𝚑𝚘𝚠 𝚝𝚘 𝚍𝚒𝚎.

◇fireside turn blue◇

"i can see a lot of life in you."

"stripey! leave it to us, meow!" gin was determined as ever. "there were five trades made in total! that ain't that many!" you counted in your head, five didn't seem right. "muscle gorilla! that's wrong, meow! there were six trades, woof! and, by the way, i've been a commoner the whole way, woof! didn't get traded with even once, meow!" that, thankfully, did make sense. "trading cards required fifty tokens. it's not as if just anyone could do it. of the four candidates, i suppose nao was the only one who lacked the tokens to make a trade?"

"s-six!? w-wait, uhh.. by my memory, there were three four trades... then i heard there was one just before the main game.." oh, wasn't q-taro knocked out half the time? why did he think he'd know? "ah, i get it... you misunderstood, q-taro. there were two trades while you were out." there it is. "s-sorry.. but nobody's givin' me an explanation..." for the hundredth time, he pulled the brim of his hat down over his face. "ah, well, that's on us."

"cubetaro hamburger, when was it you passed sara chidouin the sacrifice card? in fact, did you have the sacrifice card to start?!" how on earth were you supposed to take this seriously when alice kept calling him hamburger?? "nah.. that ain't it. the first card i had.. was commoner." keiji nodded. "i get it... that tells me most of the trades." you normally were on the same page as the blonde man, but you had spent most of your time in your room wallowing in self pity, so. "wha?! i don't have a clue, woof! why's that, meow?!"

"because your friendly policeman made the first trade." ...well, former policeman. "what did you say?! who'd you trade with, and what?!" alice demanded answers. "i gave sara the keymaster." you hummed, remembering when he had knocked on your door when the trading phase had just began. "then what card did sara start with?!" q-taro asked. "at first.. i was a commoner."

"you traded keymaster for a commoner, meow?!" keiji nodded. "and i deepened our trust doing it. let's do a little sort out. in the first trade.. i passed the keymaster into sara's hands. in the second trade, someone's sacrifice was swapped with q-taro's commoner. and in the third trade... sara's keymaster and q-taro's sacrifice were swapped." that cleared up half the trades."muscle gorilla! tell us everything you can remember, meow!" you doubted he remembered much. "you have an obligation to properly explain to us the third trade! i shall tell you. the third trade occurred while everyone was sharing the laptop."

alice spoke for a while, but you kept your eyes on
q-taro. there was something he wasn't saying, something he was holding back. "q-taro, standing there silent won't help your case. how did sara end up with your sacrifice?" he avoided your gaze, huffing. "i.. meant to cooperate... with sara.. with everyone! but i got used for convenience! i'm pathetic! a pathetic adult! the third trade.. my sacrifice being sent to sara... it wasn't me! it was sou's doing! sou knew, he knew i had the sacrifice! when everybody was sharing the laptop.. sou wasn't goin' to use the toilet... he went to a ring up box! to trade my sacrifice and sara's keymaster!"

"don't know a thing about that.." you rolled your eyes at sou's response. "w-wait a second! he chose two other people and made them trade..? you can do that?!" nao seemed panicked. "it... must be possible, huh." sou hummed. "so you can say that with confidence." keiji nodded. "sou, isn't it about time you confess? tell us your real reason for sharing the laptop." the teal haired man laughed. "such a deeply suspicious individual, keiji."

"how about i hear the truth from your mouth?" again, he laughed. "about what?" again, you rolled your eyes. here we go again... "q-taro couldn't do the third trade. the question is, how did you know the sacrifice?" sou shrugged. "couldn't anyone just take a peek to do that?" humming, you nodded. "well, i also wouldn't put it past q-taro to show you directly. say by.. showing you the tablet under the door? cause you already admitted you spoke through the door. maybe as a way to propose his deal, earn trust, who knows."

"sou, you had another objective on top of tokens and the sara folder. to control the sacrifice as you wanted." sou, for once, seemed to have no rebuttal. "... you got it. after the second trade, me and kanna were working on the escape plan. then i heard q-taro through the door. 'wanna make a deal?' he said. i didn't care to listen, but he slid his tablet under the door... and there i saw it, the sacrifice. how brave of him to go as far as offering up info just so i'd share the laptop."

"what do you know..?!... sara.. you.. saw that 1F security footage.. right..? well.. it's the truth. i haven't discussed my first trial, have i? just like f/n said.. it was one absurd trial, i tell ya. they told me.. 'set up the props used for the death game.'.." once again, you were correct. "then it's true?! you set up the cards?!" q-taro sighed. "yeah.. 'course, i didn't know what they meant yet... once i found out, i knew kai's fate was set..! it's like i killed 'im! kai took the sage card i just placed at random! that's why i at least wanted to get kai's laptop back... one more time..!"

"..such an emotional story. since all your tokens were given to f/n after your attempted solo escape, you went to someone you knew would be willing to trade with their tokens. how cunning, what a dirty adult you are. all told, you let yourself an escape route. me. so i sent the sacrifice to miss sara, always thinking of her allies. how she got rid of it, though, that's beyond me. i was hoping it'd make you tear off your sheep's clothing. but.. you went above and beyond my expectations. the fourth trade.. was you, wasn't it, miss sara?"

"um... i.." she stayed silent. now, he wasn't wrong. but should you fess up for her? who knows if she was willing to. "i didn't.. even have enough tokens. i couldn't do any trades." you sighed. "you did when i gave them to you. the fourth trade was sara's sacrifice going to me and my commoner going to her. right, sara?" the teenager sighed, avoiding your eyes. "...yes.." sou laughed. "ah, then i suppose the fifth trade was you, miss f/n? given you don't have the sacrifice... and, after the little scene you made, i doubt anyone would be willing to trade with you. so then, who'd you give the sacrifice to?"

"pretty sure i was asleep for the fifth trade." he grinned. "sure, then the sixth?" shrugging, you crossed your arms. "you said you were looking at me when the sixth trade happened. that being said, you'd see that i wasn't at a ring up box and wasn't making a trade." he hummed, thinking for a second. "keiji, you took the sacrifice from miss f/n, didn't you?" your eyes fell on keiji, who looked a bit taken aback. "what's the meaning of this..?!" kanna, for some reason, seemed especially surprised.

"it's really simple. the two of them were accomplices. miss f/n and keiji formed a terrifying plan involving the sacrifice. to achieve victory in the main game.. by way of said sacrifice. they schemed to escape by working together and having keiji win the vote. i suspect that the fifth trade was just miss f/n and keiji making a bluff. they just picked two random commoners to have trade." you deadpanned, trying to follow along with whatever the hell sou was yapping about. "then you say keiji shinogi has the sacrifice..?!"

"if my reasoning is correct... keiji is the sacrifice and the sage is... miss nao, perhaps?" you hummed, thinking about the possibilities. technically, those could be the roles, but you had nothing to do with it. "i-i'm the sage?!" nao seemed in disbelief- almost like she wanted to agree. "yep. so it may well be fine to have miss nao die this time." sou spoke so casually. "w-wait a second! at the start, you said you were the sacrifice!" he nodded. "yep, that was a lie. i'm a commoner."

"no way..! then.. wouldn't you be in the same boat as me?" sou hummed. "huh.. i see.. i guess choosing anybody but keiji is the same in the end... then let's vote kanna. since she's the least valuable." your eyes widened. suddenly- it hit you. like a train. "s-sou.." kanna stuttered. your heart ached. "enough. it's been a long time since i've hated somebody this much... here's a friendly little police report... i long since used up all my tokens." sou laughed. "and you want me to just believe that?"

"sou, you're dying to say i ended up being the sacrifice, aren't you? unfortunately... i'm the keymaster." you could barely listen to keiji speak, endless thoughts spinning around in your head. "hug..? w-what are you saying...? the keymaster is
q-taro, though..." if keiji is the keymaster.. then q-taro... "looks like we got 'im good. my real role is sage..!" you pictured the cards in your head, labelling them to everyone. it can't be... can it? running out of hope, words stumbled out of your mouth;

"kanna... are you.. the sacrifice..?"

"as far as in him lies, desire all truth." -plato