Marionette ¦¦ Chishiya Shuntarou x OC

Ten of Hearts - Part Three

"I think I know who the witch is too."

This time, Arisu had a look of determination in his eyes. He had finally figured it out after a few nudges from Kurenai. All this time, whenever someone praised him for being a Hearts player, she never quite believed it. Now she was starting to see a little potential in him.

With the help of both Usagi and Tatta, Arisu got up on his feet and they started making their way down to the lobby. Mid-way, Kurenai parted from the group without a word; she simply slipped away. Arisu alone was enough to clear the game, now that he was on the same page as her.

While looking for Chishiya, she noticed that the hotel was now much quieter than before. Then again, with more than half the members here massacred, how could it not be?

Coming to the second floor where they could overlook the lobby, Kurenai found the person she was looking for. She snuck up behind him, wrapping her arms around his waist and pressed her face to his back. With a smile, Chishiya placed his hand on top of hers before pulling her to the front.

Neither of them had been worried about the other, they just knew they would survive through the chaos and meet again.

"I see you found him."

"With much difficulty," Kurenai sighed, resting her head on his shoulder. "It's frustrating to keep answering questions and explaining everything to each person. And I was grazed by a bullet."

Chishiya looked down at her arm, examining the wound carefully. It was just a graze, almost like a scratch but deeper. She was bleeding a little but it was not a serious injury. Still, it did not stop Kurenai from pouting at him.

"He waffles on, doesn't he?" Kurenai sighed, watching as the scene unfolded below them.

Arisu made it to the lobby where the militants had cornered the remaining members of the Beach. They were about to be executed when Arisu came to stop them. The more she watched, however, the more Kurenai realised that she could never work with Arisu. Be that in a game, or just in general.

Kurenai had always been the straightforward type, with her thinking and her actions. The way she bluntly told Chishiya she was interested in him. The way she told Hatter that she wanted to be an executive member. That was just the way she had always been. She never liked to spend time discussing and explaining, especially when they were on a time restraint in games like this.

Quite the opposite to Arisu.

Although, she had to admit that despite his waffling earning him another beat down, he unearthed something quite interesting that she never expected.

That Aguni had been friends with Hatter all along. That Aguni pulled the trigger and killed Hatter. That Aguni was now in pain and feeling guilty, therefore inciting a massacre to try and mask that pain.

"That's an interesting turn of events," Chishiya commented. "He's not the witch though, is he? You had that all figured out."

"He's not. The witch has been in front of them the entire time and they still did not notice," she sighed, her eyes drifting from Aguni to the girl laying on the floor. "Nobody else had to die."

Whoever the game master was, they were a genius. They waited for this moment, the moment the Beach became fragile and started falling apart because of Hatter's death. It was the perfect moment to install a game like the ten of Hearts. The panic, the distrust, and Aguni's guilt, it was the perfect recipe for disaster and disaster they got.

In the midst of Aguni still trying to convince everyone that he was the witch so to bring everyone down with him, there was just another reveal that Kurenai did not expect.

Running to the middle of the lobby was Asahi.

There, she stood and shouted:

"I'm the dealer of this game!"

A laser beam came down and struck Asahi in the head, as it did with those whose visas expired. Everyone was shocked at the scene, and that was all it took to calm the chaos. Both Kurenai and Chishiya too, looked at each other in disbelief.

"Did she just say...she's a dealer?" Kurenai asked, looking back at the now lifeless Asahi on the floor.

"That means there are three types of people here in Borderland," Chishiya said. "Players like us, dealers like Asahi, and the game masters that we still don't know anything about."

This reveal of the existence of dealers raised more questions than it answered, in Kurenai's opinion. Who were the dealers? How were they chosen? Though more importantly, why were they willing to work for the game masters and play against them?

Arriving a little late to the party, Kuina held onto an injured An who had the knife that was used to stab Momoka. "It was a reversed grip," An said, showing the knife to everyone. "Fingerprints with a reversed grip were found on the knife. This means Momoka grabbed the knife herself and stabbed it through her own chest. She's the witch."

With An's forensic confirmation, Kurenai looked at Chishiya with a proud smirk on her face. He let out a soft laugh, nodding with approval. Like she said from the beginning, it was not a hard game to figure out if everyone had just kept their cool and thought it through. Then again, if Hearts games were that easy, everyone would be clearing them every night.

"Shall I call you the Queen of Hearts from now on?" Chishiya teased.

"Off with your head!" Kurenai giggled. "But no, I don't want to be the Queen of Hearts. She was a mean and evil person. Is that how you see me?"

They were interrupted, however, by gunshots coming from below. Emerging from the darkness was Niragi, his body badly burned. Chishiya was surprised yet impressed to see him still alive.

Kurenai was starting to think that perhaps it was impossible for them to clear this game.

--

Standing across the river, they were now watching as the hotel was burning to the ground. Where they once called an utopia was no more. Though, utopias were never meant to exist anyway.

With minutes to spare, they managed to clear the game.

But none of the players felt like celebrating.

When they used to return with roars of cheers, and hold parties to celebrate a good night of games, all they felt now was despair.

The realisation of Momoka being the witch was now dawning on them. The militants, especially.

Nobody had to die.

If they had just kept their cool and a clear mind, they would have seen it too. They thought they were doing the right thing, killing and burning innocent people. How were they going to sleep with all this blood on their hands?

"There goes the Beach," Kurenai sighed.

"Are you going to miss it?" Chishiya asked.

"Miss it? Of course not. It was bound to fall eventually, just a matter of when and how."