𝐃𝐄𝐄

He said was fine, but his face said otherwise. As much as Akaashi wanted to force the words out of his mouth, he knew Bokuto was stubborn and wouldn't even give a clue. So he thought about it then decided to let it go for a while and talk about it after they're done playing.

A few hours later since the games are held at the afternoon, you and Kuroo walked out of your rooms to say your goodbyes before the three would leave. Even though you were sure they were going to survive, you didn't want for your last words for them just to go to waste.

"Bye Akaashi, Bokuto, and Kenma. Please stay alive for us." You said, with a worried tone but a smile on your face

"Don't worry, we'll come back. We promise." said Akaashi as he smiled at you

Akaashi was truly concerned about everyone, while Kenma just waved everything off. There was surely something that was bothering the pudding head. He remained having a plain face with no such reactions, he was pale, he kept spacing out and he looked like he was missing someone.

Bokuto, on the other hand, just kept a smile. Maybe it was not to worry anyone about the death games. Being happy is a technique to relax, after all. Sometimes, you just end up smiling too much that you end up being creepy.

The three of them left as you continued to wash the dishes. There was no reason to be scared, anxious, frightened, or any emotion like that. After all, it was impossible that they'd die, right?

Kuroo sat on the couch, unable to walk because of his injury. He then watched you wash the dishes, "Y/N."

you looked at him, confused. "Yes, Tetsuro?"

"Aren't you worried that they.. you know.. d-"

"Shut up. Please do not continue what you're about to say." You widened your eyes as you realized what you just said. After all these time, you kept on lying to yourself. Confident that they would survive from the death games

You were too scared to face reality. They couldn't die, they couldn't! They promised!

"They couldn't die.. they promised that they'd come back!" you exclaimed, staring at the soap bubbles, hoping to calm down

"They wouldn't.. right?" you asked, with a frightened smile. How could you be so confident that they wouldn't? You're stuck on a world with deadly games and a number of days that you could live if you refused to play them. There's no telling if they'd die or not.

They won't die.

They won't die.

They won't fucking die!

You kept on repeating these words in your mind. You continued to lie to yourself. You continued to believe that none of your friends will die because you couldn't accept the fact that your conversation earlier might be the last.

They won't die on you and Kuroo, right? They couldn't.

While on their way to the games, Bokuto, Akaashi, and Kenma was walking outside to find some things to bring back.

"Akaashi, Bokuto, let's split up. I'll go find some more information about the borderlands, so the two of you can go ahead and play at the nearest arena." Said Kenma

Akaashi nodded, and Kenma began to walk at the right side while the two began to walk at the left. A few minutes after waiting, a game arena finally showed up. Players began to enter and Bokuto and Akaashi decided to enter as well. As they picked up a phone and began facial recognition, the game has started

'REGISTRATION HAS CLOSED

THERE ARE A TOTAL OF 5 PARTICIPANTS

DIFFICULTY, 10 OF DIAMONDS'

"10 of diamonds? Isn't that the highest difficulty?" murmured Akaashi. He glanced at Bokuto and the man was just smiling at him.. weirdly.

For the first time, Akaashi can't understand Bokuto, he was just so confused that he didn't know if the pressure was too much for the former spiker.

'GAME, SHARK TANK.

RULES,

WEAR THE PROVIDED MASKS AND OXYGEN AND GO TO THE TANK.

THERE WILL BE PODS IN EACH TANK, ONLY ONE PERSON CAN ONLY ENTER A POD.

PEOPLE WHO AREN'T IN A POD WILL BE EATEN BY THE SHARKS.

TO ENTER A POD YOU MUST ANSWER A RIDDLE THAT WILL POP OUT OF YOUR PHONE. THE PERSON WHO SURVIVES IN THE LAST TANK IS THE WINNER.

TIME LIMIT, 10 MINUTES.'

'riddles..' thought Akaashi. Although he himself wasn't very good at riddles, it gave a benefit for Bokuto. He wasn't very good at academics, he used to ask the team riddles to cheer everyone up.

As everyone wore the masks and oxygen, they jumped at the shark tank. It wasn't very wide or very shallow. It was quite the right size for the number of players there.

'THE TIMELIMIT FOR THIS TANK IS 3 MINUTES'

Seeing the caged shark beside the pods, they began to answer the riddles.

Bokuto's seemed easy as he entered the pod before Akaashi

'What is a question that you can never answer yes to?' was Akaashi's riddle. He began to think until he thought of a possible answer.

He typed 'Are you asleep yet' and the pod opened. Once the shark was released, they saw one person get eaten by the shark. Blood was everywhere. So much that the water started turning red.

'THE TIMELIMIT FOR THIS TANK IS 2 MINUTES AND 30 SECONDS'

Everyone went to the tanks, one pod being deducted. Bokuto was the first to enter a pod. Akaashi was surprised at how Bokuto was doing, he was fast to answer, I guess his job on searching up riddles were useful

'What comes in a minute, twice in a moment, but never in a thousand years?'

Now, this was easy. Bokuto has asked this a lot of times while practicing to the point that it became stuck to his mind.

'The answer is letter M' he thought as he typed it in his phone and entered the pod. Everyone finished their riddles and moved to the next tank. They had three pods, all of them being shocked since they were four

'THE TIMELIMIT FOR THIS TANK IS 2 MINUTES'

"What will we do about this?! There are four of us yet there are only three!" exclaimed a man. He was wearing a business suit, probably a man in his 30s. Akaashi was thinking of a solution while Bokuto stayed silent

"How about we do a race on who answers the riddles first? Then the last person will die." suggested the other man, survival was based on speed now, they all agreed and began answering the riddles.

'I have keys, but no locks, doors, and rooms. You can enter but you can't leave."

The word rooms was stuck on his mind, what could that be?!  he thought as he squinted his eyes and looked at Bokuto

Kenma was done searching the city and found a game arena, it lighted lots of neon colors like pink, purple, blue, green. It honestly looked like a club.

As he entered the area, he picked up a phone and done his facial recognition. There were 46 people in the area, making him the 47th participant. It was unusual that there would be this many players as there were only 15 at the game of tag.

As he waited for the game to start, there were 3 more people that entered. a bald-headed guy, a guy with a gun and a tongue piercing, and the Cheshire cat, Chishiya Shuntaro.

"We meet again, Kozume." Chishiya removed his hood, revealing a smirk. Kenma just maintained a plain face as he nodded to the cat

"Aguni, this is one of the two people I've told you and hatter about, Kozume Kenma. Say, where is L/N? Don't tell me she died." Asked Chishiya, receiving a small glare from Kenma. With no hesitation, he responded as it seemed like he had no choice.

"She's alive. She's staying with Kuro back in our place since he got stabbed at the previous game." he let out a sigh, the bald-headed guy who seemed his name was Aguni was scanning his appearance which made Kenma a little uncomfortable

"Kid, what did you do before you got into this shitty mess?" asked Aguni

"I was in my first year of college. I tried streaming and stuff, Aguni-san." he responded softly. The other guy didn't look very nice at him, it's sort of like he was a threat to him. Of course he'd look like a threat, he had a fucking gun

'REGISTRATION HAS CLOSED

THERE ARE A TOTAL OF 50 PARTICIPANTS

DIFFICULTY, 6 OF SPADES'

Even if the difficulty was 6, it was spades and Kenma knew he's fucked up since spades were physical games.

He isn't really a person for physical activities and everyone who knew him also knew that he hates getting tired. He usually wouldn't force himself to move but this time his life was on the line, he wished that it would've been diamonds since it would be easier.

'GAME, LASER TAG. RULES, THERE ARE LASER GUNS IN THE TABLE, YOU WILL HAVE FIVE MINUTES TO HIDE IN A DESIRED SPOT, AFTER 5 MINUTES YOUR LASER GUNS WILL GLOW, YOU ARE REQUIRED TO SHOOT ANYONE IN YOUR SIGHT. THE LAST FOUR WHO ARE STILL ALIVE WINS THE GAME. TIMELIMIT, 2 HOURS'

Everyone started taking their guns. Kenma decided to hide at the place where they adjust the lights for a better viewing of the area.

As he entered the room, he could see almost every player that entered. Giving him more of a chance to survive the game. After all, the less the players, the less possibility he gets eliminated.

'GAME START'

Kenma began shooting everyone he saw, crouching down whenever he was targeted. He started to think of it as a different version of Call Of Duty, and he was surely enjoying it.

Chishiya, on the other hand, was just staring at everyone dying. He too wasn't really fond of Spades game, but compared to Kenma, he wasn't killing anyone.

He didn't want to get his hands dirty so he just shot people when they were targeting him

Aguni didn't hide at all, instead he just shoot and dodged along with the other guy, who was killing people with his sniper instead of the laser guns.

'They must be comrades.' Kenma thought as he observed them not shooting eachother

Kenma got reminded of the time limit, so he decided to get out of the room and begin killing more.

He was surrounded by 5 people, which was easy for him. As a smart gamer, he had his combo attacks so he decided to try it in real life. He bet his life on this move. Taking a deep breath, he slid through the floor and began shooting the laser in a horizontal line to shoot everyone. Luckily, it worked.

There were 12 players left.

Kenma walked in a corner and saw Chishiya. He was thinking whether he should shoot him or not. After all, this guy is a threat but could also be used as an ally.

but the time to make a decision was too late as the robotic voice said 7 players left. There were three people left to kill, one was behind Kenma. He was about to shoot until Chishiya shot the guy first

'GAME CLEAR, CONGRATULATIONS'

"I saved your ass, you come with me." Said Chishiya as he put on his hoodie and walked downstairs.

There was one more tank left for Akaashi and Bokuto, and they were left with two tanks only. They were three people in the tank, and they had one minute left.

The businessman, being selfishly desperate to survive without thinking that he was with two college students, pulled out a knife and tried to stab Akaashi. Instead, Bokuto tried to protect Akaashi by swimming towards him, and got his oxygen hit instead.

"Bokuto!"  Akaashi tried to cover the hole in Bokuto's oxygen then kicked the businessman in the balls, making him groan.

Akaashi took Bokuto's arm and helped him swim towards the pod, and held both phones.

"Quick! Answer the riddle. Bokuto, please!" Akaashi begged as the level of oxygen Bokuto had continued to decrease

"L/N, w-what, but how?" Akaashi stuttered, looking at you with wide eyes.

"I'm with Tetsuro and Kenma. We just came back from our first game that I think was called the five of spades." You responded

"Spades, huh.." Akaashi sighed. Who knew that some of the old friends of the gang had experienced the same thing they did earlier

"Kuro is right outside, resting because of a wound. Do you guys need any help?" Kenma asked, worried

"I.. I want to see Kuroo, please." Bokuto begged as he lifted his head and made a small smile with teary eyes

The three of them were worried about each other, especially Bokuto. Seeing his personality, he has a lot of mood swings and can often forget what he was doing or how to do something. Of all people, why was he sent to the borderlands?

The two of them looked like they were lifeless, emotionless, empty. The games really are cruel, well.. the borderlands are

"So.. how did you end up here?" asked Akaashi,

You, Akaashi, and Kenma assisted Bokuto and Kuroo in walking. Just around the corner, you found a house that no one was staying in. In there were beds, the bathroom, and the kitchen

you grabbed some non-expired food, drinks, and a stove that depended on batteries that luckily was working from the grocery before you left. Right now, you were sitting on the couch with the rest of your friends, wondering how you ended up in this hell world

"Me, Y/N, and Kenma were walking back to our homes until the lights went out and Kenma's switch died. When we went to his house, his parents weren't there and none of the electronics were working. Y/N tried to knock on the other houses in the neighborhood but no one was there. Then something lit up outside and that's how we started playing the games. We met a few people there like Karube and Arisu who were a big help but.. we're still kind of lost." Explained Kuroo

If this story was told to anyone who hasn't played a game, it would be unbelievable. But it was fellow players who were talking. Friends, too.

Kenma sighed and relaxed his back on the couch. Curious, he lifted his head up and looked at Akaashi, "How about you, guys?" he asked

"We were at a resort when Bokuto-san invited me, saying he wanted to play volleyball. We played a few rounds then went to the Bathrooms to take baths, then the lights went out, pretty much the same that happened to you guys, but we arrived 3 days ago, so our visa expires the day after tomorrow." Akaashi explained his and Bokuto's case, staring at the ceiling as he sighed

"Akaashi... we.. we should take a bath now.." Bokuto panted, he spiked so much that he reached the level that he couldn't do more.

"Alright, Bokuto." Akaashi responded and the both of them took their towels. They arrived at the bathing area and went went to the onsen. They were both talking about their careers in the future until the lights went out. They quickly washed their hair and wore their clothes.

When they got out of the room and try to check their phones, they weren't working, neither was the telephone at the room. When they decided to go to the table in the lobby, no one was there.

"A-akaashi, what is happening?" Asked Bokuto, he was the type to get scared when the whole place was empty

"I'm not sure, Bokuto. But I'm sure that sooner or later we would find out where everyone went." Akaashi knew all the words the calm down Bokuto.

A few hours later when the two were stargazing, something lit up outside.

"Bokuto, should we head to the source of the light from outside?"

"Okay."

"Here." You handed a mug of soup to Bokuto to keep him warm. If he's gonna be playing deadly games, he surely needs to be in his best condition. You also handed some to Kuroo and Akaashi since Kenma wasn't really a soup guy

It was becoming too hot in the room and you decided to open the windows for some wind. You made some coffee and walked towards the balcony which had the perfect view of a night sky, the stars, the moon.  

It made you forget that you were in a place where you could die anytime.

As you were sipping the drink from your cup, Kenma went to the balcony to see the sky beside you.

There was something that was really bothering him. You couldn't tell what or who it was or when it even took place

Ever since everyone disappeared, Kenma's never been the same. It isn't nervousness or anxiety, or simply fear but a mysterious aura of worry

"Hey, Y/N." You were startled at the sudden call of your name. You glanced to the side and see Kenma smiling at you

"Hey, Kenma." You responded with a smile back.

Kenma was staring at you. Although a smile was on his face, worry was on his eyes. It was obvious, but you wouldn't want to ruin the moment for him by pointing it out.

"Kenma? Are you okay? I noticed that you've been looking kind of.. weird, ever since the game of tag." You couldn't take it anymore, you were too worried for him that a question about his emotions came out of your mouth

"It's nothing, I was just thinking about something.." he stayed silent for a while then sighed,

"Hey.. Y/N?" you looked at him as he mentioned your name.

"Yes?" you tilted your head in confusion, making him giggle a bit

"Oh nothing, it's just you remind me of a girl name Kano Aya.. let's not talk about the past shall we?" he chuckled, turning around to head back inside, "We'll be having a long day tomorrow, we need to get much rest as we can."

"Alright, but are you really okay though?" You asked him, he just stayed silent.

turning around to face you, he smiled. "Don't worry about me. The past is in the past."

"Do you want a hug?" You offered as he nodded

You welcomed him in his arms. He felt safe when you hugged him. You felt warm, comfortable, and soft too.

You really reminded him of her.

Back in the real world, you'd hug him everytime when he's stress with volleyball. He didn't want you to change. He didn't want you to stop giving him hugs, he didn't want to lose you, too.

His secret was left unknown as he went back inside, leaving you with the cold wind

"If it was just easy to tell you everything." he whispered as he sighed

The morning arrived, and you were cooking breakfast for the boys. Bokuto had an awesome sleep with the warm temperature of the room last night, which got him back to his cheerfulness.

"Goodmorning, Y/N!!" He jumped, hugging you from the back. You let out a small giggle, happy that the former spiker of Fukurodani was back to his senses

"Goodmorning, Bokuto. Let go of me for a while! The sausages are gonna burn." You were quite good at cooking. If it weren't for Kuroo and Kenma, you would've been in the cooking club in highschool.

But the volleyball club didn't really have a manager, so Kuroo convinced you to be, so at least there would be a manager in his last year of highschool. You didn't regret joining the club, though. You met really awesome people that you could relate to. If it weren't for the club, you'd probably still be a weird girl wandering around the halls

Once you were done cooking, you put the food in each plate and served. Kenma fell asleep in the table, and you thought it was cute. You went inside the room you chose for yourself and laid a blanket on top of him, making him warm.

After eating you gathered all the plates and set them on the side. Akaashi was thinking of his schedule for tomorrow.

He and Bokuto had to play otherwise their visas would've expired and their heads would've been hit by a beam of laser.

You decided to stay with Kuroo since his stab was pretty bad even if Akaashi treated it already, while Kenma decided to join the games to find out some more information about what happened.  

"Me, Kozume, and Bokuto are gonna leave in the morning. You go take care of Kuroo. I'll also make sure to get some medicine on the way back." Akaashi explained the plan, you guys nodded and tried to find some gadgets that could work. But obviously, there were none.

Bokuto was thinking about something, it was unusual for him to be too serious. You noticed he had a straight face and walked towards him to ask him if he was okay.

"Bokuto, are you okay?" you asked, caressing his back

"Oh- of course, I'm fine! I'll always be fine." He made a big smile, making sure positive energy was all around the room

"Mhm... I guess, but I've got an idea on where the saferoom is now." Kenma responded and grabbed your arm, while the other guy decided to follow the two of you.

"I never got your name.. I'm L/N Y/N." You introduced yourself as you run with Kenma

"Arisu Ryohei." He responded

The three of you arrived at what Kenma assumed to be the saferoom, at the same time, passing by the mysterious guy who introduced himself to be Chishiya Shuntaro

"So you guys found out too, huh?" asked Chishiya as he walked towards you three

"Mhm... I mean, the tagger gave us a hint since it seems he was trying to protect this room. But, if it were the case and this room is what will lead us to victory, he could've just stayed here.." Kenma responded, murmuring the last part. Chishiya smirked and said

"Seems like there's something else we don't know, but... if you don't open the door right now..." Chishiya reminded Kenma of the time limit, which was exactly 3 minutes and 8 seconds left

"Just fucking die, you idiot!!" Yelled Kuroo as he was trying to at least make the tagger unconscious with the pistol he stole. He shot the dominant arm of the tagger, making him drop his machete

"This man is an ex-SDF Officer and trained. Don't expect it to be some random guy from the street who knows how to fight." Replied the blond-haired guy while trying to unmask the tagger

The tagger pushes the blond-haired guy and picks up the machete that fell when he stabs the side of the blond-haired guy's stomach, making him yell in pain

"Oi! Rooster head! I dropped a fire extinguisher on the floor. Go grab it and spray it so his vision will blur up!"

"Alright!!" Kuroo did as he told and took the fire extinguisher, but as he did, the tagger stabs the back of his thigh

"Shit!" Yelled Kuroo, out of desperation he uses the extinguisher and does what was originally planned then escapes from the tagger to rest in a corner, looking at his wound

"Take a rest for a while, I can handle him." assured the blonde-haired stranger as he once again fought with the tagger

"Thank you!" Kuroo sighed as he took a handkerchief from his pocket and wrapped it around the stab, hoping for it not to get infected

THREE MINUTES UNTIL THE GAME CONCLUDES

You hear the robotic voice speak. Kenma opens the door and slowly walks inside, the four of you go inside one by one. You began to observe the room until gunshots suddenly were heard behind you.

There was either another tagger, or the one Kuroo was fighting with escaped and possibly.. murdered him already

"Shit!" Kenma almost got shot, but you took it by getting hit in your shoulder.

Pain.

Pain was all you felt until you blacked out.

"Y/N!" Kenma caught you before you fell.

He hurriedly went outside of the room, looking at your shoulder. "Y/N, why the hell did you get yourself shot!?" Kenma panicked as he took off his hoodie, trying to prevent any more bleeding

"Someone, please come over! The safe zone is in Apartment 406! It's impossible to clear the game alone! We need two people to do this!" Yelled Arisu.

There were barely 2 minutes left to clear the game. If they don't do this quickly, the whole building will explode, and everyone will die.

Being awakened by Arisu's yell, you were frustrated that you needed two people to clear the game.

You wanted to come inside and help, but Kenma stopped you, saying you should take a rest.

"Seriously?" Chishiya sighed, you just glared at him. Annoyed by the fact that he wasn't injured, but still won't help

"Why don't you help him?" You rolled your eyes at him, but there was no response

So many gunshots were heard inside the room. Kenma told you to stay there outside as he and Chishiya help Arisu

As Kenma got inside, he watched Arisu trying to not get shot by the tagger. He could do so much to help, but the chances of him getting shot were high, and he wasn't going to take that risk.

Chishiya was attempting to come inside without getting hurt while holding his taser. A girl arrived at the window, helping Arisu stop the tagger from shooting. Chishiya tossed the taser to the girl, making her catch it and tasing his leg

TIME REMAINING, TEN SECONDS

You heard the robotic voice once again, the tagger fell because of the taser while Arisu and the other girl jumped, hitting the buttons. Luckily, they stopped it when there was one second left

GAME CLEAR. CONGRATULATIONS

You sighed in relief that the game was already stopped. When Kenma helped you stand up to enter the room, the tagger's mask went off. It was a woman.

Arisu looked like he was about to ask a question until something from the tagger's neck beeped and exploded, making the tagger die.

All of your eyes except Chishiya's widened. You just saw someone die. Everything was suddenly happening. First, you got stuck in a game of death, hell you don't even know if Kuroo's still alive. The last time you saw him was with the tagger

You and Kenma went down the stairs, with him helping you to walk. You searched the area but there was no rooster head to be found. Is he really dead?

"Tetsuro.. where is he?" you asked Kenma, looking at him with worried eyes

A moment later, a bedhead and a blonde-haired guy came down the stairs, the other assisting Kuroo in walking

"Tetsuro!" You were gonna rush to Kuroo and jump on him, but your wound prevented you to do so, giving you very little pain, but enough to make you whimper

"Y/N.." he smiled at the sight of you and Kenma, giving you both a light hug

"Kuro, you're safe." Kenma wiped the little tears that pricked his eye and hugged back

As he observed Kuroo's tired figure, he noticed blood on the back of his thigh, "Kuro.. that.. are you okay?" asked Kenma, worried

"I am. I'll just get it trea- fuck." he winced in pain when he felt air hit his wound,

"We'll be going now. Thank you for helping him walk uh.."

"Karube Dakichi." he introduced himself

"Thank you, Karube." you smiled and the three of you went on your way to treat Kuroo's wounds

Kuroo explained what happened to him, that he got stabbed by the tagger.

You asked Arisu for a summary of what borderlands are about. Luckily, he explained everything you needed to know. That the 'Visa' on your phone was the number of days you have to live without entering a game, and if once the final day ends, you die.

The symbols of the card are the type of game that would be played, while the number of the card shows its difficulty

You told Kuroo and Kenma about the information you got about the borderlands from Arisu.

While looking for a place to sleep, you passed by a mall. Wanting to go inside, you nudged Kenma on the shoulder, "Hey, Kenma. We should stop here for some things we might need." you pointed at the store

He nodded and the three of you proceeded to go inside. Kuroo was unable to walk due to his wound, so he sat at the lobby part nearby, leaving you and Kenma to do the shopping.

"Hey, do you think we'll need this?" you asked, showing a couple of knives you found at the weapon store. They were really pretty, plus, they've attracted your eyes. From the blue rubber grip to the blue blade. It was truly beautiful

"Get some guns and bullets as well if you're bringing that," Kenma responded, going inside the medical store for supplies to heal Kuroo and your wounds

As Kenma grabbed on some things like cotton, alcohol, tissue, he heard some shuffling noises. Curious, he peeked at the area where he heard the noise from. Shocked, he saw two of his former friends from high school

"Bokuto? Akaashi?" he gasped with widened eyes

You heard Kenma call their names as you walked towards him. There, you saw a Bokuto covered with a blanket and an Akaashi who was comforting the other

"You guys.. are here in borderland too?" you asked with a worried tone.

"Oi, stop fighting. You're not in high school anymore." Kuroo scolded the both of you, making him sigh and you look away from him

"..Tetsuro, have you ever thought of what you wanna be once you graduate?" you asked, whispering because of the awkward energy after you and Kenma were being children and fighting

"Eh, I don't know. Kenma, have you?" He answered

All that Kenma responded with was a shrug. Making you the last one to speak about it

"I think I wanna be a model, I guess. But, being an action star sounds cool too right??" you said, with your eyes sparkling. Oh, your brain was full of random stuff, but you couldn't help it. A lot of things interests you

The three of you chat on the way to your houses when suddenly the street lights go off, and Kenma's switch goes off

"...I swear this had full battery when I was playing with it..." murmured Kenma, shaking the electronic for it to hopefully turn on again

There was no sign of light, and no sign of other people either. It was just you, Kuroo, and Kenma. All alone in the streets.

The three of you head to Kenma's house, which was the nearest, only to see the lights off, and with no one home, there was no electricity too. Your observations were right, no one was there but the three of you. Kuroo found a box of matches and some candles and decided to light them.

"God... where the hell is mum?! Screw that, where the hell is everybody?!" You whined as you sit on the couch beside Kenma

"Relax, they must be on some holiday," murmured Kenma, playing with the fidget cube he laid his hands-on

"Right! They must be on vacation, Y/N." followed Kuroo.

"Oh alright, the whole neighborhood suddenly went on a vacation with our parents with the electricity gone and our fully-charged phones not working. Doesn't that make any sense?" You sarcastically answered the two, adding emphasis on the 'suddenly' while rolling your eyes.

The three of you stay quiet till suddenly something glows white outside. The first sign of electricity after a while. It was the apartment building near your house. You, Kenma, Kuroo, looked at each other before deciding to go out and see it.

Arriving at the apartment, the three of you see people and a table full of phones, there was a short-haired girl with a pink tank top, two ladies with makeup, an old woman, a bald-headed man with a boy beside him, a person in a hoodie with the same hairstyle as your friend, Kenma, some businessmen, a boy with a cap, and then saw two men walking towards the table.

You three followed the two and saw the sign at the table

'ONE PER PERSON'

You took a phone, the same with Kuroo and Kenma. The three of you were surprised it works, there were two apps on the phone, game, and visa..?

"No, Hiro! Don't go!" You overheard a guy shouting, you glanced at where the sound was coming from and see a man holding back his friend.

"Look, Ryo, I don't wanna do this anymore, I don't wanna die in this game, I don't wanna experience pain." The man responds while crying in fear.

"Die...?" You asked with fear in your tone, Kuroo looked at you and Kenma then said

"Guys, we're too young to play a game of death, we should go." Kuroo was walking towards the stairs until a guy with messy hair speaks up

"Hey! Don't go there! You'll still die!" Kuroo stopped walking and turned to his back

"Arisu, we don't have time to help people. They'll just get in the way." the blonde head beside him spoke, nudging him in the shoulder

"This doesn't feel right.." said Kenma while walking towards the stairs and pulling his switch out of his pocket. He threw it down the stairs, resulting in a laser shooting it in the middle.

You and Kuroo's eyes widened when you saw the action. It was a good thing he was stopped otherwise he would've died.

'REGISTRATION HAS CLOSED'

All of you looked at your phones when the robot-like voice spoke

'THERE ARE A TOTAL OF 15 PARTICIPANTS. THE GAME WILL NOW COMMENCE. DIFFICULTY, FIVE OF SPADES."

"Game?" You murmured, looking at Kenma who was trying to avoid looking at your eyes

"Heh, we're lucky we have a gamer with us, we could die without you, Kenma." Followed Kuroo, Kenma just nodded and wore his grey hoodie.

'GAME, A GAME OF TAG. RULE, RUNAWAY FROM THE TAGGER.

CLEAR CONDITION, DISCOVER THE SAFE ZONE. HIDDEN IN ONE OF THE BUILDING ROOMS WITHIN THE TIME LIMIT.

YOU CLEAR THE GAME WHEN THIS OBJECTIVE IS FULFILLED. TIME LIMIT, 20 MINUTES.'

The three of you look at each other once again,

"So a deadly game of tag?" You asked Kuroo and Kenma

Kenma, as the pro gamer he is, decided to take the lead by knowing where to hide.

"Follow me."

The three of you enter the elevator. Before the elevator had closed, the guy who you've seen a few minutes ago, stopped the elevator from closing and went inside, standing at the corner.

He was like Kenma. Appearance, silence, energy, focus. Might be a fan you thought. Kenma was a famous youtuber named Kodzuken after all.

"Y/N, Kuro, since the tagger most likely will kill us, we should go to a spot where the possibility of the tagger coming out is low. Since the tagger will most likely come out on the 3rd or 4th floor, let's go to the top floor where we could see everything." You and Kuroo nodded.

You looked at the stranger. There was just something about him.. something you couldn't describe.

The three of you went to the right side of the apartment. Weirdly, the stranger had done the same thing. Is he the tagger?

"Are you following us?" you asked, looking at the stranger who just stayed silent. "Y/N, you're in a game of life and death. Avoid talking to strangers." said Kenma as you nodded

Gunshots were heard everywhere, and you saw the short-haired girl climbing at the tubes in the building. You and Kuroo decided to look for the tagger while Kenma stayed on the top floor, trying to guess which room was the saferoom.

"Was Y/N right? Were you following us?" Kenma asked the mysterious guy beside him,

"Not even near to following. Though I must ask, how did you figure out that this spot would help in spectating the tagger? You and your friends seem new here but.. you seem used to playing games here." the guy asked, barely looking at Kenma but obviously interested

"I'd say that is none of your business." Responded Kenma

"I guess that would have to be the answer now. What about your name?" he asked, once again

"Kozume Kenma. And you?"

"Chishiya Shuntaro."

Kenma was suspicious of Chishiya. Not only was he deeply interested in his knowledge but he had this dark aura with him too. The best thing was to avoid him

As Kenma focused on finding the saferoom, Chishiya looked at the people dying as if they were a movie or entertainment. This surely made Kenma mad.

"Everyone! The tagger is at the 2nd level of the central area! The tagger has bad vision because of his mask! Let's inform each other of the tagger's location and search for the safe zone together!"

A man from probably the second floor informed every player of the tagger's information. Kenma was startled by the certain noise while Chishiya let out a low laugh

"This guy's idea is good, too bad no one will respond." Oh, how his words angered the pudding head. As if he didn't give a damn about the poor innocent people dying because of this game of survival.

"Unlike someone like you, I will respond. In fact, I'll be on my way to find my friends now. Thanks for the company." Kenma scoffed as he looked at Chishiya one last time before running to the stairs, attempting to find you and Kuroo.

"Tetsuro! here!" You whispered at Kuroo as you gave a pocket knife you randomly picked up from the street before you got involved in this gaming mess

"Hah?! Pocket knife?! Where did you get this!?" Kuroo whispered as he readied the knife, waiting for the tagger to approach the both of you

"Just from the floor. I've randomly picked it up just in case we get into some trouble, and we did. Thank you Y/N." you rolled your eyes as you grabbed the lighter from your pocket as you watched the tagger with his gun, they probably have sensed your presence already.

Suddenly, the tagger stopped walking and pointed their gun to a certain room, and began shooting it loads of bullets.

You began to think why would the tagger even bother to shoot at a very far location, especially if there was only one person, quiet even.

"There's probably a reason on why the tagger is shooting there. Otherwise, he would've continued shooting anyone that was in his way." You thought as the shooting stopped and the tagger continued walking towards your location

Once the tagger was in front of you, you burnt the hand where he was holding the gun, resulting in him dropping his gun. You tapped Kuroo's shoulder, signaling him to now do the attack the both of you planned earlier

He stabbed his leg and the tagger fell to his chest. A blond-haired guy began stabbing the back of the tagger until the tagger threw the guy away and took out a machete.

"Uh oh... Y/N, you go and find Kenma and the saferoom. I'll handle the tagger with this guy." said Kuroo as he stole a pistol from the tagger's pocket and began shooting

"You sure!?" You responded as you stood up and took the tagger's gun and walked backward

"Yes I'm sure, now just go!" Kuroo yelled and you began running away.

You wondered if it was right to leave him there. Well, you do trust him, but you were still worried. Were you doing the right thing or not? As you walked downstairs, you see the guy with the messy hair who stopped Kuroo from dying

"Do you know where the safe room is already?" you asked the person in front of you as you began opening each of the doors

"I haven't found it, sorry. But please help me to do so. my friend is dealing with the tagger upstairs, we should try to help by finding the saferoom."

The two of you kept opening each room until you came across Kenma, who was doing the same.

"Kenma! Are you alright?!" You asked with a worried tone as you captured him with your arms

"Yeah, I guess.. but I've got an idea on where the saferoom is now."