[I wished for the DGP staff to become my family.]
.
Of all kinds of wishes for Ace to write in at the beginning of every Desire Grand Prix game... and have it granted.
She thought that the last one had been the most obnoxious of all the wishes Ace had made. The wish to become a superstar... or as Ace had worded it, 'The Star of the Stars of the Stars'. She never thought that there'd be another wish that could top that one wish in terms of ridiculousness. But there was.
Why did Ace write that wish? Why did he want to have the staff become his family?
Still, even if she did not particularly like Ace's wish... or any other player's wishes that they wanted to make reality, as a Game Navigator she should not do anything to manipulate or interfere with the result of the game. She could only give her guidance... and wish the players good luck. So when any of those wishes ended up becoming reality, she just have to comply with it to the best of her ability.
And Ace, as much as that person's attitude and behaviour could be too much to deal with at times... that guy wasn't really that bad anyway. Regardless of his show of cunningness and overconfidence, as well as the air of deceit that surrounded the games... Ace was still quite a decent player. No matter how challenging the games may pose to him, Ace never really played dirty during the games. Ace may at times use trickery to get other players to lend him items to allow him to win the round (as per his foxy character), but he had always played fairly. He was always earnest while playing the games—to defeat the Jamato and save the world—which was what she liked about Ace.
So whenever Ace had won a game and earned his right to become the Desaity, Tsumuri learned to accept the result as Ace had earned it fair and square.
Yet, the way the Game Master tried to force Ace to exit the game prematurely made her feel uncomfortable. While she could understand the reason why the Game Master was bent on making sure that Ace would not win the current game and maintain his Desaity title (since he didn't want to have to grant Ace's wish to become part of the DGP staff), Girori shouldn't have broken the rule and directly interfere with the outcome of the games.
.
It made her feel sick. How could Girori continue pretending to act nice to Ace when he was the reason Ace now had to live a fake life? She felt bad for Ace. Now that he no longer remembers the games or even the fact that he used to be Geats, Ace had become just an ordinary person who happened to still lived as a superstar. Yet because of that, she felt that this situation was so unfortunate. This was unfair to him! Even more when his 'defeat' had been forced on him earlier.
Since the next game would be the final round of the current game, Tsumuri thought that she'd take a last look at Ace's room. Since it might be the last time she'd be seeing Ace again once the game was concluded and a new Desaity was chosen. They might not even continue to be a family after this.
She didn't think that his room would be furnished so simply. Knowing his personality, she thought that his room would be so flashy.
Tsumuri let out a soft sigh as she saw multiple posters of Ace pasted on the wall. She shook her head in amusement as she stared at one of the posters.
That guy really loved himself way too much...
But just as she thought about turning around and leaving the room, Tsumuri's eyes noticed the small scribble written on one of the full-sized posters on the wall. The scribble caught her attention due to the message written on it.
Why would Ace want to remind himself to look in the mirror?
As she turned to look for the full-bodied mirror, she immediately saw the other post-it note that had been left on the corner of the mirror. Which led her to take a look at another poster that had been pasted on a nearby wall.
The moment Tsumuri found the hidden memo left behind the back of the poster, she let out a small gasp as she realized the extent of Ace's preparation.
[And all that was left, is to accept the Desire belt from Tsumuri.]
Honestly, she didn't expect to find out how much Ace had prepared to make sure that he continued to be able to play in the game. But even if Ace was able to recover his memories about DGP, it still wouldn't be enough to allow him to rejoin the game. Even if Ace could acquire a Desire belt somehow, he would still need to reclaim his core ID. And she doubted that Game Master Girori would give it back willingly.
But Ace had been so sure that he will regain his Desire belt and core ID. Even more, that she herself would present it to him. How could he be so sure that she would give it to him?
Even if she IS the game navigator, she cannot just give out a player's core ID and grant them reentry to the game however she likes. Her role in the game was to make sure that the rules of the game are to be adhered to. She can't be breaking the rules of the DGP herself! Unless...
Tsumuri went to recover all of Ukiyo Ace's past Desire cards that he had written, ever since joining the Desire Grand Prix for the first time and winning the game. Once she picked up the very first Desire card that he had written, Tsumuri found the answer right away.
The fox was indeed very cunning in his ways...