Chapter 41-kindness, or blindness?

162 4 0
                                    

"The assassin, huh?" You mumbled, making Akira turn his head towards you. You ruffled his hair, telling him, "Akihiko's most likely the assassin. Don't know why, but I've got a feeling he's controlling the role of the players."

Akira tilted his head. "But isn't that cheating? The rules are the rules. Besides, he's taken some risks before." 

"Fair enough, but should I use my vote for him? I'm pretty sure there are others who will vote for him too," you were lost in a train of thoughts, the dilemma consuming you alive. Should you vote for him or not? 

"Hearts are not my specialty. Besides manipulation and trust, I have too much to lose. I wish Shuntaro was here," you looked around the room at the other players who were now discussing about the new role, who it could possibly be, but more importantly the murderer.

WWCD. What would Christ do, but you preferred calling it 'What Would Chishiya Do'. You always thought about it during diamonds or hearts games. Physical games were your forte, but you were good at other games too. However, hearts games were clearly your weakest point. It was not that you were bad at choosing who to trust, it was that you had too much to lose. Your brother, your life, your pride, your status.

"Just shove it all away. Your life has no meaning now, all that is to be focused on is the game," Akihiko whispered, walking past you two. 

He was right.

In these situations, Chishiya would usually tay calm and cool. Being a man who lacks a will to live, he rarely has a care for someone, or even himself. That was what made him so solid, as cool as a cucumber during every single game. He had absolutely nothing to lose, but his life, which he obviously did not bother about. If there was a definition of unbothered, it was him.

"Sis? Earth to you. Stop thinking about Chishiya and focus on the game, can we?" He snapped his fingers in front of your eyes, your mind in a completely different world. You told him what Akihiko had just told you, him lip reading it easily with lots of practices before with you.

You wandered around, Banda being at the cafeteria eating snacks. He spied on other players secretively, watching out for any suspicious behavior. He seemed to enjoy hearts games the most out of every suit. You could tell that his weak suit in the games were the clubs games. He was never a 'we' person and always relied on himself, having pros and cons of himself. Well, everybody has their strengths and weaknesses.

On the other hand, Ayaka was having a mini breakdown in her own cell. She used a piece of tissue paper that she had stored in the pocket of her cozy sweater to wipe the tears on her face, the rest of the papers were scattered on the ground, crumpled into messy balls. Apparently, after losing her husband in a game and having to experience a miscarriage of her beloved baby that was the last memory she had of him, she was then broken. Her heart and soul were crashed into pieces, just like fragile glasswork.

That was the thing about humans. Crash their core, and they were good as gone. The human heart was something that was like fine works of glass. Once it broke, it could never fully mend. Sure, you could just tape it back together, but it would never be in the same state as it was before. Psychology, or rather say, dopamine, is a bitch.

"You know what, I'm risking my vote on Akihiko. There should be at least someone else who will vote for him," you clenched your fist tightly, digging your sharp, outgrown nails into the skin on your hand that held burn scars from the seven of diamonds game.

Akira shrugged his shoulders. "If you're voting for him, then I am too. I can never let you die. But if you do by any chance, I promise I'll disembowel myself out of shame for not protecting you," he muttered, eating the packet of Oreos he had collected from the snack bar not too long ago.

"Then I shall promise the same thing," you picked up his half-eaten Oreo, taking a tiny bite out of it. You had to admit, that chocolate-flavored biscuits with the sugary cream in the middle of them tasted good. No wonder it was so trendy among kids that day. However, it was utterly overpriced. Either ways, your homemade cookies were still the best. The last sentence you read was most definitely not self-praise.

You noticed that Banda had walked out of the snack bar, hearing the sounds of his shoes on the floor. you signed to Akira that Banda was coming. 

"Banda." You stopped him in his tracks. He took two steps back, making eye contact with you. Using a small square-shaped cloth to wipe off the blood from your wounds in the earlier game, you questioned him, "Found out the murderer? Or would you like to keep it a secret from me?"

"Kyoto. The man in the hoodie. I can tell he's trying to get nobody to vote for him. Hiding behind that hoodie is a web of lies, and he's a coward for being so scared. But, that's what I like about him. I want to enjoy this game with him." He crept off as quietly as a mouse, not leaving a sound.

"May all players proceed to their cells for the fifth voting session to commence."

Voting for Akihiko, you remained strong as steel, confident in your decision.

Once you saw that every player had placed their votes down, you noticed that a few people had voted for Akihiko, some more voting for Kyoto.

"The assassin for this round is Kyoto Hizoshi. As more than one person has voted for him, he is unable to kill anybody this round." You slumped your shoulders I'mr relief, silently saluting to Banda and Keiko who had voted for him, but as for Keiko, you thanked Yaba for ordering her to do so.

"The murderer for this round is Kayami Akihiko, the king." Those few words made you straighten your posture in shrill fear. Less than people had voted for him, allowing him to kill one of you, including Akira. The air thinned and you found yourself unable to breathe. Then, he had selected to kill Ayaka, who was your 'teamate'.

You gasped, flabbergasted by two things: 

1. He chose to kill neither you nor Akira.

2. He chose to kill Ayaka, rather than the hooded man or you two?

Before Ayaka could die, you heard her mumble from the cell next to you, "Yuki-chan, in that game, you saved me, and I promised that I would pay you back in some way. I hope I was useful to you. Please...win this for—" there was an explosion heard from next door, and Ayaka had dropped dead.

"Round six: start."

You headed out of your cell, standing outside Ayaka's cell. A tear ran down your cheek, but you looked up to the ceiling and blinked the rest away, remaining strong despite losing one of your comrades. It was normal, but the feeling of absolute despair could never change. 

"I always knew that you were too innocent for this world, Ayaka oba-san," you rubbed your eye and moved on. 

(Oba-san means aunt, while Obaa-san means grandmother/ an elderly lady. :) It depends if you stretch the 'a' or not)

Sometimes, the kindness of people turn into blindness. Kindness was not always a good value to have, especially in places like the borderlands. Well, to gain something, you first had to abandon something. What could you not do in order to survive?

Not all people could be saved all the time.

(Ah, personally my favorite made-up side character is Ayaka because she's so kind-hearted and she never tried to betray Yuki!! She's that one kind middle-aged/old lady that I truly respect from the bottom of my heart!)



The Queen of Spades (promise this is good)Where stories live. Discover now