𝐂𝐇𝐎𝐊𝐄 • Chishiya Shuntarō

XXI: EXPLOSION

As Aguni shot at the King of Spades, everyone else made their way to the alley. His attention had been caught, and he was now walking right into their trap.

Hana waited around a corner, Ann and Kuina were first. "Ann, you almost hit me!" Kuina said.

"I'm making sure I don't hit you!" Ann replied. Great, they were alive. Hana prayed it stayed that way.

Akane was next. Hana heard something drop to the floor. The King's vest. Why was he taking it off? Hana and Aguni waited together. They were ready to ambush him. Aguni's gunshot was Hana's sign to run.

As they shot at each other, Kuina ran out of a store, pushing a trolley into the King. He dodged it, falling to the ground. Usagi knocked things onto him, but he dodged them all.

Hana came out of the corner she'd been hiding in, kicking the King in his stomach and knocking him back to the ground. She got on top of him, attempting to take his gun, but it didn't work. He shot. A bullet slighting grazed her shoulder, and he hit her in the head with the bottom of his gun, knocking her off of him.

Everyone ducked behind corners, and the fridge that Usagi had knocked over. The King and Aguni fought, until Aguni was finally threw to the ground. The King was relapsing his gun, when Usagi jumped on top of him. Kuina ran out, ready for fight, only to have Usagi thrown at her, kncoking then both to the ground.

Ann shot at him, giving Usagi and Kuina their chance to hide again, as Akane ran out. Hana's mouth flew open as she watched Akane stop the King from shooting Aguni, unintentionally pointing the gun towards herself. The King took the opportunity, shooting her over and over until her once white shirt was stained in red.

Ann ran out again, only to meet the same fate as Akane, being shot to the ground. Hana felt her stomach churn, as Aguni ran out and began to fight the King again. He managed to hold his own for a while, and Hana thought he might actually kill the King himself.

Her hope was lost when he took Aguni to the ground, strangling him in a head lock. Kuina ran out to fight him, only to be stabbed. Hana screamed in horror as the King thrusted the knife in and out of Kuina, over and over.

Usagi stopped him, attacking him as well. only to be stabbed in the legs and threw off of him. Hana was frozen. She felt helpless. All of her friend were hurt, and she'd done nothing to help them.

She clenched her fists together, remembering Chishiya. He'd be upset if she died, she knew that. But if she lived, having done nothing to help her friends, she didn't know what fate she'd meet. She wouldn't be able to live with herself, that's for sure.

Aguni reloaded his gun, shooting at the King, but missing. The King shot Aguni, and he felt unconscious. Hana thought he was dead.

She remembered the knife and gun she had in her pockets, pulling out the knife. Ann looked at her, shaking her head. "It's too dangerous," she mouthed. Hana didn't care.

"Let's see how you like it, motherfucker!" She yelled, running towards the King. She stabbed him in the stomach, twisting the knife as she did so. He knocked the knife of her hand and knocked her to the ground, but she could tell she'd hurt him.

She pulled her gun out of her pocket, shooting at him. She missed, her aim wasn't great. She threw the gun down, making sure to empty it first so the King didn't bother to pick it up and use it.

She jumped onto him, kncoking him to the ground again. He took his knife, stabbing her in the shoulder that his bullet had previously grazed. She screamed in pain as she grabbed the blade of the knife and snatched it out of his hand, throwing it as far as she could.

With her uninjured hand, she punched him over and over, until he threw her off again. As she fell, he shot at her. He missed, but she landed in a pool of blood. She didn't know who's it was, but it was the perfect opportunity.

She acted unconscious, rolling over slightly to make the blood look like it was coming from her stomach. This was possibly the grossest thing she'd ever done, but she didn't want him shooting at her.

As she lay there, she heard another gunshot. "Come out," Arisu said. Hana opened her eyes. The King had his back to her. "Come here." Arisu ran away, and the King followed.

Hana stood up, looking over at Aguni, who was also standing up. "Careful," she whispered, "Wait at the window of the drugstore. I have a feeling this explosion won't kill him, but it'll hurt him enough for you to kill him."

"What are you talking about?"

"Just go!"

Aguni did as he was told. He usually wouldn't take orders from someone so much younger than him, but she seemed to know what she was doing.

Once the King had made his way upstairs, Hana followed him. She made sure to grab Ann's gun, first, hoping it had something left in it. He had his hand on the door handle, but he took it off. Hana didn't give him a chance to walk away, jumping on top of him, sending the two of them flying through the door.

"Arisu! Do it!" She yelled.

"Hana!" Arisu ran towards her, pulling her off of the King. The King stayed down, however, giving them the opportunity to run. Arisu opened up the bomb.

"Throw it!" Hana said. The two went flying out the window as Arisu threw the bomb. Hana took the gun, shooting at the bomb and hitting it perfectly. The one time she had perfect aim is the one time she truly needed it. She praised the gods as she flew to the ground.

She woke up to fire crackling around her, and Aguni helping up Arisu. She'd hoped that he'd killed the King, but it didn't seem like it. Maybe she was wrong about the explosion not killing him. Maybe he was already dead.

Aguni fell to the floor, and Hana limped over. "Where are they?" Arisu asked.

"They're all okay," Aguni said, "You gotta go on to the last game."

Hana and Arisu walked away, seeing Usagi limping out of the alleyway. "You go and see if Chishiya and Niragi are okay," Arisu said.

"I don't care about Niragi," Hana said, "But I'll find Chishiya."

Hana ran to where they'd left Chishiya and Niragi. "Hey," Chishiya said. He was still alive. She looked over at Niragi, who was unconscious. "He's not dead. Just passed out."

"Boo," Hana said, sitting down next to Chishiya.

"You okay?"

"No. But I'm better than everyone else, I think."

"This is the final game," the announcer said, "Participating players should register immediately."

Hana was about to get up to go to the next game. "Stay," Chishiya said, "Please. Don't go."

Hana sighed, leaning on Chishiya's shoulder. Maybe Arisu wouldn't need help. Surely no game would be harder than this one.