The One Chosen?

“Damn it! Damn it!” one of the sponsors yelled, banging on the floor. It was a dwarf. 

“Ruri-sama please!” An elf crawled on the ground to Ruri, holding his leg, “I'm a noble lady!”

“Ruri-sama, can you afford to insult the son of a minister-” A centurion tried to assert his dominance but was cut off.

“You should have picked better humans.” Ruri shrugged. “Guards, take them away and kill them with dignity.” 

Soldiers marched in and took away four of the sponsors. He shooed them away as they were being dragged. Hayato could only shake, unable to focus on the conversation, his attention drawn more to the blood. Did people… did people just die? He gaped, having a hard time breathing. His eyes rolled back to his head, fainting.

Yuka, on the other hand, ran towards the rabbit and pulled her fist back, striking at him. He twisted out of the way and grabbed her hand. “You think you are a match for me?” 

His eyes narrowed into a slit, nose scrunched from the audacity. He simply flung his arms high, watching her fly into the air. He rotated her in the air aggressively as she became disoriented and dizzy. “Human scum thinks I'm on their level?” He lowered his arm, ready to slam her down-

“I wouldn't do that if I were you,” The dragon said, unfazed. 

Ruri immediately paled when he heard the command and stopped, laughing nervously. 

“Oops, Azrael-sama.” He sweated and gulped, gently setting her down like a fragile glass. Yuka tried to remain standing but instead stumbled to the ground as the whole world spun around her. 

“I was just playing around. You know I don't break rules. I wouldn't waste your precious life.” Ruri rubbed his hands, smiling. 

Azrael didn't believe him. “You should be glad I no longer hold the general position anymore, otherwise your head would have rolled by now.”

Ruri nodded enthusiastically. “Of course.”

Azrael stared at him before turning to Yuka, noticing how his recipient was ungrateful for the interference that saved her life.

“You shitty rat, why! WHY DID YOU KILL THEM!” she screamed, her voice so hoarse it was as if she’d been in a desert. Her lips quivered as she glared at him, knowing she couldn't do anything. She was wobbling and leaning to the side, trying to remain on balance with the support of a pillar, her hands on her knees.

“Huh?” Ruri tilted his head. 

She hissed, pointing at the bodies. “Why didn't you just send them back home? Why did you have to kill them?”

“You care about that?” Ruri seemed confused by the admission. “What’s the point of sending them back home?”

Yuka glared at him.

“Strange… Why do humans ask this question? How would you all work so hard to win if I can just send you home whenever you quit or don't feel like it? The only way you can feel motivated to win is-” his nails tapped his head. “-when you choose to do anything to win. That's why even the sponsors put their life on the line so the stakes are equally high. It brings the best out of all of you and if this is your best then you are not qualified to be a hero.” 

Yuka gritted her teeth, and Azrael thought she would attack again but instead she walked away, going to Hayato. She kicked him so hard, he jolted awake. “How can you faint in a time like this?”

Hayato groaned, the dark spots in his eyes slowly brightening. “I can’t believe you actually fainted in a situation like this.” 

But she was relieved it wasn’t one of the heavy ones that knock you out for good. Their lives were on the line, and she couldn’t always protect Hayato.

“Well then let’s start round two. It will be two versus tw-“

“I have a question.” Aoi interrupted, having finally gotten over the shock from all the events that unfolded but the man next to him was shaking aggressively, clinging onto him. “So if we lost round two, the loser dies?” 

“That’s correct.” 

Yuma listened in, slapping Hayato repeatedly to bring him back to reality faster. He held his chest and started to vomit from the smell. 

“Is there round… 3?” Aoi nervously asked.

“No. This is the final round. After this you will be blessed with power.” He clapped excitedly, while everyone just didn’t seem amused. At this point, the power wasn't enticing them but cursing them.

“So what’s the next game?” Yuka asked, waiting for Hayato to gain his senses. He wiped the blood off his glasses and was avoiding looking at anything disturbing.

“The next game is Ludo.” A new board replaced the old one and this one had four houses. “Pick your team and take a moment to read the rules. I’ll give you ten minutes to decide who to team up with, bye bi.”

Yuka immediately grabbed Hayato. She could see from the corner of her eyes the betrayal from her big fan but she didn’t care about strangers… Hayato was shaking as she sat across the table, reading the rules.

Yuka understood nothing. She clutched her head as she re-read the rules for the fourth and fifth time but it wasn’t sticking in her head. She was among those who needed to play a round or two before finally understanding the games. She couldn’t understand them by reading. She cursed under her breath as she looked at Hayato for help. She knew he was a gamer but she wasn’t sure if board games are among his area of expertise.

“Yeah, I played Ludo before.”

“Why didn’t you say so?” 

“Because I’m too scared to think or even ask if you knew!” Hayato let out a whiny cry. Yuka rolled her eyes, aggressively grabbing his shoulder and digging her nails into his shoulder “Our life is on the line! Get your shit together and show me how to play this game.” 

Hayato grimaced but the pain was helping take his mind off what’s happening. Yuka pulled him to the corner because she noticed the other team were reading the rules and knowledge was an advantage currently. He demonstrated to her how to play and gave her tips and tricks before the time ran out. 

“I’m back! So excited to see the results. As you know the board is smaller so you can finish much faster. Since you are partners, you can help get a token out for each other if you have one or six. The first team to get any tokens in, wins. Let’s start! For this one you can talk with each other but remember… you can't talk about the game.” 

The game started with a timer. Yuka handed the die to Hayato, signalling him to start first. He used both his hands to shake the die but he was shaking the die for too long that the timer ran out. Yuka glanced at him. “What are you doing?” 

The other team played next. Yuka carelessly threw a die and watched as it landed on two. She clicked her tongue. The next game went to another player. It passed around a circle. Hayato once again got the die in his hand and started to hesitate. Yuka noticed it quickly this time and used the heel of her feet to step on his feet. The pain regained Hayato’s feeling and he could feel the murderous glare of Yuka. He closed his eyes and started shaking his hands in a rhythm. To control the die, it needs consistent grip and minimal tumbling, but I've only read about this before, I never tried this… One… two… three

A six on the die showed up and he was able to place his token. He glazed his eyes to focus on the movement as his hand shook, focusing on a rhythm and shaking timely. Another six. This time he took out Yuka’s token so when she rolls, she gets to play with him. For his third, he just threw a normal throw; four. He moved his token and waited for the next player to play. As he expected, the other players didn't fully know how to play the game; they were learning as they watched them. Unfortunately, Hayato was struggling to keep the die roll consistent and was questioning his ability at some point when he kept getting bad rolls. Reading how to do it and successfully doing it were two different things.

The game went on for a while but Aoi was much more persistent and kept up very well with him despite just learning the game. Two tokens of their own were in and two tokens of their opponents’ were in too. Even though Aoi’s partner was a dead weight, it was a little unsettling how well Aoi was playing. He was definitely a gamer. Hayato was starting to feel nervous and anxious.

Aoi noticed the other team were falling behind. “Yuka-san… the truth is, ever since your debut, I've been a fan of yours because of my little sister. She's an eight years old girl who was unfortunate enough to get cancer, so I worked part-time to support her hospital bills, but at some point I couldn't afford it. She would stay home while I could only afford her medicine. She is a big fan of yours, always watching your matches. When I come back from work, the TV is always open with a replayed match of yours. I would sit down, feed her her medicine, and watch you with her.”

Hayato blinked, confused by the conversation while they played but listened intently. Yuka seemed to falter during her turn, freezing. Her mind went blank and her turn ran out. Hayato noticed. She had been stepping on his foot previously to force him to play so the fact she missed her chance was unexpected. Even she seemed surprised by her own actions  and frowned. 

Ruri lingered in the air, hand under his cheek, watching the game with a slightly satisfied hum. “Tugging on heartstrings? Clever~”

Azrael frowned while watching. “Is she foolish? Why is she falling for that weep story? Lending her heart for such a crooked tale?” 

The tiny fairy, flying beside him tilted his head. “I hope she doesn't drag my player down to the pits of hell with her.”

“Yours have been dragging mine for a while.” Azrael glared at the fairy but immediately looked down when he glanced at him. “Your Highness…”

Evan scoffed before turning back to the game.

“She really loved you a lot and I soon became a fan too. My… sister must be waiting for me… I was on my way to the pharmacy when I started to float.” Hayato's lips quivered during his turn, overwhelmed with sadness but Yuka, once again, stepped on his feet, returning him back to reality. Yuka pinched her own thighs as she focused on her game. “Your sister is going to die anyway so I don't think the medicine is going to help.”

Her words of cruelty seemed to affect Aoi, leaving him stunned that he missed his turn too. He started to get agitated by it. Hayato thought she was out of line. “Take back what you said about my sister!”

He stood up, angry.

“Nothing I said was a lie. She is going to die,” Yuka repeated. Aoi started to breathe a little heavily and Hayato was getting terrified. Yuka managed to get a third token in. Only one left. She bit her lips as she barked at Ruri. “Hey, isn't it against the rules to fight?” 

Ruri seemed to think about it. “There are no rules against that.” 

“Are you kidding me?” She tensed up, getting herself ready in case he got violent.

“Let's calm down everyone.” Hayato’s hand gestured up and down. “There is no point in hating each other… we are all on the same boat.” 

Yuka didn't back down despite what he said but Aoi did. He sat back down then Yuka did. The next few rounds went uneventful until Aoi reached a point where his third token was a few steps away from his house. Yuka's turn came next and she got the exact number needed to kill Aoi’s token. She was about to move her hand but Hayato stopped her, staring at the board. She glanced at him, confused.

Aoi immediately interacted. “They are cheating!” 

Ruri looked as Hayato pulled his hand back. He seemed to think. “How? If you can prove this is an advantageous move, I'll disqualify them.”

Aoi’s mouth opened,  just too close when he looked back at the board. It wasn't… an advantageous move. In fact, it went in his favour. But why was he anxious? He sat back down.

Even though she didn't understand what was going on, she decided to move a different piece. Aoi managed to put in his third piece, making the game equal.

A few more rounds went and Aoi quickly started to realize because he put three out of his four pieces - unlike the other team - they had more tokens on the field, giving them more freedom to move any piece into getting rid of the old man’s. They were also purposely moving behind him so he won't get the opportunity to eat their tokens.  When they were close to their goal, they got rid of him. And since the old man was a bad player, he wasn't making any good decisions while Aoi can only move based on the dice, unable to be creative with his movement. He cursed under his breath. This… was a trap..

Both Yuka and Hayato managed to get the last token in. 

“Congratulations, we have a winner.” 

Aoi immediately sprang up. “NO! THEY ARE CHEATERS! THEY CHEATED!”

Ruri didn't even bother listening. With a snap of his fingers, only blood coated their bodies. Hayato wasn't used to it. He tried not to focus on the blood and was more relieved that both he and Yuka survived. Now they could finally rest.

“Amazing teamwork. I knew you two could do it.” Ruri applauded them for their wits. “We only have one final round now: Hayato versus Yuka.” 

Hayato’s face fell as he stared at Ruri. “D-didn’t you say that was the final round?” 

“Didn't I tell you?” Ruri scratched his head innocently. “That I need to keep you motivated no matter what?” 

That rabbit… lied. Hayato stared at him in shock as Yuka grounded her teeth. 

“For the last game, it's very simple.” Ruri snapped his finger and a gun lay on the table. “Whoever grabs the gun first and shoots the other wins. Both of you are sharpshooters: One a dead last and the other a champion, I wonder… who would win.”