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THE PA CHIMEDBEFORE announcing, "Please equip your vests, with the buttons facing the back."
The players murmured amongst themselves, hesitating, but when Akuji, Usagi and Arisu stepped forward and grabbed some vests, the others followed them and did so, too.
Akuji put on her own vest before helping Kota put on his. It was slightly too big for him but thankfully fit nonetheless.
As soon as everyone's vests were secured tight and they subsequently were registered, the lights on the back turned on, illuminating the rather dark game venue with a soft, blue glow.
"Round one," The announcer told them, "Queen Team's turn begins. The turn will last five minutes. Game start!"
The Challengers looked around in uncertainty and worry, as if waiting for a member of the opposing team to suddenly appear. After a few moments, they began to split up and sprinted off.
As if on cue, a loud, ominous thumping of footsteps was heard. The only four left at the lobby (Arisu, Akuji, Usagi and Kota) looked down and saw that below them was the Queen Team, the red lights on their backs shining menacingly.
"Shit. What do we do?" Akuji muttered to herself, more panic than before filling her body. She glanced back at Kota, not wanting to leave him but also wanting to save herself.
Usagi was feeling the same as she grabbed ahold of Kota's shoulders, leaning down to his height to speak at him like a mother would, and told him firmly, "We'll keep you safe."
Kota nodded, looking less frightened thanks to her words.
"Just stay right here, okay?" Usagi said, ignoring Arisu's quiet urges that they needed to get going.
"You can't change teams, remember?" Akuji added in attempt to alleviate the boy's worries, "So you'll be okay. And we won't change teams, so we'll always be on your side."
"Come on, we have to go." Arisu told his friends, growing more impatient by the second. It wasn't that he didn't care for Kota; quite the opposite, actually. The three of them needed to get going otherwise they would be tagged, and they would have little chance to help the kid at all.
Knowing they couldn't stay forever, Usagi and Akuji gave in. Glancing behind her, Akuji felt guilty for leaving Kota behind. He looked so small, so terrified, so vulnerable.
But, she pushed that away as she sprinted away, choosing to only focus on the game for now.
They had spent so much of the game round with Kota that by the time the three got into the thick of things, there was only ten seconds left.
The three could see throughout the game arena that most of the lights were red, not blue; The Queen Team was winning.
"This is bad," Arisu said with a sigh, "Look at all the red."
"But at least her turn is up." Usagi replied, her voice full of determination.
As the last few seconds ticked down, the three got ready to tag members of the Queen Team. Akuji wasn't sure if she'd be able to manage, her lungs hurt horribly from when she had last ran a few moments ago, but she was more than willing to give it her best shot.
A siren blared loudly, signalling that the next round had started. The three took off running in different directions, silently deciding splitting up would be the best course of action.
Not long after, Akuji spotted someone with a red light. She reached out her hand, expecting her ex-team member to happily turn around since she was sure nobody wanted to work for the Queen, but instead they dashed away.
Akuji raced after them, trying to keep up. However, almost as soon as she started, she had to stop. Her lungs felt like they were about to collapse and she heaved out a multitude of coughs.
The siren blared again, and the round was up.
"Akuji! Are you okay?" Someone called to her.
She turned to see her friends jogging over to her, faces full of concern. The girl nodded even though she was holding the railing beside her for support as she caught her breath. "I'm fine. But someone from the other team ran away when I tried to tag them. That's weird, right?"
Arisu nodded in agreement, "Yes, we found out that the Queen is using violence to keep people on her team. They must have been scared of her. We'll have to keep splitting up and get our team back one by one."
"If we split up, maybe we won't find each other again. I'm not losing you." Usagi protested.
Arisu looking around for a solution until his eyes caught sight of a clearing beside them. He pointed to it, "After each turn, a siren goes off. When it does, come to this side. We'll be able to check on each other. We have to take a floor each."
"Got it." Usagi and Akuji said in unison before the three split off again.
Deciding to stay on the lowest floor, Akuji backed herself into a corner, realising that if a member of the opposite team couldn't reach the button on her back, they could not tag her. It didn't seem to matter, however, as she didn't see anybody until the next round had begun.
Pacing herself, Akuji jogged at a steady pace and searched for any red lights. Soon, she spotted one in the distance.
She knew that speed was her enemy and stealth was her friend in this situation. Crouching down low and close to the floor, Akuji hid behind a piece of machinery. She used it as her cover to sneak over to and behind the person. Once she was close enough, she jumped out from behind her hiding spot and pressed the button on their back before they could even realise she was there. Akuji smiled to herself, pleased that she had tagged somebody.
She could only hope that her friends had done the same.
