Alice in Borderland: The Cycle Continues

6) Four of Spades [3] ✮

===Zakū Raisunei===

I had my gun raised, stance tall, and prowled the shelf tops for any sign the last Yin team member would follow after the sniper's plan. Me and Saiki had recently climbed on top of the back most shelf, near the windowsill the sniper had perched on.

"It probably would've been better to stick with the group." Saiki said. "More cover, more help, and less chance we'll be shot if a gunner catches us."

"We should only try to rely on ourselves." I responded. "We only have one bullet left. I took the pack with the most in them—three. If I had searched another pack, it would've created conflict and we need to avoid that. I've already spent more than enough altruism using two bullets to assist the others. This final bullet is for us, and we need to aim and kill the man."

"But... Where is the final person on the Yin team? Everyone on the opposing team has had their presence known except for them."

"Likely someone who has moved under the shadows this whole game, silently killing their targets. There's a chance they're even more lethal than the earlier gunman, so we need to be careful."

My choice for the shelf to stay on was intentional; this provided the least risk should anyone emerge into the shelf top. There's only two fields of vision to look out for: left and right. Ideally, the best choice would've been a corner. In that position, there's only one field of vision to look from. However, the distance in the possibility the gunman emerges from a further shelf which will cause greater inaccuracy outweighs simply having to oversee two fields.

And, as much as I hate to say it, this man is smart—having looted the sniper's body. The rifle, gone. The bullets, gone. All that remained was the sniper's belt, which contained a knife and three slots; two small and one large, likely for bullets.

"Get down!" Saiki whispered urgently, dropping flat against the shelf.

Waking from my thoughts, I snapped to reality, seeing the man prancing the aisles, covered head to toe in bulletproof armor. He had armor beforehand, but this time he took someone else's armor and wrapped it around his head.

Lying alongside Saiki, I gripped the gun tightly as I aimed, my damp palms darkening the shining metal of the gun.

"He's... Completely indestructible!" Saiki whispered. "We can't even shoot him down anymore, and with his gun, how can anyone kill him in a melee fight?"

I lowered my head, resting the gun on top of the metal. "No, it's far from over. In fact, I'm still quite confident in our inevitable victory. There's something that the man doesn't want anyone else to know."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, there may be something else too. I can't stop thinking about it—just why haven't we seen the last Yin person yet?"

I strained my brain, compounding all events that led up to where we were now. The faint mist of a revelation taunted the tip of my nose.

"Just... Why?" I questioned aloud.

'The people I was with. The lady in the skirt, the businessman, the climber, Niko...'

"Wait a second..." I gasped.

"What is it?" He asked.

Then, another round of gunshots. "I think I figured something out."

I heard the collection of stomping feet, and soon three people came into view—Niko, Hashira, and Kato, crashing into each other, a mess of coordination. 'This proves it.'

"Kato! Where's Arakaki?"

"Wha—she was right behind me a second ago!"

I drew my gun.