Life in Borderland

The Maze

Kagami kept on moving and kept her left hand brushing against the hedge as she walked, alone, through the maze. Given there were three entry points, she decided to take the middle path on her own and just keep moving. Since entering the maze, Kagami had kept up at a minimum a light jog. The faster she moved, the faster she could find Hachi and stop Niragi from killing him. Hitting yet another dead end, Kagami gave out a frustrated groan. She was truly hating every moment of this game.

Whatever Daiki had planned was clearly just for his own amusement. But, she couldn't understand how out of all the rules, only the first one was an actual rule. Why would clearing a game rely so heavily of the survival of the group? In every game Kagami had ever played, someone had died. It was pretty much impossible to clear a game without someone dying. Yet, in this game, if one person died, they all do... except for her. Kagami wasn't sure whether that part of the rule was actually true or not, but it scared her more than death did. She would lose everyone she cared about in one game. Everyone but Kuina who thankfully wasn't in this game. But, losing Chishiya, Usagi, Arisu and Daiki were things she wasn't prepared for. Hell, she despised what Niragi had become and had never liked Hachi or Saiko and even that wasn't enough for her to want them to die. Kagami had grown tired of the constant death that surrounded her and she had to admit that Arisu and his ideals had rubbed off on her a bit. So, if it was at all possible, she would do everything she could to keep everyone alive; especially Chishiya.

Finally, after what seemed like hours, Kagami made it into a small clearing where she found her oldest brother Hachi sitting at a small table. At the sight of her, he rose to his feet and watched her as she moved closer towards him. Looking down at the table, she noticed a bottle of Sake and a single glass. Niragi had always loved Sake, but Kagami had always preferred Gin or Whiskey, as did both her brothers.

"Are you trying to bribe Suguru into not killing you with Sake?" Kagami asked, looking her oldest brother up and down. Hachi stuttered for a little bit before he finally managed to speak,

"Ah, it's actually Daiki's idea. He wants to keep Niragi... calm for the game." Hachi explained in a way that made Kagami incredibly suspicious of him.

Picking up the bottle, she pulled the lid off and smelled it. Everything smelled just how it should, but watching Hachi gulp and practically sweat as he watched her do it did nothing to put her at ease.

"It's not poisoned, is it?" Kagami asked and straight away Hachi shook his head.

"Definitely not." He said, "So... how have you been?" Hachi then asked causing Kagami to shoot him a glare.

"Don't make small talk with me." She snapped, placing the bottle back down onto the table. "You were a piece of shit when I last saw you and you're a piece of shit now. If you want to talk you can start by telling me everything you know about what Daiki has planned." She said. Hachi paused for a moment before he spoke.

"He's... I think lost his mind a little..." Hachi told her, clearly trying to choose his words carefully. "He's been watching you all through the cameras and picked each person for this game based on what he could find out about them and whether they have a friendship, relationship or hatred for the other players. He needed everyone to be connected." Kagami sighed lightly, that was something she knew already.

"How does Daiki win?" She asked.

"That's the thing, the whole time he's talked about this, he's never actually told me how he wins the game. It's always been whether we all walk away or just one person does." Hachi told her and Kagami's brow furrowed,

"I don't see Arisu killing Usagi and there's no way I'd ever kill Shuntaro." Kagami told him. Hachi looked down at his feet before back up at her.

"But, you, Chishiya and Arisu all have a pretty good reason to want Niragi dead and he has a really good reason to want me dead. All it takes is for one person to snap. That's it." He explained and Kagami nodded.