𝐒𝐔𝐃𝐃𝐄𝐍 𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐄𝐒𝐓 // 𝐒𝐡𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐫ō 𝐂𝐡𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐲𝐚 𝐱 𝐟𝐞𝐦!𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫

31

An explosion from a different cell. Then, a thud, coming from you.

An extremely loud one.

Right after you said your symbol to the AI, you took a step further and immediately, you fell down, without even having the time to react.

You blinked twice, cursing under your breath before weakly getting up and dusting yourself off, grunting in the process. You looked at the ground and clicked your tongue when you saw a snack wrapper lying on the floor, which you stepped on and fell down because of it. You looked at your elbow, which had a huge red spot since you fell on it.

"Aw, shit. This is going to bruise, isn't it." You scoffed, whispering to yourself before dusting yourself off.

You heard a door barge open before closing again, then, after a few seconds later, a laugh that resonated throughout the halls. Your eye twitched before opening your cell door and stepping out, stretching as you did so.

"Shut up." You said curtly, making him immediately stop his laughter and turn towards you, bewildered. You looked at your arm again, clicking your tongue. "This is definitely going to bruise. It hurts, fuck. Anyway.." you stared at Chishiya's cell, waiting for it to open, to which it did.

"I had a feeling you were the Jack of Hearts." He slowly stepped out with his hands in his pockets and with a smirk on his face.

"B-but how did you.." Matsushita uttered.

"You have got to be kidding me." You scoffed. "Did you really think lying to us would work, when we were in the same space? Did you not realize we've been partners since the start of the game?"

"That.." he said, completely at a loss of words.

"You teamed up with Banda from the start, and he's a murderer, so it just made sense. Even if somehow, you were moved by his little monologue, I knew you still wouldn't trust him. You don't trust strangers. And certainly not as fast as that." Chishiya explained.

Matsushita heard another door open and whipped his head towards the sound.

"Most people wouldn't even speak to a guy like me." Banda said, stepping out of his cell. "But you wanted to kill me. I could sense that in you right away. So I wanted to see if you were smart, just stupid, if you were a psychopath— or a sociopath."

"You mean..!" Matsushita cut himself off, his eyes widening once he realized what Banda meant to say.

"You thought you had be under your control this whole time. But really, I was manipulating you into thinking that way. Ultimately, it was your huge superiority complex that gave you away." Banda walked towards him.

"That kind of self-importance usually comes from being out in a special position. Something that made you feel untouchable and protected. Just like being chosen as the Jack of Hearts." Chishiya said.

"You.. you guys are wrong!" Matsushita said in a sad attempt to defend himself. "Banda is the Jack of Hearts!" He pointed toward him.

"Sorry, kid." Yaba spoke, exiting his cell. "It's not Banda." He walked towards Matsushita. "You and a Kotoko were connected in a way. I told her what her symbol truly was, and yet, she still died. Which means Kotoko was being manipulated. Manipulated by someone else other than me."

"Well then.. well then, you should be accusing that guy instead!" Matsushita yelled and pointed towards Chishiya. "Or that.. woman!" He stared at you.

"Whenever I entered the cafeteria, you and Kotoko would always be there, getting snacks at the same time." Chishiya said nonchalantly. "And every time, you'd get the exact same snack brand. You and Kotoko were secretly communicating in the cafeteria. Both of you were just pretending to be under the control of someone."

You glared at him for not giving you the credit. "There were four different flavours on the snack. You would confirm your symbols by checking the packaging, using those snacks as a code with each other. It was pretty visible." You said, shrugging at him.

Banda and Yaba had a small smirk on their faces upon hearing you talk, nodding at every single word.

"And then," Yaba spoke, "you told Kotoko to give me the wrong symbol. I really did trust her. Except at the end." His voice had a small hint of sadness in it.

"Just when did you three start working together?!" Matsushita said in a fit of panic.

"The four of us," you corrected, glaring at him.

"Well, the very first announcement said that this game is about how much we can trust one another. So we simply followed that principle. In order to gain someone's trust, you can't control, or manipulate, or guide them in any way. You can't brainwash them or hypnotize them, lie to them or install fear. It's called equality." Yaba said, standing right next to Banda.

"W-wait! How could you be so sure that it's me? The Jack of Hearts could easily be one of you guys..! Okay, maybe I did try to blame everything on you by setting you up, but look! That's not enough right? You guys don't have any proof that I'm the Jack of Hearts, huh?" Matsushita yelled, breathing heavily.

"Just think about it. If they suspected that you were the Jack, then why did you survive this round? Why didn't Banda lie? Tell you the wrong thing? The reason you're still alive right now, is because you're the Jack." Chishiya said, approaching him and looking at the back of his collar.

"And, you know?" You said patting Matsushita's shoulder staring at Banda and Yaba. "The reason why these guys kept you alive.. is because they decided that they'd like to get some information out of you." You smiled.

He looked confused by your words before realizing what you meant and looking towards Banda and Yaba, who were walking towards him. His breathing quickened and got heavier before the AI started speaking again.

ROUND 14 STARTS NOW.

"Have fun." You said, waving goodbye as Banda and Yaba dragged Matsushita along with them.

"No! Let go!" Matsushita protested, daring to look into your direction for help.

"Bye!" You waved and smiled before looking at Chishiya. "So, what now?"

He shrugged, smirking. "Let's prepare to get out."

You nodded, humming. You whipped out your bag and checked inside before nodding again and giving him an OK-sign.

—☆×☆×☆×☆—

GAME CLEAR. CONGRATULATIONS. YOU HAVE EARNED A 5-DAY VISA AS A REWARD.

"Oh, he gave up pretty quick." You muttered, staring at the white board. "What do you plan on doing after we leave?"

Chishiya hummed in thought, waiting for you to finish packing in order to leave the game arena. "I don't know. Maybe I'll go to the King of Diamonds."

"Really?" You hummed, putting a lollipop inside of your mouth. "You think you can do it?"

"Yeah." Chishiya replied simply, the corner of his lips curling upward. "Do you want to come with me?"