YOU, ME & DEATH ━━ polyam ann & kuina

𝟭𝟮 new number one

SOMETHING HAD HAPPENED.

Tomoko wasn't sure what it exactly was yet but she could tell it was important by the way the executive members spoke about an urgent meeting in hushed voices. This meant it could either advance or disadvantage her plan — so she and her brother invited Usagi and Arisu to the meeting to keep them in the loop. Well, more so to gain their trust but that was still a participating factor.

Tomoko and Chishiya rounded a corner to meet up with Arisu and Usagi but found Niragi harassing them.

"What the hell do you want? No one asked you to come here!" He spat at them.

Tomoko barely managed to hide her eye roll as Chishiya stated, "Actually, we invited them here. There's something important they need to hear."

Even though he was clearly displeased, Niragi allowed it. Usagi and Arisu walked past a group of Niragi's goons, clearly spooked by them, to reach the twins. They looked at them with eyes full of questioning.

"I don't know what it is yet but it's clearly important." Tomoko told them before she opened the double doors leading to the conference room.

She walked in full of confidence but it slowly deflated once she realised what was so serious about the meeting. There, on a table a few metres away from her, was Hatter. He was not breathing, he was not moving, he did not even twitch. He was laying face up, chest exposed to show the bullet wound in it.

Hatter was dead.

This was both bad and good. Bad: the militants would surely take advantage of this and use it to cause unrest and instill fear in others. Good: a new number one would be chosen, meaning a chance to see the code for the safe that kept all of the cards. Whenever a leader died, an envelope containing the code for the safe was given to them. The new leader was supposed to read it in front of all of the executives then reseal the envelope for the next number one to come.

Tomoko exchanged a look with her brother and knew he was thinking the same. Then, she glanced over to Arisu and Usagi. They were both frigid with fear.

Suddenly, the double doors opened again. Two individuals, Tatta and Ann, briskly walked into the room. Instantly, Ann headed over to the corpse on the table.

"Apparently, he couldn't clear the game." Tatta told her, "The maintenance team happened to find him in Shinjuku while we were filling up with gas."

Eyebrows furrowed with concentration, Ann leaned over and poked the bullet wound on his chest.

"Hey, do me a favour and keep your hands off him. You're obsessed with dissecting stuff." Niragi snapped at her as he breezed into the room like he owned the place.

   "This is from a bullet," Ann noted. "Did the game he was playing involve guns?"

   Tatta nodded, "It seems like it. Apparently, people around the game arena heard gunshots."

   "Holy shit!" Niragi shouted before beginning to cackle, "Looks like he should've brought the militant corps along with him."

   It was a silent for a few moments. Everyone was tense. A multitude of thoughts were rushing through their minds. What happened to The Beach now? What would they say? They had to say about his death something, didn't they?

   Mira spoke up first, her voice firm as she answered the array of questions circling everyone's minds, "Nobody says a word about this, understood? We don't want people freaking out."

   Kuzuryu stepped forward as he announced, "I'll step in as leader since I'm number two."

   "Wait a second!" Niragi exclaimed, walking over to him. He tipped his head as he pretended to think, "Shouldn't the strongest person be the leader? In case you didn't know, we're the ones who have been getting rid of the traitors, but we've been thrown into the shadows the whole time! This bullshit ends now, you got that?"

   "If number one dies, everyone moves up by a number. We all know that." Kuzuryu countered, having a surprising amount of confidence against a militant.

   "Yeah, well, this elitist dictator is dead." Niragi gestured to Hatter's corpse, "The power has shifted—"

   "So, what?" Tomoko snapped at him, irritated by his power trip and gigantic ego. "Do you want to become leader or something? We'll still be ruled by a dictator, just one more annoying and one that uses fear instead of charisma to get his way. In your goddamn dreams, Niragi."

   Niragi's jaw clenched. He walked over to her, his gun pointed at her for a moment as if to threaten her. When she didn't back down, Niragi turned and addressed everyone in the room, "Let's just be democratic and go with the majority! Who's with me and wants Aguni to be the new leader?"

   Oh, I see now, Tomoko thought to herself, eyes widening slightly. He doesn't believe in himself enough to be leader. He always needs to be in someone's shadow to feel confident.

Nobody spoke up. Nobody agreed with his words because not only was Kuzuryu number two, Aguni was a militant. If he became number one that meant the militants would be in charge, not the calm idealist group. Like Chishiya said previously, The Beach would be run by a group of brainless idiots with guns.

   "Are you serious?" Niragi scoffed before nodding his head at his friend, "You know what to do, Last Boss."

   Last Boss stepped forward, unsheathing his katana. He pointed it at Ann, who was closest to him, and raised it closer and closer to her head until she reluctantly raised her hand in self protection.

Tomoko felt an urge to protect her. Unfortunately, she couldn't do anything as she might get a katana through her heart. It frustrated her to no end, causing her to grind her teeth and curl her hands into fists.

   "I'll ask again," Niragi said, "Who thinks Aguni should be leader?"

   Tomoko exchanged a glance with her brother, raising an eyebrow. Silently, she was asking him what they should do. Was it better to raise their hands for self preservation or show defiance?

   "Hey! What do you two think you're doing, huh?" Niragi exclaimed angrily, storming up to Tomoko. "I see what you're doing. You think you're so much better than me, don't you?"

   Tomoko raised her head to meet his gaze defiantly, "I don't think, I know."

   Niragi raised his rifle and pointed it under her chin, spitting out his frustrations, "You said you'd kill me. So why haven't you done it, huh? You can't do it because you're too weak. I'll ask again, who votes for Aguni to be leader?"

   Tomoko watched a number of hands shoot up and she knew she had to vote as well or face death. As she raised her hand, she spitefully said, "It's sad that you're getting so upset over something I said but if it makes you feel better, I'll vote."

   Niragi narrowed his eyes but said no more. He moved onto others, threatening them with harm too until they voted for Aguni also.

   Finally, he stated, "Looks like we've got an unanimous decision: Aguni is the new leader. Let this be a reminder of how you should act in the future!"

One thing was completely clear to Tomoko: not only herself and the people she loved, but everyone at the The Beach was in danger.

🂱

AUTHOR NOTES
sorry for no update yesterday. but now im officially off school for a week! i still have some studying to do but i'll have lots of free time to write now, so hopefully i'll be able to update like 2 chapters a day!! no promises tho lol