YOU, ME & DEATH ━━ polyam ann & kuina

𝟮𝟬 equal opportunity to kill

"I COULD SEE it in your eyes right away. It was as if you lost all hope and just gave up. I had the same feeling when I killed my friends in the Seven of Hearts. You're not dumb; but as soon as you took over, you wanted to kill everyone. And that's not like you! So you had to have another motive. Ever since I came to The Beach, I couldn't quite figure it out. If you had possession of all of these guns, why didn't the militant corps take over a long time ago? That never happened until now. Because in the end, you weren't against Hatter after all. Didn't you actually help each other out? You wanted to make sure that scary people like Niragi don't go ballistic. You tried to hold them back. I know how close you and Hatter were. You were best friends, weren't you?"

Tomoko could tell from Aguni's body language that Arisu's speech was perfect. He had found the exact truth — and he continued to press further.

"Why did you kill him? I'll tell you why: because you could never forgive him for what he did. You wanted it all to stop but it was too late. You didn't recognise him anymore, isn't that right?"

"You don't know anything!" Aguni lied with a snarl. He grabbed Arisu by the collar of his shirt with one hand, using the other to punch him.

Tatta rushed forward, attempting to tackle Aguni, as he yelled, "Stop!"

Usagi joined as well, but the two could not stop Aguni and he continued to beat Arisu into a bloody pulp.

That was until Tomoko shot her machine gun.

Bullets lodged into Aguni's arms, sending squirts of blood across his skin. He stopped his actions and stared at her in shock.

And she stared back in anger, "Stop right now. You're going to listen to what Ann says. Otherwise, we're all going to die."

Thanking her with a nod, Ann stepped forward and raised her voice for everyone to hear, "The grip on the knife is reversed. That means the person holding it stabbed themself. Momoka is the witch!"

"Shut up!" Aguni yelled. "I'm the witch! You all wanna kill me, right?"

He waited a few moments but nobody did anything. So, he ran forward and snatched ahold of two people from the crowd and began to hit them.

Once again, the game descended into pandemonium. Others from the crowd gathered joined in and began to attempt to tackle and punch Aguni. But he always won. He was trying to take everyone down with him. Tears were permanently stuck in his eyes as he battled his way toward death.

   "The Beach made him crazy!" Aguni shrieked, "Do you hear me? You made him crazy!"

   Suddenly, a laser shot out of the sky and pierced through Asahi's skull as she called out the words that sealed her death, "I am the dealer of this game!"

   Everyone paused. They were shocked. What had they just seen? A girl had sacrificed herself. She was a dealer – whatever that meant – and she had some part in setting up the game.

   "It was a reverse grip!" Ann shouted, holding up the knife for everyone to see and finally believe her. "That means that Momoka grabbed the handle of the knife and stabbed it through her own chest. Don't you believe me? I have the proof!"

   "So, Momoka is the game master? And that girl, she said she was the dealer."

   "They were just toying with us!"

   "But what if they were controlled by others?"

   Members of the crowd threw out their theories for the game. Finally, they were listening to and believing Ann. The woman let out a sigh of relief and Tomoko could see the tension in her body relax a little.

   But just as people began to return to peace, gunshots were fired at them. Simultaneously, the hungry fire from before had begun to spread its greed and had made its way into the lobby.

   Niragi stepped out of the flames. He was burnt and completely scarred. Yet, he still had his blood thirst.

   "I'll use the fire of judgement to burn this whole place down!" He yelled as he threw a burning torch into the middle of the lobby.

   Sparks erupted. They leaped onto bystanders, coating them with a fire that caused them to scream, burn and turn into nothing but a corpse. Continuing his rampage, Niragi shot at anyone he saw, no matter if they were militant or citizen, innocent or guilty. People tripped over each other during their fright, turning themselves into easy targets.

   Despite the pounding in her head, Tomoko's grip tightened and she ran forward. Aiming at him, Tomoko shot multiple bullets into Niragi's already ruined body.

   He aimed his own gun at her and with a sudden sinking in her stomach, she realised he had equal opportunity to shoot. Equal opportunity to kill.

   Or did he?

   Letting out a scream of pure rage, Aguni sprinted toward Niragi. Despite the bullets cutting through his skin, he continued until he reached Niragi. Picking him up, Aguni carried the man into the fire.

   And they were both gone, the flames lapping up their last traces.

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