Red Line || Chishiya Shuntarō [✔️]

twenty-five

Ren hated to admit it, but she was starting to panic. There were only six players left and they weren't any closer to figuring out who Jack was. Jack was the one thing they needed to end this madness. It was already morning and Ren was worried that Sara and more importantly Takura thought she was dead. She wanted to get back to her brother.

Ren was leaning against the pillar, arms crossed in the kitchen, once again. It was just her and Chishiya, not speaking. They both knew they were screwed. They knew they could trust each other, but it was only a matter of time before someone else got into their little circle, trying to pull them apart.

According to the other players, Chishiya or Ren could be Jack.

There was no time to convince anyone that they weren't, it was just that they needed to pick and choose their words carefully.

Ren noticed Chishiya looking at someone. She turned her head, seeing Enji entering. He was heading off to where the snack he continued to take. Chishiya shot Ren a look to keep her from approaching him – Chishiya was going to speak with Enji on his own. Ren stayed put for once, watching Chishiya grab a bag of cookies in passing (the same cookies had been eating since the start of the game).

Ren could hear the conversation from where she was standing. "These cookies taste better." Ren wondered what Chishiya's angle was going to be to take Enji to talk to him. "Hey, would you mind telling me what my symbol is?" Enji didn't answer – he just took his snack and started to walk off. "That guy you hang out with?" Enji stopped. "You should know that he's a murderer."

Ren pushed herself away from the pillar, curious about what Chishiya just said.

"What?" Enji questioned as he turned back to Chishiya.

"His name's Sunato Banda. It was in the newspaper. Murdered four women, so that makes him a serial killer." Chishiya turned to face Enji. "And, you know, that's punishable by death." He leaned his back against the shelving unit.

"That's a filthy lie."

"No, it's true. Know how I know?" Ren was curious about how Chishiya knew. "I think he's the Jack of Hearts." Ren stepped forward, peering around the shelves to watch Enji's face. "There's only six of us left. Time is running out, so the Jack's gonna start to get aggressive now. Might as well share symbols." Chishiya said.

Ren leaned her shoulder against the shelving unit, watching Chishiya and Enji, particularly Enji. He did get defensive when Chishiya brought up Banda being a murderer. Chishiya just wanted to see what Enji's answer would be to the symbol before asking another what it was. He had already told Ren what hers was.

But like Chishiya, Ren had her own ideas about how to play the end of this game. She wanted to find Kotoko, maybe get her alone if she could. Ren wanted to hear and see what she'd say. But right now, Ren was interested in Chishiya's tactic.

"For the moment, you're in a good position. The Jack still trusts you. So if anyone is going to lie to the Jack, it has to be you." Chishiya said. He walked around Enji until he was behind him. "Which means, this game can only end one way. The key player here is you." Ren wondered where Chishiya was taking this because at the moment, she was confused about his words.

Chishiya crossed his arms, looking at the back of Enji's head. "I'm sure this is a lot, and you don't trust me yet. For what it's worth, there's no advantage for me to lie, so I'll tell you the truth about your symbol. Don't you wanna make sure that Banda's telling you the truth?" Chishiya asked.

"What makes you think that I would trust you over him?" Enji asked.

"You don't have to if you don't want to. If I were in your shoes, I'd want to weigh my options. And I've got no reason to lie to you." Enji slowly turned to face Chishiya. "Banda's a murderer, and that's a fact." Chishiya reminded him.