Chapter Text
A commotion of noise from the new people registering made Shuntaro finally take out his earbuds. How upsetting, he liked that song. He glanced around the room. Random strangers whispered to each other in the Tokyo-Haneda Airport and Shuntaro suspected lots of people, specifically untrained people, would not like this next challenge.
"You were right, Chishiya. It'll be a Spades game this time," Kuina nodded.
Shuntaro raised a cocky eyebrow in response.
"Like the bastard would be wrong," Niragi rolled his eyes, handgun twisting in his hands.
The floor beneath them was asphalt, cracked yet clean as if on purpose. Kuina, his only friend and the only true ally he had to try to get out of this damn place with (manipulated or not), and Niragi, the asshole he was sent with by the Martial Sect, were here with him. The chances of the only people he treasured (from before this hell) finding him, or vice versa, were so slim Shuntaro thought it would be almost impossible.
So he had all the right when his body stilled the moment he caught sight of Arisu walking up the steps. Shuntaro couldn't help himself to not eavesdrop, especially since Niragi didn't seem to notice or care while Kuina was busy trying to scan the competition and the challenge itself.
"There's a lot of people here," the dark-haired girl next to Arisu said. "Maybe one of them's a doctor."
No matter what their situation was, Shuntaro doubted there would be one here who would be willing to help them, and he'd probably do a Spades game on his own before volunteering to help any dead weight. No, that part of him had died a long time ago. He was sure it wouldn't do much good to reveal any part of his past to anyone. Shuntaro would much rather get hit by a bullet than tell Niragi or anyone from the Beach.
When the two looked around the room, Shuntaro got a hunch that he was about to be recognized.
And just like all his instincts, his thought was proven correct. The moment Arisu saw his face, he stared hard at Shuntaro in shock.
Arisu's vision seemed to be compelled to Shuntaro Chishiya's body, looking at each indent and limb of Shuntaro's body. He knew exactly why. There were bigger muscles, an all-black—and tight—outfit except for his long jacket, and a blank face staring back. Arisu's eyes lingered on Niragi, ignoring Kuina entirely, looking between the matching trio. He looked like he was going to say something but before Arisu could even open his mouth an automated chime cut him off.
"Registration has closed. There are a total of twenty-eight participants. The game will now commence."
"Excuse me. What is this?" a voice asked Arisu. "I was brought here and I... I don't know what's going on."
The girl answered for Arisu, "It's a game. The point is to survive whatever challenge they give us."
"Uh...My name's Tatta," the guy told them. "What are your names?"
"I'm Usagi," the girl said.
"Arisu," he said shortly, looking straight at the wall next to Shuntaro. Usagi regarded him with a strange look.
And she wasn't the only one. Shuntaro became more interested in every second, the way his hands wrung and his eyes became distant. Was the weird behavior due to him? How flattering.
"Nice to meet you two."
"Likewise," Arisu responded while Usagi just nodded.
The Tatta guy spun around once before questioning, "What kind of game is this one?"
"Difficulty," the automated voice said again, "Ten of Spades."
Shuntaro was almost amused at Arisu's pained reaction.
"One where your survival depends on winning," Usagi stated while stretching her body as if to warm up for training. "Other than that, all we know is that since it's Spades, the game is physical. Meaning only the strong will survive."
Shuntaro was getting more curious. How would they survive? Would they even be able to?
"Those fucks won't survive this," Niragi smirked, following his gaze to the horde of people buzzing with anticipation. "You planning on antagonizing them? 'Cause I can get behind that."
"Focus on the game, Niragi," Kuina mocked. "You aren't a Spades player, don't act like you are."
"Neither is Chishiya! Why the fuck are you only talking to me like that?!"
"Have you seen Chishiya's muscles? You might be taller but he's definitely more built. Pack it up, Noodle Arms," Kuina snickered.
"You fucking bitch—"
Shuntaro tuned them out, concentrating more on the girl beside Arisu. He had to stop himself from shaking his head. He was and would be better than her any day. No matter her skills. But whatever, it wasn't his problem anyway. All he had to do was grab the card at the end, pretend he never saw Arisu, and be on his merry way to getting the fuck out of there.
"The suit means something?" Tatta questioned.
The percentage of this guy surviving seriously went down with that single sentence itself. Shuntaro wouldn't be surprised if he died within a minute yet with how athletic and muscular Tatta seemed, neither would it be if he somehow survived.
Shuntaro spoke up in hope of shutting them up, ignoring the surprised glances from Kuina and Niragi. "Spades mean physical, Clubs mean teamwork, Diamonds mean your intelligence or wits, and for Hearts, you better hope you have no attachments to the people you play with."
Pain flickered through Arisu's face—and wasn’t that interesting? He must've played a Hearts game already.
Suddenly Shuntaro remembered the mentioned friends that he was always with. He blinked. That must've hurt considering Arisu's level of attachment when he had spoken about them in the past. Though technically, Arisu had never told him, but everyone else did, so it was close enough.
After they had all split up, he asked around just to find out that Arisu had two best friends now. Shuntaro never asked who specifically, but he never should have expected anything else.
The only person one could truly rely on was themself.
"Stop explaining the game to the dweeb duo. Look at them. Useless." Niragi sneered. Shuntaro gave him a bored look.
"Clear condition, finish the race and press the button within the time limit given. Only the first twenty people to press the button will be able to clear the game. Rule, you may not leave the race's borders. Rule, you must follow all instructions written on every station. Time limit, twenty-five minutes. Distance, three kilometers."
If Shuntaro hadn't become so athletic and agile, he would be praying right about now. It seemed some people around them had already taken to the idea. Kuina only grinned while Niragi licked his teeth, his face becoming hard like a stone.
Usagi looked at Arisu and nodded. "Stay safe alright?"
"You too," Arisu replied, "I'm hoping for everyone's survival."
Shuntaro smirked. Had he not listened carefully enough?
"Game, start."
When the short blaring noise came, everyone took off running, legs thundering with each step. Shuntaro stayed toward the back, keeping a bit of distance so as to not be pushed yet still maintaining a good pace. On the other side, Kuina stayed nearby but a bit farther up than him and Niragi a bit further up than that, near the front lines.
The thumps of feet running and heavy breathing filled up any air that had been for talking and the next station didn't seem even nearly halfway done.
Shuntaro guessed he'd run around two-hundred-and-ninety meters before they had gotten to the next station. The floor had changed from cement to sand and waves of sand flew through the air as if they were at a beach with tough winds.
He noticed a purple line across the floor with the words "300 meters" that proved Shuntaro's estimation right. Some people around them were already sweating, and everyone was starting to look increasingly nervous except for Niragi, Kuina, and a small group of others. Oh, and himself, of course.
Shuntaro wasn't feeling overheated yet. So he mentally smiled at the weighted vests he saw thrown against a wall. These annoying challenges could be therapeutic for him sometimes.
There was a pinned-up piece of paper with the instructions, "All players must grab a weighted vest relative to your body and run the next 600 meters through the sand. See your phones for your prescribed number of kilograms."
So not lifting? Goddammit. The game was a Tens game for a reason. Shuntaro checked his phone before walking toward the larger vests area, spotting a 40-kilogram vest and shoving his arms through. Well, this was going to be interesting, was his only thought as he began to run. Cardio was not his favorite.
His body was already starting to get tired, but he wasn't the only one. The realization came to Shuntaro quickly, the amount of weight wasn't for each individual's body mass but how much each person could hold and handle.
Almost everyone would be on the same level. How clever.
By the time he made it across the 900-meter line, Shuntaro shoved the vest so hard off of him it made a sharp crack as it hit the floor and startled most of the people around.
He had gotten genuinely annoyed at the vest and gave a glare to it before proceeding on.
Ah, so this is why they had more time than expected for three kilometers.
A climbing wall. Not only were they going across, but they were also going up. This game was getting more annoying the more time went on.
Two signs hung against each wall. They both read, "Reach the top."
Shuntaro had to stop himself from rolling his eyes. How helpful.
Looking back, he saw Arisu and Usagi shouting words of encouragement as they ran through the sand.
Shuntaro wanted to gag.
"Pathetic," Niragi said loudly, at the same time the two were able to hear him. "Anyone who dies in these games deserves to. Worthless people are worthless."
"Hey!" a close voice came from their right. "What did you just—"
"Arisu, don't!" a feminine voice said as Tatta stammered next to them. "He'll outpower you!"
"I don't care!"
The Martial soldiers turned to the two. Shuntaro's eyes darted to Usagi's hands, her fingers gripping his bicep and other hands pressed where his heart would be.
"Do you seriously need your girlfriend to hold you back?" Niragi looked bored yet arrogant until Kuina elbowed him in the gut.
Arisu's eyes met his. Disgusting, Shuntaro sneered. "The two pity parties deserve each other."
All four heads snapped to him, eyes wide. Even Shuntaro's widened a bit, taken aback by himself.
Niragi smirked while Kuina stared at him in shock, with Tatta in horror and Usagi looking angry. Last but not least, Arisu's face formed one of complete disbelief.
With Shuntaro's face now smoothed over, he turned away and started for the cliff-like wall.
Multiple ropes were on the floor, probably on the assumption that people would help each other once at the top. Of course, Shuntaro doubted anyone would actually use them. After all, who would waste precious time saving someone else at the risk of their life?
He almost tripped when someone smashed against him in a hurry, but luckily (or unluckily), a pair of hands caught the person before said person could fall embarrassingly onto the floor.
"Chishiya! Are you okay?"
Shuntaro raised his eyebrows. "Was I the one who fell?"
Arisu stammered but still looked at him in concern.
"Not that I don't mind helping, but we've got a timer ticking at us!" Usagi yelled.
Shuntaro stared right at him. Arisu's eyes widened as he immediately set himself up from Shuntaro's hands, sputtering and frantically making hand gestures before finally giving up.
"Sorry," Arisu winced and took off toward the climbing wall.
Shuntaro seriously considered letting himself drop to the floor and hoping some god out there took the wheel for him. There was only so much of Arisu he could take without wanting to pull at his hair. He was already exasperated and it had only been 8 minutes. No one usually had that much control over his emotions. But then again, usually, people weren't Arisu.
He cursed with every step in his mind. With the amount of sand he had brushed off himself, Shuntaro wouldn't be surprised if it was stuck in an unfavorable place. His nose slightly scrunched at that.
He took a deep breath and closed his eyes with the hope of randomly getting a surge of liveliness.
When Shuntaro opened his eyes, he looked back up to see Usagi already halfway up the steep wall with a rope in hand, calling to Arisu. Nope, that had not worked.
" Start moving the fuck up! " Niragi yelled from halfway up the climb.
The game must be a peer into hell, customized just for Shuntaro, except the challenge was not the physical obstacles.
With a great sigh, Shuntaro stepped toward a section of the rough and jagged concrete wall. It stood tall and broad at approximately sixty feet in height.
The first three holds looked about 6 1/2 feet from the foundation spaced accordingly. His observations of how to get past the huge rock wall would be to just—jump.
He steeled himself and begrudgingly used a burst of effort to propel himself off the floor, grunting when his right hand tightly gripped the hold. Pushing off the first hold, he used another to hold his right foot. His abs squeezed at the pull of gravity on his left side.
" You good? " Kuina called out.
Shuntaro huffed and gave a short nod.
He tried quickly calculating the need for force and cursed himself for not paying more attention to his higher math classes. Shuntaro wasn't a math geek like Arisu was. He was a master at elimination and strategy, not the physics of—whatever this was! There were lots of areas where he excelled, but of course, dynamic rigid body analysis was just not that big in his skillset.
He thanked himself for exercising so heavily.
Taking a long swing toward the next hold, Shuntaro leaped, his fingers brushing against the wall before barely grasping it with a strong grip.
Fuck.
At that rate, he wouldn't be able to climb up the whole way in the time frame he wanted. He was only about twenty-three feet above the ground.
A sudden thud had him glancing downwards at the person who fell.
Right, Shuntaro had forgotten for a second not everyone would be able to clear. Well, that gave him a little leeway.
He closed his eyes once more. When his eyes opened, his vision was narrow and he swung his body with as much swift force as he had.
Shuntaro wouldn't have realized he had made it close to the top if it wasn't for the powerful arm pulling him up.
"Are you okay, Chishiya?" Kuina asked, eyes doubtful.
Shuntaro straightened his posture, standing tall and assured of himself. "Why wouldn't I be?"
Though Kuina didn't even get a chance to respond as Shuntaro wandered toward the next station. He had heard a commotion up ahead at the next station and hurried his walk once he saw what it was.
A sign stood out on a metal table with scattered colorful packages and bottles. It read, "Take at least two."
There were snacks and water, granted not the crackers that Shuntaro was craving, but enough to help regain some of his lost energy. The people around him were going through the drinks and snacks like it was cash in the regular world.
Instead of following the lead, Shuntaro grabbed both a drink and a snack to consume and left the others to lead their own deaths when they would inevitably start feeling nauseous and go down like flies. He watched as Niragi ate a couple of bites of his snacks and a few sips of one drink but left the rest intact, while Kuina took three snacks, two of them being fruity jelly.
"Don't eat them all," he told Kuina. She froze before nodding and following his lead.
A couple people gave them a judging glance. Which they ignored. Shuntaro glanced over at the goody-two-shoes…and saw them both do the same strategy he had done.
Well, Arisu knew Shuntaro well for a good reason, he was smart. And Usagi had probably been instructed by Arisu.
Arisu was in the middle of explaining something to Usagi when they met eyes. When his lips stopped moving, Usagi turned around. She caught sight of Shuntaro and gave him a small wave.
"Why do they keep looking at you?" Kuina asked, popping up on his side. "Wait, did she just wave at you? Do they know you?"
Shuntaro kept his face blank but his mouth twitched downwards. Now what was Arisu exactly telling Usagi?
It was most likely something about him, wasn't it? He knew it was. How annoying.
As if he could feel the start of waves of irritation coming from Shuntaro's cold body, Arisu quickly tapped her and led her back into the race.
"How would I know?"
Kuina made a face of obvious annoyance, not impressed with his evasions. "Seriously, Chishiya? You always do. How does she know?"
"She doesn't."
"And the guy?"
Shuntaro just shrugged and walked away. "Later."
" Later what? " Kuina yelled after him but Shuntaro didn't give her a response.
True to his guess, as the race continued, seven others started to slow. The three that were already dead and a good probability of at least five others dying was all that was needed to make Shuntaro smirk and run faster. He just needed to make it through the next couple of stations. At this point, there was less of a worry with the number of people than the time limit.
The next station appeared to be a swimming contest. There were ropes randomly placed above the huge pool, seemingly not close enough to swing through and since there were no swimming clothes or goggles given, the people around him had already started stripping down to their underwear.
Niragi cursed loudly, emptied his gun, threw it to the side, and shoved the magazine of ammunition into his short's pocket.
There was a screen hanging on a huge bar in the center of the pool.
Shuntaro had no idea how many minutes were left on the countdown but he was sure it wasn't a lot. He needed a way to find a way through this quickly. He could see Niragi nearby him also looking around as well as Kuina in front of him suspiciously dipping a finger into the water.
"How are we going to do this?" she asked him.
"You see that man?"
"The swimmer?"
Shuntaro raised a brow. "Do you see anyone else close to the end of the pool?"
She glared at him. "Stop being condescending and just tell me what you're thinking."
He pointed to the man whose body was closest to the button. "Wait for him to hit the button."
"For what?"
" Usagi, climb a rope! Quickly! " Arisu yelled and Usagi did as she was told, like a fish flying out of water.
Kuina winced as the other people got shocked by the water as soon as the button was pressed.
"Well, shit just got a lot more interesting." Niragi raised a brow, a wicked smile sneaking up, "Let's see how many people I can fry!"
And with that, Niragi dived in, body looking as if working on overdrive to get to the end.
"We better get to the end," Shuntaro said. "He will be testing our limits as long as we are around him." He looked down at the either dead or struggling swimmers. There was a sneaking suspicion growing on him how the electrocution worked per person who pressed the button.
Kuina jumped in as Shuntaro gave a glance to Arisu. He seemed nervous and aware of everyone around him but also leaped in. Shuntaro sighed before following suit.
He swam to the nearest rope after a few minutes, seeing Niragi himself painfully get closer to the damn button. Usagi was at the end near the button but had not touched the button yet. Probably waiting for Arisu. Shuntaro climbed the rope, keeping himself a fair distance away from the water. He saw Arisu, Kuina, and two others do the same. Fifteen seconds later, the other three who stayed swimming were sizzled and cooked. They were down to eight people.
Dropping himself back into the water, he swam to the end along with Kuina, a frightened but tough woman, and Arisu. Shuntaro smirked when Niragi pressed the button and nothing happened. He was always right, watching in amusement as Niragi yelled at the button.
There was a cry coming from the water as someone cried from the very start of the pool. "I can't swim! Please!"
Make that seven. Arisu turned back, seemingly ready to jump back in to help. But before he could do anything the person was screaming as they had stepped out of the race's borders. Shuntaro's eyebrows rose as the person got a laser through the head. Hm, that couldn't be good for Arisu's mental health.
The woman who had finished with them quickly pressed the button, sighing with relief when she got a chime from her phone. Arisu looked pained but followed her, as did everyone else after him. A loud chime game from the speakers.
"Congratulations. Game complete." said the automatic voice.
That had been the longest twenty-five minutes of his life. He peeked at Arisu once more. A sudden spin to look back had Shuntaro caught. Arisu's lips lifted upwards, and he took a step forward, only for Shuntaro to take a step back.
With a sigh, he pivoted and walked out of the exit. Shuntaro's whistle made Niragi and Kuina follow, albeit Niragi scowled and yelled not to call him like a dog.
"Are you gonna tell me what that was about?"
"Later."
Kuina looked about ready to pull hair out.