Geiichi looked dead in the eyes of Hagatsuma Kumiko. The eyes of the snake would stare deep inside the soul of the elephant in front of her.
-Kumiko H- «So all we have to do is… kill all of you fucks and we will win»
Geiichi then met the words, the provocation that was thrown over to him.
-Geiichi- «Your team’s structure is far too weak. There is zero chance for any teamwork to ignite between you all. It will be your loss Kumiko, for I am the predator in this room»
Kumiko grinned and giggled through Geiichi’s words.
-Kumiko H- «What are you? Some sort of edgy teenager? You sound like a real piece of work…»
As she was speaking. Her face went serious immediately.
-Kumiko H- «You’re really pissing me off. I hate guys like you who are all orders and fake toughness. I’ll be the one ending your life Geiichi. Not this team»
She said staring into his eyes. Geiichi felt no intimidation whatsoever, clenching his fists, his eyes would stare deep into her. For a few seconds Geiichi stared before moving back, the sound of his two footsteps echoed through the room as he spoke.
-Geiichi- «You are weak. Girl of the Hagatsuma clan. Today will be your final day on this world»
And as the two were arguing, the intercom spoke once again.
-MD- «BEEP BEEP. It is time for the two groups to set the rules of this game! I call this game human chess!»
-Shig- «(Oh crap I can’t play chess…. But I gotta play it cool…)»
-Midori- «Huh. Human chess? You mean you’ll assign a piece to each one of us and we would move at a chess board?»
-MD- «NEGATIVE. But indeed you will all be assigned a piece to represent. The goal of this game is to kill the king of the opposite group! But in order to do that you must get past the other pieces to reach the king. These pieces are, the pawn, the knight, the bishop, the rook and the queen! But… there are a little bit more to the roles everyone picks…»
-Yukiko- «OOH what are they??»
-MD- «I’M GLAD YOU ASKED! Each one of the pieces has certain skills and weaknesses! For example, the pawn is the trickster. Whilst it is the weakest piece on the board, it can become a queen if it reached the end, it can do the en passant and move a square more on the first turn! Those ambitious pieces only move forward and take other pieces diagonally! A jack of all trades but master of none! Both teams pick your pawn!»
As that was said a steel wall immediately fell between Kumiko and Geiichi. It was probably to prevent hearing the opponent from revealing what role was assigned to each. There was nothing that could be done to hear them, and even if that possibility existed, it is too risky as it may be against the rules therefore it could lead to a penalty.
No one wanted to risk anything so they all approached Kumiko a bit to be able to pick the pawn strategically.
-Kumiko H- «Hey look no matter what you all think I ain’t becoming a fucking pawn got this?! I’m the motherfucking queen of the board!»
-Midori- «Relax Hagatsuma-San. I was not planning to make you the pawn. You did hear the rules right? The king cannot be killed as long as the rest of the team is alive. We should place someone who cannot fight much there and for the pawn someone who can fight a bit»
-Kumiko H- «So the curly haired bitch?»
-Shig- «(… curly hair)»
-Akane- «Me king? Yes plea-!»
And whilst Akane in hope spoke, her sentence was interrupted by Midori.
-Midori- «No it is not going to be her. Whilst she might not be stronger than you, Toma-San or Otsumichi-San she is nonetheless a fighter. And everyone here has a way to go through opponents or utilize their skills to kill another person. So I recommend Suzushiro-San to be the pawn!»
-Kumiko H- «… why are you so excited with yourself it’s creepy…»
Midori’s face froze.
-Midori- «(C-creepy?)»
-Kumiko H- «But you’re right you know? You’ve already understood that we were given the opportunity to choose both the king and pawn right now. You’re not half bad»
-Midori- «N-no it’s nothing Hagatsuma-San… really»
Looking back to it. What Midori said was not very clever, that would soon be realized as Kumiko turned her head to him.
-Kumiko H- «I gave you a fucking compliment. Just accept it»
-Midori- «Y-yes ma’am thank you! (I need help…)… so uh. Oishi-San will be our king and Suzushiro-San will be our pawn. Any objections?»
Shig pretending to understand quickly nodded his head.
-Shig- «Uh yeah. Yeah I get it»
-Kumiko H- «(… no he doesn’t what is he on about?!)»
Midori seems relieved that Shig supposedly understood and giggled a bit.
-Midori- «Alright! Now the wall should be going down soon»
-Jurou- «That’s obvious you pink haired dickhead!»
Jurou said with no shame while laughing like an idiot.
-Midori- «(… my hair is Magenta) Well alright… let’s get ready to pick our knight, bishop and rook now…»
The wall moved upwards, Geiichi and his team were sitting there seeming confident in their abilities. Before anyone even said a word MD suddenly spoke out.
-MD- «HELLO PARTICIPANTS! Tell me which players you’ve assigned to EACH piece!»
Midori and Kumiko out of all seemed the most confused. Each. Piece? What was that supposed to mean? Were we supposed to… pick one for all? Did Midori miscalculate or misheard something? MD never said anything about that either! And as Midori went to speak about this feeling frustrated, his voice was stopped by none other than Otsumichi Geiichi.
-Geiichi- «I do not wish for the other team to know each other’s pieces. So if it alright with the opposite team I want to give you the pieces in a piece of paper»
-MD- «NO PROBLEM! Please place the paper in here!»
The floor in front of Geiichi opened and a pole flew up. It was to place the paper on it. Geiichi seemed to already have that done. Placing the piece of paper on the pole Akane took a swift look, but the pole covered it and went down immediately.
The intercom processing the paper spoke.
-MD- «Processing… processing… DONE! Now for the other team pick your pieces!»
Midori thought to also hide the information but unlike Geiichi’s team theirs did not have that paper. As he went to ask if it would be possible for then to get one Kumiko spoke up, Shig was by her side.
-Kumiko- «King is Yukiko, I’m the queen, Shig is the rook, Midori the knight, Jurou the bishop and Akane the pawn»
She said and so everyone was baffled. Aside from one person. Toma Shig. Geiichi laughed to himself and moved closer to Kumiko.
-Geiichi- «You careless idiot… your carelessness will eat you up and swallow you whole…»
-Kumiko H- «I need to hide nothing. I’ll kill you and your team without using cowardice tactics like that. I’ll make sure that when you lose, you’ll have nothing, not even your own spirit you scummy ‘leader’»
That obviously switched a switch on the man. Otsumichi Geiichi felt anger towards Kumiko and… was it nervousness? No that is not the correct way to express one’s self, especially Geiichi’s in this moment… what he felt was, excitement. Like Kumiko, he wanted to murder her and crush her spirit.
-MD- «HELLO PLAYERS. Please proceed through the doors and once you do… the games will begin…»
A door opened up behind each team. Without letting any time go to waste they both entered their respective doors. Team A so costing of Suzushiro Akane, Oishi Yukiko, Kikuchi Jurou, Ishihara Midori, Toma Shig and… Hagatsuma Kumiko stepped inside. Their battle was on.
They had walked a few good meters before Akane decided to speak.
-Akane- «Hey uhhhh… think I have some info that can help…»
-Midori- «Oh? Then go ahead and tell us. We could use it right now….»
-Akane- «W-well I used double boost to enhance my vision… I managed to get a small peek at their paper and I know who is their queen…»
-Kumiko H- «Good job you good for nothing piece of shit, finally you managed something»
Obviously speaking sarcastically Akane still decided to speak up.
-Akane- «It is Ogino Suichi! … an ex-archangel»
And whilst most again were shocked. Kumiko and Shig seemed so nonchalant. It was like they could care less.
-Midori- «H-how are you too so relaxed! It’s an ex-archangel! That should worry everyone!»
-Kumiko H- «Memememememe I KILLED an archangel»
Even Yukiko who’s always so aloof looked at Kumiko a bit shocked.
-Shig- «Yeah uh. So did I»
-Kumiko H- «Shut the fuck up no one cares about you»
-Shig- «… oh…»
-Jurou- «Yeah and like. I was one of the gods?»
-Midori- «(Holy hell… I’m in a team of lunatics!)»
-Yukiko- «Lo… l… l… LOVELY! Oh I’ll be safe with you all! No worries I’ll help too!»
Midori taken aback by Yukiko’s enthusiasm started sweating.
-Midori- «(Is everyone here a crazy bastard?! No wait… Akane… I still have a shot at having a normal person on my team!)»
Full of hope he turned towards Akane’s direction. Only to see her crying and hugging herself.
-Midori- «... (It’s over this is where I die)»
All of them kept on walking, the silence became deafening and the walls felt like they were crushing them. Their nightmares had just begun. They could all feel it. This battle would be a short one.
Moving forwards they all saw a labyrinth towards the end. Meaning in this game they’d have to split up.
-Midori- «Going together is not a good idea. At a direct confrontation we have very little likelihood of winning. So I will go with Oishi-San. If there are doors or anything of that sort I can get her out of there, in the worst case scenario of course»
-Yukiko- «Oh what a gentleman, you gonna hold the door for me?~»
She said jokingly but it was enough to send a shiver down Midori’s spine. Then Kumiko placed her hand on his shoulder before speaking.
-Kumiko H- «You must be REAL confident to even consider that the worst case scenario would happen… what are you saying, you saying I’m gonna get killed?!»
-Midori- «N-no not at all!»
-Jurou- «Hey hey no fightin’! Let’s keep yer spirit up for enemies!»
-Akane- «… why do you sound like that…»
-Jurou- «None of ya business!»
-Akane- «This is-!»
-Midori- «All stop!... You’ll show the enemy our location…»
Kumiko looked at Midori before getting angry and walking past him.
-Kumiko H- «Tch. Don’t give me orders. Aside from you two lovebirds I will be going on my own»
-Shig- «Yeah so do I»
-Kumiko H- «It’s ‘will I’» you dumb fuck»
Shig then got sad and went alone pouting.
Kumiko as well left. Akane and Jurou had decided to move together as well. And that way… the Deadly Gambit has begun.
It was Kumiko who had become the queen that was walking with the most motivation out of the group, her need to humiliate Geiichi was immense. Every step she was making, the closer she was arriving to death. She thought that this labyrinth would not be a traditional one. There must not be any exits or entrances, the ones which both teams also entered by should have been shut down now.
She kept on walking before she heard an odd noise from the corridor left to her. It was moving away from her slowly so it must not have noticed her. She could keep going and hide. But Kumiko is no coward and followed that sound which led her to the ex-archangel. Ogino Suichi!
-Kumiko H- «You. Who are you»
-Suichi- «Huh? Seriously don’t recognize me? I’m the ex-archangel! Better take me more seriously or you will die faster than you can blink»
Kumiko sighed obviously frustrated.
-Kumiko H- «You must be the one miss bangs fought, aren’t you the weakest of them?»
-Suichi- «Oh shut up. I’ve heard more than enough from Hannah about you. Without your poison you are as useful as a fucking cockroach»
-Kumiko H- «Is that so Mr. Big shot?»
Kumiko cracked her knuckles and neck before getting into a fighting position.
-Kumiko H- «Then try me, shitty pet of pets»
Suichi quickly covered the distance between them by making a quick dash at Kumiko. Seeing that she went for a very fast kick in close range but Suichi managed to dodge it and kick her in the stomach. She fell back groaning in frustration. Ogino Suichi’s ability allows for him to sense danger when incoming, in other words he is aware of incoming moves or attacks a second before they arrive whilst also being aware of potential dangers his actions might bring. Kumiko having lost the option to spray her blood at her opponent is in a tough spot.
Without wasting another second Suichi went to throw a right hook. Kumiko also managed to dodge this time, she needed a strategy. But then it hit her. How did he know she could not use her ability… that Geiichi seemed very calculating… did he figure this out just by Kumiko’s face??
If that was true then Kumiko should have been in a tougher spot, considering Geiichi being such a fearsome opponent. But for Kumiko who does not even bother to think about the future smiled as the realization came into place. Suichi also stopped in his movements as he watched Kumiko smile. Just that smile is enough for her to be locked up in a mental asylum.
-Suichi- «What? Is death driving you crazy snake?»
-Kumiko H- «… well… I haven’t seen my fiancé in a while. That must be it…»
Suichi sighed as he dashed at Kumiko and Kumiko accepted him with open hands. The moment he stepped near her they both shared a few blows with each other… well it would be better to sya that, Kumiko was the only one that was harmed during this. They kept on moving around the halls as Kumiko forced Suichi at a wall. A dead end in a maze, but he would be fine considering his danger sense and flexibility are on another level, may he be the weakest of them but he is still an ex-archangel.
He prepared himself to dodge any incoming attacks as Kumiko ripped a small piece of her forearm and it bled all over the place. Kumiko went to drench Suichi, in her blood.
Danger sense did not activate but that is what made Suichi worry. Why would she do that… why would she try to kill him. The blood, had nothing to make him worry, rather it was the beast in front of him that destroyed him. He realized that was a trap! But… distraught by the blood sprayed towards him by Kumiko, he lost track of time and so the incoming attack, showed him it was only death that was awaiting him
-Kumiko H- «FUCK OFF YA LITTLE BASTARD»
Kumiko could not land a hit simply because Suichi’s danger sense is so immaculate that it gazes to the future a bit. Therefore making the needed reaction time to harm him be inside the, two microseconds of it activating. That was his downfall, that blood made him think, for two whole seconds…
Kumiko punched him directly at the throat, his struggle to breathe made him unable to react as Kumiko kept on landing hits over parts of his body that would slow him down. His head, jaw, neck, abdomen. Suichi even though having such a tough body could not win. That person… has the strength of ten who were training for their life.
For one second he threw away his ability and managed to kick her in the face and sending her away… Kumiko landing at her feet and holding her now bleeding nose, she now looked up front to her enemy. Cold sweat was dropping as she saw his figure standing there, covered in blood, both hers and his… she managed to win by tricking him, since his body had already recieved her blood. If he had thought of that way back. He would have won.
Now making a step towards Kumiko, he slipped and fell face flat on the ground. Ogino Suichi… was now deceased.
Kumiko felt tired. After all she took a good deal of damage having to kill Suichi… she walked tired but with confidence wanting to win... she needed to win, if she wanted to make him happy. She needed to be strong for… for him.
Geiichi moved through the halls looking for both his own team and the opposite team. As he kept on walking he found a dead end. And as he was about to move someone was behind him. Kikuchi Jurou. An ex-god.
-Jurou- «Heya big guy! Finally found the strongest of the opposite team!»
Geiichi has no interest in Jurou.
-Geiichi- «You’re a coward, for trying to face me in a two versus one…»
-Jurou- «AH so ya noticed! Hell yeah friend! You’re strong!»
Geiichi’s face for serious before he made a punching motion at the wall. Any person would break their own bones. But not him. His hand blew a hole in the wall mosh hitting Akane. She looked at Geiichi through that whole.
-Geiichi- «I shall kill the both of you, without using the third option of my blessing»
YOU ARE READING
The Unnamed Poet : Volume 1
ParanormalA book following the story of Hagatsuma Kumiko, a woman that is sooner or later going to be met with a fate that cannot be avoided. You can read this without reading volume 0. This is the continuation of volume 0 whilst also being the most important...
