"We need to reason out who the Sacrifice is."

"Nothing here is reasonable. Nothing makes sense, and the fact that Sou isn't willing to cooperate with us isn't making anything easier."

"The Sacrifice would probably be someone with a low amount of tokens, right? So they couldn't trade it away."

"No, I was with Joe when he got traded with. It must've been someone who had more tokens than us, since we never had enough in the first place."

"So it's likely that Sou really does have the Sacrifice, since he'd had at least 50 tokens left over after trading between Joe and Q-Taro."

Everything was so confusing. No one knew who or where to start with, and time was slipping away.

"Well it's also possible, again, that someone had forced two others to trade with each other. Which means it really... could be anyone..."

"Nao probably has the least likelihood of possessing the Sacrifice. She hasn't been suspicious, and she couldn't have traded the card to herself."

"Y-You're gonna kill me with that reasoning?!" She shrieked, "Seriously... think again! Keep discussing, please..!"

Back and forth, it always ended with Nao. She was... being strange.

"She could've taken the tokens from Reko's dead body." Sou said, staring right at her.

"I already said Reko didn't have any." Joe dismissed.

"Was that before or after Nao had left the room? She could've taken them."

"We need to talk about what we were doing during the trade then," Joe stressed, "What happened before... doesn't matter right now. Where was everyone after our failed attempt at escaping?"

"...Our what?" Q-Taro asked quietly, but no one heard him.

Nao explained first, "I was sitting on the stairs. Y/N and Joe can vouch for me! S-Same with Gin... They saw me. We didn't talk, but..."

"Yeah. We saw Nao on the stairs. And like she said, the three of us were also there..." Joe confirmed.

"Obviously... I was working on the laptop." Sou said.

Kanna stuttered as she forced out... an excuse? "Kanna was ju-ust... wandering absentmindedly... y-yeah..."

"Kanna, where were you?" Joe asked. "I don't remember seeing you at all."

Kanna fidgeted with her hands, "Kanna... was looking for something she'd dropped."

"...I think Gin had found it for you." He said. "Was it, uhm..." He dug in his pockets and pulled out the smartphone from earlier, "This? The phone that... Kugie left for you?"

"Y-Yeah... Can I have that back please..?" Kanna's voice broke as she spoke. Sad? Or intimidated.

"Surely she must've dropped it on her way up." Sou rolled his eyes. "It really doesn't matter."

"Surely someone would've noticed," Joe mocked Sou's tone of voice. "You guys were in the front of everyone. Not only would we have heard it, but someone probably would've seen it. She had to have dropped it while going down the stairs. ...But why would she be going downstairs?"

"Can I have it back please..?!" She asked a bit louder. "S-Sorry... I just... want it."

"...Right." Joe glanced at the screen, expecting to see nothing important but his eyes were glued to the screen. "...Kanna what is this?"

"Just... Give it back please."

"...Kanna did you take my Sacrifice?" Joe asked quietly.

"U-Uhm..."

"It's my turn to protect someone now." Joe read. "Is this... about me?"

"What worthless reasoning," Sou rolled his eyes, "How full of yourself must you be to—"

"Yeah." Kanna said. Her lip began to quiver. She bit her emotions back, "I did... take it."

Sou's eyebrows furrowed and he slammed his hands on the desk, "You idiot! Don't say anything!"

"I did the fifth trade. I don't want you guys to argue over this anymore."

"...Kanna."

"You were trying to save her," Keiji said. "That's why you were trying to push the votes onto her. Because you knew."

"I'm not done." Kanna said. "Kanna didn't want Joe to die. He's done so much for us... And Kanna knew that he wouldn't be able to trade it off to someone else, even if he did have enough tokens. And she didn't... want Sou to be a murderer." Kanna's face turned confused, "So she traded her card... but the card Kanna got back was a Commoner."

Her confusion spread like a virus.

"What?"

"Kanna doesn't know either. She's absolutely sure she traded with Joe."

"Is it possible Sou messed with the role cards? I heard him say something about it... But could he?"

"I-I couldn't..." Sou said.

"Then how could that have happened? Who else could've messed with the role cards like that?"

And you visibly saw a lightbulb go off in Joe's head.

"Gashu." Joe said. "The transgression Miley was talking about. You messed with the role cards. He said we'd figure it out if there really was one. It's the only... thing that makes sense. I don't know why... he'd do that. But... I was trying to keep that in the front of my mind the whole time." He turned to Gashu, "I read the Floor Masters handbook. In the case of a transgression... the person accountable would either need to die, or the Main Game would be retried 24 hours later. Gashu, this is your transgression. Please let us retry."

"We could get another chance at escape with 24 hours!"

"This... Oh my god."

Gashu was silent for a moment. He stared at Joe with a blank expression. "Are you absolutely sure that's what happened, hm? Think carefully."

Joe turned to Sou, "You didn't mess with the role cards, right? Sou, you cannot lie to us this time. This is a matter of all our lives. Yours too."

Sou was hesitant to respond, but he turned to Kanna, "You really don't have the Sacrifice?" And she quickly shook her head. "...Okay. Yeah. I didn't mess with the cards. I wasn't able to figure it out..."

"Then we need to figure this out. Why would Gashu even want to mess with the trades? There must've been someone specific he wanted to have die." Joe said.

"Well there's plenty of reason for Gashu to want to kill Sou Hiyori for his failed escape plan." Alice said, crossing his arms over his chest and rolling his eyes.

"...Right. Uhm... is there any evidence we haven't talked about yet?" You asked. Everyone was silent until Joe let out a small Oh! and began digging in his pocket. He pulled out the papers he'd been staring at in the morning.

"I found these papers in my bedroom earlier... But I don't know what they mean. They look like the ones Gin had during the first Main Game.

"Why do you have that!?" Gashu shouted. "Dammit..! Did Miley..?! Handing internal documents to participants... Surely that should be a transgression itself..!"

"What is this?" Joe asked Gashu, who quickly composed himself.

"...What, indeed?"

Joe glared. "Fine. We'll figure it out ourselves." He said, turning back to the group.

Gin walked to Joe's desk and got a closer look at the stack of papers. "This reminds me of the black board in the bar." He said. "But... Hm... some names are missing..." He squeezed Mew-Chan and thought for a moment, "It's missing... Sara... Sou... mmm... Kugie... and... Kai and Nao. Everyone else's names match."

"Let me see that," Sou requested, and Joe passed it to him. "Okay... so there's four names missing. Okay..."

"No." Gin said, "There's five names missing."

"O-Oh... my mistake. Pardon me." He said, passing the papers back to Joe and clutching his scarf.

"...Doesn't seem like a mistake, Sou. Hey, Gashu." Joe said, turning back to him, "How many people were dragged into this game?"

"Twenty-one."

"And there are seventeen people on these sheets. If we add the five people who aren't on the list, then that would make twenty-two. I don't remember seeing the name Shin Tsukimi on the blackboard." Joe said, looking closer at the papers. "So... Shin Tsukimi is one of us. Someone using an alias. "Shin is one of those five people. But it couldn't be Sara... because... well, I would know... and I assume... Kanna would know if her sister had been going by a fake name. So it's either... Nao, Kai, or Sou."

"Professor Mishima always called me "Miss Nao," remember? I'm not using an alias." Nao defended.

"We can't really ask Kai for his two-cents... But it said Kai on his laptop." Q-Taro said.

"Well, it's not me." Sou said, "Because it said my name on the prize exchange board."

"Uh... There were no names at the prize exchange, Sou." Joe said. "Bad alibi."

"Oh... I thought there were? I guess I misremembered..."

"We're your allies." Keiji spoke up, "We're supposed to work together. If you're not willing to cooperate with us, we're not gonna be able to extend our time. We could get the chance to escape again, Sou. Or... Shin Tsukimi. You need to trust us. We don't want to keep killing each other. But we can't get out of this alive unless we work together."

Sou looked uncomfortable. He looked at everyone with fear in his eyes. "I-I want to trust you all," His hands began to shake, and he gripped the sides of the desk, "But... you wouldn't... I don't..."

"Sou," Joe said, "If everything up to this point has been a lie... We need you to tell the truth this one time. We need... to get through this."

Shin clamped his eyes shut tight. "I can't... I... My name... is actually S-Shin... Tsukimi." He paused. "For my first trial... they gave me those papers. The statistics for how likely everyone was to survive this game. And my name... at the bottom. Zero. So I threw myself away. My true self... and those papers. I threw them to the shredder. It seems you found and pieced both back together."

"Heart wrenching." Gashu said sarcastically. "But you failed to expose my transgression."

"Sou, do you have any more related information?!"

"If I did I wouldn't hide it now!"

"Then it seems there's nothing you can do, hm? Not much time left, either. Might as well move on." Gashu said.

"No!" Sou said, "Joe, don't give up. I changed my name on the blackboard... and even destroyed my monitor! I told you everything! Don't... just let us all die! If we can figure this out... then we'll be able to retry, anyway! Don't give up, Joe. This is important."

Joe nodded his head.

"...This is your final discussion. Let it be worth your time." Gashu said, sounding sour.

"Is there anything else they said to you, Sou?" Joe asked.

"I-I don't know... Or... well, they've been saying participants this whole time, but I believe they used the word candidate when speaking to me... I don't know if that matters, though."

"Gashu had said before that the AIs were also candidates that had survived their first trial. The four others not on this roster... didn't have AIs, despite most of them surviving. Twenty-one participants... and seventeen people on this roster. Or rather... seventeen candidates. Seventeen people qualified to win."

"...So he would've sent the Sacrifice to someone who isn't a candidate, right?" You asked.

"...Nao," Joe said after hesitating. "You have the Sacrifice. You're the only one of us not on the roster. And... you didn't have an AI. You weren't meant to be in the death game. So Gashu," Joe turned to him and pointed, "This was your transgression. You sent Nao the Sacrifice because she wasn't meant to ever win this game."

Gashu smiled and laughed, "Right. I forget sometimes, Joe, that you are the man you are. You're right. I did send the Sacrifice to Nao. You solved the puzzle. Your unity... and cooperation is admirable."

"I'm sorry for keeping quiet..!!" Nao shouted as tears ran down her face.

"Nao, it's okay." Joe assured her, "It's not your fault. All the fault... lies with Gashu. You were put in a horrible position... Gashu, answer me—"

"I will only say one thing." He said, "Everyone — Have you ever harbored any doubts about your upbringing?" He paused, letting out a shaky breath. "That is my first... and final hint for you."

"Final?"

"Joe Tazuna. You have severely overlooked one key detail. As you said... the handbook states that a transgression follows with the Main Game being retried 24 hours later... or the transgressor's death. And as the handbook demands... I will have this taken care of," He said.

He pulled out a gun.

"And the Main Game will continue."

"Wait—!"

"Good luck."

And to the floor, Gashu fell.

The only sound in the room was his skull cracking as he hit the ground.

"...This wasn't... supposed to happen..." Safalin sniffed.

"Safalin!" Joe shouted, "Please! This is an emergency, right?! Suspend the Main Game!"

"I-I can't! I can only take over from here... as a substitute..!"

"You're... really going to let this continue?!" Nao cried.

"I'm sorry, Miss Nao... If I don't... all your lives will be in danger!!"

"Please! I'll do anything! At least just let us restart!"

"I'm sorry!" Safalin shouted, turning away from everyone's burning gazes.

Silence.

"P-Please... time is almost up... continue... your discussion..." Safalin begged.

Fine.

"Nao's the Sacrifice. We can only vote for Sou or Kanna." You said quietly.

Sou laughed sadly, "I think it's obvious who you'll vote for."

But Kanna looked peaceful. "N-No... please... won't you vote for Kanna?"

"...What are you saying?"

"I don't... It should be clear to you guys that Sou is the most useful between the two of us. He can hack... he could get you another chance at escape if given the time to. I can't..." She looked down at her hands on the desk, "...Do anything." She said as her voice broke. "I had already intended to die the moment I traded for Joe's Sacrifice. Kanna just... wants to be with her sister again..."

"Kanna—"

"Just believe in Sou. I don't want to be a burden any longer. He's really... not a bad person." She said, refusing to look at him.

"What are you saying?!" Sou shouted. "Don't be ridiculous!"

Kanna flinched, and Sou continued, "You really are a kid, Kanna. A dumb kid with the backwards notion that if she just kills herself it'll solve everything! It won't. It'll... It'll ruin everything!"

"You won't change my mind by screaming at me..." She said.

"Shut up. I don't care. I'll scream forever." He whispered, then turned to the group, "Guys, it's really useless to even have this conversation at this point... haha... just vote for me!! Joe, I killed Sara. I killed your best friend. I'm the only one here responsible for her death! And then I attempted to provoke you and manipulate you using her death. Don't you hate me?!" Sou tried to get Joe to respond, but he wasn't budging. He just stared at him with a blank look. He was just trying to provoke him once more.

"Kanna has no smarts and she can't even hack!" Kanna shouted over Sou.

"Kanna, I told you to knock that off!"

"In the first Main Game..." Kanna continued, "We chose to kill Kai! We didn't use our logic... we went with how we were feeling. And we've proven to ourselves that that was a mistake. Don't make that mistake again!"

"Stop it!"

"And like Kanna said earlier, the logical thing to do would be to keep Sou! I can't do anything for you guys! She's just another body for you to let bleed in the future!"

"Can you just shut up?!" Sou shouted, making Kanna stop. He had tears forming in his eyes and his hands were shaking, his fingers attempting to dig into the desk. "Just... stop." His voice shook.

"I-I'm so sorry..!" Safalin spoke up, "But you need to vote now... I can't wait any longer... or else you'll all die..." She cried.

"Guys..." Sou said. "Surely you know what the right thing to do is."

"Mr. Policeman... just voted for Kanna." Keiji said, touching his tablet.

Sou's face turned to rage, and when he attempted to lunge at Keiji, Q-Taro grabbed him by his jacket and pulled him back. "Sou, calm down!" He shouted, "'Ere... I'll vote for you. Keiji, you're a shameful man, voting for a child! Sacrificing a child for the sake of the adults... that's demonic!"

And he's hypocritical.

"Alice, you chose Kanna, right?" Kanna asked as she noticed him tap his tablet in silence.

He opened his mouth to speak, but then his lip began to tremble and he hesitated. "I won't... I can't vote for anyone's little sister. S-So Shin Tsukimi... I'm voting for you."

Sou looked relieved, "That's completely fine. And if we vote for ourselves... That'll be three versus two! Gin, your choice should be simple, too."

"...Well... no... Because it's not like... I want you to die."

Sou furrowed his eyebrows, "Don't be stupid, Gin. If Kanna's gone... I'll just have to resort to using you instead! You'll be the next to die!"

Gin cowered in fear, making a sound of fear.

Joe whispered something to him, and he looked unsure, but he pressed his voting tablet. "I voted... for Bucket Girl... I'm sorry..." He whispered.

Nao laughed hopelessly, "There's really nothing left for me." She said. "It's obvious... you two wouldn't vote for me. If you did... I'd feel... so awful having to choose... Even then... I'll vote for myself twice."

With Kanna and Sou both with three votes, you and Joe weren't sure what to do. As Sou and Kanna continued to pitch themselves to you two, you pressed on Kanna's portrait and confirmed your vote.

Joe looked over at you, and you glanced at Kanna, and he hesitated.

Kanna had a good point. She was such a sweet girl. She was an amazing person.

Sou didn't want to die. He just didn't want Kanna to die.

Which meant he needed to.

His desire to protect her was admirable, but you needed to vote for her.

And Joe did too.

So he did.

~ * ~

"Joe?"

After the Main Game, you found Joe passed out in the room in the Ruined Corridor. You grabbed Alice to come drag him back to his bedroom. He had been asleep ever since, but now he was squirming. You shook him awake, "Joe?"

He opened his eyes and looked scared for a moment before realizing it was you in front of him. "Y-Y/N..."

"Are you alright?" You asked, examining his face. "I found you unconscious in the rubble room... and there was an AI of Sara on the monitor... I had to get Alice to carry you in here."

"Sara?" Joe asked.

"...Yeah. I'm sorry, Joe. I should've followed after you instead of staying in there. I wanted to pay respects to Nao and Kanna, but maybe... you wouldn't have found that... rude AI. I thought that there weren't meant to be any AIs of the non-candidates, anyway... I don't... know..."

"...Who is Sara?"

~ * ~

A/N:

the best part about putting out multiple chapters of this fic within a small period is that I know after about 2-3 chapters I will go on another million-year hiatus before I even think about this fic again.

i try my best but I am soooooo into my shin fic right now lol

eat and hydrate goofy goobers