EMPLOYEES ONLY // bllk

I'm Sorry

"Here's where the teams stand, including our next opponent, Team W." Iemon sat in the chair closest to the film screen in their Data Monitoring Room. A remote snug in his hand as he paused the footage.

The rest of Team Z stationed themselves around the rest of the room, most crowded around the screen to analyze the film, except for Chigiri, who sat at a table away from the group.

"They have one loss against Team V. If they lose, they're done. Same goes for us." Isagi commented from the back of the room, opting to stand. From his foot tapping against the ground to the way bit at the skin of his cheek, Isagi was far too nervous for the game to stay seated.

"Looks like they got the better of Team X and Barou. They had no problem beating us, 4-1." Naruhaya so graciously reminded them of their previous loss.

"Well, we are Team Z, the lowest of the low." Bachira mumbled sleepily from above you. You sat on the ground in front of his chair with your head resting against the shin of his crisscrossed legs.

Originally, you settled down near Iemon to help with the retrieval of game footage, but Bachira made quick work of pulling you towards him. So, you monitored the technology from a distance per Bachira's request only for him to be half asleep already.

"Their key players are this dynamic duo, the Wanima brothers." Iemon paused the film on two Team W players. Their wide eyes and abnormally toothy grins made you uncomfortable. Not to mention the cringey shapes carved into their hair.

You glanced around the room, noticing someone's absence. Uncrossing your legs, you shifted to stand and whispered to a bleary eyed Bachira, "I'm going to go find Kuon. He shouldn't be missing this."

That popped his eyes open. "But he was in the bath." Bachira's bottom lip jutted out in a pout.

You giggled at him, ruffling his hair affectionately before leaving the room. A few lingering stares followed you as you left. "I'll knock before I go in."

Not far down the hall was the bath and dorm area. You knocked. "Kuon?"

You couldn't hear anything—running or splashing water. No movement at all. You knocked again. "Kuon? Are you in there?"

After hearing no voice, you took the risk, swiping your key card and opening the sliding door. You stepped into the room with a hand over your eyes. No one was yelling at you to get out...unless Kuon fell asleep in the bath. Peeking between your fingers, you saw no sign of Kuon's mop of hair.

Your hand dropped. "Kuon?" He wasn't in the bath. In fact, there was no evidence that anyone had taken a bath recently. No steam in the room, the tub half dry, no wet footprints on the floor.

Even after a quick loop around Team Z's dorm area, he was nowhere to be seen.

Giving up on the search, you returned to the footage room to find Kuon chatting with the rest of Team Z about his new strategy for tomorrow's game.

"There you are Kuon. I went to go find you, but I must've just missed you." You wanted to disregard it as a coincidence, but everything in the dorm room indicated otherwise. Unfurrowing your eyebrows, you decided to ask him about it later.

"Yeah, you must've not seen me." He let out a chuckle and nervously played with the hem of the towel around his neck.

"I think that's enough for now. Why don't we break before we practice the strategy?" Iemon shut the footage off. The rest of Team Z followed, sweeping you along with them.

——

"I can't believe you got beat up by a player."

After the footage review, you parted from Team Z to meet up with Yuko. Her jaw dropped when she noticed the bruises on your face, immediately prompting you for answers.