𝚑𝚘𝚠 𝚝𝚘 𝚍𝚒𝚎.

◇buried underground◇

"there's a lie that i told you."

you woke up to the sound of sara's voice. "where are you?!" though you figured you should get up, your body didn't seem to want to. you lied there for a few minutes before finally decided you had to get up. by the time you made it to the lobby, everyone else was already out there. "don't make light of us! we're more stubborn than roaches!" you weren't really sure what you walked in on. "yeah, yeah. guess i underestimated that. honestly, figured at least one of y'all'd die. well, whatever. there's a place i wantcha all to come to."

"what?! don't tell me.. the main game already?!" as you stared at ranger, you decided that wasn't the case. "not just yet... gotta save the most fun for last. c'mon, just look behind ya!" sure enough, there was a door on the other side of the lobby. "great design, right? i want you to go through there. scratch that, you are gonna come through if you don't wanna get killed!" you saw nao shiver. "w-what should we do...?" you sent her a gentle smile, trying to calm her down. "..don't worry. we won all within the rules. shouldn't be anything too absurd.."

"guess we gotta, meow. let's go, woof..." gin grabbed your hand, and you responded with a gentle squeeze. together, you all made your way into the new found room. "looks like all the bastards have assembled!" gin moved closer to you. "what do you want from us now, meow?!" gin's grip remained tight on you. "we all collected our clear chips! shouldn't be any problem!" reko made a fist at the doll. "this stupid game's over, you damn doll!"

"nah, sorry to say, but the sub-game's not over yet. let's announce the results! y'all haven't forgotten this was a game of buying and selling tokens, right?" you sighed, subconsciously squeezing gins hand again. "...i get it." sou said. "the number of tokens we've gotten by trading..?" keiji questioned, to which ranger grinned. "specifically, we're counting up the totals of other people's tokens you've touched at least once. that means even tokens you lost after getting 'em count towards the total. it was now that it hit you; all the tokens q-taro saved up? he gave them to you.

"so we don't have to have them currently?" alice confirmed. "that's right! i told you this game switched out "trust" for "tokens", yeah? the amount you were handed... that's what matters. so naturally, however many of your own tokens you got, they woooon't be counted! now to announce the standings! line up! the superb person who earned the most trust will be awarded a special privilege!" had q-taro giving you those tokens given you safety? that wasn't what you wanted at all. "privilege..?"

"let's get to it! the glorious title of first place goes to....!" safalin made drum noises. "f/n l/nnnnnn! congrats!" your breath hitched. "f/n..? thought you weren't collecting tokens." keiji pointed out, remembering what you had told him. "...wasn't planning on it." your eyes flickered to q-taro, who avoided your gaze. "anywaysssss... everybody but first doesn't get a prize, so i'll just announce them in order!" safalin began to make noises again, but ranger cut her off. "what's this annoying 'badah-badah' thing? don't interrupt me, safalin!"

"waaah! you told me to do it just like in the rehearsal, didn't you..?!"....rehearsal? "announcing the top three! kanna kizuchi!" the girl seemed surprised. "alice yabusame! err.. and sou hiyori! it was a close fight?" sou hummed. "haha... not a bad placing.." alice gloated. "sounds like the reaction of a guy who's never gotten first in his life... onto the smack-dab middle! your most stunningly average is... keiji shinogi! ahh, just barely held on there!"

"huh.. surprised i'm that trusted." he commented. "and our flunking students are the three idiot girls: sara chidouin, reko yabusame, and nao egokoro!" reko growled. "who're you calling idiots?! this ain't a game!" she insisted. "okay, three-diots, gather other here! now to announce the bottom of the barrel! in very last place isssss....! gin ibushi! came in at dead last! just the worst!" your heart beat quickened, what were they planning on doing? "don't call me dead last, woof! you're making me mad, meow!"

"c'mon, you got ten tokens! seems like you only accepted 'em from one person!" should you have given him more..? "..i didn't wanna do something that's like trading money, meow..." he gripped your hand tighter. "stubborn to the end! don't kids these days feel any regret losing? well, whatever, let's take a commemorative photo! stand right there!" before you could process what was happening, you and gin were tied to opposite sides of a target. there was a button in front of you. "i.. i can't move, woof!"

"gin! f/n!" you heard sara yell. "ranger, let those two go. or else.." you seriously wondered what keiji planned to do. "how about no!" the doll laughed. looking down, all the men (and kanna) were trapped in some sort of cage, and reko, sara, and nao were on a raised floor. you could hear everyone yelling, but your heart beat was all you could hear until ranger caught your attention. "the rules for the final attraction... the arbitration room! currently, first place f/n and last place gin are attached back to back on a target. soon.. a timer will begin. when the timer hits 0, the machine will activate.. and a venomous stinger will be fired at last place gin!"

gin meowed in response. "the venom of the rikuto giant scorpion is powerful... he'll die very painfully.." there had to be some way to avoid this.... right? "y-you're kidding, meow?! why, woof?! i got ten of the stars, meow!" you stared at the button in front of you. "it's only natural to hand out a penalty to the last placer who didn't earn anyone's trust!" some people spoke, but you couldn't make out what they were saying. "hmm, oh fine... i'll give you one way to save him. if the one who gathered the most trust wants to take his place... i might accept that, see? f/n, there's a red button in front of ya. press that, and the target will do a 180, and the stinger'll aim at you instead."

"...you're telling the truth?" you asked, cautious. "yep. couldn't lie if i wanted to. should we get star-" taking a quick breath, you pressed the button. sure enough, there was now a red laser pointing at you. "b-big sis f/n.!" everyone was yelling, but all you could do was stare at the machine in front of you. is this how you were going to die? "..keiji?" slowly, you called out for him. "..yes?" if you had the option, you'd cross your arms. "..i'm not mad at you. also, uh, can you guys...?" you trailed off. "can we..?" awkwardly coughing, you cleared your throat.

"can you guys see up my skirt?"

"the most difficult thing in life is to know yourself." -thales of miletus