i. "Game arena? Where the hell am I?"
pre season one
𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐓𝐑𝐄𝐄𝐓𝐒 of Tokyo were full of life as Sakura walked down the sidewalk with her dog, occasionally shoving people out of her way. They strutted through a very crowded part of the city due to all the shopping malls and subway nearby. Pulling against the leash, Bellamy tugged Sakura through the crowd and the woman accidentally bumped into another woman.
"Sorry!" Sakura shouted at the woman wearing a pink top. "Bellamy, stop!"
Despite her yells, Bellamy never slowed down but instead doing the opposite and increasing his pace. Sakura looked down for a split second, to make sure the leash was secured around her wrist. Looking back up, she was met with her head slamming against a pole.
The sudden contact sent her flying to the floor while she gripped her head. Sakura groaned in pain as she felt blood trickle down from her forehead. She laid there for a couple of minutes before rising to her feet; with the help of the pole, of course.
"Bellamy!" Sakura called out, her voice pained due to the throbbing discomfort forming through her head.
Whistling, she tried to call the dog but was taken back when she heard it echo. The streets of Tokyo never let anything echo, hell Sakura barely even heard herself sometimes. The sight in front of her made her blood go cold as she held onto the pole for better support, preventing another collision to the ground.
The streets were completely abandoned. No cars, people, pets, or any sign of life were in eyesight. Suddenly, a bright light illuminates from a digital billboard. Sakura walked towards the object, her eyes landing on the words written on the screen.
Game arena
——>
"Game arena? Where the hell am I?" Sakura questioned herself.
Reluctantly following the arrows' direction, Sakura stumbled upon a foggy graveyard being lit up by street lights. A table was right in front of the gates with about a dozen phones. Sakura grabbed onto one and held it up, the phone lighting up.
Looking around, Sakura noticed about five other people sitting around with phones. They all kept to themselves and two of them never looked up from the floor. Meanwhile the other three nervously glanced around or fiddled with their shirt or hands.
The brunette leaned against the gate, examining all the people before looking at a young girl who was approaching the table. The girl was no younger than 10 yet no older than 15, Sakura's guess was 13 yet she didn't know.
"What is this?" The young feminine voice asked, her voice soft and scared.
The man grunted, turning away from her while she picked up a phone and cowarded away. Her scared eyes landed on Sakura as she was the only woman and she walked over to her, standing by her side. She anxiously fiddled with her A necklace as Sakura glanced down at her.
Sakura did think about moving away slightly but she wasn't cruel so she remained in her place.
"Are you okay?" The girls squeaky voice asked, staring at Sakura's forehead.
"Don't worry about it." Sakura coldly brushed off, the girl shutting up.
Insticintly, touching her cut the brunette winced at the contact and retracted her hands. Sakura did feel a bit of regret after those words came out of her mouth but pushed them back. A woman appeared right before their phones chimed.
Registration has closed. The game will now commence. Game, "Ghost Cemetery." Difficulty, Six of Spades. Rules, similar to hide and seek but the seeker is a ghost. Each player receives a lamp with no batteries or connections. All players must hide in the cemetery, but once your lamp lights up you must run because the ghost has found you. Clear condition. Survive from the ghost until the time runs out.
The gates were pushed open and Sakura stood up straight, walking in. She snatched a lamp from another table and began roaming around the foggy graveyard. A countdown echoed through the yard, nerves bubbling in her veins when the countdown hit zero.
Immediately, a light far into the distance caught her eye as she quickly crouched behind a tree. The light was moving at a rapid pace but abruptly stopped, the light flickered to a blood red.
Sakura thought about climbing the tree but went against it due to the lack of light. Heavy footsteps ran by her causing her to swiftly move to the other side of the tree. Her lamp never lit up and she got up, walking as quietly as she could.
Roaming around in the dark wasn't exactly ideal as Sakura found herself tripping over gravestones every five seconds. Her goal was to get to whoever died so that she could take in her surroundings with the light.
Right as her plan was in motion it was quickly shut down just seconds later by the lamp in her hands. As she took a step closer to the body, Sakura's light shined so bright it blinded her for a minute.
"Fuck."
Was all she said before taking off in the other direction. Her light showed her a safe way around the graveyard while she ran around aimlessly. Jumping over a gravestone an idea popped into her head.
Surely the seeker wasn't actually a ghost, that would be impossible. Tightening her grip on the lamp, she turned around and swung the lamp at the seeker. A muffled groan was heard right before the seeker fell to the ground with a thud.
Sakura didn't wait another second before running away and hiding behind a gravestone, her light dimming. Everyone's phones chimed and made an announcement, giving away their hiding spots.
5 minutes remaining.
Sakura knew everyone would be running around in panic now that the seeker knew where they were so she simply moved two gravestones back and made it her new spot. Their phones chimed, sure but in sync so the seeker could've heard the melody in all directions. Their fate was determined on what direction the seeker decided to go in.
It didn't take long before screams were heard along with multiple lights going off. Sakura had counted a total of three lights shining a bright white before illuminating the same red as the first victim.
The wait felt like centuries but as promised, Sakura heard mechanical wiring along with the creaking of the gates. She saw a gate being lit up by the yellow street lights and slowly made her way to it.
Right as she was about to run out of the cemetery she heard a scream echo, making her head snap in the direction. Through the fog she could make out the young girl running for her life while the seeker chased her.
Fear blinded the girl's vision as she didn't notice the clearly open gate, getting ready to run past. Quickly standing up, Sakura grabbed ahold of the girl's arm and yanked them out to safety.
The force Sakura used sent them tumbling to the floor and the duo saw the seeker staring at them. He wore an all black outfit with a ski mask over his head with night vision goggles.
"Go to hell!" Sakura shouted, relieved that the man couldn't do anything now.
Disappearing in the shadows, the seeker walked away while Sakura stood up with the little girl. As soon as her feet were on the ground she was yanked into an embrace.
"Thank you! Thank you so much for saving my life!" The girl said.
"Yeah, um, you're welcome." Sakura said, awkwardly hugging the girl back.
"I'm Akari!"
"Sakura."
"Pretty! Um. Do you have somewhere to stay? Do you think I can go with you?"
"No I don't but I was going to look."
"I can come! And-and help you out you know?"
"Whatever."
The woman began walking off, the girl right behind her. They wandered the streets of Tokyo, trying to find a place to stay where it was hidden yet close to resources. Sakura made a quick stop at a pharmacy, disinfecting and bandaging her cut.
After searching they couldn't find any building they hoped for so they settled on a shopping mall, choosing a furniture store.
Sakura was the one who chose the furniture store, mainly because it was destined to have beds they could sleep on. Akari was first to claim a bed, forcing Sakura to claim one right beside in fear something might happen if the girl wasn't in eye sight.
"Hungry?" asked Sakura. "I can go check out the other stores."
"A little." Akari answered, holding up her fingers to show how much.
Sakura nodded and took a seat on her bed while Akari sat criss crossed on the other. The young girl seemed to be thinking about something for a bit before meeting Sakura's eyes.
"Hey, what were you doing before you got here?" Akari questioned.
"I was walking my dog when he went all crazy and dragged me into a pole. Stood up and I was here." Sakura said, explaining to the girl while she intently listened.
"Is that why you cut your head?"
"Yeah. How about you? What were you doing?"
"I was eating with my mom and dad but I had to use the bathroom and when I walked in I was here."
Akari's tone was soft and full of sadness while Sakura remained quiet, having no clue what to say. That's how it was for days. Sakura never had a clue what to say to Akari and it made the woman feel terrible yet Akari never seemed to mind.