The students in the cla.s.sroom were talking about the King"s Game. Among them, Mami and Misaki were talking enthusiastically.
"Misaki, have you read the message this time? You have to have s.e.x!", Mami clapped, doubling over laughing.
"I read it! When I saw my name, I was a bit curious about what command would be, but when I saw it, I was shocked that I have to have s.e.x!"
"Even I wouldn"t say that having s.e.x is easy. Besides, you have a boyfriend already."
"If I really have s.e.x, Shouta would kill me! If it were another command, maybe I would accept it."
"Misaki, maybe you actually like these games?" The two girls laughed and clapped.
"What are you saying?! Misaki, you"ve gone further then me! You once hung out with a guy and rented a room, didn"t you?"
"Ayahhhhh! How did you know?"
"It"s a small world."
Misaki slapped Mami"s back, and their laughter filled the cla.s.sroom. n.o.buaki hurried to the two, who were laughing and joking, and said, "Mami, do you know Hideki? Did you phone him last night or this morning?"
Mami replied, laughing, "Yeah! Around 10, he was playing Pac.h.i.n.ko and won a bunch. He was even showing it all off in front of me."
"10? What happened after that?"
"Nothing."
"Really... I tried to call him after 12, but he didn"t answer, and he never called me back."
"So?" Mami"s tone was filled with impatience.
"Arn"t you worried about him? Hideki and Satomi are to be punished and [hung by the neck]—didn"t you receive this message? Will that person... do something bad to them?"
"Ayhaaa~ ~ I don"t care! I"m more interested in the King"s command for Daisuke and Misaki to have s.e.x."
The only thing in her brain was to have s.e.x.
"Okay...Thanks."
n.o.buaki returned to his seat.
In the cla.s.sroom now, the excited and curious students formed circles around Daisuke and Misaki. Didn"t anyone notice Hideki and Satomi haven"t yet arrived to school? n.o.buaki thought.
"Hey, Chiemi, have Hideki and Satomi come in yet?"
"Not yet. Satomi didn"t call me back too."
"It"s almost time for the morning a.s.sembly..."
After a short while the teacher came into the cla.s.sroom, bringing along with him a heavy atmosphere. In the end, Hideki and Satomi didn"t show up. The students returned to their seats one by one. When they were seated, the teacher spoke in a serious manner, "I have some bad news. Toyoda Hideki and Ishii Satomi pa.s.sed away last night. Their guardians notified the school this morning."
His words stirred up a commotion in the cla.s.sroom. n.o.buaki stood up and asked, "Sir, about the death of Hideki and Satomi... Were they hung?"
For an instant the teacher"s breath was taken away.
"That"s right...How did you know?"
"Err..."
"Their parents suspected that their children were being bullied in school, but we teachers have a.s.sured them that there was no bullying whatsoever."
"Hideki isn"t someone who would commit suicide because he"s being bullied! He isn"t!" n.o.buaki roared. Chiemi, on the other hand, covered her face with her hands and sobbed.
"Yeah! There was also no one bullying Satomi..."
The teacher tried to calm the students down, "I thought so too, so please don"t blame yourselves!"
Some in the cla.s.sroom cried painfully; some lowered their heads; and others were restless and you could see the uneasiness on their faces. At this chaotic moment, someone shouted, "Does this have something to do with the King"s command yesterday?"
The cla.s.sroom filled with whispering sounds once again.
"What is that? What"s the King"s Game about?" asked their teacher. He obviously knew nothing about the King"s Game.
n.o.buaki told the teacher about the events that had transpired.
That everyone in the cla.s.s would receive a message at midnight. That the message would contain a command for a few members of the cla.s.s. That Hideki and Satomi did not follow their command, so they had received punishment.
"How can anything like this happen! Why would you even believe in such a stupid message? I know it"s hard for you to believe this, but please don"t get too involved in these matters. Just continue to focus on your studies. The morning a.s.sembly for today ends here." Wanting to quickly drop the subject, their teacher ended the a.s.sembly.
"Wait, Sir! How can we focus our studies during something like this!?" A student called to the teacher, but he had already left.
"How can he act like this?! Hideki and Satomi are already dead! They"re our cla.s.smates! Is focusing on our studies really more important than our friends?!"
n.o.buaki shouted to the empty teacher"s desk. He fixed his eyes on Hideki and Satomi"s seats—just yesterday the owners of these seats were sitting here as usual.
After the teacher left the cla.s.sroom, the students gathered swiftly and started their discussion.
"Anyone know why they hung themselves?"
"Don"t tell me that if we don"t follow the commands, we"re going to die!"
"How could this happen?"
"But they..."
n.o.buaki interrupted Mami and Minako"s conversation.
"Is the game that important?! You guys should at least care about Hideki and Satomi..."
Misaki then charged in with an ashen look, "Hey, if the King"s Game is for real, then, if I don"t have s.e.x with Daisuke, would I become like them?"
n.o.buaki could not answer her. He wanted to tell her "Just ignore that stupid command.", but Hideki and Satomi"s deaths were facts.
Suddenly, Shouta shouted angrily, "Misaki! Please don"t believe in this! This must be a coincidence. If you follow that stupid command, I won"t forgive you! I"ll definitely break up with you!"
Misaki replied with a shivering voice, "But I"m scared... I don"t want to die like them..."
"I won"t believe in something like that! Daisuke, come over here!"
Daisuke approached him timidly.
"...So?"
Shouta grabbed Daisuke firmly by the collar and lifted his body up.
"If you follow the King"s command and have s.e.x with Misaki, I"ll kill you!"
Daisuke turned his face away from Shouta, then said timidly, "I understand..."
"You hear it, Misaki? This goes the same for you!"
"But..."
n.o.buaki, who didn"t want this to go any further, quickly went to stop them. "Leave it, Shouta. Calm down, they haven"t done anything wrong yet."
"Stay out of my business, you annoying little.."
Shouta loosened his grip and left the cla.s.sroom. Misaki then returned to her seat.
"Hey, Mami, Minako. How can I explain to him? Should I just die instead?"
Mami and Minako couldn"t reply. To Daisuke, Misaki, and Souta, their friends" deaths were far less important than the decision they have to make right now. Noticing their awkward atmosphere, Naoya ran to the front of n.o.buaki and asked, "Is the King"s Game for real? If it is..."
n.o.buaki brushed him away with his hand.
"The King"s Game... What kind of s.h.i.t is this! Hideki and Satomi are already dead!"
"Oh...Sorry..."
Chiemi was weeping at n.o.buaki"s side. n.o.buaki gently stroked her head. As he did, tears rushed from his eyes.
Hideki and Satomi would never come back. They died as the message promised for not following the command. This must have stirred everyone into a panic.
Should the appointed two follow the command this time? Was the death of the other two only a coincidence?
In the chaotic cla.s.sroom, Misaki took out her phone and tried to send a message to someone.
Some were particularly mindful of the punishment of the King"s Game. Some were sad for Hideki and Satomi"s death. Some others were confused about whether their deaths were simply coincidence or not.
The cla.s.sroom atmosphere had altered greatly since Hideki and Satomi, the fun makers of the cla.s.s, pa.s.sed away.
Perhaps slowly starting to accept that Hideki and Satomi"s death was true, most cla.s.smates were afflicted with grief. Knowing that Hideki and Satomi would not be in the cla.s.s ever again, many cla.s.smates couldn"t help but cry.
The after-school bell rang and n.o.buaki packed his bag and prepared to return home as usual. Chemi approached him with a sad face.
"Can I stay at your house tonight? I want to stay with you."
n.o.buaki lightly tapped on her head and replied gently, "Sure, you can come over."
Chiemi wiped off her tears and smiled to cover up her sad face. She held on tightly to n.o.bauki by the sleeves of his uniform, as if telling him she was ready to go.
On their way home, the two did not talk. They were scared that if they did, they might talk about Hideki and Satomi. Just thinking about them made them tear up, so they stopped talking so they would forget about the King"s Game. Chiemi held tightly to n.o.buai"s sleeves the entire way for emotional support. They still didn"t talk after they had entered n.o.buaki"s room. All they could do, they thought, was snuggle up to each other and heal their injured hearts with their body warmth.
Suddenly, after some time, their phones rang together.
[10/22 Thursday 21:12From: The KingSubject: The King"s GameBody: Obedience ConfirmedEND]n.o.buaki stood up abruptly.
Receiving the "Obedience Confirmed" message means that Daisuke and Misaki had followed the command due to fear of the punishment.
"Did Daisuke and Misaki really follow the command?"
Chiemi could not help but cry, "Maybe... What if we receive the same command next time, then what will we do, n.o.buaki?"
n.o.buaki held her in his arms and comforted her, "Who said anyone had to follow the commands! But, now everyone in the cla.s.s knows that Daisuke and Misaki had s.e.x..."
"Shouta must be going berserk right now."
"I think so too—let"s phone Daisuke and Misaki to find out. I don"t know Daisuke"s phone number, so I can"t call him. Oh, I think you have Misaki"s phone number, right?
"Yeah, I do," Chiemi replied.
"Then please phone her. Actually, no, please don"t."
"Why?"
"Do you have to ask? Could you really just go and ask her if she had s.e.x with Daisuke?"
"I.. I can"t.."
"Then you don"t need to call."
After a few hours, their phones rang again. Half asleep, n.o.buaki crawled up, rubbed his eyes and took out his phone.
[1 New Message]
He turned on the lights and woke Chiemi up. Chiemi was also sleepy and drowsy.
"What?"
"We"ve received a message again. It"s probably the King"s message."
[10/21 Thursday 00:00From: The KingSubject: The King"s GameBody: This is the King"s Game in which everyone in your cla.s.s is partic.i.p.ating. The King"s command is absolute and must be done within 24 hours. ※ You can not withdraw from the game.＊Command 5: Student Number 30 Yahiro Shouta(M) —In front of everyone, Yahiro Shouta will have to give out any order. The person that is declared must follow his order as if it is the King"s command.END]"Now Shouta has to give out an order..?"
Chiemi replied with a sleepy tone, "Thats fine, right? He just needs to make a simple order and that"s it."
"Right! Hey, are you still asleep?" n.o.buaki asks.
"Ugh.. Just go to sleep."
"What"s a simple command like?"
Chiemi coldy replied, "Sleep."
"Isn"t this command too vague? Something simpler like "eat something" or to "breath" would work better—what do you think?"
n.o.buaki looked at Chiemi for her response, but she had already fallen into deep sleep.
"...You"re right—sleep will work.."