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Kazumi distanced herself from the large group. At this point, they were far too busy targeting one-another to pay her or the girl beside her any attention.
Sure enough, the next round of guessing, another member of the group's portrait was grayed out by the time the surviving players re-entered the central room.
The fissions between the group grew quickly, another two women dying the next round, two men in the round after that, the numbers slowly but surely dropping.
The cafeteria was unbearably tense, nervous eyes flittering between faces in a heated standoff, centering on the placidly cheerful face of Urumi. If Chishiya wore a mask of indifference, she wore one of sweetness.
The dwindling group faced one another, announcing each others suits with far less assuredness than they had on the first day.
"Thank you. You're the only ones I can trust." Urumi smiled at the remaining members.
She was dead the next round.
Another member of the group had died alongside her, a frightfully predictable outcome from Kazumi's perspective. With the group's unofficial leader dead, the last two were quick to follow in her footsteps, immediately stabbing each other in the back and earning nothing but their deaths for it.
✦✧✦
Only eight players remained, the Jack still hiding among them. Seated against the walls of an alcove, Kazumi faced Akane, feeling the lack of sunlight begin to weigh on her.
She had always treasured the feel of the sun on her skin, it was grounding and, with how often Kazumi found herself in the outdoors, near constant. The thick concrete walls felt suffocating, the cold shadows creeping up her arms and winding around her throat.
"Kazumi?" Akane nervously called.
"Hm?"
"How long do you think this will have to continue." The younger girl fiddled with her shoelaces, legs pulled up beneath her. Lowering her head a bit, she spoke again in a whisper, "I don't know how much more of this I can handle."
"It won't be much longer now. We're so close, don't give up now." Kazumi hastily encouraged, worriedly assessing the girl before her. A part of her scolded herself for caring so much for someone who could very well die, if not in this game then the next one. But then again, she had certiantly begun to care for others. Arisu, Usagi, and Kuina, and of course Chishiya.
Besides, if she had the opportunity to help someone, to give them a chance at the survival she wanted so desperately, why would she not take it? "You can depend on me. I promise, if you continue to stick beside me we can both survive this."
It took a moment, but the other girl eventually raised her head, newly determined. "Alright, I'll trust in you then."
"Thank you." Kazumi didn't have the heart to tell her that in the end, even she was depending on her trust in someone else.
