𝐂𝐇𝐎𝐊𝐄 • Chishiya Shuntarō

III: TAG

Arisu, Karube and Hana all walked into the apartment building, where the next game was being held. There were quite a few people already there, and the three of them picked up phones.

Hana took in her surroundings, looking at the people around her. They were all just normal people. Most of them looked worried. Those who didn't were a guy with a buzz cut, who seemed to be tough, and another guy wearing a white jacket. She couldn't quite tell what type of person he was, which was strange. She was normally good at reading people.

Everyone's phones chimed. "Registration has closed," the announcer said, "There are a total of fourteen participants. The game will now commence."

"Excuse me?" A man asked the three. He was wearing a cap and a blue flannel shirt. "What is this? I was brought here. And I... I don't know what's going on."

"It's a game," Arisu said.

"Shut up," Karube warned him, "Newbies will slow us down. They might hate us, but I think it'd be a good idea to do what Shibuki did."

Hana rolled her eyes at him, turning back to the new guy. "It's a game. You lose, you die. You win, you get days on your visa. If your visa runs out, you die. They'll tell us the rules in a minute."

Before the guy could ask anymore questions, Hana walked away. She didn't wanna deal with the fear in his face. It upset her, although she didn't show it. She also didn't want it to seem like she was on Karube and Arisu's team. They were nice to her, she liked them, but she didn't like Karube's plan of throwing everyone under the bus the way Shibuki did.

"Difficulty, Five of Spades," the announcer said.

"Five of Spades?" Hana heard Karube ask. She looked over as a man in a black hat, and all dark clothes, started speaking to them.

"It's gonna be a physical game," the man said, "Only the strong survive. I'm Nitobe. Nice ti meet you."

"The suit means something?" Arisu asked.

"Exactly. The suit of the playing card usually means what kind of game it's gonna be. Clubs is a team battle. Diamonds is your wits. And as for Hearts... That's the worst one."

"Why is that?"

"Because you're playing with people's hearts then tearing them apart."

"And the number?"

"Difficulty. The higher the number on the card, the higher it is."

Hana thought for a minute. The hearts games must have been about trust. She'd do her best to stay away from those. This game was a spades game, which was good for her. She was fast. Strong, too. Plus she had a high pain tolerance. Those were some of the very few advantages of being forced into sports as a child. Her parents may have destroyed Hana's mentality, but at least she was prepared for a game in a world for everyone had disappeared.

The phone chimes again. "Game is 'Tag'," the announcer said, "Rule. Avoid whoever is 'it'. Clear condition. Discover and touch the symbol hidden in one of the building's rooms within the time limit. You clear the game when this objective is fulfilled. Time limit, twenty minutes. After twenty minutes, the time bomb hidden in the building will explode."

Hana was suddenly worried. She could play tag, no problem. But how was she meant to know who 'it' was? How was she meant to find a singular button in such a big building within twenty minutes? Not to mention, if the button was in a room, and she was going into rooms, she could easily be backed into a corner by 'it'. Then what? Was she 'it'? Maybe she'd die. What if she was 'it' when the button was pressed? Would she get out the same as all the other contestants?

She was terrified, in all honesty. But her face said otherwise. She'd always put on a stone cold face when it came to scary situations. She'd learnt to never show weakness.

"The game will commence in two minutes," the announcer said. Hana had walked around the building for a bit, now alone. She didn't know whether it was better or worse to be alone in a game like this. She'd soon find out.

She looked over the wall, down at the ground. She was on the seventh floor. She tense up when she heard footsteps coming towards her. "That's quite a way down," a man's voice said.

Hana turned around to see a man with shoulder length, dyed grey hair. He was was around her height, give or take. It was the guy from earlier, the one who's face she couldn't read.

"It's a good job I don't plan on falling," Hana said, walking away. She couldn't risk being near anyone when the game started. She walked past two men on the way. The guy with the buzz cut, and his supposed friend. The buzz cut guy nudged her on his way past. She wanted to say something, but she wouldn't. She just scoffed.

"The game will now commence," the announcer said. Hana sighed. "The time limit is twenty minutes. Game start. The tagged is in the move."

Fanfare music began to play loudly. Hana looked behind her. No one. She thought about the choices she had. She could start looking in the rooms for the button, or she could just focus on not being tagged, and leave the button to someone else. But what if everyone thought that way? What if everyone was leaving the button to someone else, meaning no one was looking for it?

She tried to get into some rooms, but it was useless, they were locked. How was she meant to find it when all of the rooms were locked. Her phone chimed. "Three minutes have passed."

"Already?" She whispered to herself. She was about to make a move, go back up to the floor she was on before, but then she heard gunshots. Very obvious gunshots. "Fuck." She should have stayed with her group. Well, maybe not.

She looked behind her to see Karube, Arisu, and another guy running away from something. She didn't get a chance to see what. Arisu and Karube hid behind a wall. The other guy went down the stairs. Hana jumped up onto the wall, climbing up a pipe to get to the next floor up. She just about managed to see the back of someone, holding a gun. The tagger. It looked like they were wearing a mask.

She slowly and quietly got off the wall. She didn't want the tagger to hear her and come back. She was on the fourth level now. She looked down at the other floors, she could already see bodies. The tagger was wearing a horse mask. His vision couldn't have been great.

She headed into the hallway, towards the central building. She was trying another door, when she heard Arisu shout. "Everyone!" He yelled, "He's up here! Over here, he's on the second level! He can't see properly because of his mask! Tell us where he is if you see him, and let's all look for the symbol!"

Good strategy, Team work. She prayed that Arisu's plan would work, and that everyone would help, but some people could be selfish.

She then heard another voice. A girl. "He's in the fourth-level hallway in the central building!" She yelled. Shit. "Anyone there should get out!"

Hana ducked behind the wall, peeking over to see an older woman, and the girl who had yelled. The tagged slowly came around the corner, and the girl dodged him, apologising to the woman. The woman was shot to the ground, causing Hana to gasp. The tagger looked over at her.

She knew she'd been caught, she didn't try to hide again. Instead, she ran. She could have jumped down to the level below, but she'd be leaving too much of herself exposed for too long. She was a fast runner, hopefully fast enough to dodge bullets.

She ran to the stairs, running down them, then towards the elevator. When she got to it, she took herself all the way up to the seventh floor.

"The game is over in eight minutes."