we play games with guns (valorant)

chapter 4

National Blueberry Cheesecake Day? Neon's lips pulled back and her eyes narrowed in a scowl. Jett placed her thumb on Neon's arm and pressed her nail into her skin. "Calm down. We have time."

"Neon! Jett!" Chamber was waving them over. "Come join us."

They reluctantly complied.

Raze was speaking excitedly and her gestures were huge as she explained to them in a rush, "Yoru loves this holiday. He just made a really silly wish."

"What was it?" Neon asked distractedly.

"He wished for a tub full of attractive women." Tayane looked at her expectantly with a grin. Tala could see her white teeth.

Neon smiled politely. "Really?"

"It's not just a wish." Yoru was peeling the cupcake casing. His eyes shone with amusement. He stuffed the thing, topped with frosting and everything, into his gaping jaws. "It'll be true once I get out of here, I'm hitting up a-"

"Guys," Neon breathed hotly. "Please. Can we do this later?"

All their eyes were on her.

Now or never. "We need to get out of here." Killjoy looked up from her jigsaw puzzle. She said she had dug it up from under the sink while tending to a leak. She had scolded Raze for breaking another appliance, to which Raze snapped back that she hadn't touched the water supply.

Vincent looked to Fade. She seemed to squirm. The Turkish girl spoke up, "We can't leave."

"Are you all brainwashed?" It was incredulous. They were having fun. In the face of death and despair.

Fade was twirling a yo-yo on her finger. She spun it back and forth, the string going taut then loose. "Any government-scale operation is out of our scope."

Neon hated Fade's tone. It felt like she was looking down on her. She hated being rationalized with; it made her feel dumb. "You gave up?" Her voice wavered.

Fade stalled. "Eh."

-

It was 12:34 AM. Everyone was in their houses by now. Yoru found himself thinking about Neon. That party pooper. Why couldn't she have a nice day to relax in the middle of a hard time? He was happy to hold on to tradition.

It was Night One. Yoru wanted to take someone to his house to talk to. It would make him feel less lonely. It was his duty.

Ryo fumbled in the dark for his housekeys before realizing his house had no locks. He scratched the tip of his ear. How embarassing. There was no surveillance in this room, thank God.

Ryo hit the switch, flooding the room with yellow-tinted light. He headed promptly out the door, wiping sweat on his shorts. He thought he looked great. At least better than Tayane, who was wearing pajama pants. His thighs looked fantastic. He was in the middle of a passionate workout session when the black-suits coaxed him into the car.

He had an idea of who to take. Yoru thought many people were thinking about her, too. He headed to House Five, two to the right from his own. He passed the vacant cabin to get there. He craned his neck to see the tip of the house. There was a crow perched on top, its head cocked to the side and its beady eyes staring right at him. That felt like a bad omen.

Yoru rapped on the door. No answer. Well, he was the jailor. He had authority, he reasoned. Yoru firmly opened the door and found his knees bending in a crouch. It was an instinct. He felt like a movie star. And you know, something like this made the perfect movie. He gently twisted the doorknob to mute the sound of the door closing. He shuffled quietly toward the interior, glad to have socks.