The Winners Take It All | Chishiya [English]

Racing heart and a pretty exhausting chase

It didn't make any sense. How should the answer to two riddles help me? What was the purpose, was it pure logic? I lowered my gaze and let my eyes dance over the letters.

Puzzle 1: The elevator.

In a department store, women's clothing is sold on the 1st floor, men's clothing on the 2nd floor, children's clothing on the 3rd floor, and electronics and sports equipment on the 4th floor. Most customers in this department store take the elevator to the respective floors.

Which button is pressed most often in this elevator?

I frowned. What kind of question was that?

Puzzle 2: What are you looking for here?

What is felt to its maximum volume and yet remains empty?

The second question wasn't particularly helpful either, but I already knew the answer. I knew this puzzle from my physics class; my teacher had once opened the lesson like this. The answer was balloon.

25 minutes remain!

Time suddenly passed quickly. I read the first puzzle again.

Most people would have guessed that the 1 or 4 button would be pressed the most, as there are two departments on the 4th floor and the ladies go shopping on the 1st floor, which is not always rare. But if you thought about it carefully, you decided that the answer was outside the scope of the task. Because if you're too lazy to climb the stairs, you can take the elevator back down. So, the answer was the button for the ground floor because every customer from all floors would have to press it once to go back downstairs.

20 minutes remain!

And what should I do with it now? Wait... ground floor... balloons... It could mean I find the antidote on the ground floor. I stood up, grabbed the note, and hurried downstairs. By now I also noticed that I was out of breath when I got to the bottom. Additionally, cold shivers ran down my spine. Apparently, the weird stuff was working now. I had to hurry.

Where were there balloons on the ground floor? Ayuna...Think! I stopped at the map to perhaps come up with another idea. I heard something fall to the ground higher up, but otherwise it was eerily quiet. My eyes were drawn to one section: children's books! Weren't there always so many little children coming there with balloons? I dashed off, deftly circling a group of tables before I got to the separate area. It was colorful - yes, it seemed like it was another world.

15 minutes remain!

Hurry up now! Where could the balloons be... All I can think of is the reception, but there you need a key to get to the drawers! What should I do now? Where would you keep your keys... home, keychain, safe... SAFE! Every department has its own! But it's a numerical code...

10 minutes remain!

The task was related, that much was clear. So, the code had to be hidden in my information. I went through them. Two puzzles, my code, the book... Where did I get the numbers... Exactly! My own code! Most safes had a four-digit numeric code, so it would fit. There was the 2, the 3 and the 56, so 2356. I entered the number combination and... green light! The safe was open!

5 minutes remain!

My heartbeat quickened. It was slowly becoming scarce. I felt that the drug was working more and more, even though I had slowed down the effect. I grabbed the key and opened the drawer. Lo and behold, balloons and... the antidote!

It was lying among the colorful rubber animals that had not yet been inflated. I picked it up and compared the codes again just to be sure. They matched. Relieved, I injected it again and immediately felt my body feel lighter again.

2 minutes remain!

Now I had to wait and hope. I was pretty sure I had made it. Somehow, I was relieved that it wasn't "so brutal" this time, but the whole atmosphere still sent goosebumps down my spine. It was still a game where you used your life as a bet.

1-minute remains!

I got up and made my way to the exit. I had to get out of here.

There are 30 seconds left!

Right over, right over... Shit.

20 seconds remain.

There was the guy again. His companion wasn't there, but I could see the girl with the dreadlocks. She stayed in the background. Apparently, both had made it too.

10 seconds remain.

I heard someone running. "He-Help me! I didn't find my antidote-" a male voice called out and I realized that it was the companion I was looking for.

The game is over!

Congratulations!

A 5-day visa will be issued!

I couldn't help but see the young man's face turn green. Then foam formed at the mouth, he gagged again and... fell to the ground. That could have happened to me, too!

Oh no!

I felt the guy studying me again. But at that moment I was distracted by two people walking towards us. There...only one had died. So, was it really possible for everyone to survive? I was so absorbed in my thoughts that I didn't notice the guy moving towards me.

"Who are you, Shawty? Isn't your name Ayumi?" he wanted to know again, and his hand placed on my shoulder. He slowly circled his fingers in a direction where I didn't really want his hand.

"Leave me alone!" I hissed and wanted to slap myself at the same moment. What the hell was I doing?! The guy was dangerous.

"Kuina, get the card," he replied, and I used the distraction to free myself from the hold. Then I ran. With no laser shooting through my head, the game was truly over. I heard him shout something to the other two, then he chased me.

I was screwed.

I quickly picked up the pace and tried to cover as many alleys as possible. Good thing I knew at least a little bit about this place! I ran as fast as I could in a poor attempt to shake him off. I felt the cell phone fall out of my sweater pocket onto the floor, but I didn't have time to pick it up. And then... I lost him. He wasn't behind me anymore. Had I really done it? I turned in circles but was still on guard. Did I have to run again? Apparently not. I calmed down a little. Hopefully I won't meet him again... otherwise I'll really be done for.

Only then did I remember that he too had been wearing a bracelet. It had been a little obscured, but I had seen the blue on him too. Not just on him, but also on the companion. He knew the girl's name, right? Apparently, they were all connected. Then the name "Beach" would now have a new meaning for me. It was a merger. There were several people who belonged to this group.

And yet the question occurred to me: How did he know the person named Hayashi Ayumi?

I got goosebumps again. Good thing I didn't reveal my name. I couldn't imagine what the magnitude might have been if I had. I went to grab my phone, but I remembered I had lost it.

Wait... I lost it! No... Now I was in deep trouble. That's why he stopped; he had his answer. My cell phone was on, and my data was there.

He knew my name... Even worse, he now knew that I was connected to her in some way.

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A/N: Heyy!

Just to clarify, as not everyone probably knows this: In Japan, the last name comes before the first name. That's why people always call each other by their last name first, then their first name!

It has to do with the Romaji and Kanji writing systems!

This means: Chishiya Shuntaro -> Chishiya (family name) Shuntaro (first name)