Demise Game

[ISORA END] traitor

By the time club was over, you were exhausted.  Don't get it wrong — you truly were happy everything ended the way it did.  It was the best case scenario.  You never thought this would be the outcome, and you were more than just grateful for it.  In stories, sometimes the endings weren't so optimistic and happy...  But this wasn't just some story.  It was your life.

        By some combination of skill, determination, and pure luck...  You all had made it out.

        A part of you wanted to go straight home.  You were tired, and you wanted to help your mother prepare for dinner tonight; after all, a majority of the Tokiwadai Journalism Club, Enoru, and Shiki were all supposed to come over.

        However, there was one thing left unresolved: Isora.

        Everybody had memories of their games and what happened, but nobody had been around for what Isora had done to you and Enoru.  He hadn't shown his face at school at all, either.  Perhaps it was for the best; truthfully, you weren't sure how you would react if you saw Isora again.  Memories of that night still haunted you, and you were still healing from your injuries.  Stab wounds didn't heal overnight, after all.

        You weren't dumb enough to go to Isora's house.  That was just asking for it.  At the same time, though, you didn't feel...  safe, walking back home.  You may have a new address thanks to burning your previous house down, but you doubted it would be hard for him to find the apartment your mom and you now lived in.

        And so, instead of walking home, you took a detour to the park.

        The park didn't hold the best memories.  Memories of being watched early on in the game while you were on the swings still sent shivers down your spine, but that was Shuuen (who was, now, dead).  You just...  Needed a place to think, where you wouldn't be bothered.

        As usual, the park was dead.  Part of it was probably the weather that was steadily growing colder and colder, but the park had never been popular to begin with.  It wasn't kept up very well, and it was in a somewhat spooky location.  It had been one of your favorite retreats when you were younger, considering you had never been much of a people person.  Only Hanami seemed to know that you frequented this place (but the blonde also knew that when you were here, you more often than not wanted to be alone).

        You sat down on a swing, your mind preoccupied.  Everything...  Had ended the best way it could.  Shuuen was dead, and all of your friends and previous participants were alive.  This was the best possible ending you could have hoped for.  You had outsmarted a demon at his own game!

        But you felt... restless.  As if things weren't completely over yet, wondering when the other shoe would drop.

        Your thoughts kept circling back to Isora.

        It could have been so easy to blame his behavior all on the game.  Dealing with demons, facing your deaths...  It could warp anybody's mind.  After all, Shuuen had been trying to trick you all into thinking there was a traitor, so while it didn't excuse his actions, it certainly explained them.

        At least, that's what you'd say if it weren't for his own admittance that he had been watching you for years.

        I've been watching [Y/n] for a couple years now, after all.

        How long had those cameras been in your house?  You couldn't remember inviting Isora over, ever, which made it significantly worse.  What was stopping him from breaking into your new apartment and planting cameras around there?

        No.  Even before the game, something had been fundamentally wrong with Isora, and now that you thought over it clearly...  You could see all the warning signs.  Things you wrote off as just 'weird' now seemed more sinister.