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THE DAY AFTER AND after a somewhat restful night of sleep and a nice meal, the group were crowded around a map on the floor of the mall.
"The King of Spades is getting closer." Arisu told the group after he did some scouting earlier, "It's just like you said. His arena is the whole city. That's not good. We gotta stay ahead of him, keep running. But maybe there's another way to stay off of his radar. There's other games we can join, right? Put yourself in their shoes for a sec. I wouldn't want my game to be interfered with."
"So they have some kind of agreement, is that it?" Usagi figured out. "Don't interfere with each other and be polite."
Arisu nodded, "Each game so far has had rules, very strict rules. If another game got mixed in, it would completely ruin it."
"But, like, what if I don't wanna play anymore?" Tatta said sadly.
Akuji shrugged, "Tough luck. This is just the way it is. You have to go through with it or you can't go back home."
Kuina nodded in agreement, "We were forced into the King of Spades' game, like it or not. We can keep hiding, sure, but eventually he'll find us and kill us – or our visas will run out and then pyeow!" She mimed being shot through the head.
"If we keep playing, though, we'll be able to get more information." Arisu stated, "We can find out from the game masters what this place is or why we're here. We need answers. Otherwise, everyone else died for nothing."
"Why don't we vote on it?" Kuina suggested after noticing some reluctance from members of the group. "I'm with Arisu on this."
"Me too." Akuji said.
Tatta sighed, "Well, shit. Alright, count me in."
Everyone looked to Usagi and she shook her head, arms crossed with displeasure, "It's majority rules."
"So, which game first?" Akuji asked. She pointed to various spots on the map as she mused, "Shall we do an easy one or hard one? Or one that's the closest? Or maybe further away so we're not near the King of Spades?"
"The furthest one we can see is here: the King of Clubs." Arisu suggested, pointing to a spot along the harbour.
Kuina scoffed, "You're picking a king? You're joking, right?"
"A king would probably have more key information." Arisu pointed out.
"Are you afraid of a challenge, Kuina?" Akuji asked with a smirk.
"I'm afraid of dying." The woman responded, which made Akuji chuckle.
"Besides," Arisu added, "Club games are about teamwork, so we'll have a chance to win."
"With this group? For sure!" Kuina cheered with a hopeful smile.
And with that, they set off toward the King of Clubs' game in search for answers.
