Marionette ¦¦ Chishiya Shuntarou x OC

Eight of Hearts - Part One (Side Story)

A/N: This is for all you thirsty ass hoes simping for Kurenai

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You - Day 1 Of Sojourn

What was this place?

When you woke up, you found yourself in an empty Tokyo. You thought it was a dream but it felt far too real to be one. Perhaps a prank? But who were you for anyone to prank? And on such a large scale? This was some Truman Show level shit.

You spent the day walking around the city, trying to find another human but there was not a single soul. Eventually, you got hungry and went hunting for food and water but you did not get much of either. Most of everything was rotting or expired.

Time seemed to be working differently here. Or, you were knocked out for a really long time. Things were covered in a thick layer of dust, food rotting, and buildings were deteriorating. Still, despite your vigorous exploring, you could not find a single answer to this place.

That was, until nightfall.

When the sun set, and the sky was dark, various places dotted around Tokyo were lit up. It felt odd and ominous but it was the first sign since you arrived here, perhaps there was an answer at those places.

The closest lit up venue to you was the zoo, and when you arrived, there were already people there.

People!

In your excitement, you ran over and crossed a barrier you never knew was there.

"Hey! You guys! What the hell is going on here? Where did everyone go? Is this some sort of prank show?"

As soon as you spoke, the others were frowning. They were throwing you dirty looks and none of them seemed willing to talk.

Sure, there were assholes here and there in daily life but a group of them at the same time, in the same place? If you were not hallucinating, then surely they were experiencing the same empty city? Were they not curious? Did they not want to understand?

Seeing that they were unwilling to talk, you let out a soft sigh and turned. Perhaps you could make it to another one of these venues and ask someone else there instead.

That was when you noticed a long table with a few dozen cups of water to the side. It had been a long while since you last had a drink and without thinking, you went up to the table. There were already a few empty cups to the side, so you picked one up and gulped the water down. Taking another cup, you then walked toward the entrance.

You were only about two steps away from the entrance when you were suddenly poked in the chest by an index finger, stopping you from going any further. A woman with long black hair, wearing a bright red cocktail dress, walked through the entrance and pushed you back at the same time.

"You wouldn't want to do that," she smiled.

Picking up a pebble from the ground, she tossed it over her shoulder across the entrance. There was a zap, and when the pebble fell, you could see a hole burned through. There were lasers? But you were just about to walk through! No, wait. You already walked through once, so why were you not lasered then?

"Ah, adorable," the woman giggled, lifting your chin and leaned close to study your face. "Newbie?" she hummed. "You can walk into the barrier, but you cannot leave. Unfortunately, you now have to play the game."

Game?

She looked down at the cup of water in your hand, looking around until she found the table of water. Instead of getting her own, she took the cup in your hand and sniffed it. She walked up to the table, picking up several cups before putting them down again, then walked off to the side.

You followed after to see her crouching by a bush just around the corner. Stepping slowly to the side, you watched as she was feeding the water to a rabbit. She did not seem like the type to concern herself with animals, perhaps you were wrong.

When she finished, she brought the cup back to the table and stood alone, a few feet away from the rest. There were more people gathered now, perhaps about fifteen including you. Why was everyone here? And what was this game about?

WELCOME

GAME - POISON

ENTRY NUMBER - UNLIMITED

PRIZES - NONE

ENTRY PERIOD IS NOW CLOSED

Every screen at the ticket booths displayed the same message. Was the game starting? More importantly, however, as everyone else had noticed, was the word 'POISON'. Were they getting poisoned? Were they already poisoned? Why was poison even a thing in this game?

The screens then flashed, showing a playing card this time:

Eight of Hearts.

Suddenly, everyone was panicking but you had no idea why. What did the card mean?

Flashing once more, the screens were now showing the rules of the game.

GAME - POISON

RULES

- BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU INGEST

- THERE ARE VIALS HIDDEN THE ZOO, FIND ONE BEFORE ANOTHER PLAYER DOES!

- VIOLENCE IS WELCOME

- IN THE LAST HALF AN HOUR, PLAYERS MAY NOT DO ANYTHING

TIME LIMIT

- 2 HOURS

GAME OVER CONDITIONS

- WHEN A PLAYER IS KILLED BY ANOTHER

- TIME LIMIT IS UP, AND YOU ARE POISONED

GAME CLEAR CONDITIONS

- SURVIVE UNTIL THE TIME LIMIT

Reading the rules over and over again, you still did not understand what was going on. The panic among the crowd skyrocketed as everyone dispersed, running into the zoo to look for the vials mentioned in the rules.

You wanted to run too, but then you saw the woman in red.

She seemed nonchalant, not bothered at all by the fact that she was poisoned. She walked into the zoo and strolled up to a table further in. There were weapons provided on the table, making you realise that the situation was a lot more terrifying than you originally thought.

The woman picked something from the table before continuing her stroll, humming a soft tune as she went.

Something in your guts told you to follow her. Follow her, and you would survive. And so you did.