sitting cross-legged on the floor, head down, greasy bangs sticking to hear forehead. The remains of Seika's blood cling to her skin.

"I'll go instead of Hana," he offers, not giving them a choice because he's already standing up. Let's go."

●・○・●・○・●

It's late when they reach a lake. Kaoru tosses his backpack to the ground, breathless from the hike. "This is it."

Nozomi immediately kicks off her shoes and walks toward the edge of the water. "I'm not getting my clothes wet."

"Does that mean—"

"Yup."

Kaoru clears his throat. "I mean, maybe we should split up. Guys over there, girls over here. That way no one has to feel weird."

"I'm not weird about it," Nozomi says, hopping onto a flat rock and stretching her arm. "But sure, let's split up for modesty's sake. Whatever makes everyone feel safe."

Within minutes, the group scatters. They hear the rustle of clothes being pulled off, whispers to each other, and people entering the water.

Kaoru waits until the others are in the water before he changes. He moves fast, placing his clothes over a branch. The warm air on his skin is both refreshing and oddly exposing. Kiyoshi is already halfway in. Kaede follows with little hesitation. Shirabi mutters something and charges in, creating a whole wave. Renji walks in slowly.

Kaoru exhales and steps forward. The water is cold at first, but not freezing. Sharp enough to shock him. He gasps, then sighs out as his body adjusts. He dives under once, the world going silent and blue.

"Let's just forget about what happened and make this... fun," Nozomi tells the girls on the other side. "I will die if I don't get to feel happiness anymore."

The sun dips lower. The water warms. The conversations shift from grief to unserious things.

Nozomi floats on her back, hair fanned out like ink in the water. Hana splashes her suddenly, laughing.

"I was having a moment," Nozomi protests.

Nanaka rolls her eyes and glances around, then leans in toward Elikai, voice lowering mischievously. "Dare me to peek?"

Elikai raises a brow. "At the guys?"

"Of course at the guys."

Nozomi perks up. "You wouldn't."

"I absolutely would."

"Nanaka," Hana warns, though she's laughing.

"I'll be quick," Nanaka says, grinning, swimming towards the rocks that separate them.

"Report?" Elikai asks, hand shielding her eyes.

Nanaka returns a moment later, hands raised. "All I saw was Shirabi doing a handstand underwater and... also Shirabi yelling because something touched his leg. Possibly Kaede."

"Possibly a fish," Hana says.

"Definitely Kaede."

Laughter ripples through the group again. They feel lighter, as if the water indeed stole all their bad thoughts and memories.

"Hey," Renji whispers suddenly, nudging Kaoru. "I think the girls are watching us."

"What?"

Renji jerks his head toward the bushes. "Saw movement. Could've been one of them."

"And what exactly would they see? We're underwater."

Shirabi grins. "A tragic lack of abs. Mostly Kaede's fault."

"Hey!" Kaede splashes him.

It slowly turns into a game. Back on the girls' side, Nozomi wonders: "You think they're trying to peek too?"

"They better not be," Nanaka replies, though she doesn't sound the least bit serious.

"Men are predictable."

"They're just waiting for us to peek again so they can pretend they're not doing the same thing," Nozomi adds.

"Like reverse psychology," Hana says, doing her best to sound as happy as possible, even though she feels like anything but that.

"Let's test it. I'll look. If they're watching, they'll panic."

"You have to be subtle," Elikai warns.

"I am subtle," Nanaka says, which is debatable.

She shifts just enough to peek past a rock. At first, she sees nothing suspicious. Then Shirabi sinks and Kaede ducks away. Kiyoshi suddenly spins around.

Nanaka snorts and turns back to the group. "Caught."

Shirabi rubs water from his face and points vaguely at the sky. "Hawk," he says. "I saw a hawk."

"There was no hawk," Kaede mutters.

"It might've been a hawk."

"I was watching the trees," Kiyoshi says. "I was curious."

Elikai and Nozomi go for it now. Hana, in fact doesn't move at first until it's very viable that Kaede swims toward a rock and leans against it, slicking his hair back. She inches forward. Honestly, she wants to see that tattoo again.

Kaede turns his head. Their eyes meet. Then he quickly looks away, ducking under.

"Oh-oh," Nozomi says, catching Hana's expression. "What was that?"

"Nothing," Hana says a little too quickly, retreating to the water again. "Just looking."

"Sure."

Shirabi is whispering furiously. "I saw Nozomi and Elikai both peeking."

"You don't know that."

"We should peek back for real!"

"No."

"But if they're looking, and we're not looking, we lose."

"This isn't a war."

"It is," Shirabi announces. "We're under attack and must defend our territory."

"You're unarmed and naked."

"Not unarmed," Shirabi says, wiggling his eyebrows and gesturing vaguely downward.

"Oh, kill me already," Kaede groans.

"Should I swim up to them?" He asks. "I can give them a real jumpscare if they don't see me coming."

"Pervert," Kaoru mutters.

Shirabi shrugs once, then his eyes widen. "Wait. Did anyone else feel—"

Nozomi explodes out of the water behind him, shrieking and tackling him.

"Aaahhhhh!" Shirabi yells, thrashing around. "IT GOT ME—"

"Nozomi?!" Kaoru gasps.

"Oh!" Renji yelps, nearly forgetting how to swim from surprise.

Kiyoshi dives away.

Nozomi cackles madly until both she and Shirabi realize something horrible at the same time.

There is a full second of silence.

Then:

"I touched it!" She screams.
"I felt them!" He screams.

They explode apart in opposite directions. Nozomi scrambles backward with frog kicks. Shirabi just lets out a high-pitched wheeze and sinks halfway underwater.

Kaede and Kiyoshi burst out laughing. Kaoru's chuckles are undeniable. Even Renji can't help but smile, finally, for the first real time ever since their game from a few hours ago.

"Oh, no!" Nanaka gasps. "Ew! Nozomi, come back! Come back, come back— abort mission!"

●・○・●・○・●

"We're so dumb," Kiyoshi mutters once they're all warming up by a campfire, this time fully clothed. "We'll attract the entire city with this fire."

"I think their screams," Nanaka nods towards Shirabi and Nozomi, "already did that."

"You can't blame me!" Nozomi argues.

"You jumped on top of me!" Shirabi responds.

Kaede snorts before looking back at Hana. She's sitting next to Renji, rubbing his back. While the others have been talking or quietly listening with amused expressions, Hana and Renji have retreated to their familiar silence and the feeling of hot tears dropping down their cheeks. Kaede can tell by the way they're whispering to each other that they're sharing stories about Seika and Shoma.

Shirabi eventually notices it. He sits up straighter and raises the stick he has been poking at the fire with. "To Shoma and Seika! May they live a peaceful afterlife and be happy they didn't witness what happened in that lake."

"To them," everyone else agrees, lifting whatever object is in their hands. Hana's gaze softens, and though Renji still looks at Shirabi angrily, he also relaxes more.

●・○・●・○・●

🂱 A/N: I'm sorry if the aftermath of the two deaths felt rushed!! It will still be mentioned in future chapters so please don't think that I'll just brush over it !! <3

Well I wonder what this game was inspired by!

And btw, thank you so much for all your comments so far!! I really appreciate it, so please don't be a silent reader :))

Do you guys want an entire chapter focused on what's going on in the real world? If yes, anything specific you want to read about?

I know a lot of people have been asking for more Baya and Chishiya content, and of course I'll give you that, but please be aware that this story focuses mostly on their kids. I'd love to write more about their dynamic but at the moment, I'm kinda stuck on writing them. Let me know what your desires for their dynamic/scenes are, so I can focus on that.

One benefit: their dynamic from act 2 will come back in about two months, yayaya!! Back to another version of act 3 !

This is the last update before I might update slower for about 3 weeks!!