Fox of Roses

"Kokkuri-san, Kokkuri-san, will you be my friend?"

"....-ta .... re yo ...y..? C-t....!"

A-ya? C-ta opened his eyes slowly, seeing the entire group leaning over him. His sense of touch said he was still on the path where he rain into Rose. It looked like the day was still young, noticing the sky was just turning blue. However every group member was there except Rose.

"C-ta! You're awake! Give him room, everybody, back up." B-ko ordered as the ground backed away, allowing him to stand.

"What... What happened?" He mumbled, standing, holding his head. God, what a headache.

"Rose-chan said you fainted while walking here," D-ne explained. He blinked, scanning the area, but staring at one thing. Standing on the opposite side of the path, watching the group, was Rose. She had tears in her eyes. A-ya followed his gaze, walking over, comforting the blonde. She walked to C-ta, still on the verge of tears.

"I... I'm sorry if.. I said anything to...." She cut herself off, probably going to cry if she spoke more. A-ya lead her away from them to help her calm down.

... That attention seeker! C-ta thought. Rose was such a beautiful actress, she could even fool A-ya! What a thorny Rose, she is.

"Right, so back to our meeting.." A-ya announced when his friend's recovery was confirmed and Rose had calm down. C-ta was actually late, and everyone had gotten there before both of them. It seemed Rose had a little get together with some friends, to go over notes and homework assignments.

"Finally, since you two weren't here for the announcement," D-ne began. "We're going to play Kokkuri-san. A-ya, would you like to recite the rules?"

He chuckled joyously. He was having too much fun, considering it was a death game. "Every game is caused by a certain 'fox.' To reach the end of the game, the 'fox' must be KILLED. If the 'fox' cannot be killed, everyone else will DIE. While searching for the 'fox' Kokkuri-san's demands must be MET. Kokkuri-san's demands will be sent via LETTER. You will be given one week to fulfill Kokkuri-san's DEMANDS. If the demands are not FULFILLED, you will die. If the demands are shown to someone outside of the game, they will DIE. If the demands are IGNORED, you will die. Until the end if the game is reached, you ABSOLUTELY cannot escape."

Rose listened quietly, noting how many times the Fox—"traitor"—was mentioned. She closed her eyes, memorising the rules as everyone else set up the game. Like the American Oluji Board, they drew all 26 letters of the alphabet. Then under that all single digit numbers. YES and NO went in the corners, and in red ink, they drew a traditional Japanese gate, like the kind you'd see at the entrances of gates or shrine.

"I think A-ya should go first," B-ko said.

"You're just scared," C-ta teased. She swatted his arm. A-ya laughs.

"Well she isn't wrong—I'm the one who came up with it." A-ya steps up to the board and sets his finger on the penny. He pauses before asking a question.

"Kokkuri-san, Kokkuri-san, are you with us here?"

The coin slid to YES.

Everyone else went after. B-ko asked if she'd grow up happy, Kokkuri-san replied S P O I L E R S. C-ta asked if he'd bring up his grade in Science, Kokkuri-san replied YES. D-ne didn't have much to ask. Her question was "2 + 2 = what?" Kokkuri-san replied 4.

"I'll go last," said Rose, stepping up to the board. No one stopped her. Like A-ya, she thought for a while before asking.

"Kokkuri-san, Kokkuri-san, will you be my friend?"

...

YES.

And due to a certain 'fox'

The game has begun.