22

Evaluation

Chishiya

"So… now what?" A stuttering voice cut through the silence that lingered after the cell doors fell shut with a clang. Chishiya shot a quick glance through the metal bars, at the owner of the voice three cells over. Takei from team three, with his perpetual scowl, nervously twirled the strand of wire between his fingers after voicing his question. When his teammate Sato yanked Takei's right arm away with help of the handcuffs that tethered them to each other, Takei almost dropped the wire. "Now we break out idiot," Sato growled at him in annoyance.

Chishiya glanced back at Niragi, who met his gaze with dark, hungry eyes, and subtly indicated his chin towards the metal bench lining the back wall of their cell. A silent command to sit back for a moment and observe, see what they could learn, determine who they could take advantage of and who not to trust. With a slight nod, Niragi obeyed and coordinated his steps with Chishiya's, both men soon lounging on the bench with an air of arrogant calmness.

"Yes but… how?" Takei asked nervously, eyes scanning the cell.

Beside him, Chishiya heard Niragi release a mocking snort, before he raised the gun to take a closer look and count his ammo.

"There's got to be something we can use. Look around," Sato barked at his partner, the struggle to keep his temper leashed, undeniably obvious.

Chishiya's attention quickly shifted when Niragi, to his left inaudibly sucked in a breath and stilled. He flicked his gaze over to Niragi, feeling the tension his teammate now held in his body, so close were they forced to sit.

The gun is empty, Chishiya realised, before gently nudging Niragi with his elbow, a silent reminder to stay focused. Chishiya's mind raced. An empty gun is more than just a weapon; it is a tool for manipulation, a bluff that could give us the upper hand if we play our cards right.

Niragi promptly snapped out of it, put the gun back together with practiced ease and tucked it into his belt.

A loud clang soon rang through the cells, demanding all players' attention. It was Sato, face distorted with rage, attempting to kick in the door to his cell.

"The doors swing inward," the blonde man, Akiyama, locked in the cell beside Chishiya and Niragi, commented with a mocking tone. "Like this, see?" Akiyama reached for one of the door's metal bars with his free hand – as there were no door handles-, his left being cuffed to his teammate Kanda, and pulled. The door swung inwards on silent hinges, team four now one step closer on their path to freedom.

"What!? How did you do that?" Sato demanded dumbfounded.

Akiyama huffed a short breath in amusement. "Wouldn't you like to know," he said, glanced at his partner and together, they stepped out of their cell.

Chishiya allowed himself to show a hint of a smirk and let his head fall back to rest against the stone wall, as him and Niragi quietly observed team four making their exit. The other players called after them, begged them for help, but Akiyama and Kanda would hear none of it, and simply chose to ignore them, as they headed for the door at the end of the hallway – the only other doorway besides the one they'd entered through, the latter of which had been barred behind a wall of thick, cold, unyielding metal.

"And why the fuck are you two so calm?!" Sato's deep, raspy voice echoed through the space as he addressed them.

Chishiya, head still resting against the wall completely unbothered, only side-eyed Sato, while Niragi glared at the man, his pierced eyebrow raised to showcase his mask of arrogance and boredom.

"I'm talking to you asshole, so fucking answer me!"

Niragi inclined his head, his dark, bemused eyes locking with Chishiya's. "You know Chishiya... I think it's time we headed out too," Niragi suggested, his tone packed with theatrical self-importance.

"I was just about to suggest the same," Chishiya replied, his smirk turning feline, all too happily prepared to unite with Niragi in their little skirmish for power.

With coordinated steps, that seemed almost choreographed, Chishiya and Niragi rose and made their way to the cell door, all the while Sato threw curse after curse at them.

With swift, slender fingers, Chishiya produced his hair pin and got to work on the lock, blending out the noise, like he had done so often as a child back at the orphanage.

Not five seconds later, their cell door unlocked, the struggle for superiority now complete.

"Perhaps you shouldn't be so quick to judge," Chishiya cautioned entirely composed, his hands now, as always, casually buried in his pockets. Chishiya didn't so much as shoot Sato another glance, only highlighting how completely worthless he perceived Sato to be.

"Huh," Chishiya huffed bemused, when they had reached the open door of their neighbouring cell, and instructed Niragi to halt with a quick motion of his hand. He reached out and, with one swift tug, peeled something from the strike plate of the cell entrance.

"What the hell is that?!" Sato's desperate voice echoed, sounding almost far away, while Chishiya calmly focused on his discovery.

Kanda used the duct tape to block the strike plate and prevent the latch bolt from locking into place, Chishiya thought. Smart move.

"Not bad," he muttered with a lazy shrug and carelessly discarded the piece of tape, now scrunched up into a ball, tossing it over his shoulder.

Niragi chuckled darkly. "Too bad you didn't think of that," he called out to Sato, whose face instantly twisted even more with fury.

Sato slammed his fists against the bars. "You won't get away with this! When I get my hands on you, I'll tear you apart!"

Chishiya dismissed the outburst with a subtle smirk, his attention already shifting back to his partner and motioned for Niragi to follow.

"Oh won't I? I'm not the one trapped in the cage," Niragi sneered, his pierced eyebrow raised in bemusement when he halted before Sato, forcing Chishiya to an abrupt stop.

Chishiya felt a sudden force tugging at his left ankle, the chain tethering him and Niragi together was now strung tight. His heart leapt to his throat, his pulse accelerating with each passing beat. His mask of boredom and indifference on the other hand remained perfectly intact, entirely unchanged when he observed the scene unfolding before him. Sato had reached through the bars and grabbed hold of Niragi's collar to pull him closer, before wrapping his large, strong hand around Niragi's throat.

Sato could snap Niragi's neck in a heartbeat, Chishiya worried, yet forced himself to remain calm on the outside.

A deep, wicked laugh cut through the silence that followed, allowing all present to release the breath they'd been holding in.

Niragi threw his head back as he laughed out loud, acting like he couldn't give a single shit that his life was on the line.

Niragi's reaction caught Sato so off guard that he faltered and almost released his grip around Niragi's throat. When Niragi finally recovered from his fit of laughter and gazed at Sato with dark, bloodthirsty eyes, Sato began to squeeze with an intent to kill. Chishiya silently sucked in a breath, his heart pounding relentlessly while his blood ran cold.

He'll kill him. He'll kill Niragi. I have to do something. Come on think, just think. Chishiya's thoughts threatened to delve into utter chaos, rebelled against all rationality and logic, as he faced the possibility of seeing his friend hurt or perhaps even killed. And yet, when Chishiya noticed the wicked grin on Niragi's lips, while Sato cut off Niragi's air supply, he managed to leash the wild, destructive thoughts running rampant through his mind.

A low, menacing growl resonated from deep within Niragi's chest, his black eyes like two bottomless pits craving absolute annihilation, boring right through Sato's. In that very same moment, Niragi subtly shoved something cool and smooth into Chishiya's hand. He briefly glanced at the item Niragi had handed him and immediately understood.

"Let him go," Chishiya calmly accentuated each single word, his voice firm. The unmistakeable sound of a gun being cocked underlined the gravity of his threat.

Niragi had made use of his threatening snarl to distract Sato, and in that very moment he had passed his gun to Chishiya.

Chishiya had to admire Niragi's self-control, the skill of remaining perfectly unperturbed to the very core, in the face of death. Any normal person with access to a gun would have instantly brought it forth in self-defence. Niragi, on the other hand, was very much aware of the opportunity he would present Sato with if he did. He was already trapped within Sato's grip, already at a disadvantage. It would have been too simple for Sato to disarm him. But Chishiya stood just out of range, so Niragi made the logical decision to let Chishiya wield the gun instead.

"Don't make me repeat myself," Chishiya threatened coldly, when Sato made no intention to release Niragi, whose face was slowly turning crimson.

"Argh! Fuck you!" Sato raged, as he violently shoved Niragi away admitting his defeat. "Fuck all of you!"

Niragi stumbled backwards, gripped in a fit of uncontrollable coughing as air flowed freely back into his lungs.

Chishiya caught Niragi by the waist with his free hand to steady him and merely shifted it to Niragi's back when he doubled over, one hand covering his mouth, in his attempt to stifle the paroxysmal cough. Chishiya's touch was incredibly gentle, a silent whisper to remind Niragi that Chishiya had his back. With every cough that overwhelmed Niragi, Chishiya could feel the shudder that coursed through Niragi's body, the muscles in his back twitching under Chishiya's touch.

It didn't take long for Niragi to recover from his fit. He spat onto the ground once, clearing his airway of excess phlegm before straightening himself, an evil grin once again decorating his face.

"Enjoy watching your time run out," Niragi mocked self-satisfied. "Scum like you deserve every second of terror coming your way as you watch your life ticking away. Helpless, worthless and absolutely pathetic. See you in hell asshole."

With that, Chishiya and Niragi resumed their coordinated steps, leaving Sato and his teammate behind. The two women in the last cell remained quiet, as they passed, the metal chain tethering the boys together rattling loudly with each step.

Chishiya ignored the women entirely, his focus aimed towards the exit, but Niragi stole a glance, winked and ran his pierced tongue over his lips as an act of intimidation. Akagi, the more reserved of the two women visibly recoiled, but her teammate Sasaki glared back at Niragi with defiant eyes.

Niragi released a light chuckle when he witnessed their reaction, clearly enjoying causing mischief.

The exit door soon clicked shut behind the two men, once again surrounded by silence.

"Which way now?" Niragi asked, coming to a halt beside Chishiya in a small, rectangular room. They silently eyed off the three doors before them, the dark grey walls and a black tiled floor. The single fluorescent light flickered irregularly, casting the room into darkness every so often.

"Let's get closer. Maybe we can..." Niragi began, taking a step toward the opposite door.

"Wait," Chishiya interrupted sharply, gripping Niragi's arm to yank him back.

"Why? What's wrong?"

Chishiya didn't reply. Instead he pointed down at something right before their feet.

"Blood," Niragi muttered under his breath, while his gaze followed the trail of fresh blood reflecting the arrhythmic flashes of light.

"Neither Akiyama or Takei had a weapon that could cause such blood loss," Chishiya voiced his thoughts. "So what happened for one of them to get injured?"

"You reckon there's a trap?"

"Not just one," Chishiya replied calmly, his tone filled with conviction. "The broken light was meant to distract us from seeing the subtle signs."

Niragi crouched down to closer inspect the black tiles. "You're right. Some of the tiles have barely visible symbols on them."

"Then we just need to determine which symbols to avoid," Chishiya concluded, sounding almost bored, his hands resting in his pockets as always.