"I can hear your heart pound heavy."
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You were the assassin for that round, so it was pretty simple that all you needed was one vote. But, how were you going to get everybody else not to vote for you?
*Vote for me, Akira. I'm the assassin.* you used sign-language to communicate with him. He nodded, asking you with sign language, *I can act like I'm the murderer so people will vote for me. Just watch.*
You stood back up from your squatting position. "Banda, I'm the assassin. I got Akira to vote for me, and he says he can act as the murderer so the suspicions will rise for him and only one person will vote for me. This way, Akihiko will die."
"How pleasant for you to be the assassin, because I'm the murderer this round," Banda whispered, leaning his back against the wall. He looked at you, thinking of a strategy, until you decided to ask him a wild question that could change everything. "Are you planning to have nobody vote for you, so that everybody excluding you would die?"
He grinned from ear to ear. "That won't be fun. I want to watch and hear people's screams as they die, one by one," he responded, his smile growing wider. The way a serial killer like him loved watching people suffer ten times more than you did made you a little scared of him. Playing a game against him meant certain death, unless it was a spades game, where you had the upper hand.
You gulped down the lump of apprehension in your throat. "What should we do about Yaba, and that man in the hoodie? Apart from the king, those two look like the most dangerous. We should keep an eye on them," you explained. Banda looked down at the dusty ground with blood stains.
"I once played with the man in the hoodie. He's just like the jack of hearts, only so innocent and shy until it all comes down to the last few players. He constantly likes to taunt people, and he's excellent at hearts games. But, he really gets on my nerves sometimes," he clenched his fists, his veins popping out of his skin.
You tilted your head in confusion. Was that a sign of a weakness? "I guess that emo boy could come of use to me if I need to provoke Banda," you took note of that. Noticing that he had a partner, a shy girl who had a habit of biting her nails in stressful situations, you chose to approach her in hopes of figuring something out.
"Hey! We can't find the murderer here, so do you mind telling me who it is?" You friendly approached her while she was eating at the snack bar alone. You grabbed a small box of sour gum drops, picking up a few and tossing them into your mouth. The sugary taste that coated the sweet dissolved in the contact of your warm saliva, the flavor giving you a hint of sour as your teeth bit into them. The sweet flavors of each gumdrop were the best.
"N-none of us is the murderer...I believe that this round, it should be one of you, maybe the kid. He hasn't been the murderer yet, has he? It's most likely him. Besides, I saw him talking to a few of those people so he could kill someone..." she prattled. Just then, there was a dark presence behind her.
Kyoto grabbed her hair and pulled her up. She squirmed in his grasp, but he was far too strong for her. "Didn't I tell you not to talk to these people? Especially the pink-haired one. You're so stupid!" He dragged her away her her hair, giving her a hard slap across her face.
You used one hand to hoist yourself across the table, grabbing his wrist tightly. "Now, that's not a very polite way to treat an innocent woman. Let go of her, or things are going to get messy," you warned him fiercely. He chortled, provoking you.
"Isn't that against the rules? I'm warning YOU not to intervene with our business, you busybody."
"The rules only restricted murder. So as long as you are living, I can torture you to my heart's content. Let. Her. Go." Despite the girl begging you not to make him angry, you ignored her and instead stood up for her. Kyoto let go of her hair, pulling a few strands out in the process. He cackled, before walking away. Good choice not to pick a fight, Kyoto.
"Are you okay miss?" You checked her body for any scars, until you noticed a few bruises on her arms and legs that were covered by her long sleeves and high socks. She quietly sobbed, "Thank...you...for saving...me..." she was pretty short for her age, being about a few years older than you. "Can...I...work with...you?"
"Of course! Having one more member is good! We'll find out a way to kill the king!" You sat her down and began wiping her tears with a piece of tissue paper.
"Also...I'm sorry for your loss. That Ayaka lady. And, uh, my n-name is Tsuyuri. Thanks, Kayami-san." She bowed 90 whole fucking degrees. "W-woah, no need to be so formal with me."
"May all the players proceed to their cells for the seventh voting session to commence."
You randomly voted for Yaba, since you knew who the murderer and the assassin both were. You waited in anticipation as the timer went off, beads of perspiration flowing down your face. Soon, under your picture was a small picture of Akira and... the hooded man?
"Shit..." you muttered under your breath. Damn that hooded man! No wonder Banda said he got on his nerves, rarely seeing someone as calm as him get slightly frustrated. Banda had less than half of the people voting for him. Keiko, Yaba, and two of the burly men. "How about I do this?" He selected to kill Keiko for that round.
Keiko had cold sweat run down her forehead. "N-No, please! I'll do anything!" She pleaded for mercy, but unfortunately the rules in the borderlands had no exception. The collar around her head exploded, and she fell onto the concrete floor. Now, Yaba had no partner. What was his next move going to be?
The roles on your screen randomized, and you ended up being an innocent for that round. Stepping out of your cell, you sent a death glare towards that hooded man. If looks could kill, he would have died there and then. He smirked, placing his hands in his pockets and walking away. Yaba and Banda made eye contact as their cells were side by side.
Akira tugged on your sleeve. He signed to you, *I am the murderer.* your face remained neutral, but deep down, you had to restrain yourself from squealing in excitement.
You nodded your head, holding his hand and going towards your teammates. Banda and you, obviously, were both innocents. However, Tsuyuri had something else to say. "Kyoto is the assassin. I just know it. He has that dark look on his face. I just know it!" She repeated the same sentence twice.
"Well, nobody else seems like they need one vote. Look, it can't be Yaba or any of those big guys, because if so, they wouldn't go around talking to people. Akihiko, let's just gamble that it's not him. I'll vote for Kyoto with Tsuyuri," you decided. Banda stood up, going to the snack bar. The discussion for that round had ended.
But...how could you be so sure that Tsuyuri was right? Nevermind...Akira was the murderer, so that meant that the two of you were safe.
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Akira pressed the big red button under the leader of the big guys' gang. He had convinced them that he was the murderer, and they had gone around, telling everybody to vote for him. The other players pretended to agree, but in reality, the only people voting for him were the three of them.
Apparently, the assassin was Kyoto. However, Tsuyuri's and your vote had nullified his ability to kill someone. You grinned. Tsuyuri, shockingly, was not lying. Maybe she could be useful in surviving after all.
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Click. Bang!
Click. Bang!
Two more people had died after four long rounds, leaving half of the players alive.
"As five more people have died, an additional rule shall be added.
Additional rule: if a player does not vote for the murderer for one in three rounds, starting with this round, they will be eliminated from the game." The announcement explained the new rule.
All the doors to the confinement cells unlocked, letting you step out of it. Your role for that round was the murderer, finally again. As for the assassin, you found out that none of the people in your team was the assassin.
All the players that were left were the four of you, the two huge men, Kyoto, Yaba, Akihiko and a girl who spent her whole round in a corner, watching everybody with her dark eyes that made her look half dead. Her name was Hanako, according to the screen when you were voting. She never voted for the murderer, and she had never been the assassin, let alone the murderer. Truly, she was a mysterious girl you had to be wary of.
The burly men stomped towards you. "Are you the murderer?" He banged the table in front of you. "Yes!" You happily exclaimed with glee. You really needed votes, and they, being the dumb ones, were the perfect pawns.
"Hey. Do you really think we're going to vote for you? You're quite stupid..."
"Then nobody will vote for me, and everybody but I will die! If it isn't me, who is straightforward about it, waste two other rounds, and die!" You widened your eyes, the look of insanity in your pupils, so clear that anybody could see it. The hungry monster in you was slowly rising as the days passed by in the borderlands. Without Chishiya in the game to keep your sanity intact, you were slowly going crazy in the long game.
He scoffed, pointing his gun at you. "And who do you think you are to be threatening me huh?"
You giggled, taking the barrel of his gun and pointing it at your collar. "I'm...the King of hearts' sister!" You wiggled your legs. He backed off, being frightened of you all of a sudden. "Let's get away from this psycho..." he trotted off.
Banda turned his head to you. "Do you feel it? The monster in your body awakening during these games. Doesn't it feel good?" He had a ghost of a smile on his face, his hearing getting slightly out of place for it was messy and unwashed. You smiled as a 'yes', while Akira and Tsuyuri were gobsmacked by your sudden change.
"In the borderlands, I can finally be who I truly am. Even if I die, I will die without a single regret in my life."
(Sweater weather is a great song for this chapter/scene!)
You continued wandering around the arena, until your eyes landed on Yaba, who was smoking a cigarette at a corner of the corridor. You slowly walked towards him. "Hello, Yaba. Mind if I talked to you for a while?" You asked him.
He took out a stick, passing it to you and lighting it up for you. "Not at all, Kayami-san." He replied. You smoked it for a while, feeling great on just a small bit of drugs to keep your dopamine levels up.
Using your index and middle fingers to pinch the stick, you took it out of your mouth. "Why didn't you choose to kill me that round when you were the murderer?" You began a conversation with him to break the cold tension between the two of you. Even after going through two face card games together, the both of you had a lack of trust.
"Because I knew that you'd be useful during the later rounds, and I don't benefit from killing you. Besides, our goal is to kill the king, not you," he blew the smoke out of his mouth, letting it float up into the vents on the ceiling. After that, he told you that he was the assassin for that round.
"Honestly, I've a feeling that the king somehow knows our roles, but still takes gambles. Are you going to vote for me this round?"
"I can't." He immediately understood what you meant by that. You were the murderer.
"May all players proceed to their cells for the eight voting session to commence."
You waited for all the votes to be submitted, trying to interpret what Yaba had told you. "I feel like you are overthinking this too much, the whole lot of you. With money and power, you can change the whole status quo. Now that there are NO rules in the borderlands, just live life without giving a single eff!" the words you had told Kuzuryū before the seven of diamonds game echoed throughout your mind.
"Right now, your life has no meaning. Just enjoy the game that we're all playing together!" Akihiko's words sounded in your brain.
Could it mean that you should have just stop stressing about everything?
"WWCD. In this situation, Shuntaro would most likely just calmly go around eating his biscuits and analyzing every player. Isn't that technically what Akihiko's doing?" You thought to yourself.
After the voting session ended, you noticed that Akihiko and Kyoto had voted for Yaba. As for Akira, Hanako (creepy ass girl) and one of the gangsters had voted for him. Being smart, Akira clearly chose to kill Hanako. She hugged her knees in her cell and tilted her head down. "It's a surprise I've made it this far without talking to anybody. I guess it's time to say goodbye..."
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After three more rounds, Tsuyuri had to die in your hands unfortunately, followed by the last one of the delinquent gangster, who was killed by default for not voting for the murderer for three straight rounds. Lastly, Kyoto died in the hands of Banda, who had manipulated him into blindly voting for him when he was the murderer.
"As there are only five players left, the last additional rule shall be added to the game.
Additional rule: the time limit for rounds will be reduced from an hour to ten minutes. And, the rule where nobody would die if the murderer received more than half of the player's votes is cancelled.
Round 12:start."
(How do you feel about this game? Do you find it nice? Which one of my made-up games is your favourite? Personally, I prefer the jack of spades!)