hearts formed by solicitude and desolation | chishiya shuntaro

⌈ 16 ⌋

ᎢᏔ; ᎷᎬNᎢᏆᎾNᏚ ᎾF ᏚᎬXᏌᎪᏞ ᎪᏚᏚᎪᏌᏞᎢ ᎪNᎠ ᎷᏆNᎾᎡ ᏚᎬᏞF ᎻᎪᎡᎷ ᏔᏆᎢᎻ Ꭺ ᎠᎪᏚᎻ ᎾF ᎻᎬᎪᎡᎢᏴᎡᎬᎪK

ᏞᎾᎪᎠᏆNᏩ . . . . .

ᏞᎾᎪᎠᏆNᏩ ᏟᎾᎷᏢᏞᎬᎢᎬ!

hatter, king of the beach and the person who had started this utopia, had been proclaimed dead.

this much had been confirmed during your little time spent in the room, with the heavy silence of the others and no other explanations needed to explain the situation. it was blatantly clear, especially as you stared at his unmoving form, skin pale white and chest still from movement as aguni, his best friend and closest comrade, stood over him. and if you didn't know any better you'd think he looked sad, face solemn as if silently mourning his dead companion. at the expression you could feel you're heart tighten in your chest, understanding the pain of losing someone in this world. it was not a nice feeling, and if not handled properly it could be the reason for brash decisions as to cope with their passing.

as you continued to stare you couldn't help but think that in this moment, with hatter appearing almost peaceful in a deep sleep as he lay on the snow white cloth, you hated how you had been right about this. about someone who although questionable with his actions had died, during his night out to play in a game no less before he could return to the real world, and after having wanted only the best for everyone here. never did you think that this would be the start to the downfall. that hatter's death would now create the dominos effect of what was to come of the beach.

the only question was, who killed hatter? because you knew it was not because of that game.

your eyes couldn't seem to tear themselves away from the said male, burning as the images would forever be imprinted into your mind. it was a sickening sight, but still your attention never left, not even when the door opened once more and ann and tatta appeared in your vision, rushing in with a sense of urgency. the male stood next to her as ann stared at the content on the table, surprised etched onto her features with also horror, as if she couldn't believe what she was seeing.

"seems like he couldn't clear the game. the maintenance team found him by chance in shinjuku while we were refilling gasoline." tatta quickly explained, seemingly in discomfort at the dead body laying in the room as if it was nothing. just another simple thing.

quickly she walked forward, leaning down and reaching a hand out to touch his skin. but niragi, who unfortunately was allowed here inside this meeting room interfered, walking around her with his gun resting in the crook of his arm.

"hey, don't touch him as you please. you dissection maniac." she looked irritated at his words, turning to narrow her eyes at him but stopped nonetheless.

her eyes glanced over his body as a form of inspection instead before coming to a conclusion, "he was shot by a gun. did his game involve guns?"

tatta took the smallest step forward, "most likely," she turns her head at his voice, waiting for him to continue, "some of those near the game arena heard gunshots too."

this time niragi spoke up, amusement laced in his tone at the newfound information, "oh my. he should have brought the militants along with him!"

you shared a glance with arisu and chishiya, who just shook his head in response, and you couldn't help the bad feeling that had settled in your stomach. something didn't feel right. for one, the gun wound. sure it's likely the game really did have weapons incorporated, your first one was evidence of that. however, it didn't seem right that his body was found outside the game arena, not unless someone took the time to move it. but if that were also true, why not take it back to the beach as well? why just leave it there for anyone to find? and another question that had surfaced to the front of your mind was, why had aguni lied? did he know something you all didn't, maybe even knew who had done it? why didn't he speak up? who exactly was he protecting?