Game II

Right so there were issues with the formatting of the last chapter- sorry about that - hopefully those are fixed now. I should have warned everyone; I'm in a strange, sappy mood right now so it's quite likely that this story will be quite fluffy. I'm a big fan of happy endings... Read at your own risk. My characterization of Kanzaki Nao is a bit more devious than she's portrayed because seriously I'm pretty clueless most of the time but I refuse to believe that she's that pure and innocuous.

Since I quite forgot to do it last time I'm going to say: I've got absolutely nothing to do with Liar Game and it's ownership- and I've no notions of making a profit off writing fan-fiction.

She led him eagerly to her small apartment despite all of his protests. She felt that if she let him go that she would never see him again. Perhaps she was right. She wasn't lying though- she really did want to do something for him in return for what he had done for her, and ultimately what he had done for Fujisawa-sensei. Then again, a little selfishly, she wanted to spend some more time in his company. Her cooking was the only thing she felt confident offering him- perhaps if he tasted that he might even come back.

She hadn't expected another black invitation.

A million things raced through her mind as she stared in disbelief at the writing not yet able to read it. The letters she was holding slid to the floor as she lost the strength to hold them up. A slightly hysterical keening escaped from her throat as her knees gave out.

Akiyama, who had been standing behind her, caught her arms as she fell and lowered her carefully to the ground. He fetched her glass of water and waited for her shallow breathing to steady before leading her to sit in front of her small TV. Taking the glass from her cold hands he allowed her a moment to compose herself, then reaching for the video tape that came with the letter he slid it into the VCR and hit play.

Nao felt her breath catch in her throat when she heard the dealer's voice. She could barely hear what he was saying above the blood surging in her ears. However as scared she was, her face settled into the same determined look that Akiyama had seen when she had approached him.

His respect for her grew.

Even sitting behind her at the other end of the room he knew that she was taking whatever the dealer said as the gospel truth, and though he knew that to be her nature by now he still felt like shaking her and telling her to wizen up to the fact that she was being played with.

Her heart stopped when Leronira said "The penalty for ignoring this message is 100 million yen" No matter what Akiyama said she couldn't take the chance, just as he knew that she wouldn't.

Nao felt a haze of hopelessness settle over her. Surely Akiyama would leave her now- she had already troubled him enough, and this game was not his burden to bear in the first place. If he left her she would be lost because no matter what she was not meant for the ruthlessness of the Liar Game.

Akiyama knew that he should have gotten out of the game while he still could. He knew that a game like that could swallow up people- consume them until it was all that was left in their lives, and corrupt them until they were bitter shells of themselves.

He had played such a game before.

Looking at Nao's stricken face he knew that he would not be able to leave her to fend for herself without feeling guilty. It was the type of guilt he had carried for years; he didn't think that he could endure any more. Picking up a pen he scribbled his phone number on a pad of paper. Tearing it out her got up giving it to her on his way to the door. Unexpectedly he felt tired.

When Akiyama stood up Nao had been sure that he was going to abandon her. She couldn't say anything; she was sure that if she tried to ask him to stay she would burst into tears and make a complete fool of herself. When he handed her his phone number she felt hope beginning to warm her numb, leaded feeling arms and legs.

It was thanks to the reassurance that Akiyama had not abandoned her that night that Nao was able to face her father the next day. Although he had noticed that she was not her usual self she had been able to convince him that nothing was too wrong with her.

After her visit Nao felt restless. Round two of the Liar Game Tournament was the next day and she was so nervous that she felt sure that she was shivering at the thought. It was also worrying her that she had not been in touch with Akiyama since the end of the first game.

Finding a peaceful spot under an old tree on her way home she paused to think. She did trust him, but he had lied to her so many times; albeit for her own good- but still. How do you know when somebody who lies all the time is being sincere? He had given the money back for Fujisawa; that certainly was a credit to his character, but he had lied even while doing that.

Trying to figure out Akiyama was exhausting.

Instead she turned her thoughts back to the tournament. "The second round starts tomorrow…" suddenly she couldn't bear to be alone. She dug in her bag for her phone; if Akiyama wasn't going to call her, she might as well call him.

The dial tone rang. Her heart jumped into her throat. She only allowed two rings before snapping the phone closed. Akiyama scorned weak people. And if she went to him for such foolish reasons as anxiety perhaps he would be right to scorn her.

Even more restless than before she shoved the phone back in her bag and stood up to leave. At that exact moment the bicycle policeman who had been so helpful by directing her to Akiyama went by. When their eyes met Nao dropped into a short bow surprised when he not only recognized her but parked his bike to come over and sit with her.

Glad that she was not alone anymore, she told him about the game. He seemed unimpressed by the whole affair. "Another round?" he questioned, his tone of voice skeptical. Nao resigned herself to only being believed by Akiyama. Maybe she should have called him anyways- at least he didn't mock her fear.

"But I think I'm just going to ignore them…" Nao told Tanimura. She had been unsure, but something about the police officer made her want to listen to Akiyama's advice.

It wasn't until he said "You know, people like them, they usually aim for weak people." That he struck a cord with her. She didn't want to be weak. But going to the LGT Office by herself didn't seem to be possible. That's why when Tanimura offered to go with her she jumped at the chance to show Akiyama that she was not weak; that she could be strong and do things for herself. When Akiyama called her back she was able to greet him with renewed enthusiasm.

The next day when Tanimura picked her up in his car, wearing his civilian clothes she felt less than confident. He must have seen her nervousness because he was very kind to her- reassuring her that everything would be alright if she just went and told the LGT Office to leave her alone.

When she saw the mansion that the second round was to be held in she felt the dread start to rise in her stomach. If the LGT Office could afford to potentially lose 200 million yen for ever set of players and afford this mansion then they could probably afford to force her to compete regardless of Tanimura's presence.

Hearing crying she paused, looking around she saw a girl sitting on the steps crying but before she could go up to her she was approached by the woman who had come to collect the money for the first round.

"Welcome to the second stage of the Liar Game." She said, snapping Nao out of the slight daze that she had been in. Nao turned frantically to Tanimura for support, then told the secretariat of her intentions to quit. For a minute she could have sworn that she saw amusement in Eri's expression. "You came with someone from the police?"

In shock Nao turned to where Tanimura had been standing, instead of seeing him backing her, she heard the engine of his car start up and in that horrible moment she knew that she had been mistaken in trusting him. "Our organization is much bigger than you imagined."

Nao tried to swallow the lump that had settled in her throat, her eyes clearly showing the shock and fear that she felt in the moment. If Tanimura was a part of the Liar Game then who else was? She wished that she had listened to Akiyama; or at the very least told him what she had planned to do.

Akiyama was no fool. He had been expecting Nao to call him, that's why he had given her his number in the first place. He had expected her to crack under the pressure of ending up in a colossal debt. She had done exactly as he expected by calling him the day before the second round; it was unfortunate that he had not picked up the first call.

When he called her back she had been conspicuously calm and cheerful. She babbled on about taking care of herself and repaying him properly for all that he had done for her. It made him very weary. It told him that somehow in between her call to him and his calling her back not more than half an hour later the LGT secretariat had convinced her to handle the situation on her own.

As he had suspected- they were being watched. It was worse than that though- Nao, as gullible as she was would have been on her guard this close to the second round and would be unlikely to take advice from strangers. That she had so quickly changed her mind about asking for his help did not bode well.

He called her the next day, and when she didn't answer he groaned in exasperation. That foolish girl had actually fallen for whatever they had told her and gone to the next round. He went to her apartment in hope that for once he was terribly wrong, but she didn't answer the door; nor did she pick up her phone when he called her again.

For once he didn't think of the consequences, he just ran towards the location of the second round. Less than half way there he stopped and rented a bike, it was too far for him to run, and he had to hurry and catch up with Nao before she did anything even more irredeemably stupid.

After leaving the bike outside, he entered through the iron gates. He noticed Takada sitting prominently in the driveway of the large mansion. He walked up to her and asked her what she was doing there.

When she told him her story it immediately struck him as odd. If she had wanted to quit the tournament she only had to return half of her prize money, which in her case would have been 50 million yen if she had managed to win the maximum prize which it seemed she had. Even if she wanted nothing more to do with the game usually one would keep the extra money, but she had brought the whole amount here in form of a check; which further meant that she had managed to deposit the 100 million yen in a bank without raising any questions. Furthermore; if she had won the first round so spectacularly then she was more than clever enough to not be tricked so easily.

He was being set up.

He smirked inwardly; if they wanted him to play this game he would play along for now. When Eri came and told him that he could take Takada's place in the game he was sure that he was being set up. He also knew that they knew that he knew that he was being set up, but both he and Eri kept up the illusion that he had been fooled by Takada, and he joined the tournament- for Nao's sake.

He had managed to get there just in time to make a dramatic entrance. It was all a part of the game, it helped to make the other players more intimidated. The relief in her eyes was tangible. He still felt the need to scold her a bit for not heeding his advice, but at her guilty expression he decided to let it go. It was no use being angry with her for being herself, as troublesome as that was.

She needed him, it made it worth it.

longing. for. redemption: Thank you for reviewing. I'm very glad that people are actually reading my writing- mostly nothing but my essays get further than myself. Yes Enid Blyton XD I was going through the basement and I found two big boxes of Enid Blyton books which I promptly read again... The amount of times I've said 'gosh' and 'I say' this week is nothing short of astonishing.