Demise Game

29.eavesdropping

You were greeted by a blubbering Hanami as you regained consciousness, your head on her lap as she panicked.

        "You're up!" she exclaimed, and her voice felt as loud as the thunder that rolled through the sky.  "I was about to call an ambulance, and— oh, I am so sorry!  I wasn't paying attention, and I was actually going to your house, and I just—"

        "Hanami, calm down," you groaned, slowly sitting up.  The back of your head hurt.  You hope you didn't get a concussion from that fall.

        The blonde helped you to a stand.  She let you go, but her hands still hovered, unsure if you could stand on your own after having been knocked down.  While you were a bit wobbly, you were ultimately fine.  Just a migraine.

        "I'm fine," you insisted, seeing how tears welled in her eyes.  Her eyes were puffy; no doubt she was crying when you passed out, but you had a feeling she was crying long before that.  "What happened?"

        "I...  I got the Book," she said in a shaky voice.  You sharply inhaled.  It was just as you suspected.  No doubt Isora had received it too.

        "Let's go back to my house," you told her.  "Just in case."  You weren't as worried about people overhearing as you should have been.  No, the only thing you were worried about was the fact that you had an impostor to look out for.

        The walk back to your home was quick, although just before you had reached your street, it had started to downpour, drenching you and Hanami both.  The two of you ran into your home, dripping water everywhere.  The lights were off — no doubt your mom had gone ahead to work.

        After both of you were sufficiently dry (Hanami had borrowed clothes from you so she wasn't drenched), the two of you huddled on the couch with hot chocolate and blankets.

        Still no sign of Shiki.

        "Do you still have the Book?" you decided to start, and Hanami shook her head numbly.

        "No...  I wanted to bring it here, but it was already gone."

        "Same," you replied grimly.  Hanami's eyes widened.

        "You too..?!"

        You nodded.  "Before, the book had stuck with A-me and B-sei both, and I'm certain that the rules for their games were in it.  This time, it disappeared.  I think it's because we all got urban legends at the same time."

        Hanami worried on her lower lip with her teeth, biting down hard enough to leave indents.  "All of us...?"

        "In my letter, Shu— er, Kokkuri-san said he was giving us the legends at the same time so that we couldn't team up together."

        Hanami sunk into the blankets a bit, frowning.  "What...  What do we do, then?"

        The question of the ages: what did you guys do?  Obviously, first and foremost, you all needed to survive your respective games.  Even though Isora still had yet to reach out to you and Hanami, you were sure he had gotten his own legend.  How did you broach the topic, though?  Claiming that Shuuen had told you in your dreams wasn't really trustworthy.

        As if Hanami could read your inner turmoil, she frowned behind the mug of hot chocolate.  "You corrected yourself...  What were you going to call Kokkuri-san?"

        You couldn't help the grimace that appeared on your face.  The last thing you wanted to do was tell Hanami the truth about your dreams — but this had gone on long enough.  Trust was a two-way street, and you couldn't expect Hanami to trust you when you were withholding vital information.