Alice in Borderland: The Cycle Continues

37) Negotiations

===Maeda Mihoko===

In the Maindo lobby, near the refreshments station, Shirai and Kazetani both sat on a lush red couch, in a heated conversation.

"Yes, but how do we know that?" Shirai asked.

Kazetani sighed, rubbing his eyes. "Shirai–don't get me wrong–you bring up a fair point, but I just don't think that's something we have to consider."

I stood near the counter, getting a cup of water, listening in on their conversation.

"Don't overestimate the power of groupthink, Kazetani." She said, leaning back on the couch. "I'm serious. And if Erina's psychological prowess has been strong enough to manipulate the masses until now, I don't doubt her ability to turn the tides against you."

"Eavesdropping?" A low voice asked. I flinched, bumping into their large body; it was Nobira.

He smiled. "Don't worry, I get it. Who wouldn't want to be the center of such interesting matters?"

I smiled back, as he prepared a cup of coffee, plain black. A rifle was slung across his back, though he was out of his usual camouflage gear, and only in a jacket and pants.

"What's the matter?" He asked, raising his voice and turning to them.

"Shirai is concerned." Kazetani said. "She's unsure if we can convince the Beach populace of Erina's intentions."

"Even with all the evidence in the world, humans are innately irrational." Shirai said. "Imagine if someone did that to someone you trusted; even if they had all the evidence against them in the world, you'd still have a hard time jumping ship straight from one leader to another. And if Erina is such a skilled manipulator, she can easily turn the tides of the Beach against us."

"What do you propose we do then, perhaps?" Nobira asked.

"I'm not sure yet." She admitted. "But I do think this is a concern we should address."

"I think that... I mean, if all the evidence is right there, how foolish would it be to continue following her? At that point, we'd be the ones wasting our own time."

"I think she has a point, Kazetani." Nobira said, setting his coffee down and pressing his weight onto a pillow. "Imagine if it happened to us. If someone came in and claimed that I, your friend, was working against you, would you immediately believe him over me despite any amount of evidence?"

Kazetani rubbed his chin. "Perhaps I'm being too logical."

"Humans are emotional creatures, after all." Shirai said. "The plan is good, but we'll just need to really choose our words carefully."

He smiled. "Well, I reckon you'd be good at that, Shirai. We still have a long while to finalize our speech to expose Erina. I think it'd be good if you led that effort."

Shirai got up, giving Kazetani a slight bow. "Thank you, Kazetani, for listening."

"Thank you for looking out for us." He said, as she walked away.

"Well, I guess since you're our protege now, we should probably fill you in on recent updates." Nobira said, throwing a few pillows aside to settle down. His demeanor seemed to loosen now that it was just him and Kazetani, as he threw his rifle aside, unzipped his jacket, and propped up his feet.

"We've begun communications with Erina for merging our two factions." Kazetani explained. "She's delighted at how many new cards we can contribute. Only issue is, she has made it clear that only she knows the location of all the cards and won't disclose it, even if I'm the leader here."