Hope
🔸 Enjoy 🔸
Arisu was a relief seeing Rin safe along with Usagi. Arisu doesn't know what he do if he knew both of them were in danger or worse dead. He doesn't want it to happen again. The death of his dearest friends hurt him the most. The way he wanted to die that day only to apologize to them. He doesn't want it to happen again.
After Rin hugged Arisu everyone went to a safe place to rest first. "It's good to see you!", this time Tatta hugged Arisu. Arisu smiled at Tatta, "You're okay?" "Uh-huh, thank you..." Arisu smiled even more at Tatta. 'He's so kind...' "I hate to break this to you now, but we only have 30 minutes left," said Usagi, Rin looked at her phone and it was indeed they only had 30 minutes left.
"We have to find the Witch or else it's game over..." Rin mumbled to herself, "With those militants on the loose I don't think we'll last outside." said Usagi, "We need to make a plan." replied Rin, "If that's the case, explain the rules to me quickly." said Arisu.
As Rin and Usagi explain the rules to Arisu meanwhile at the Beach a lot of people get killed as the Militants start to wonder if they're doing the right thing this whole time, Every person they killed every person they have thrown out in the fire they realize that haven't found the Witch with the time they have. Did they waste their time? Does the Witch hide somewhere? What if there were the Witch?
"This is the worst of the games yet." Arisu was frustrated, "But just like those horse-headed taggers we met before, they were forced to participate with rules of their own." Tatta was pacing back and forth, "I don't want to remember it again," said Rin, Rin was traumatized that day. Arisu looks at Rin, "I'm sure it's the same this time. The witch had to kill that girl to start the game and try to survive until the end. In other words, the witch clears the game if everyone at the Beach gets a Game Over, or gets killed by the laser."
"The witch must be hiding in plain sight. Or maybe...there is something that we have missed the moment the game starts," Rin looked at everyone in the room, "But who the hell could be the witch?" said Tatta, "If I were the Witch, I'd join the others in the hunt. Because it'd be Game Over if I was caught." what Usagi just said she got a point in there. What would you do if you were the Witch? We have our ways.
"So, it's someone in the militant corps?" asked Asahi, "Niragi, Last Boss, or Aguni, huh?" Tatta drops the possibility of who could be the Witch is, "That doesn't add up...the most likely who would betray the militants is none other than Niragi. I just think he would start killing the militants whatever he wants or kill someone higher than him. But still, I don't have the feeling that they could be the Witch."
Rin trusts her gut intuition, if she starts feeling something it could be a bad or good thing. It's her and her gut intuition against the world. With her trust in her intuition, this could be the key for her to win. "It's a Hearts Game after all," said Arisu. Arisu experienced it the way his friends fought to win the game in his previous game. He saw how his friends changed their behavior the moment they realized about death. And sacrifice themselves for him to survive. They weren't even mad, they left their last words to Arisu as Arisu wanted to help them but couldn't. If that's what they wanted then he would it just for them. Arisu wouldn't be alive if Rin didn't save him and for Usagi to knock some sense at him with her words. Arisu wouldn't be here if weren't for them.
Arisu was thankful that he met them.
"Something's not right. What it could be? If I was the witch, how would I steer the game to win?"
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The four of them stand there for a minute as they wait for Arisu, Rin on the other hand tries to think but her brain is not cooperating at the moment. Rin lets out a deep sigh. "No," Arisu said out of nowhere. Rin tilted her head and asked, "What do you mean 'No'?"
"I shouldn't be putting myself in the Witch's shoes. I should be in the shoes of the Game Master," said Arisu, "Game Master?" This time Usagi asked, "Don't you see? The game was designed to suit both its location and its players. Right after Hatter was killed, Momoka was murdered. Someone who knows the ins and outs of the Beach...constructed the game and its timing."
"This will leave the Beach in confusion. It's impossible that someone moved Momoka's body in the lobby before the game was announced and it's quite suspicious that someone tried to move Momoka's body without someone's notice," said Rin.
"Rin's right. I was in the lobby an hour ago. I haven't seen Momoka's body." said Tatta, Everyone looked at each other trying to sink in the information that they had the feelings of confusion, nervousness, and anxiety that they felt.
" Time remaining, 20 minutes. "
Arisu stands up and this puts everyone on alert, "What is it?" Everyone looks at Arisu waiting for him to speak up. "I think that I know...who the Witch is."
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As the smoke slowly surrounds the Beach its fire starts to spread. Will this chaos ever end? More people had perished and they still haven't found the Witch yet.
" 15 minutes remaining "
The remaining people were surrounded by the militants along with Aguni, "Kill'em all." he commands, "I can't do this anymore..." That one militant sobs, "We got no choice. We'll never be the same again after killing so many people."
He's right, even if they are here in this world they'll never be the same as they were before. All of us are sinners. Don't you know that?
Aguni kicked the militant as the other militant stopped sobbing, "Did you hear me? Anyone who defies me here is the Witch." he looked down at the militant, "Just shoot me then!" The militant the one who got kicked by Aguni yells.
"That's enough!" a familiar voice interrupted the commotion. Everyone looks at the familiar group, "This ends now!" The group walks in as Arisu holds onto Rin for support to walk.
Did you know that Chishiya was also there? Well not in the group but watching them from afar as he sees the girl he has been wanting to see.
Arisu starts to talk, "You...you had me tied up the whole time. When the murder happened, that's where I was. So that means that you know that...I can't be the Witch."
"And if you aren't the Witch, you don't have to kill me. Just work with me and we'll find the Witch." Aguni smiles not the typical smile you know as he walks towards Arisu. Rin starts to feel bad intentions coming from Aguni.
Aguni starts to hit Arisu over and over again with his gun. The group panicked as they tried to stop Aguni from hitting Arisu. Rin steps in between them. "Aguni please stop this!" Rin cried out, "Please...please is this what Hatter wants you to do?"
Aguni was taken back from his senses, "You don't know anything. Step back before I change my mind." Aguni takes one step closer. "I know everything! You're going after Arisu even though you know he didn't do it. And that's...because you're the Witch!" yelled Usagi.
"Are you the Witch?" the people start to doubt their leader being the Witch. "No! Wait!-" Rin protests, "Yes." Aguni answered the question calmly. "I am the Witch."
The militants one by one raise their guns and point them to Aguni. "No! Don't shoot!" Rin runs up to Aguni to protect him. "He's innocent! So please don't shoot!" Rin yelled at the militants.
Aguni drops his gun as he walks past Rin and toward the militants he presses himself into the gun and looks at the militant with intimidation. "Go ahead. Do it!" Aguni lost his cool as he shouted.
"Well, shoot him!" a random person yelled at them. "Aguni is not the Witch!" Arisu cut in, "It's Ten of Hearts Game! It plays with your feelings and emotions! You're not going to win by killing Aguni!"
"Arisu is right! It's a Heart Game! It's hard to beat it. Which is why you need to think through all of this first!" Rin joins in, "I know you're not the Witch, even Rin knows it. So why then? You gotta have another reason." said Arisu.
"The one that you killed wasn't Momoka. It was Hatter."
"What?" the militants slowly put their guns down, "I could see it in your eyes. It was as if you lost all hope and...and just gave up. I feel you just like I killed my friends."
"I know why you're acting like this...Aguni." This time Aguni turns to look at Rin. "You don't mean to kill Hatter, right? I know that Because you are his friend. The reason you act like this is because Hatter changed." Aguni fully turns his body at Rin.
"Hatter change because of the Beach, the people in the Beach, which is why you want to kill every last of people that stand here in this place." Rin walked one step, "You couldn't believe the friend that you used to know changed." Rin walks two steps, "You got so angry that you just want to punch him to bring back his senses." Rin walks three steps, Rin is now in front of Aguni, "Now that he has changed you always hope that he will be back just like he was before. You hope that because I'm here. Right?" Aguni did not answer.
"H-how?" said Aguni as he lost his composure.
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A memory that Aguni will never forget. That time he sees Hatter kill them for hiding the cards from him. Aguni was shocked. Is this the friend that I know? What happened to him? What got him into this?
No words express his feelings as if the world stops rotating. He continues to look at Hatter, he doesn't recognize him anymore.
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"Aguni join me for tonight!" shouted Hatter, "I don't have time for that." said Aguni, "Don't be such a killjoy, come on I have someone I would like you to meet." Hatter beams as he walks away. Aguni turned around and Hatter left him by himself.
Aguni got curious about who is this stranger he would meet tonight. Aguni walks away as he waits for tonight.
As the night passes, Aguni goes to the place where Hatter always goes. He saw Hatter and a familiar face next to him.
'Have I seen her before? Is she new?' questions run inside Aguni's head. As Aguni walks close to them, Hatter finally notices his presence. "Aguni, quick! I would like you to meet Rin!" Aguni looked at the shy girl next to him. "Rin?" Aguni tilted his head, "Rin Izumi. Rina's daughter!" Hatter said it with excitement.
Aguni finally recognized the name was mentioned. Rina Atsuma, Rina was their classmate since high school and Hatter used to have a huge crush on her. Not to mention Rina rejected him but stayed as friends. They somehow lost contact with each other for the past few years. Now that they know that Rina is married. They are now face to face with Rina's daughter.
"H-hello! I'm Rin Izumi! You must be Aguni. It's nice to meet you." Rin bowed down. "Hmm. Nice to meet you too." said Aguni, "So what are we waiting for? Let's dig in!" Hatter happily invites them to eat.
Aguni feels this nostalgic feeling when he sees Hatter happier than before, he can't help but smile. He is the Hatter that he knew before. And he wants it to stay that way. Aguni glances at the girl next to Hatter. 'If she's the reason for him to bring him back, I hope she will bring him back...'
"What are you smiling about?" Hatter asks him and Aguni gets off guard. Aguni coughs, "You're imagining things." said Aguni as he continued to eat. "I'm pretty sure Rin saw it too, right Rin?" Hatter nudges Rin as Rin looks at Hatter and then to Aguni, she nervously nods. Aguni was left dumbfounded. As Hatter laughs at him. Aguni only shook his head and ignored Hatter. This time Aguni lowered his head as he secretly smiled. 'There is still hope for him.'
But what he didn't know a certain girl was observing him from the start.
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"You don't know everything!" Aguni once again walks past Rin as he lets his anger out to Arisu. "Aguni! Stop this!" Rin tries to pull away Aguni from Arisu. "Don't hurt Arisu! Just hit me instead!" Rin shouts at the top of her lungs. Aguni stops as he turns to Rin. Rin stands there and closes her eyes readying herself to get hit.
"You know nothing," said Aguni as his voice broke from sadness, "I know what it feels like to see your friends die. To kill them, I see it. You killed your friend. I see it in your eyes. And now you just wanna kill everyone here, because they were the ones who made your friend crazy. That's why is a Game of Hearts. Don't you see it?" said Arisu.
Aguni didn't turn around, Rin gasped as she saw Aguni's face, he was crying. "Shut up!" Aguni yelled as he turned around to Arisu.
Now that everyone knows Aguni's true intentions they still think that Aguni is the Witch.
"So, who is the real Witch then?" asks Usagi, "I know who it is. I know the real Witch is." Arisu weakly replied, "The Witch could be right here with us, the game was trying to make a fool out of us, if the Witch wants to end the game without killing anybody."
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"Momoka, she was the Witch all along." said Rin as she points at Momoka's dead body.
"So, she stabs herself with a knife?" a random person asks, "Yes. If I was the Witch that would be the idea I would come up with," said Arisu.
Aguni kicks Arisu in the stomach, "You're full of shit! I'm the Witch! You all want to kill me, right?" Aguni looks around as he starts to punch that person. The rest of the people went rampage as they tried to stop Aguni some were fighting back. Rin goes back to her group. "Guys, we need to do something!" Rin worriedly looks back at Aguni.
Aguni wails as he becomes aggressive. Rin got broke as she watched the scene in front of her. The hope in Aguni was gone. "Listen. I know how to stop Aguni, trust me! I'll get his attention, all right? Burn Momoka in the Fire of Judgement." said Asahi as she looked at Arisu who was on the floor. "Arisu, this whole thing has to stop now, okay?" The group looks at her confused about what she's trying to do.
Both Usagi and Rin shout in unison, "Asahi!" Asahi runs to the center to catch their attention, "Everyone!" Asahi got their attention, "I'm the one! The dealer of this Game!"
Everyone gasped at what they saw, Asahi got hit by the laser. This left them speechless. Chishiya who was there the whole time was shocked as well. Rin couldn't believe what she just saw. Is this even real?
"It was a reverse grip." Another familiar voice called out, "Fingerprints with a reverse grip were found on the knife." Kuina and Ann walk into the lobby Ann raises her hand revealing the knife with a handkerchief. "That means that Momoka grabbed the handle of the knife and stabbed it through her chest. She was the Witch."
This makes everyone believe that Momoka was indeed the Witch this whole time. As everyone went silent, the fire started to spread in the main lobby. "Everyone! Run!"
The crowd panics as they run away from the fire. "Hurry! Put her in the Fire of Judgement!" Usagi shouted as the others went toward Momoka's body but got hit by a gun. Gunshots were heard in the lobby.
They saw Niragi slowly walk into the lobby holding his gun. "If I could do it all over again. I'd use this Fire of Judgment to burn this whole place down!" shouted Niragi.
"And that will make me the winner!" Niragi started to shoot everyone as the crowd panicked once again, Usagi ran to the right side as Niragi was busy with the other side and jumped behind him. Arisu took this opportunity to grab the gun away from him but Niragi was too strong as he pushed Arisu back and tossed Usagi at him. Rin runs at him and hits him in the ribs really hard for him to fall back.
As Niragi drops to the floor he gets even angrier, "I'll kill you all!" Niragi raises his gun at her and is about to shoot his gun at her.
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*Bang*
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Aguni pushed Rin as he took the hit. Rin yelled at Aguni as Aguni ran for Niragi and took Niragi with him in the fire. Everything went in slow motion. Aguni sacrifices himself. "Aguni!" Rin cried out and was about to follow them. Tatta and Usagi quickly hold Rin preventing her from following them. Rin never cried like this before.
" 3 minutes remaining. "
"We need to hurry!" shouted Kuina, everyone surrounding Momoka's body as they lifted her and went towards the Fire of Judgement. As everyone runs out of the lobby. Rin was left there in the ground crying, 'No... There's no time for me crying like this...' Rin wiped away her tears as she stands up she saw Arisu looking at something, as she saw up close, there was a phone in the ground lit up.
"Her phone..." Rin called out, Rin and Arisu looked at each other skeptically, Rin nodded at Arisu as Rin quickly grabbed the phone and turned to Arisu.
" Arisu, let's get out of here. "
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| • Death Rate: 10% • |