It only took Keiji a few seconds to get the surveillance system running on the monitors.

You looked at the different rooms, and forced your eyes to stay away from the Room of Lies, where you could tell Reko and Ranger's bodies hadn't been taken care of yet. Your eye was drawn to a monitor which had Q-Taro in frame. He was standing outside of someone's bedroom. You could see him open his mouth, but there was no sound.

Another monitor displayed a bedroom. That would've been normal, if there wasn't a strange screen on the dresser. You wanted to point it out, but didn't get the chance to before you heard someone coming.

"Turn it off," You instructed, "Someone's coming." Keiji, as per your order, pressed a few buttons and shut off all the monitors.

It was a good call on your end. The person who walked into the room was Gashu. It would've been one thing if it was one of your allies, but you imagine it wouldn't be good if a Floor Master had seen.

He walked in, and stopped upon noticing the three of you standing in front of the monitors. "What are you three up to in here?" He asked.

"We were talking about the AIs." Joe lied, "They're interesting. Scary, but intriguing."

Gashu narrowed his eyes slightly, "Right. Indeed they are. Very well, then. I'll leave you be." He turned around, walking out of the room.

"Wait," Keiji called out, and Gashu turned back around, reentering the room, "Do all these monitors have AIs on them?" He asked.

"Yes, they do." Gashu perked up, seemingly excited to get to talk about them, "Every monitor has an AI of a candidate who survived their First Trial. Is that all you have to ask?"

"Yeah, you can get going now." Keiji waved him off. Gashu nodded, turning and leaving again.

You all turned to each other, "The surveillance system only shows this floor," You said. "And Gin wasn't anywhere."

"We aren't looking for Gin right now," Keiji said. "We need to find Ranger's chip first."

"But, what if he's in trouble?"

"...I think Keiji has a point," Joe said, "Even though you're also right, we need to find Ranger's chip. And... Gin isn't helpless. He can't always rely on us... So we need to trust in him."

You couldn't argue. You couldn't argue, because even if you did, they wouldn't change their minds.

And they were right.

"...Okay."

~ * ~

Keiji and Joe left you in the Monitor Room to make sure a Floor Master wouldn't be able to come in and use the surveillance system. The two of them made their way to the Room of Lies, assuming they could just find Ranger's chip somewhere in his body.

You sat down, leaning against the monitor machine. You were alone for the first time in awhile. You finally had the chance to think about your situation.

But instead of thinking about that, you thought about what Joe had said to you last night.

He likes and appreciates you.

And he held your hand. He fell asleep in your arms, but you hadn't gotten the chance to talk to him about what any of that meant, yet.

From the moment you left the bedroom, you were always with someone else. Never alone.

And... you weren't in the most ideal situation to be talking about your... feelings for someone.

So you'd push yourself away.

Which wouldn't be far, because it's not like you can ignore how you feel when him brushing his hand against yours makes your heart skip.

But you'd try to. You couldn't act on it.

You wouldn't act on it.

Because he was not in a situation where he could even entertain the idea of liking you.

So why should you?

"What the hell's your problem?!" You heard Alice shout from the Lobby. You were curious as to what was happening, but you couldn't leave. This would be the exact distraction someone would need in order to use the surveillance system.

And you couldn't let Joe down.

"C-Calm down..." You heard Gashu respond, which piqued your interest just a bit more.

"Why the hell should I?!'

"P-Please, don't—" Gashu grunted, "Don't... Make any rash decisions."

You hadn't seen Alice since Reko had died a few hours ago. He'd looked destroyed, then. He must've been angry now.

"Shut up! I'll kill you, god dammit!"

That wasn't good. You stood up, and walked out to the Lobby at the same time Keiji and Joe did. Alice held Gashu by the collar, holding him above the ground by a few inches. "I'll kill you." He said again.

"Alice!" You shouted, "What are you doing?!"

"He doesn't have the gun on him, right now." Alice said, as if that explained anything, "This may be my only chance to take revenge for Reko."

Alice didn't look good. His eyes were red. His face was unusually pale, and he had dark bags under his eyes. He looked so angry, but so hurt.

"Please, cease this at once, Alice!" Gashu ordered, but Alice didn't listen. You watched Alice nervously as more people entered the room to see the commotion.

"Really?" Alice scoffed, "What a joke. So even the Floor Masters value their lives, but can throw someone else's away so easily?"

"That's not what I mean at all! I-I'm trying to protect all of yours!!" He squirmed in Alice's grasp, but couldn't be released.

"That's fucking hilarious," Alice barked sarcastically, "As if you aren't the ones making us kill each other in the first place? Do you think we're idiots!?" Alice's grip tightened on Gashu shirt. "Tell us where the exit is, or I swear to God, I'll—"

"There is no exit!!" Gashu finally shouted. Everything went silent, and Alice hesitated.

"You're lying!" Alice responded, "How do you all plan to leave after all this bullshit is..." He paused, and his face fell, and he let go of Gashu. "Why are you wearing that?" Alice asked, "What the hell is all this?!"

"We are captive in a prison of our own making. Don't you see!" Gashu motioned towards his neck, where a metal collar, much like your own, held him hostage. "We can't leave either," He said, "Not until this is all over." Gashu brushed off his clothes, taking a deep breath, "Spend your time before the Main Game wisely, so as to not have any regrets." He said bitterly, walking out of the room quickly before Alice could get the chance to grab him again.

Alice sat on the couch, staring forward in angry confusion. None of it made sense.

"...As if we'd just give up so easily." Joe mumbled.

"Right," Sou said, "Just like our dependable Joe. Speaking of which, I need to talk to you. And Keiji. And Y/N." He turned to you, motioning for you to come over to him.

"Yeah, we need to talk to you, too." Joe said.

"Let me, first." Sou inhaled deeply, "I want to reconcile."

The three of you stood in silence. You narrowed your eyes at him. You weren't sure if he was full of shit or not.

He gulped nervously, "I-I... I mean it. All of us. I want us... to get along. I don't want to deal with our kidnappers any longer than you do. I don't want to watch anyone else die. Dancing around for our kidnappers enjoyment. I want us all to escape."

His gaze challenged Joe's, "And I mean all of us." He looked serious. It didn't seem like there was a hint of sarcasm or lying in his claim.

But Sou was known for being a good liar.

"What a moving speech." Keiji mocked, clearly not taking him seriously.

"Listen. I'm serious," Sou pulled out the laptop and held it out, but kept a tight grip on it. You could tell by the redness in his fingertips. "I want to share this with you guys. It's been charged. It's my bad for taking it, but it's not like I can do anything with it on my own, since I don't know the password."

"So you're really only working with us because we know the password." Joe said.

"You know the password? Great." Sou smiled.

Joe made a sound, slightly frustrated with himself for falling for Sou's trick. Keiji rolled his eyes, "It doesn't matter in the end. Whether we like it or not, we do need to work with Sou."

"You know what," Sou said, "As proof of our rebuilt friendship, let's shake hands." He offered his hand out to Joe, balancing the laptop in his other. You could see Joe's hesitance, but he shook Sou's hand regardless. Sou pulled his hand away, wiping it against his pants. "Kanna, you should reconcile too. Shake Joe's hand."

Kanna was timid. She didn't want Joe to have a bad reaction to her. Joe could see her discomfort. He squatted slightly, making himself the same height as her, and he held his hand out to her. "C'mon, Kanna," He said.

"...I'm sorry." She apologized, accepting his hand shake.

"What about me?" Q-Taro asked, grinning.

"Yeah, put 'er there." Keiji said sarcastically, forcing a handshake with Q-Taro. Seems he was still upset.

"Alice, you too!" Q-Taro said, "Let's look at this thing together."

Alice looked hesitant, but once your group made their way to the coffee table, his curiosity was piqued, and he joined the crowd behind the laptop.

After Joe put in the password, he went through all the files. Files about his interests. Files about Kai. Files about Sara and Joe's friend, Ryoko. Joe figured out the password for a locked file, and he began to read through it.

He spoke of a man who had intended to participate in the Death Game, but his file had been deleted. Strangely, though, it had been recovered. Linked was a photo of the man, and you swore your heart stopped beating for a moment.

And it seemed that was the case for everyone else.

Everyone, except Joe.

"Oh my god." You said. You couldn't remember how you remembered him. He had sickly green hair, and wore a black suit with a red scarf, similar to the one Sou clutched constantly. You recognized him, but you didn't know why.

You didn't know why.

You had no memories of him, so why was he familiar? Was something wrong with you?

Sou was the most uncomfortable of the group, "I... I'm going to use the restroom." He said, scrambling to get up and walk away. He disappeared down the hallway, and Joe continued to scroll.

"I don't know this man's name," Joe read, "But the only reason I could imagine the organization deleting someone's file is due to the death of the person. But if it was recovered, then perhaps he was revived."

"I don't understand..." Q-Taro mumbled, "Why is he so familiar?"

Joe stopped scrolling when Alice shouted, "That man!! I remember!" He pointed at the photo, "That is the man I killed two years ago!! It's... Sou Hiyori!!

You furrowed your eyebrows. Of course the name rung a bell, because that was the name of the man who'd been torturing you and Joe inside this Death Game, but he was not the man on the screen. That name didn't match the missing memory you had of him.

"Guys, c'mon. There's more to the message." Joe tried to get everyone to calm down from their confusion. He continued to read, "I found something else curious. There were supposed to be 21 participants, however—" Joe stopped when a loud sound rang out. A trade had been made.

Joe brushed it off, turning to look back at the laptop, but you placed your hand on his shoulder, "Joe, you need to check your role. I think something's wrong."

Joe was impatient. He wanted to know more. He craved any knowledge he could get from this man, but he listened to you. He pulled out his tablet, and stared at it with a bored expression for a moment.

He moved to put it back in his pocket, but he hesitated. He hid his screen from anyone's view.

You looked up from your own tablet, which still displayed Commoner on the screen, to see Joe looking pale.

"...Joe, are you alright?"

He exhaled shakily, looking up at you.

His eyes stayed on yours for a moment, and you could tell that your intuition was right.

Joe had the Sacrifice.

Joe scrambled to stand up in the same way Sou had a moment before, and he ran out of the room.

You panicked. You weren't sure what to do. You slammed the lid of the laptop closed, hurrying to follow after Joe, who had disappeared down the hall and gone into his bedroom.

You stood in the doorframe, watching him tear apart the bedroom. Pillows, blankets, and sheets were splayed over the ground with reckless abandon. Joe ran his hands through his hair as he breathed heavily, his eyes scanning the room for something. He looked up, and made eye contact with you. His chest inflated and deflated rapidly, and he looked scared.

He walked up to you, and tried to push past you, but you held your arms out to stop him from leaving the room, "Joe, please. You need to calm down."

"Y/N, please let me through."

"No, Joe. You need to breathe."

"No. Let me through." He wasn't asking anymore. His tone was slightly more hostile, and you could see the slight surprise in his attitude, but he stood firm. He clenched his fists by his sides. He didn't want to act like this, but he was distressed.

"Joe..." You hesitated. You didn't know what to say. Your heart was breaking, "You need... to calm down. You can't... act recklessly like this."

"I can't just die!" He shouted at you, and you took a step back in surprise. You'd never heard him speak so loud before. You were sure the others had heard him, too.

He stared at you, his eyes filled with tears that he wouldn't let fall. His face twitched, and he refused to blink. He wouldn't let himself cry. He wouldn't let himself be weak, because he needed to be strong for everyone else.

"If I die... I don't know... what will happen to you." He took a few steps closer to you, and you prepared yourself to push him away again, but he gently laid his head on your shoulder, not trying to force his way through you anymore.

"I'd never... be able to forgive myself... if I wasn't able to protect you." He said in a broken manner. You relaxed your tense muscles, giving into his vulnerability.

He wrapped his arms around you tightly, and before you could do the same, he twisted you both, so his back faced the hallway, and yours faced the mess he left in the bedroom. He pulled his head away from your shoulder, giving you a sympathetic look, before turning and running off.

"Joe!" You shouted after him. He didn't look back, just kept running down the hallway and disappeared in the Lobby, where the group no longer was.

Your eyes began to water up. You wouldn't imagine the pain he was going through. It would be impossible to replicate.

You looked back at the room he'd destroyed, the room you'd spent the last three nights with him in.

And you ran away from it. Because you needed to go after Joe.

~ * ~

You ran into the dark hallway that led to the Room of Lies, entering at the same time Safalin left. Someone else had entered, though. And you watched as they entered the Room of Lies.

But it wasn't Joe.

It was Gin.

You went after him, stopping just inside of the room to see him hugging Joe, who was on his knees, sobbing.

"You need to believe... In the real Big Sis Sara!" Gin said, trying to comfort Joe.

Joe sobbed into the puffy fabric of Gin's clothes.

"How... can I? I can't... do anything." Joe said through sobs.

"You just have to believe. Believe in the real Sara. Believe in Y/N and me. Believe in yourself, woof!"

You watched. You just watched. You should be helping, but your heart was caught in your throat.

Heartbroken.

~ * ~

2852 words

10/9/23