Hello everybody! I don't have anything smart to say other than that this will be the last time we'll be in Chouko's perspective for a long while. Also, voting is still available on my profile page if ya wanna touch that.

PainX65: "Fuck Reo, yes. Glad I did Seitaro correctly and that you seem to like the cast! As for your concerns on how they kidnap people in broad daylight, that will be addressed in a later chapter! Enjoy!"

ifdalesew: "I understand what you mean by some introductions felt short, but some of them just had to happen like that so as not to spoil too much. Appearance is necessary to picture the character in your head, so, I'm sorry if that bored you a bit. Your thoughts on the characters seem interesting, but I can't address any of them. Read on and enjoy the chapter!"

TheRoseShadow21: "Yes, Kimiyori is superior daddy. I knew you'd notice Takeo, I'm hoping to make those two clash. As for the other characters, I enjoy them all very much. I got lucky with the cast! Read on and yeah!"

Crimson Spider Lily: "Yes, damn Reo, the piece of shit! Anyways, I liked your thoughts on each character, comments on Fusui was especially funny. An actual parental figure? I'll think about it. Enjoy!"

Lupus Overkill: "Reo in a nutshell pretty much. A lot of interesting observations, I see. Sadly, I can't confirm any of them. Glad I did Michiru justice! Read on and enjoy and stuff."

Chouko looked around the surprisingly comforting room as she observed her unconscious competition.

It was a quadrilateral room filled with things you'd expect to find at some boarding school. The colour of the walls were lime green and sunset orange arranged in a certain pattern to make it more eye-catching. There was a small coffee table in the middle of the room surrounded with comfortable sofas and singular chairs. There were even some bean bags to sit on. In the upper left of the room; there was a mini kitchen with a few cupboards, oven, even a mini fridge! The kitchen had a little counter if someone preferably wanted to sit there rather than the chairs and sofas.

The next thing she noticed were the metal collars on everyone's neck. They were identical to each other, not one was more special than the other.

Even her own.

Touching the metal collar with her fingertips always made her spine shudder with chills. It was a constant reminder that their life was in danger and that they must remove it if they didn't want to die.

The only thing that relieved the child was that whoever had a weapon beforehand, now didn't.

Nori Mitsugi had come as a surprise when a gun had been discovered in her purse. It prompted the staff team to search every competitor. To their relieve, only Nori was discovered with a hidden weapon.

Kimiyori Ikeda and Takeo Hayabusa would obviously not be allowed their bows, which is why they were obviously stripped from their bodies. To create a game, the circumstances needed to be fair for every player involved, otherwise the experiment would fail.

If Chouko was being honest, she expected to die. She was the only variable in her father's plan that could ruin the test. Putting her in this game was a gamble, but it was something her father hoped would pay off. Risks must be taken for satisfactory results, after all.

Having a repeat of last year's game just wouldn't do.

The game was starting in less than 5 minutes, so Chouko chose a corner and curled up, pretending to be asleep as she waited for the first contestant to awaken.

Suddenly, she heard a female groan from somewhere. "Wha-? Where am I!? Why are there others here!? Huh?"

If Chouko had to guess, she'd say that the voice belonged to Emica Niseyama.

"Hey, handsome guy who impressively has no flaws on their face whatsoever! Wake up!"

Chouko then heard a slap and a loud yelp. "Hey! Watch the face! That hurt!"

That was definitely Katashi.

Chouko opened an eye as she saw Emica with her hands on her hips and Katashi lightly rubbing his red face. "Look dude, I literally didn't know how else to wake you up. Everyone here seems comatose"

"Can't be too comatose if your weak slap woke me up"

"Coming from the guy who cried like a little girl when I slapped you as 'weakly' as I did"

Chouko creased her forehead in annoyance as she tried her best to ignore them. She heard a few more people wake up, but she wasn't too bothered. Suddenly, she felt her shoulder shook and she bolted up, wide eyed.

"Fear not. I only wished to wake you up" A kind face greeted her as he gave her a small smile of reassurance.

Chouko nodded as she meekly bowed in front of Kimiyori. "Thank you, mister"

Kimiyori patted Chouko's shoulder. "There is no need to be formal with me, my name is Kimiyori Ikeda"

Chouko nodded. "I'm Chouko Imai… Do you know where we are?" she feigned ignorance as she looked around the room.

Kimiyori shook his head. "Apologies, I do not"

The little girl nodded in understanding as she and Kimiyori walked towards one of the couches. The older man made it a point to sit her in the middle, so on Chouko's left was Kimiyori and on Chouko's right was Nori.

As for the other players; Chouko saw different reactions to the game. Miriko Kobayashi was doing her best to comfort the next smallest contestant, Ryuu Akiyama, who was sobbing uncontrollably. Michiru Okudaira looked to be in bartender mode as she was making a couple of drinks for Takeo and Seitaro Miyamoto, both of them looking slightly impatient, though she took no notice. Fusui Maremaru, Inari Orihara and Anko Okashi were the loners of the group; not wanting to do anything with the group. Fusako Ikari couldn't keep the mirth off her face as she continued to watch the admittedly entertaining argument between Emica and Katashi.

"Okay, enough of this shit, why're we here?" Anko aggressively demanded to know, waving her arms around.

Miriko pursed her lips. "We have children here, you'd best watch that language" she warned with a raised brow.

The woman in question rolled her eyes. "Yes, because the children is what we should be thinking about, obviously..."

Nori sighed. "Does anyone actually remember what happened to them? All I remember is walking home from work before finding myself here"

A couple of the others affirmed her story. The only ones who didn't actively state their stories were Takeo, Fusui, Seitaro, Inari and Anko. The first three having an idea of why they're there while the other two for personal reasons.

"W-why're we all h-here?" Ryuu asked tearfully, Miriko trying to wipe his snotty nose.

"It must be the work of the universe! Perhaps this is a test of sorts, but if it is a test, I wonder what It's about? But that's only under the assumption that this is a test, because it could easily be something else! Maybe-"

"Shut the fuck up, you're giving me a headache, and I hate headaches" Fusui suddenly growled, staring Fusako down as she held eye-contact with him. She looked away, shrinking into the background.

Fusui wasn't all that bothered with the group, though he strangely kept eyeing Chouko herself from time to time, which made her slightly uncomfortable.

"Michiru, any thoughts?" Seitaro asked suddenly, making said girl sharply look up.

Michiru pursed her lips as she carefully thought through her response. "I believe It's best not to make any assumptions currently"

Seitaro pouted as he heard Michiru's bland response.

"I don't think we have anything to worry about, I mean, if they haven't killed us they can't be all bad. Know what I mean?" Emica voiced mindlessly.

Katashi scoffed. "If that is the case, than why are we all wearing metal collars like dogs?"

Emica blushed a colourful red as she started to feel her nose bleed. "Collars…? Dogs…? Oh my!"

Miriko tsk'd as she handed her a few tissues, shaking her head in disappointment; though Emica didn't seem to notice.

Takeo then decided to speak up. "If anyone here is suspicious, It's the weirdo wearing the fox mask, he hasn't spoken a word since getting here"

Inari looked taken aback, shaking his head back and forth as if trying to plead for his innocence.

"Can't deny that" Anko agreed immediately, eyeing the fox wearer with suspicion.

Chouko then decided that she had to defend him. "I think It's wrong to accuse someone based on what they wear..." she muttered loudly enough for the group to hear.

Anko gave Chouko a hard stare. "Look here little girl, we're not going to get anywhere if we don't suspect people, It'd be best for you to grow up now if you want to survive"

Before anyone could even defend the girl, Nori immediately started questioning Anko. "What do you mean by 'survive'? Are you insinuating that our lives are in danger?"

The chef scoffed. "Duh! Of course our lives are in danger! Why else would we be here!? Man you guys are so annoying..."

"I can think of someone more annoying..." Fusui muttered darkly, staring at Anko with what could only be described as hate.

"Everyone! We need to calm down, blaming each other will not get us anywhere!" Kimiyori spoke up, his voice oozing with authority.

"Yeah! Woo! You go man!" Seitaro cheered with a handsome grin.

"Agreed, we're all thinking irrationally, the best thing we can do is determine the sequence of events that got all of us here" Michiru agreed, hand on her chin.

"WHY DON'T I SHED SOME LIGHT TO THE DARKNESS"

Everyone tensed up as Chouko felt herself being held close to Kimiyori's side.

Suddenly, the huge television turned on to reveal a mascot of a decayed caterpillar. The sight made Chouko shudder, as she couldn't help wishing the mascot was a little more tolerable to stare at.

"Ew" Was Katashi's reaction to seeing the hideous thing. While it went unnoticed, Chouko was the only one who saw Takeo's eyes light up.

"Yes, why don't you?" Nori muttered, tapping her foot out of impatience.

"What an unknown being..." Fusako commented with awe.

The caterpillar spoke. "Yes, you may refer to me as 'Saiku' if you will"

"Heh, what a laughably deep voice for something so tiny" Fusui mocked with a smirk.

"I'm not laughing..." Ryuu muttered, seeking comfort within Miriko.

"Wimp"

"Am not!"

"SILENCE"

Everyone sat silent as Saiku took comically deep breaths before announcing. "We're all going to play a game"

Chouko cringed at those words. She felt Kimiyori rub her shoulder in a comforting manner which made her feel a little bit better.

"I don't wanna play!" Anko shouted.

"I'm sure you've all noticed by now that everyone here is wearing a metal collar"

Everyone nodded.

"Well, you better follow the rules to this game, or else those collars will explode"

"..."

"... How tacky"

"Now's not the time you nincompoop!"

Nori got everyone back on track. "What exactly would be the objective of this game?" she questioned, eyes hard.

"To escape from this facility of course! To do that, you have to remove the collars around your necks" Saiku explained with a crooked smile, making the caterpillar mascot seem even creepier.

"Oh? Would you happen to have a key?" Fusako asked, her head tilted.

Saiku shook It's head. "Nope, you will be using a PDA to release those things"

Michiru frowned. "Where do we find these PDA's?"

"You will have them at the start of the game"

"What's the catch?" Seitaro immediately asked, eyeing the caterpillar with suspicion.

Saiku nodded It's head in approval. "Glad to see you aren't all naive, you will be required to carry out a condition in exchange for your freedom" Saiku then grew serious. "If you want to survive, you must absolutely carry out the condition or face death; consider it a King's Order if you will"

"So… Why let us interact with each other? I assume that because this is game, there must be winners and losers, which ultimately means some of us will have to die, right?" Miriko observed, making Ryuu scoot away from her slightly.

"What the hell!? Oh my God, this cannot be happening to me of all people!" Anko shouted out furiously, lifting a middle finger to the caterpillar.

"Charming" Was It's deadpan reply. "As for the old lady's question, this is a formal introduction to the game, which means you can seize up all of your opponents"

"Putting children in a death game… How sickening" Kimyori said, pursing his lips as he couldn't stop the glare directed at Saiku.

"Anyways, the room you are currently in is called a 'safe zone' so to speak. This means that no combat is permitted in this area, otherwise there will be immediate punishment. For the first hour, there will be a grace period, which should grant you enough time to wonder around freely for you all to get comfortable with your surroundings" Saiku paused.

"How much longer?" Fusui whined.

"Not much, I just need to say two more things" Saiku reassured him.

"The next subject will be about the Decoy PDA. This can be used to fool your fellow participants into thinking you have a safe condition, when in reality, your condition could very well be deadly" Saiku chuckled, a bit of drool leaving It's mouth.

"What conditions should we expect?" Michiru asked.

Saiku laughed loudly at that. "As if I'm going to tell you now! You'll find out during the game, It'll be more exciting that way!" Their eyes then widened. "I forgot to mention this earlier, but destruction of your PDA or inserting it into your collar before fulfilling the release condition will also result in your death"

Ryuu whimpered at this.

"Finally… I have an accomplice amongst you all"

Chouko widened her eyes in horror at that revelation. What was her father doing?!

"They will be ensuring that the game continues… There are two ways to survive this game. One, simply fulfill your release condition. Or two, kill the accomplice; however, they must be the first death of the game" Chouko's heart started to rapidly beat. "If the accomplice among you is not the first death during the game, the game will continue normally"

"Any final words fox boy?" Takeo commented off-handedly, giving the fox wearer a sly smirk.

"Before I destroy you, that is" Anko finished, cracking her knuckles threateningly.

Poor Inari continued to shake his head as he picked up one of the bean bags to protect himself, using it as some sort of shield.

Fusui growled in frustration. "For fucks sakes, there's got to be some way out of here!"

Chouko, very aware of Fusui's character, widened her eyes. She had to do something. "Uhm… Where did Saiku go?"

Fusako shrugged. "Who knows? Maybe Saiku is the universe's ruler..." she pondered thoughtfully.

"Concerning the accomplice, wouldn't… That guy be too obvious?" Michiru pointed out, her finger directed at Inari. "I just don't think we should be assuming anything without more proof"

"I agree" Nori commented. Michiru just glared at her in return, though it went unnoticed by the businesswoman.

Ryuu sniffed. "T-then, t-this isn't a r-ransom for m-money?"

Katashi scoffed. "Sure kid, because someone would kidnap a no good prisoner" he rolled his eyes, his gaze on Seitaro.

Seitaro smirked. "Think I'm the traitor?"

Katashi narrowed his eyes. "I wouldn't be surprised"

Chouko couldn't help sighing. The suspicion being thrown around left and right was so overwhelming, but she knew she couldn't do anything about it, who'd listen to a little girl like her? Her father hardly did, so what would the difference here be?

The little girl got up from the sofa, going unnoticed due to Kimiyori trying his best to diffuse the situation. She went up to Michiru and tugged on her apron. Said woman looked down. "Y-yes?" Michiru stuttered, being slightly caught off-guard by Chouko's appearance.

"Is there any apple juice…?" Chouko asked timidly, looking down to her shoes. She then heard Ryuu sobbing even louder. "Umm, two cups of apple juice please?"

Michiru nodded her head, searching the fridge. "Lucky you, there appears to be some apple juice here" she poured two small cups of apple juice and handed them to Chouko.

Chouko bowed politely. "Thank you, Ms" Michiru nodded her head in acknowledgement.

Despite the cold demeanor, Michiru seemed kind enough. What Chouko couldn't figure out is what the woman prioritizes exactly. She seemed conflicted, fickle, like she couldn't decide on what she wanted in life. Though, that was only Chouko's observation, whether or not that's true was to be explored.

Chouko made her way to Miriko and Ryuu, handing the latter a cup. "H-here, for you" she gave a small smile. Ryuu stared at her wide-eyed, as if he had only seen her. He pursed his lips as he saw her stainless face, his face growing hot in embarrassment. He knocked the cup out of her hand, making the cup drop as Chouko stepped back in surprise.

"Ryuu!" Miriko sharply said. "She was giving you a drink! You don't just knock it out of her hand!"

Ryuu turned his nose in return, turning his head away from Miriko and Chouko as he tried to force himself to stop crying.

Miriko sighed as she turned to Chouko. "He's just very scared at the moment, please don't mind him"

Ryuu turned a glare towards Miriko, covering his ears with both hands so that he didn't have to listen to anything.

Chouko petitely walked away as she realized that the only other person close to her age didn't like her very much.

Miriko seemed nice enough, but Chouko couldn't help but think of the old lady as suspicious. Nothing in her history suggested a criminal record or a hardened life except for her struggles of getting together with her current lover. So, why was Chouko more scared of her than she should've been?

Ryuu was a bit of a wildcard. Despite his rather vulnerable situation now, Chouko was fully aware of his survival skills. What Chouko couldn't understand was how he channeled his inner strength as there wasn't a lot of time for a proper evaluation on the boy.

Chouko looked around her opponents and spotted Emica and Fusako speaking with each other. Emica was explaining something in great depth to Fusako while Emica's face was getting redder and redder for whatever reason. The little girl shrugged as she made her way over to the two.

"Hello"

Emica jumped in fright, clamping both hands to her mouth so as to not scream out loud. Her eyes darted to Chouko while Fusako gave a simple wave back, not surprised by Chouko's appearance.

"O-oh! Hi! Wha-what're you doing here!?" Emica laughed awkwardly. "Fusako, help?" Emica whispered to Fusako, not that it escaped Chouko's notice.

Fusako smiled innocently as she slyly glanced at Emica. "Emica here was telling me about her very first… blowjob"

Emica blushed furiously as Chouko tilted her head in confusion. "N-no I was n-not! Why would you say that in front of a kid!?" Emica pointed accusingly at Fusako.

"...Blowjob…?" Chouko muttered, hand to her chin as she thought about the term.

Emica continued to stammer some gibberish as Fusako smoothly covered up It's true meaning. "It's where you blow bubbles and get paid for it, right, Emi dear?" she smiled devilishly.

Emica nodded, a defeated look on her face. "I hate you so much right now..."

Fusako shrugged innocently as Chouko decided to move away, confused with the women.

Chouko continued to think about those two women so as to collect her thoughts. Emica seemed easily distracted for whatever reason. It concerned her when she thought back to the amount of times Emica's face turned unnaturally red. The little girl wondered if the woman was ill or something, she wished the best for the Plastic Surgeon.

As for the other one, Fusako, her attire admittedly scared her. She seemed nice, but Chouko couldn't help wondering if it was an act or not. Was she being too prejudiced? Basing it on looks alone? She wasn't sure, but she had nothing else to base it on as Fusako's ramblings were a little hard to follow from time to time.

Chouko looked over to Kimiyori, who appeared to have given up trying to diffuse the bomb between Katashi and Seitaro. If anything, the man seemed agitated, annoyed with the situation he's found himself in.

She would've gone back to Michiru to ask for a cup of apple juice for the man, but didn't want to bother the woman, so she just sat next to him quietly. There was awkward silence between the two as everyone continued to converse, whether they were arguing, chatting, or just making small talk.

"..."

Chouko studied his face as the man looked deep in thought, his brows furrowed in concentration. His face was very manly, perhaps even… Fatherly? Chouko shook her head as she knew her father would be angry if she were to think of other men as fatherly.

"Is something the matter…?"

Chouko blinked her eyes rapidly as she noticed Kimiyori giving her a concerned look, his face kind.

She wanted to cry.

Chouko rubbed her eyes as she took deep breaths to calm down. Her father had explicitly told her not to lose her composure. He said that everyone would hate her, find her annoying, be seen as the weakest link; therefore, she'd be the first target of the game. She couldn't let that happen.

She wouldn't.

"No, you looked distressed" Chouko hesitated, taking another deep breath. "Are you perhaps worried about something?"

The man seemed amused at her question. "You're awfully percep- uhh, observant?" Kimiyori was originally going to say 'perceptive' but the little girl had given him a confused look, so he changed it to 'observant' at the last second. "I'm worried for my family, if they could kidnap me… What's stopping these evil people from kidnapping my family?" Kimiyori then shook his head. "I'm sorry, I really shouldn't be saying all of this to you, I'm just worrying you even more..."

Chouko garnered a focused face. "Perhaps… I think your family is safe"

"What makes you say that?" Kimiyori questioned curiously.

"Uhm..." Chouko muttered. "Our kidnapper… Put a lot of thought into this, did they not?" Chouko looked unsure of herself as the man gave her a puzzled look, but she continued on regardless. "For example, have you noticed the different ages between us?"

Yes, that was a purposeful choice on her father's part. It was decided on early on that most participants would be fairly middle-aged, a couple in their early twenties. There were a few distinguishing ages. Miriko was a prime example, clearly the eldest, and Ryuu; someone in their mid teens. It's another reason as to why her father had put her in this game, there would be no child more "competent" than her, he said.

"I hadn't until you told me" Kimiyori admitted softly as his eyes sharpened with thought. "What could it mean though…?" The man then turned to face Chouko and gave a small smile. "You have relaxed my nerves, thank you"

Chouko nodded, feeling proud of herself as she stood up to leave Kimiyori to his thoughts.

Kimiyori was very kind. The little girl thought she had used 'kind' a little too much, but it just seemed like a word that related so much to the man. Despite being in a scary situation, he was still thinking about his family before himself, she admired that very much. He didn't patronize her like most of the players here, he listened to her and took her seriously for a change.

Chouko then saw Anko and Seitaro. They appeared to be in a pretty serious argument, though when Chouko got a closer look, it was Anko who was arguing while Seitaro continued to provoke her with a smug grin. Chouko rubbed her arm uncomfortably. Those two were going to be scary players during the game, along with Fusui. The little girl shuddered when she thought about Fusui.

During evaluation, Anko seemed really nice. But ever since she's been here, she's done nothing but throw accusations around, as if she expects to get out of the facility if she blames every single person. Chouko couldn't decide whether it was because she was scared, or if it had something to do with trust issues? She's going to be a tiresome player, so Chouko hopes she can avoid the woman.

Seitaro was an eerily kind of calm. He hadn't lost his composure once. Chouko knew that the man was made aware that he was going to be in a death game, but it seemed a bit bewildering that he didn't appear scared to go into this game at all. She wondered if he had seen some horrible stuff to be unfazeable, or perhaps, It's possible he could be a… psychopath. Or was it sociopath? The terms always confused Chouko as they were annoyingly similar words.

Chouko then turned her attention to Fusui, who was leaning against the wall, resting his one visible eye. The flower eyepatch he had scared her, something pretty on such a violent person, it almost felt like he didn't try to make an effort to deceive you into believing he was nice or something. Suddenly, he opened his eye, meeting Chouko's eyes. She widened her eyes in fear, quickly turning away.

He was scarier than Seitaro and Anko combined. There was an unnatural bloodlust behind him that Chouko couldn't explain. He felt like someone who could snap the neck of anyone in his sights. She self-consciously rubbed her neck as she avoided eye contact with the scary man.

The small girl stumbled a bit behind her before bumping into a pair of human legs. She squeaked as she turned around to see who she bumped into.

It was Takeo Hayabusa.

"Watch it! Oh, uh… Small child" Takeo started aggressive, but just looked on blanky as he stared at Chouko. "Uhh… Shit, what do I say to a small child..." The man muttered not so subtly . "Umm… shoo?" he asked Chouko a little weakly, flicking his wrist in her direction.

Chouko was not impressed.

"I am not a dog, mister" Chouko told him politely, her father told her that flaunting her intelligence was shameful; so she was taught to be polite even in the most stupid of situations.

Takeo suddenly grabbed her hair clip, making the small yelp in slight surprise as he chucked it a couple of feet away from them. He then pointed at her, and then the hair clip. "Fetch" was his command.

Chouko seethed in annoyance as she went to fetch her hair clip, strands of hair already annoying her line of sight.

Takeo was someone Chouko did not want in the game. Not because she wanted him to live, despite her selfishness wanting to claim that, just simply because he would be an annoyance to the game. She did not appreciate his disrespect towards her and hoped someone would put him in his place. What annoyed her beyond belief was that during evaluation, nothing was noted about a mentality snap, making him even more unpredictable than he already is.

Chouko reached out a hand to grab her hair clip, but someone else was quicker. She sighed in annoyance as she looked up to whoever took her hair clip.

Katashi inspected her hair clip as Chouko waited patiently for him to return it. "Usually, I'd label something like this a little tacky, but with you..." Katashi surprisingly took great care in placing Chouko's hair clip back in place. "... It works perfectly" he told the smaller girl, giving her a small smile.

Chouko curtsied in place. "Thank you, mister"

To her surprise, Katashi squealed in delight. "Your manners are near perfect! If only I had you as a little sister of sorts, my image would be skyrocketing!" he then paused. "But your hair could do with combing"

Chouko gasped in small surprise, looking at her reflection in one of the marble tiles. She took one look.

She wanted to cry. Her father was going to be angry with her for appearing like some homeless hobo. She started to sniffle a bit, making Katashi panic. "Hey, hey, it isn't that bad! Look!" he then brandished out a hair brush and started brushing her hair. "I'll have it fixed in just… Under a minute… Done!" he then smiled as he brandished a mirror from seemingly nowhere. "How does that look?"

Chouko took a look at herself and giggled. "I look very nice, thank you mister!" Chouko thanked, smiling brightly.

Katashi blushed as he turned away. "The urge… so strong… must resist..."

Chouko walked away, leaving the film critic very conflicted.

Katashi was… Weird, to say the least. Despite sometimes being harsh, Chouko thought there was a kind heart underneath all of that prejudice. His reaction to the whole thing has come as a surprise, considering evaluation would suggest he'd act the opposite way. But so far, he's been kinda dorkish, not that Chouko was complaining. He was able to get a laugh out of her after all. Despite his erratic personality, she wanted to meet "The Epitome of Weird" as her father described it.

Chouko sat next to the fox wearer as he apprehensively stared at her. Their meeting consisted of stares.

And stares...

And stares…

"…"

Inari then leaned in closer to the girl, her feeling of confusion greater than fear as he leaned his face into her ear.

"... Inari..." he whispered, before getting up and leaving Chouko very confused.

Well, Chouko could say with confidence that her father had exaggerated his erratic like behavior just slightly. Sure, he was a little strange, but what he did isn't exactly the most abnormal thing in the world; that just seemed like someone who took great measures in making sure they didn't have to talk to anyone. She wondered if Inari would have an easier time socializing if he just took off that mask though… While It's true some unfortunate events happened in his life, it wasn't anything drastically tragic according to what her father had informed her of.

Last but not least, Nori. She was massaging her forehead as she groaned in frustration. "What motive would anyone possibly have to kidnapping a bunch of random people… There must be a reason, there must!" Nori narrowed her eyes when she felt a tug on her sleeve.

"Hello" Chouko greeted with a welcome smile, waving slightly. Nori didn't looked fazed.

"What is it kid? I'm trying to think up a way to get out of here without any interruptions" Nori told the child bluntly. Chouko looked a little put off, but continued regardless.

"Do you need something to eat? Or maybe drink? I noticed that you didn't look very happy, so I was hoping that might be able to cheer you up" Chouko asked cautiously, making sure not to overstep any boundaries. Nori stayed quiet for a moment before slowly nodding her head.

"Sure" shrugging with indifference, she got up from the sofa and made her way to the bar while Chouko followed her. She then addressed Michiru, who was still washing up. "Can you get me a drink? Preferably one with alcohol"

Michiru stared at the woman with a look of disgust, her attempts of hiding it failing miserably. "Seriously?" she asked the business woman with a raised brow.

"Do I look like I'm joking?" Nori deadpanned, giving Michiru a glare. The bartender rolled her eyes as she used the cup she just dried.

After a bit of moving around, Michiru produced Nori with a drink. "I hope this is to your satisfaction..." Michiru muttered sarcastically, shoving the drink into the woman's hand.

Nori rolled her eyes as she took a small sip and then pretended to think. "Meh, mediocre at best" she told Michiru dryly, making the bartender's eye twitch with anger.

Before a confrontation could begin, the screens began to static again, before revealing Saiku. Ugh, looking at him was going to give Chouko nightmares as goosebumps began to form on her arms.

"I hope you're all ready to rumble! Cuz this battle royale is about to begin!"

"Not for all of us" Kimiyori said curtly.

Saiku stuck out It's ugly tongue. "Such a party pooper"

Chouko wanted to laugh out loud at that. If anyone was a party pooper, it was her father.

"Well, whatever, have nice a sleep everyone!" Suddenly, thirteen yelps of pain could be heard as they all immediately fell unconscious.

All except Chouko.

Suddenly, from a hidden door in the room, her father came out. It was silent between the two as Reo let Chouko collect her thoughts.

"..."

Chouko finally decided to ask a lingering question. "You neglected to mention all of the mutated monsters in this facility, why?"

Her father answered immediately. "To protect you"

Chouko didn't know why, it wasn't as if it was the first time he'd said, but she felt an emotion that she hadn't felt in a long time.

Anger.

"Protect me?" she spat out spitefully, surprising Reo at the amount of venom in his daughter's voice. "What kind of father sends their own child into a death game!? I don't care for this experiment! Okay!? I don't care! I want out! I don't want people to die on account of me! Please don't do this!" Chouko's eyes were streaming with tears as she suddenly started pounding on her father's chest with her fists. "You don't love me! You don't! Why're you prolonging my death!? Why not kill me now!?" Chouko finally said the finishing blow.

"I hate you!"

Chouko shrieked in pain as she was sent flying to the floor as her cheek burnt with pain. She clutched her cheek as she stayed down, defiantly staring at her father. Suddenly, one look at him was enough to diminish her anger and instead replace it with an emotion she felt far too often.

Fear.

Reo shook in fury as he glared daggers at Chouko, the hand he had slapped her with shaking violently as he took shallow breaths. "YOU WILL NOT SAY THAT AGAIN!" he roared, making the girl cry out in fear.

"Say you're sorry"

"..."

"SAY IT"

"..."

"I see how it is..." Reo suddenly took a remote out of his pocket. "Night night, sleep tight, be very scared to open your eyes tonight"

"OW" Chouko yelped as she felt herself getting drowsier.

Her father had drugged her. He was mad, very mad.

Chouko had suddenly made this a very hard game to win.

Yeah... I have no good excuse for the long wait.

Despite It's shortness, I still hope you've all thoroughly enjoyed this chapter! Be sure to vote on the poll as It'll determine who we follow first! If there are any spelling mistakes, It's because I haven't reread and frankly I'm not too bothered about it currently!

So the gist of the rules are out of the way, but there is still much to explain during the game! Sorry if any parts feel rushed, I just really wanted this chapter out of the way. Be sure to PM if I'm not portraying your character correctly!

Until I next update!

- zephryr