Chapter Text
“I think I got the answer to that puzzle…”, I said, giving my full focus on the screen on the dolly in front of them.
I inserted a code into the screen and… it turned green.
“Finally. That puzzle was taking forever…”, Dio grumbled.
“That was only just the green screen though.”, I noticed, “How about we investigate the pantry a bit more and try to find anything we haven’t looked at yet?”
Tenmyouji stepped forward: “Since Alice gave it her all to solve this puzzle, I think Dio should take a look around to check if we missed anything. I will check out what we have found so far and see if we missed a clue. If I discover anything, I will let you know.”
“Why don’t we open the safe now?”, Dio asked frustrated, “Alice, you saw the green code. Just put it in the safe and be done with it!”
“No.”, I said with a slight authoritative tone, “We have to make sure we find anything we could find in these rooms. Information is the best weapon we can use against Zero.”
“Fine….”, Dio sighed, “If I find anything worth sharing, I’ll let you guys know.”
Dio turned around and went looking around the room, while me and Tenmyouji went to the corner of the pantry with the closet with sliding doors.
“You wanted to talk?”, I asked, turning another sort of serious.
“Yeah. Thanks for remembering.”, Tenmyouji said quietly.
“Who are you, Tenmyouji?”, I asked directly, “You seem to somehow know Clover. Or at least you trust her for some reason. And I doubt that it is because you have a soft spot for young girls.”
“I’ve met Clover before.”, Tenmyouji said, “And I know I can trust you too.”
“You trust me?”, I said surprised, “Feels naïve. To be honest, I don’t even trust myself.”
“The game?”, Tenmyouji asked. I nodded. “I get that. When I was in a similar situation, I too did some questionable things that I wouldn’t have done otherwise…”, Tenmyouji admitted.
“Clover must have left quite the impression on you, if you trust her so much that you in turn trust me too. Even in a game like this.”, I pointed out.
“I guess you could say that. She made a big impact. Literally.”, Tenmyouji chuckled. I felt like I was missing out on an inside joke.
“But what do you need my trust for?”, I asked.
“Quark…”, Tenmyouji signed.
“Ah…”, I said quietly.
“It is very likely that I won’t make it out of here alive. I need people I can trust to look after him.”, Tenmyouji mumbled.
“Easier said than done…”, I said pessimistically before turning cautious, “I only have 1 bp right now. Just as much as you do. If anything, if you manage to get me to ally, Dio could simply kill me by voting betray.”
“True, that is why I need you to trust me. I won’t let Dio kill you. Besides, I won’t let anyone leave without Quark. He has 5 bp right now, but K and Phi have 6.”, Tenmyouji pointed out, “K is no doubt going to vote betray on Phi, and Phi is not an idiot. She will betray K in turn. So Quark is stuck in a stalemate for this round.”
“I mean, sure. But how do I know that that’s even true?”, I said sharply, “One of us has to vote. And if you or Dio vote betray and I don’t, I’m gonna be dead!”
“After we solve this room, go talk to Clover before voting if you can.”, Tenmyouji instructed cryptically, “Tell her I said one word and one word only: Junpei. She will know what it means.”
What? Was that it? Would that really trigger Clover to think differently about him?
“And that will make me trust you?”, I asked skeptically.
“That will make her make you trust me.”, Tenmyouji said.
“Junpei… Junpei… That name sounds so familiar to me.”, I mumbled, trying to think what that meant to me. I knew that I heard that name before…
“Is the game getting to you that badly?”, Tenmyouji asked with tone in his voice that I hadn’t heard before. It sounded empathetic. Nothing like the rather grumpy and cynical old man Tenmyouji had presented himself as. It caught me by surprise.
“As you made clear that you already knew, Clover has been in a game like this before.”, I began, “But I haven’t. I’m supposed to look after her, but I feel out of my depth and powerless. And I’m scared. So very scared…”
Wait… Why did I say that!? Was I crazy!? I barely knew this man! Why did I suddenly vent out my feelings like that?
I felt myself becoming dizzy. Tenmyouji gently put his hand on my shoulder and helped me sit down.
I felt like I was ready to burst into tears, but I could held my own. It was no time to feel like a helpless girl yet. True, Tenmyouji had that gentle father feel right now, but I still couldn’t trust him yet. I honestly already said too much already…
“My situation isn’t that different from yours.”, Tenmyouji noticed, “I have to look after Quark, no matter what. It was my fault we got into this mess.”
“Your fault?”, I asked suspiciously, “What do you mean that it’s your fault?”
“Just that I walked into a, in hindsight, obvious trap.”, Tenmyouji said sadly, “And Quark didn’t want to stay behind. I know that he is scared of being abandoned. I’m all he has, so I felt like I had to take him. I was so stupid. I thought too much about his feelings and too little about how dangerous it could have been.”
Now it was his turn to look like he was going to cry.
“Did you know that you’d be walking into a death game?”, I said with a very serious tone.
“No. Of course not.”, Tenmyouji stated with certainty.
“Then you shouldn’t feel guilty over him being here.”, I said with a little smile, “That one is on Zero, not you.”
I felt a little better about myself. At least, now we were even.
Tenmyouji blushed a little bit. “Th-thanks, Alice. I guess, that kinda puts my mind at ease.”
I felt glad it worked. That was the same excuse I had been telling myself about Clover being here as well... She wouldn’t have been there if she hadn’t been following my orders after all. But with Tenmyouji believing this, I had a way easier time believing it myself.
“Don’t worry about Clover. She knows how to handle herself.”, Tenmyouji said. He gave me a final nod of reassurance before walking away towards Dio, to see if he could help him out.
I was left in a bit of surprise. Why did Tenmyouji randomly mention Clover just now? It was almost like he was reading my thoughts just now…
I shook my head, knowing how silly this all sounded. Then I walked away towards the safe. Time to get out of here.