YOU, ME & DEATH ━━ polyam ann & kuina

𝟭𝟬 meeting

STEPPING INTO THE conference room, Tomoko could feel everyone's eyes on her. After all, she had almost fought a militant and a number more important than her not even ten minutes prior.

As she slid into the seat between Chishiya and Ann, her brother smirked and lowered his voice to a mutter, "I saw Niragi covered in juice and heading toward the showers. Tell me that's something to do with you."

Tomoko smirked back, having to stifle a snicker with the back of her hand, "It had everything to do with me."

Then, she turned her attention to Arisu, who was standing at the back of the room, shy and awkward. Chishiya raised his hand and waved at him, which just made him frown.

Finally, Niragi arrived. He was freshly showered of course and in another obnoxious set of animal print.

"You took your time." Tomoko stated with a fake yawn.

His only response was muttering something under his breath: "Fucking bitch."

Mira, number seven, walked over to the table holding a group of cards. She placed them in front of Hatter, who was sat at the head of the table, "Two of Spades, Six of Spades, Four of Diamonds, Two of Clubs. We've collected all four of them. Until now, we still haven't found any face cards. If face cards do not exist, then we're only left with the Ten of Hearts."

"The Ten of Hearts has never appeared in a game before. If it doesn't appear, we can't clear it. Maybe there needs to be a condition for it to appear. Maybe it is not in Tokyo." Ann mused.

Kuzuryu, number two and Hatter's second hand man, shook his head, "A game arena has never been found outside of Tokyo."

"But we haven't investigated that far yet," Ann shot back.

"The strategy won't change." Hatter decided, "We will continue investigating the game arenas in town. Make sure you have days left on your visas and keep a lookout for the Ten of Hearts. I need to replenish my visa soon."

Tomoko watched as the militants in the room exchanged a glance unbeknownst to Hatter. All of the militants, except maybe Aguni, were power hungry and Tomoko had no doubt in her mind that they wanted to overthrow Hatter. Maybe even kill him.

"There's a way to earn visa days for sure." Mira stated.

Hatter raised an eyebrow, interested, "Is that so?"

Mira nodded, "Heart games let you toy with the hearts and feelings of others. If you bring along those that don't mind dying, you'll survive for sure. It happened in Tomoko and Ann's game. Even in the Seven of Hearts, Arisu cleared that game! It's a game that doesn't even require you to use your brain."

Hatter smiled, taking in the information. He turned to Arisu, who was clearly uncomfortable with having the spotlight on him, "As a winner of a Hearts game, do you have any advice for us?"

Arisu stayed silent, which made Hatter laugh.

"Would a Hearts game appear so conveniently, though?" Ann pointed out the clear flaw in their plan. "On top of that, we won't know what type of game it is until registration closes."

"We should be able to deduce it based on the probability theory." Kuzuryu replied.

Hatter slammed his hand down onto the table to gather everyone's attention, "I don't need such a pretentious investigation method. I'll join the next game be it Hearts or Spades. I'll clear it easily! I'll be here when the Ten of Hearts card appears! The day where we gather all cards and depart from this country is near! Executive members, I'm counting on you guys to oversee things here. The meeting is adjourned!"

And with that, everyone left the room.

Whilst the two were heading down the halls to find Kuina, Chishiya asked his sister, "So, what do you think about Arisu?"

Tomoko shrugged, "I think he's valuable. It's clear he wants answers about Borderlands and we can use that. Plus, he owes me now. I saved him from a beating from Niragi and Aguni. He's smart, too. I mean, not as smart as us but still quite intelligent."

"Brilliant." Chishiya smirked, "We'll include him in our plan, then. We just need the right timing."

"With Hatter gone for a game tomorrow, that might be our best bet." Tomoko mused. Chishiya nodded in agreement.

The two entered Kuina's room to hear water running. There was a hot, heavy feeling in the room and steam was present on the windows.

"Who is it?" Kuina asked from the shower.

"Your only friends." Chishiya teased.

Kuina scoffed and Tomoko could imagine her rolling her eyes, "I have other friends than you two, you know! Anyway, I'm almost done. Tomoko, can you bring my clothes in please? I forgot them on my bed."

Silently, Tomoko grabbed the items and entered the bathroom. When she entered, she was face to face with a smiley Kuina in only a towel.

"Thank you!" She laughed, "Why are you so pink in the face, though?"

Tomoko was flustered to say the least. She was so shy that all she could do was nod, bow and leave the room with an increasing flutter in her heart.

Chishiya noticed instantly, snickering and smirking. It made Tomoko shove him in the shoulder.

Was it really possible that Tomoko had a crush on her best friend, Kuina?

🂱

AUTHOR NOTES
yayyy!! tomoko finally realised! she's still gonna be in denial about it tho 😭