70) King of Hearts [1]

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"In the end, I suppose that is why I took this risk. Why I planned such an elaborate scheme to assassinate my adversary, just to expend all my effort attempting to create the most effortless game possible, which would seem hard enough to fool a god."

===Niko Chenay===
Chef • Foreign Exchange Student
Specialty:

I shivered. The room wasn't even cold, yet I shivered, as if a sudden gust of ice had washed over me. The lights dimmed, and the curtains were drawn apart.

"At this point, until specified, no players may get up from their chairs, unless you wish for a sudden death."

Behind the velvet fabric revealed two thrones, one empty, and the other holding a preserved corpse in a suit, yet still instantly unleashing a sour scent of death into the room. Several spotlights began circling the room, my eyes narrowing as they passed over me.

"Introducing the fool, King Ōki Yaba!" The spotlight stopped on his body, as a fly landed on his hands. Besides me, Aulia gagged, taking a sip of water.

Aulia Choi
Restaurateur
Specialty:

The spotlights started up again, as a set of drums in the corner of the room played itself. However, unlike the previous King, this one simmered for much longer, until finally, and announcer continued.

"Now... The moment you've all been waiting for. The one and only true King of Hearts, give it up for..."

The spotlights continued, the drumroll growing fast. Despite my chills, a bead of sweat rolled down my neck.

"HAH! You think the King's identity would be revealed just like that?"

The spotlights and drumroll ceased, and the lights came back on.

"That's it?" Tori asked, as the room began growing loud again. "The King takes every chance to derive pleasure from us."

Tori Jakurin
College Student
Specialty:

Ashikaga shrugged. "What'd you expect? Of course it won't be this easy."

Ashikaga Kayami
Ōendan Member
Specialty:

"Just kidding!" The announcer said again, as the room plunged into the same darkness. "We'll tell you the King of Hearts. This game will be much, much harder than simply finding out their identity."

"Oh for fuck's sake." Kai hissed.

Kai Shiro
Police Officer
Specialty:

"Everyone, please give a warm round of applause for your esteemed King of Hearts!"

The spotlights spun again, before this time, stopping on someone.

A man.

A man within our inner circle.

It stopped on Rafferty Bucke.

Rafferty Bucke - King of Hearts
Forensic Scientist (On Probation)

Specialty:

"Rafferty Bucke!"

Rafferty remained silent as he rose, but his expression, in that instant, changed. It was cold. Angry. Cruel.

"H-Huh?" Judumai stammered.

Judumai Waka
Pianist
Specialty: None

"No. It can't be." I whispered.

"Raff...?" Gabura said.

Gabura Sachi
Athlete
Specialty:

"This has to be some sort of joke." Ashikaga breathed.

The rest of us remained in stunned silence, before Zakū pulled out a letter from his pockets. "I'll be damned. Once my enemy... Kazetani ended up being the one to warn me."

Zakū Raisunei
High School Student
Specialty:

He retrieved the paper from the envelope, and unfolded it for us to read.

Rafferty is the King of Hearts

The room began erupting into pandemonium, and Benkei launched his chair forward, snatching the letter. "What the hell? Why didn't either of you two tell us?"

Benkei Furetcha
Waiter
Specialty:

"We could've fucking killed him!" Tori yelled.

"Would any of you guys have wanted to believe us?" He asked. "And plus... If Rafferty knew that we knew, we would've had our lives in jeopardy. You think he wouldn't be able to tell if we all conspired against him? If even me and Maeda attempted to do something? No–he would've ended all of us. He knows how much we trust each other. Our throats would've been all slit in our sleep."

"Kid's right." Aoyama said, throwing back her hair. "Rafferty would've sniffed any suspicion out immediately, and taken care of it. Kazetani probably already hesitated a great deal, because the sole act of sending that letter truly did endanger each of our lives. It's a miracle Rafferty couldn't tell just from Zakū and Maeda's expressions what the letter truly said."

Aoyama Tōka
Vigilante • Musician
Specialty:

"Yeah, well thankfully I've had someone mentoring the way I act." Zakū said, nudging Maeda.

Maeda Mihoko
High School Student
Specialty:

"And what if we did kill Rafferty?" Ashikaga asked. "Are they just going to get a new King? At this point of the game? Or would the King of Hearts just be rendered unclearable?"

"Silence!" Rafferty bellowed. With the single prompt, the room cleared of all noise. "W-Welcome, players, to the final game you will all be p-playing. Before anything else, just know that any act of violence against me... And you w-will have your story ended, in that instant."

"Why..." Judumai asked. "Just... Why?"

Rafferty sat on his throne, resting his foot and his thigh, and smiled. "W-What surprised me is how no one could tell earlier. I d-didn't expect the first and only person to finally realize it to be Kazetani. W-Well, I guess that's the reason I considered him to be one of the t-top threats."

"He's articulating his words." Gabura whispered. "Notice how he's stuttering a lot less now."

"I... Had a very fleeting suspicion that his letter to you two," he nodded to Zakū and Maeda, "contained s-some sort of giveaway, though w-without smoking gun proof, I couldn't take any measures."

"I... I chose to save him." Tori muttered. "Oh my god... I chose to save him!"

Rafferty chuckled. "Rest assured, Tori, even if w-we hadn't been the dearest of friends, I w-would've still come out of that shrine alive. Regardless of w-what the answer w-was, as long as either you or Chihaya w-won, both of you w-would've chosen me."

"But... How?" Aulia asked. "How could you do this to us? Play with our feelings for weeks, months, only for it to come to this?"

"It didn't have to be this way, if anyone w-would've just noticed sooner."

"How?" Zakū asked, sitting back. "I'm curious. Tell me about the giveaways."

He smiled. "Let's start at the very beginning, shall w-we? Judumai, think back to the Six of Clubs, a game of teamwork that w-was rather physical. In that game, I almost died. You saved me, w-with a second to spare. I learned my lesson that game: physical games w-were not my forte, so I never played in one again... except for the Eight of Spades, courtesy of my friendship with Makasu."

Gabura stiffened, taking a deep breath and gripping her gun tighter. "So, to ensure my survival, the collars were altered s-so one of them would be ineffective no matter if y-you look at the demon. That collar was the smallest collar of all the sizes." A video played on the TVs, of Rafferty at the table, selecting a collar.

They seemed to vary in size too, to suit all neck widths. I took the smallest one, the collar so tight it could barely go around my throat, and it snapped into place.

"Did no one else notice that? Isn't it w-weird how all of the games have one-size-fits-all collars, except for that Eight of Spades? And it w-was only because the smallest one was designed for me specifically, so I could play the game yet have no risk of d-death."

He turned to me. "And Niko, I really didn't lie to you, did I? Remember h-how I said in the game I had been here for a long time, and how I knew for a fact I had b-been here longer than any of you guys?"

"I've b-been here for a pretty long time, I know f-for a fact I've been here longer than a-any of you. I guess I would consider m-myself a veteran." I replied, opening window shutters and peeking into the buildings.

I swallowed, nodding.

"However... After that, I was paranoid, so for the rest of the First Stage, I made sure to cover my tracks. Except for the Ten of Hearts, w-where my player number was thirteen, the position of the king in a deck of cards. I thought that w-would be a fun and discrete enough clue.

"The next sign was the expedition t-to the dealer's base. Did absolutely none of you find it w-weird how I had disappeared that morning? How I just knew my way to the base, and was already there w-when you all arrived." The video switched to showcase Rafferty snooping around in the dealer's base, wearing a mask and red suit.

"Oh my god..." Benkei whispered.

"I had done a good e-enough job at setting up my eccentric nature and quirks, to the point I was certain you'd all just ch-chalk it up to an average antic of mine." He said. "And I w-was correct. It w-was the perfect opportunity to record all the messages I need for all future announcement broadcasts."

"What about the announcement for the start of the Second Stage?" Maeda asked. "You were right beside us?"

Rafferty waved his hand. "That w-was recorded w-way, w-way ahead of time. Dealer w-was a pretty good actor, w-wasn't she? Made you all think she w-was actually about to die. But it doesn't end there. Did no one notice the odd speech patterns of every announcement? The slow talking and constant pauses? It held true for all announcements and even the dealer video of me talking to Koharu. The reason? It was to mask my stutter! W-Who else w-would speak like that? It w-was only to mask wh-what w-would instantly give me away!"

"No fucking way!" Ashikaga cursed. "How did none of us realize that?"

"I didn't even know it was possible to hide a stutter!" Benkei admitted.

"By avoiding certain w-words or syllables, yes." Rafferty said. "In fact... I did it in my first game, the Nine of Hearts."

He played several clips of him sitting around a table, with several others, each wielding a gun. Judumai wailed, turning his head at the sight of Hideo.

In each clip, he spoke short, simple sentences. And none had a stutter.

"With the adrenaline of my f-first game, and thinking my life w-was truly on the line, it aided me." He said. "But going forward, I stopped putting that much effort into hiding i-it. The speaking pattern of the announcements is wh-what I consider the biggest giveaway, but there's more. My encounters w-with other citizens. Both the w-witnesses are now deceased, but wh-when I first ran into the King of Spades, Tezuka, he laughed loudly and didn't shoot me immediately. Obviously because he recognized me. The same happened w-with Koharu. Wh-When I first met her, and had to pretend to be angry, she laughed. W-We w-were actually pretty good friends, as I'm sure you could tell by the dealer's base recordings."

He played the clips of the encounters he mentioned.

The King was faster, rolling and dodging the shot, before taking the gun and killing the attacker, then the two attackers who remained on the street. He then turned to Rafferty, making eye contact, proceeding to laugh.

Koharu met eyes with him, and after a moment, burst into laughter. "Surprised to see me? I've been expecting one of you guys soon. It was only a matter of time."

"But... You're a citizen!" Ashikaga said. "How could you play in the Queen of Diamonds game?"

"The rules are that either citizen of the game must die, or the p-players wh-who challenged them must. Well, I didn't w-win, did I? Tori did, they simply chose to save me. The rules w-weren;t broken, a citizen didn;t beat another citizen at their own game. Instead, a player beat a citizen, and just so happened to save another citizen."

"Holy shit." Ashikaga hissed. "No way this is real."

"But that's not all..." Rafferty said. "Remember the entries f-for the King of Heart's journal, and how Kazetani found out they w-were stolen?"

Tori nodded; they were the only one who remained from the Queen of Diamonds.

"Remember how Kazetani left his book bag in the clearing? And Tori had their head turned the whole time, wh-while I w-was the last one to enter the building? And how I had my hands in my pockets? It w-was the perfect opportunity. I didn't mind him reading the majority of it... But the final bit had invaluable information to the t-true depths of my character, and revealed my identity. W-Well... That's about all that I can think of. Impressed?"

"No... No way. No fucking way..." I muttered. "You..."

"Sorry, old friend." Gabura said. "But we're not letting you win. You're going to die today."

He laughed, walking behind his throne. "Bold words. You all h-have no idea how easily life can be snuffed out..."

From behind his chair, he pulled forth a sketchbook. It was Charī's sketchbook.

"No!" Zakū shouted, leaning forward in his chair. Maeda snatched his arm, holding his arm.

"Zakū! Don't accidentally get off your chair!"

"You... You fucking bastard!" Tori shouted.

"All these memories..." Rafferty murmured. "All these l-legacies left behind, all these names embroidered." He flipped through the pages, flashing it towards the crowd, revealing bits of the night around the fire following the Ten of Clubs, when we had all signed our names.

"That's n-not all though." He continued. "Everyone in the Queen of Diamonds signed off w-with the sweetest departure messages. That girl, wh-what w-was her name? Oh right... She simply w-went by Hanako."

"Huh?" Gabura jostled, Aoyama holding her arm back. "What the hell did you do to her?"

He shrugged. "Nothing. She died in that game. Turns out... Raiya actually got her to sign her r-real name in the notebook. I found out wh-when I flipped through it." Rafferty tore through some of the pages, bending the cover, and folding the spine. "Too bad w-we'll never find out."

"I should've picked up the notebook." Tori said, scotting their chair over to Zakū and holding his hand. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

"It's okay." He assured, looking into their eyes, his expression wavering. "It's okay, your life was in danger. I don't hold that against you."

"The drawings Raiya s-sketched to memorialize your fallen comrades... The signatures and messages of hope w-we had all forged from the depths of our hearts following the Ten of Clubs..."

He dropped the wilted and crumpled sketchbook, pages and parts of the cover torn. The binding had been unraveled, stickers on the front peeled off, edges scratched and undulated. Rafferty pulled a small bottle of gasoline and matchsticks from his pocket, dousing the sketchbook in the liquid, before lighting a match, and dropping it.

The sketchbook lit up in a blaze, the edges shrinking into black ember and peeling into tendrils of ash, the cover and stickers decoloring.

"No..." Maeda muttered, shaking her head. "No... No... No!"

"You monster!" Benkei growled. Zakū remained catatonic, his eyes wide, hands gripping the armrests of his sleep.

"How... How could you do this to us?" Judumai cried under his breath. "How could you play with our feelings and toy with us?"

"This w-was simply inevitable." Rafferty said. "I'm sorry it had to c-come down to this, but w-we w-were never truly friends. I have no more lies or deceit. It was always going to be this w-way, and I knew from the start.

"Of course you knew from the start!" Aulia protested. "Probably had fun when your name was revealed and you saw the shock on all our faces!"

"I've enjoyed this so far, I'll admit. Yet also, I had fun before w-we came here. And I mean that... Truly." His expression faded, before hardening once again."But w-we aren't here to talk about wh-what I enjoy, are w-we?"

"Let's get on with the rules." Zakū said with a firm voice, crossing his arms. "Moping around in a betrayal won't help us."

He turned to Zakū, still casting a lifeless stare. "Agreed. You w-were always focused, Zakū."

Rafferty turned around, clapping his hands, and the floor opened up in front of the stage, revealing a table with a massive empty bowl, with a screen facing us. Within his tattered coat, he retrieved a scroll and quill. "Under everyone's chair is a pencil taped underneath. Write y-your name onto the sticky note, fold it, and deliver it into the bowl."

He wrote each of his words down onto the scroll. "There are zero room f-for tricks. Write only your own name. And remember... Any violence against me w-will be met with an immediate end to you. You may proceed."

I got up, crouching down and retrieving the pencil tapes underneath the chair, and scribbled my name on it, before folding it into a small square. Besides me, Judumai wrote out his name with a wobbly hand, crumbling it in a rough motion.

We got up from our seats, heading towards the bowl and each depositing our names. Aoyama, Gabura, and Kai still carried their guns with them.

"What could this game possibly be?" Ashikaga whispered, dropping off her slip.

I shrugged. "Maybe we're drawn one by one to attempt some sport of psychological trial."

Rafferty kept his eyes observing us the whole time, his head traveling from face to face, like a hunter looking when to pounce. With each paper we entered, the number went up by one, until finally, it reached 116.

'He's still one of us.' I thought. 'Maybe it's naive to think this way; I'm sure right now I'm the only one giving him any empathy. I don't know what to make of all of this, but him being a citizen doesn't mean he didn't go through what we went through too. The only game he had protection was in the Eight of Spades. Maybe I really am too naive.'

"That's everyone." Rafferty announced. "Return to your seats, at once."

We shuffled backward, as he dug through the bowl of raffles, picking up a few slips, then dropping them back in. "All these names... I w-wonder who's going to be first? But regardless... First w-we need to be clear on the rules."

He remained silent, walking back onto the stage, and for the first time since his identity was revealed, he cracked a smile. "Volition Raffle, difficulty King of Hearts. This game... W-Will be unlike any game you've ever played before. I can tell you right now that if you attempt to clear this game through n-normal methods, you w-will fail.

"If your name is d-drawn, you must partake in a trial that w-will test your mind from its deepest depths to its grandest heights. Each of these trails has been designed with months of monitoring and observation, all for th-this game, my magnum opus. You can either survive or clear your challenge, and if you clear it, you may add a new rule to my l-list."

He pointed to his scroll. "The rules can be anything; it w-won't help you much in the long run anyways. However, there are three conditions that added rules must not infringe.

"First, it cannot be something that results in my death or jeopardizes my life, such as 'If the King of Hearts breathes, he dies,' nor can it automatically end the game.

"Second, it cannot prevent me from changing any future rules.

"Third, it must be physically possible.

"W-With each turn, three names w-will be drawn. Then after each die or survives their trail... There'll be three more. Then three more. And again. And again. And again. And then, wh-when every raffle has been

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