Alice in Borderland ~ Chishiya

50 - ♥J

"It's psychological," I hear Toshi say again. "Your feelings are being played with and the focus lies on betrayal."

It had been a big mistake to decide to participate in this game. This is the beginning of the end. Here, we're faced with questions that we don't want to answer and it will only get worse.

Now he knows. He called himself toxic, but he's not the one who killed someone himself during a game. I am. I still don't dare to look at Chishiya.

'Who's the jack of hearts?'

I try to control myself.

'How?' Hiro wants to know. He looks at Genki first, who shrugs and mumbles: 'We were stuck together as we had to climb a mountain. That guy only slowed me down, so I released his rope when he was no longer useful.' He tells it so casually, as if he doesn't care at all. Then, I think of the other answers he has given. He didn't regret any of them.

'It was a game of spades,' Enji says. 'We were forced to fight one against one, until one person was left.' Now, the looks are heading my way. I try my best not to reply in a small voice. 'We had to play laser tag,' I say. 'The lasers turned out to be real lasers.' Although I don't like to think back to that moment, somehow I'm glad that I was asked about it. Now, I've been able to explain that I didn't kill anyone intentionally. I had no choice if I wanted to live, just like Enji. But Genki..

'So you intentionally killed another player,' Hiro says, looking at the boy. Genki looks straight at him and nods. 'That's right,' he replies, 'and that's why I'm still here.'

'You don't even seem to mind.' Taiki mumbles. 'Those other two still show some remorse, but you..' I look at Genki. Indeed, he doesn't seem to be sorry at all. Is it because he's the jack, or because he's just like that? I think of Chishiya, who at times doesn't even seem to understand how social interaction works. He's just like that, just like Genki is like this. But I don't want to say it, because I'm too scared to draw attention to myself again.

'Listen,' Enji says, 'we all know that sometimes we have to do things to survive. That's why we're all here now, right?' He's right about that. 'You can't label someone as a jack purely because he answers the question honestly.'

'It's not the answer,' Ontari interferes, 'but the way he tells it. So careless, as if he didn't care. Isn't that something someone specialized in hearts would do?'

'As if I would put myself in the foreground as a jack,' Genki says. 'I'd rather say nothing at all, ask a question every now and then or act suspiciously at first so that I have spoken once and then can be quiet again.' He actually describes every player at the moment. 'So we're all the jack?'

We've got one minute left to vote, but I really don't know. Voting for someone because you don't like their answer.. The answer or lack of empathy doesn't necessarily make you a jack.

The buzzer sounds. Then, Sofia falls dead and there are eleven survivors left. Several astonished cries follow.

'Do you want to return to the real world?'

'How's that possible?!' Hiro exclaims. 'So it makes no difference whether we answer honestly or not. In an unequal vote, someone randomly dies!'

'No..' Ontari mumbles. 'Sofia lied.' Several players look at her. 'We were attacked and she defended herself. She threw him in the nail hole..' I get nauseous just thinking about it. 'Yes, or you say this just to torment us even more,' Ryotu says. 'To make sure we all reply honestly to destroy us, so that we die afterwards..'

'No, really,' she says. 'Let's test it out. Let's all answer this question honestly. If we vote unequal again and nobody dies..'

This is a nightmare. If it really is the case that in an unequal vote, no one dies when we all answer the question honestly, it could go on forever. Only then will we be truly tortured. Unless we unanimously appoint someone or we can't handle it anymore. I look around the players to see if anyone is enjoying this, but I can't find out anything.