Here I am as one. Here we are as one.
I take a breath. Extend my hand.
...
Hello?
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Chiyo Sakakibara is not a kind girl. She isn't friendly, she isn't particularly helpful if it doesn't directly benefit her, and she has never real...
I tried to breathe in, to get a hold of my stance, to claw back what I was losing by the second. My blood spilling on the floor.
"Ah.........................."
I heard the screams and yells from my newly made friends. What had I done to deserve such a painful fate? I stared down and the gaping hole in my chest. Looking up, I met Ms Sakakibara's eyes.
Thud. I was dead.
The pain halted instantly, and I sat up from my laid down position. A strange landscape of clashing shapes and colours awaited me. The afterlife, perhaps?
"Hello." Someone said. I whipped around in surprise. "I've been waiting for you." They continued. I tried to get an idea of what they looked like, but I couldn't. Their body and face were a mess of glitchy static.
"Who are you?" I asked. "Are you God?"
They laughed. "No, I'm not God. As for my actual identity, that doesn't matter. Not anymore. She took my place." They explained, but that didn't help much.
"What are you?"
"Better question." They snickered. "I'm what happens when you [REDACTED]"
"When you what?"
They shook their head. "Don't worry about it. I'm the remains of a person. Neither dead nor alive."
"So what am I?" I asked. If she was neither dead nor alive, what would that make me?
"Similar, but not quite the same. We're both in a state of purgatory. You might come back, or this might...ah, don't worry about it. I'm getting ahead of myself. Simply put, you're dead."
"That's a shame...but I hope my death will encourage my friends to resist the killing game!" I said, triumphantly placing my hands on my waist.
"Not likely. Watch them." They waved their hand and a sort of window appeared, showing me what was happening there.
Hironari had removed his jacket and covered my body, of course. It's expected of a medical professional to respect the dead. It was quite strange being able to watch my own body being stared at, but a fascinating experience.
The others were panicking, as to be expected, but a couple (notably Kanesuki and Akimitsu) were getting angry and causing arguments.
"This is terrible." I said. "How can we help them?"
The person laughed. "It happens every time. They say they won't succumb to the killing game, but it always happens. Wanna place your bets on who'll die next?"
"Huh?! No! There has to be some way to stop it!"
"You're so...enthusiastic."
Neither of us said anything.
"What can I do?" I said, breaking the silence after a few minutes.
"Nothing but watch. I'll leave you here for now." They disappeared, leaving me with a large screen showing what was happening in the resort.
I stepped back, and all of a sudden there was a comfortable seat for me to relax on. I blinked and the surroundings had transformed into a large movie theatre, entirely unpopulated apart from myself.
The cup holder on my chair was suddenly occupied by a large drink, and I suddenly had a huge box of popcorn between my legs.
The lights switched off and the movie began.
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