The point of the game was probably to test how far a person would go in order to survive— even at the cost of someone else's life. But that's only natural and expected for a Hearts game. Any kind of Hearts game will kill off any type of bond that has been made, because of the trust issues and paranoia. If you were to be honest, it intrigued you. You wanted to learn more about these Hearts games, because of how psychological they were, despite how miserable you felt after that King of Hearts game.
As you left your cell, your eyes roamed around in search for Chishiya, glancing at each and every one of the cells until your eyes finally landed on his figure that was walking towards you with his hands in his pockets. Even though you knew he would survive, you couldn't help but feel a wave of relief wash over you as you walked towards him, followed by Ippei who scrambled towards you.
"Wow~" Urumi said in a cheerful tone, stretching and giggling, "that was so easy!"
Her group immediately reformed and let out small breaths of relief as they circled around Urumi as if she were some sort of goddess.
"Oh my gosh, I'm so relieved." "Thank God.", and so on. Some even started crying tears of relief.
You, Chishiya and Ippei walked towards the central guardroom before hearing a buzz that resonated throughout the whole prison.
ROUND TWO BEGINS NOW.
Your collar started shuffling before sending a melodious ring, indicating that it found a new symbol.
As you leaned against the wall, standing not too far from Urumi's group, you could hear them thanking each other for being honest and not killing anyone off. You noticed that you weren't standing far from Banda and the emo guy either.
"..I keep wondering how long this is going to go on for," the emo guy with bangs said to Banda.
They weren't far away at all, so you could hear them pretty well. You tilted your head, interested in their conversation.
"Either the Jack will start to kill, or someone who's afraid of the Jack will start to kill. Until either or both of those things happen, this game will never end," Banda replied, staring at nothing as he was sitting down, resting his back against the wall.
"Exactly," Chishiya said, listening in Banda and the emo guy's conversation. You smiled mockingly to yourself, not surprised by him listening to their conversation.
Ippei looked hesitant to start speaking before picking up an optimistic and enthusiastic smile. "..As long as we keep being honest with each other, we'll be all right!"
You hummed and smiled, surprised by how cheerful he is despite the game he found himself in. "That's debatable."
Ippei's smile faded slightly, concerned by how pessimistic you were being.
"What the fuck?" A man roared, stopping all the chattering and turning all the attention towards him.
You turned your head towards the sound and saw a coward getting thrown onto the ground in front of Banda. You blinked twice, intrigued by the scene unfolding in front of you.
"I told you to give me the answer!" All eyes were on the bald man who kept on yelling at the poor coward who got thrown by him. Banda suddenly got up and made his way towards the man on the ground before placing a hand on his shoulder, his lips curled upwards into some sort of smile.
"You all right?" He asked him. But he didn't seem to be concerned on his wellbeing at all. He seemed to want something from him. You could read him easily. You knew he had malicious intents but it wasn't your problem. You saw him lean towards the man's ear and whisper something to him. The man tensed and his eyes widened slightly, seemingly shocked by what Banda said to him. You smiled, predicting what Banda said to him.
"Looks to me like you want another beating," The man said in a low tone "huh?!" He gripped his hair and held him up, throwing a punch to his jaw. "Give me the fucking answer!" He held up his balled up fist intimidatingly, inciting a response from him.
"C—club.." The coward mumbled in a desperate attempt to not get beaten up by him.
"Huh?!" The bald man said again, not hearing him.
"Club!"
He paused before grinning, satisfied. He slapped his cheek a couple of times, "Don't wait so long next time." He shoved him onto the ground and walked away, giving you and Chishiya some sort of stare as he walked pass you.
"There won't be a 'next time'", you said under your breath and smiled. Chishiya seemed to hear you and let a chuckle— which was barely a puff of air out his nose.
Ippei looked at the back of the bald man's collar and his eyes widened, letting out a small 'oh'. He was about to walk towards the man before you stopped him, gripping his arm tightly. He seemed to get your message and reluctantly stood in his place with a look of guilt displayed on his face.
"Now the game is really starting," Chishiya said, seemingly satisfied.
Urumi stared at the guy who got beaten up by the bald man. She decided to walk over to him and crouch to speak to him. You couldn't make out what she said, but you presumed that he got recruited into her 'group' as he got up and starting walking towards them.
You stared at the time and noticed there was 32 minutes remaining. Ippei also seemed to notice this, and he turned to you with a smile on his face. "Do you want to tell each other our symbols now?"
You nodded. "Yeah. Turn around."
Ippei nodded happily and turned around. You leaned in close towards the back of his neck to see what his symbol was before getting pulled away— by Chishiya, again. You furrowed your brows in confusion. He didn't seem to like you going near Ippei.. and you wondered why, but decided to brush it aside.
"Yours is a Heart," he replied curtly, still holding onto your arm.
Ippei turned around again and smiled cheerfully. "Thank you!"
Chishiya hummed in response.
"I'll check yours, Chishiya," you said. He hummed, letting you check his symbol. You brushed his hair aside and leaned towards his neck.
"Spade."
He nodded, acknowledging your answer before turning towards you. "Turn around."
You turned around, feeling his hand brush away the hair that covered the back of your collar. He leaned in, making you hear and feel him breathing. "Diamonds," he said, tickling your ear with his raspy voice. It made you feel shivers down your spine, but you decided to ignore it, humming appreciatively towards Chishiya.
Ippei looked at you and smiled. You couldn't help but think of Anzu whenever you looked at him. You softened at the sight of him smiling at you, giving him a slight smile and nod, indicating that you noticed him smiling at you.
Urumi's group spoke in between themselves to tell each other their symbols. As they did so, Urumi kept on glancing at you suspiciously. Chishiya seemed to notice this too, deciding to scoot towards you. Your shoulders were touching, and as much as you appreciated him being so concerned for you, you couldn't help but think that it's slightly out of character for him. As if a new person emerged from the shadows.
IT IS TIME TO GIVE YOUR ANSWER. PLEASE ENTER A SOLITARY CONFINEMENT CELL OF YOUR CHOOSING.
You walked over to a random cell and stared at the coward who lied to the bald guy, noticing guilt on his face. Ippei stared at the coward, knowing that he lied to him. He was about to say something, but in the end he pursed his lips and went inside his cell. Your expression remained indifferent as you also went in your cell. The door shut itself closed and you hummed, awaiting for the A.I to give you the countdown on giving your answer.
Finally, a buzz could be heard inside your cell.
PLEASE GIVE YOUR ANSWER.
"Diamond."
As the countdown went to zero, you heard a buzz, followed by the door behind you clicking and opening. You heard a loud explosion, which you presume was from the bald guy getting his neck exploded.
Everyone else got out of their cells, confused on the sound of the explosion. They all gathered back into the central guardroom. A big board was seen displayed with everyone's picture and name, making you hum in interest as you went towards Chishiya and Ippei. As expected, the bald guy's picture was nearly erased— faded in black, meaning that he got 'eliminated'.
Immediately upon seeing his picture getting faded out, everyone started discussing and murmuring amongst themselves.
"Oh my goodness." "How terrible." "Do you think I'll be next?", and so on. You and Chishiya looked at Urumi, who started speaking to her group mates.
"Hey.. that guy must be the Jack," she said in a low tone, directing her sentence towards the coward who lied to the bald guy. "He lied to that big bully and killed him...I think we'd better kill him next turn." She smiled, completing her sentence as if she said nothing wrong at all.
A girl in a yellow shirt approached her and whispered into her ear. "You mean to say.. we should.. lie to him..?"
Urumi turned to her, keeping her smile. "Of course.. he's definitely the Jack after all. Even if not, he's still dangerous. We should eliminate him while we still have the chance."
You noticed Banda staring at you with his piercing eyes. You stared back at him, perking a brow. Chishiya also seemed to notice him staring. He stared at him back and tilted his head as he scooted over to you almost as if he was getting defensive of you. You found it quite cute to see him like that and fought back a smile that wanted to appear on your face.
You hummed and smiled sarcastically. "I guess the game's truly begun, huh?"
Jack of Hearts arc gave me a newfound motivation to write. I hope you enjoy!! 💕