King of Diamonds

Part VII

The air was cool around us, and Yukinari shivered. I was pretty sure that it wasn't the temperature inside the dim building that made her do that. Seven days ago, she had lost her only son during a Hearts game, and this was the second time she'd play for her live.

With the tiny difference that this time, I'd make sure she survived.

"It'll be okay", I whispered quietly enough so the other players around us wouldn't hear. So far, seventeen people had gathered in what used to be the hallway of Nanzan Elementary School, with colorful drawings still hanging on the walls. But I could see that the building had been altered, with additional walls that most likely hadn't been there before the Borderlands, probably so the area would suit the game better.

Yukinari wrapped her arms tightly around her chest, her gaze wandering from side to side anxiously. She kept her voice down, afraid that it'd be another game turning people against each other. "How could you know?"

"I can't", I lied. "But I have a good feeling about this. It helped with my last games as well."

I knew, of course, that this would be a Six of Spades. Four doors leading to four different trials, ranging from easy-peasy to impossible. Within the last day, I had made sure to memorize every one of them, so I'd be able to choose the easiest door for me and recommend it to Yukinari. Although this was designed to be a single-player game with no restriction for the amount of people joining, I wouldn't let her do this alone. It was a silent promise I had made to myself three days prior, when we'd first met in the Camp.

Yukinari just shrugged, not at all convinced. "Why didn't you bring your boyfriend here? The blonde, haughty one?"

Her description of Chishiya made me laugh, a sound so foreign to this atmosphere that several people turned their heads. Not that I cared. "We try not to enter games together", I explained, trying to stick as close to the truth as possible. In fact, Chishiya had found much more interest in a Ten of Diamonds than this game here, and I would bet anything that he actually enjoyed himself a lot there. Reading the rules on the board had been so confusing to me already, I barely had understood the game at all. It would be heaven for him. "You know better than anyone... There might always be a game leaving only one winner. We don't want to risk that."

She nodded, understanding immediately. Did she regret getting into her first game together with her son? If so, she didn't say. "Clever. It would make me scared, to be honest, not knowing what happens to my love... But I get why you'd do that. Although..."

Pausing for a moment, she ran her hand through her hazel curls, unsure if she should continue. In the end, she decided against it, and I turned around and left her with her own thoughts, while I examined the people around us. It felt so wrong that most of them would probably run into their death, and I'd walk through the door, jump over a few obstacles and continue to live. Then again, I tried to remind myself again and again that I had been there, just like them. I had managed to survive games without knowing the solutions either, and I earned this. Maybe it wasn't exactly allowed to help someone else through, but if it was true what Myoka had told me, than no one would punish us for manipulating a bit here and there.

I glanced at the phone in my hands, stating that the face recognition had been finished and that the game would start in less than a minute.

One more person hurried through the entrance and quickly grabbed a phone, before the familiar jingle stopped all the hushed conversations around the hallway. Every pair of eyes moved to the phones, and the computer voice begun to explain our challenge for tonight.

GAME: PARCOUR.

DIFFICULTY: SIX OF SPADES.

RULES: CHOOSE A DOOR AND MASTER THE TRIAL TO REACH THE FINISH LINE. IF YOU SUCCEED, IT'LL BE GAME CLEAR.