GAME AFTER-English Version

2-The awakening

KIYO'S POV

I opened my eyes. I was in a hospital, but I didn't know how I got there. And above all, I didn't understand why these four guys kept staring at me.

The one with the messy hair looked surprised, while the one with the piercings was angry, the girl was on the verge of crying and the guy in the white hoodie was standing, silent, in a corner.

I sat up and my gesture scared them.

"Kiyo what the hell were you thinking?" The guy with the piercings approached me.

"Who's Kiyo?" I asked, confused.

"What do you mean by who's Kiyo?" He looked at me intently. "Do you even dare to mock me?"

"Niragi, calm down." The guy with messy hair said, approaching too.

"Don't tell me to calm down!" He yelled at him.

"What matters, is that she woke up." The girl said, wiping away a tear.

"Kuina shut up!" The guy with the piercings was furious.

"What happened is not my fault!" She protested.

"You're right." It was the first time I'd heard the guy in the white hoodie speak. "It's nobody's fault, sadly it just happened." His voice was calm and somehow soothing.

"Chishiya if you open your mouth again, I'll kill you." The guy with the piercings walked in the other's direction and looked ready to start a fight.

"You wanna beat me?" The guy in the white hoodie provoked him, half laughing.

"She doesn't remember you anyway, so I could do it."

"She doesn't remember any of us, so stop it!" The girl got up.

"Yeah, that's reason enough to—" The pierced guy was interrupted as a nurse entered the room. He walked towards her very quickly. "Can you tell me what the fuck happened to her?"

"Niragi!" The guy with messy hair pulled him by the arm and forced him to sit down.

The nurse looked at the file she was holding.

"Miss Fukuhara, how are you feeling?" She asked.

Wait a sec, is she talking to me? Yes, she's talking to me.

"I-I don't know." I replied stammering.

"I-" Niragi stood up again.

"You must calm down." The nurse glared at him. "This just makes things worse."

"My sister doesn't remember me! What do you think I should do?!" He screamed.

Wait, am I this guy's sister? No way. That's impossible.

"What's the last thing you remember?" The nurse came next to me.

I thought for a while. My memory was like a foggy morning, I only saw a few fragments of what my memories must have been, but at the same time it was as if they didn't belong to me; as well as that name, Kiyo Fukuhara. Was I really that person?

Then, like fireworks, a memory took over.

"The Games!" I exclaimed.

Those two words made my brain go haywire and it was as if the ground sank under me, engulfing me and I found myself in the dark.

♠️ ♥️ ♦️ ♣️

It was as if someone had punched me on the head. I woke up alone, at Shibuya crossing, deserted as usual; but this time there was something different.

It was as if after accepting citizenship, something happened.

Then, slowly, I began to remember...

I was with my brother, my two best friends Arisu and Kuina and my boyfriend Chishiya. We had played the Games together, then at one point, I was asked to choose between accepting or declining citizenship. What had happened in the time span from the last Game to that moment, I just didn't remember, except that I said "Accept" and that I had to solve the riddle of a hooded figure.

The screens lit up again and the metallic voice spoke:

"Young Player, you are the first to reach the last level. Congratulations."

So this was the last level. And I was alone. Great.

"This Game will not be like the others before, in this one to win, all you have to do is be able to go back."

"Huh?"

Then, after that enigmatic sentence, the Joker card had appeared on one of the screens and in mid-air was a floating red button, with GAME written on it.

I pressed it and immediately after the metallic voice went back to talking like in the old days.

Game: Back in time

Difficulty: Joker

Clear Condition: Find your way home and you win.

Time limit: Absent.

I was not understanding anything. But of one thing I was sure: I had always been better than the others in the Games, so that must have been why I was now alone. I must have finished before them.

So to win did I have to go back in time or find my way home?

Both things didn't make the slightest sense.

I started walking through the deserted Tokyo.

The difficulty of the Game was the Joker, therefore, since it could also be considered the card with a thousand faces or the card of deception, it wouldn't have been easy to overcome.

Hours began to pass, then days, and the more time passed, the more the solution began to seem impossible to me.

I did try to go back to my old house, but nothing had happened. I even tried to go back to the exact spot where I was the first time, as soon as I arrived in that strange Tokyo, but nothing had changed.

Maybe I'd have stayed there forever.

One day, I returned to Shibuya and saw them. Arisu, Kuina, my brother and Chishiya.

They stared at me, then I ran to meet them.

We looked at each other for a few minutes, without saying anything. Then Arisu started talking...and the whole truth came out, upsetting my existence.

To get back to our world, we had to play, all together, one last time.

And this time, we had to win.

Confused? Intrigued? Or maybe both? Don't worry, it's all part of the "Game After" package hahaha

No, joking aside, this story is set up a bit differently and will only make sense when you get to the end ;) (which is also what happens in TV series, isn't it?)

P.N. Here you won't find all the characters of the series, cos, as mentioned above, the events take place in a different way and certain characters will only be mentioned or will not appear at all (for reasons that you will understand by yourself as you read on).

Well, having said that, I inform you that the chapters will be published 2 times a week, on Thursdays and Sundays :) so see you very soon for the next piece of the puzzle ;)

Love ya x