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SEVEN DAYS AFTER AKUJI had completed her first game, she had no more days left on her visa. She had to join another game or die -- those were her only two choices. A part of her was tempted to wait it out and let herself die. That way, she would be with Akane again and she wouldn't have to stay in this sick, twisted world anymore. But if she died that meant she sacrificed Akane for no reason.
And she would not let that happen.
The first game venue Akuji came across was a train station. She decided to play this game since she had not seen any other venues and the registration time was almost closed.
Stepping inside, Akuji realised there were three other players: two men and one woman. The woman had long, brown hair swept over one shoulder and she was wearing office clothes. She looked to be in her mid twenties. The two men seemed to be older; one had a face full of piercings and the other had long hair pulled into a ponytail.
"Great," The guy with the ponytail grumbled sarcastically, "We have a kid we need to play with."
"This is my second game." Akuji stated calmly although she met his scalding stare with a glare. She was not going to let them underestimate her. They did not know what she was capable of. She could, and would, kill them if needed.
Since she left Akane to die, Akuji had become emotionless. Her permanent emotion was numbness. She wasn't sure if it was good or bad. The girl was severely detached from reality, often disassociating completely whenever she had a moment of spare time -- which was quite often.
"Game?" The woman asked, "What do you mean?"
"Registration is now closed." An automated voice spoke up. It was the same one from the Seven of Spades. At the same time as four trains pulled up to the station, it announced, "There are four participants registered. Game, Poison Carriage. Difficulty, Two of Hearts. There is no time limit. The players must board a train each. There are four carriages and three oxygen cartridges. Each train carriage has a plant, three are safe, one has poisonous fumes. If a player successfully passes through the four carriages, they complete the game. The cartridges contain five minutes of oxygen and the carriages do not open until five minutes have passed. You must choose whether to use the oxygen or risk your life."
"A Hearts game?"
"This is based purely on luck!"
The two men were beginning to panic despite the fact that they seemed to have been a resident of Borderlands for quite some time. The woman still looked confused but now she was frightened; she didn't understand.
Akuji stepped toward her, "I think you might have figured it out but you must complete the game or you die. All the games here are like that. If you complete this game, you get a visa. This visa tells you the amount of times you have left until you must play another game. If you do not renew your visa, you die."
The woman slowly nodded, taking in all the information. She had begun to sweat and she wiped her forehead with the back of her hand. "Thank you."
Nodding nonchalantly, Akuji walked over to the first train and entered it. She expected the doors to shut and for her to be locked in unless she completed the game -- but nothing occurred. Maybe all of the players had to enter a train before it started?
Akuji didn't care. She sat down in the train, her calm façade beginning to crumble in her isolation. Her lips trembled, tears streaking down her cheeks already. She hung her head in her hands.
"Dammit, dammit, dammit!" She hissed, "How am I supposed to complete this game if it's based on luck?"
Glancing to the side, she stared at the gas mask and three oxygen cartridges positioned next to her. Slowly, her hand reached out to grab them (it was now or never, right?) but she quickly retracted her hand. She rushed to the windows of the train and peered into the first carriage. The window was fogged – that meant it was the poisonous plant.
Or is that what the game makers wanted her to believe? They wanted to kill her, make her waste her precious oxygen.
Cursing loudly, she slammed her fist onto the window. She heard footsteps heading toward her train but she was too emotionally exhausted to wipe away her tears and put her nonchalant persona back on.
"Are you alright?" Someone asked and Akuji looked up to see the woman was staring at her with concern.
"I can't do it, I can't fucking do it." Akuji confessed with a sob, "I can't keep doing this. It's all luck. How am I meant to survive this?" Then, she caught sight of the oxygen cartridge and gas mask in the woman's hands, "Can I have one of yours? Then, I'll definitely survive."
The woman shifted from foot to foot, uncomfortable.
Akuji pressed on, "Please, I'm so young. Surely my life means something to you. I have my entire life ahead of me! Is your life somehow better than mine? You can save me, don't you realise? You still have a chance of survival. Do you even want to live? This world, it's cruel and it's harsh and it makes you hurt the people you love. You don't want to live in a world like this."
"Hey, woman!" The man with the piercings shouted, "Don't listen to her. I'm confident that we can all win if we try."
"My name is Saori Shibuki, not woman!" She shouted, turning on him. Her hands shook, clearly stressed with the situation. The mix of terror she had for the upcoming game and pressure from Akuji made her give in. She shoved a cartridge into Akuji's hand, exclaiming, "Take it, just leave me alone!" Then, she rushed away.
Before Akuji could even understand what she had done, the doors of her train shut. The game was starting.
𖤐
AKUJI LEFT HER TRAIN, heart hammering in her chest. She had used the four oxygen cartridges and obviously survived. Despite this, a fear had been instilled in her. Her hands shook as she picked at the skin on her fingers.
Glancing around, she realised another train had pulled up to the station. But it was only one -- the other two players must have died. Shibuki stepped out of the train, emptiness in her gaze. Akuji recognised the emotion she was feeling because she felt it too: numbness.
"You made it." Akuji stated in shock, eyes wide. "How–how did you do it?"
Shibuki bowed her head, not meeting her gaze, "I got lucky. You were right; I don't want to live in this world. I abandoned my will to live and tried to die. But the poison was at the last carriage and I had a cartridge left, so I used it."
Akuji bit down on her lip, tears brimming in her eyes once more, "Thank you for saving me."
Before she left, Shibuki shrugged her shoulders, "If we meet again, you will pay me back."
AUTHOR NOTES ok so im reading the mangas and this is shibuki's first ever game (its shown in the manga) and i loved it so i had to make it akuji's 2nd game. ALSO IF U HATE SHIBUKI I DONT LIKE YOU /hj. like shes over hated and FOR WHAT. shes a girlboss. like ppl rlly hating on her for being a 'slut' aka having sex ????? hello WHAT. why are they hating on her for doing a human activity. and instead of being mad at her for using sex for a promotion, get mad at her boss for allowing her as well!! like theyre both in the wrong 😑 also people who hate on her for 'using people' to live are sooo hypocritical like y'all LOVE chishiya for it. atp y'all just hate shibuki for being a woman. ANYWAY RANT OVER BUT I LOVE SHIBUKI LMAO.
