About 15 minutes ago. . .
*Step step step step*
Kasumi is currently carrying Luna, running through the infinite mazes.
*BLAM*
She keeps running nonstop, no matter what kinda room she arrives at, no matter if it was a room entirely made of birthday cake, a room made out of chocolate, a room of grassy plains where the grass is blue, a room of a ruined city where meteors are constantly falling from the dark sky, and so on.
*Step step step step*
Most of those rooms are empty, so she never stops being amazed or admiring them.
“K-Kasumi-san, aren’t you tired after all?”
“Don’t worry about me, Luna-dono! I am still capable!”
“I understand, it’s just. . . seeing you seems so restless made me kinda anxious. . .”
*!!*
*SRRRRTTTT*
Kasumi stops her steps and slides a bit off the floor.
“L-Luna-dono! I apologize for making you feel that way! Wanna take a break?”
“N-No, there’s no need. It’s just that, why are you so restless? I understand that we’re in a hurry, but your face is showing more than just urgency. . .”
*!*
Kasumi was startled by Luna’s observation of how spot on she is.
“Luna-dono, I don’t know how to say this without you getting the wrong idea, but I miss Master Quroe.”
*!!!*
“EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH?????”
Luna shouts her lungs out in shock over Kasumi’s confession.
“You are right! I have no other way but to think that you have a crush on Quroe-san!”
“It’s. . . I can’t say if that is entirely wrong or entirely right. It’s just being inside this infinite maze, I’ve felt and witnessed everyone’s despair nonstop. I’ve tried to look strong in front of everyone, yet I know the limits of my own strength. If it’s possible, I would love to stop this madness as quickly as possible.”
Kasumi stops talking for a second and leans her head downwards.
“But then I’ve fought one of the officers, and then I lost my left arm. That made me depressed a little bit because now I can’t imagine myself even defeating the Game Master. Same with the clown, too. But then that led me to think of Master Quroe a lot. He’s strong, no doubt about that. He would’ve finished this whole killing game as soon as he could. So, the very thought of seeing him absolutely demolishes the Game Master has been inside my mind for a long time now, and without me realizing, he’s all I could ever think about, to the point that I really wanna see him again physically.”
And then Kasumi turns her head backwards at Luna.
“Is that what you call a crush, Luna-dono?”
*!*
But Kasumi was surprised seeing Luna’s facial expression. She has a very displeased facial expression, showing a clear disagreement over what Kasumi thinks a ‘crush’ means.
“Kasumi-san. . . That’s not a crush, that’s just being hopeful. I am so disappointed. I thought I was gonna see a love story between you two.”
“L-L-LOVE??? P-P-PERISH THE THOUGHT, LUNA-DONO!! I AM NO WAY A FITTING WOMAN FOR A MAN LIKE MASTER QUROE!! HE’D BE WASTING HIS TIME WITH SOMEONE LIKE ME!! NO WAY!”
“Huh?? Is that so? You two already looked like an awkward old married couple to me.”
“Luna-dono, Master Quroe deserves someone better than me. It’s okay.”
“Don’t think so lowly of yourself, Kasumi-san! For one reason, I think you’re already an excellent woman in my eyes!”
“. . .You think so, Luna-dono??”
“Yeah! The way you came to my rescue, the way you treated my wounds. And that thing you said about not wanting to let me get hurt. It feels so good seeing someone care this much about me.”
*!*
Luna silently hugs Kasumi from behind while she’s on her back.
“I’m sorry if I’m jumping the gun too soon, since the two of us have just met and barely know about each other all that much, but I wonder if this is what it feels like to have a big sister.”
Kasumi smiles to herself, not replying.
“Well, then, Luna-dono. Once we get out of here, let’s be real sisters as we continue to make new memories between us and with Master Quroe as well!”
“. . .”
Luna smiles so endearingly that her ears are turning red. She’s so unbelievably happy with Kasumi’s proposition.
“Then it’s a promise, Kasumi-san!”
“Yeah!”
*Step step step*
Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
Kasumi continues to run while carrying Luna on her back. They went through and blitzed through multiple rooms as quickly as possible, but this time, Kasumi no longer has a restless expression. Her breathing and mental state have become a lot calmer.
About five minutes later, they kept running through all of the doors, through so many different rooms, and none of them looked similar. It feels like they’ve lost count of how many different rooms they have come across, yet they encountered zero people in all that time.
“This is weird. The Game Master said that we should’ve encountered people more frequently in this new maze. Yet we haven’t found a single soul at all.” said Luna.
“. . .I’m really afraid to even have the thought that this is because the number of people inside this maze has dwindled greatly to the point that encounters become scarce. But if that is the case, we probably would’ve found dead bodies multiple times by now.” said Kasumi.
*!!*
After entering the next room, they were startled to find that among the dozens of doors on each side of the walls, there was one particular door that was glowing red on the north side.
“Kasumi-san. . .”
“I know that it might be a trap set up by the Game Master, but we currently have no other leads! Be ready for anything, Luna-dono!”
“I-I understand.”
Kasumi runs forward towards the door and bashes it open.
*!*
Once they’re inside the next room, they both see yet another door glowing red, but this time on the west side of the room. Kasumi proceeded to enter the glowing red door once again.
And in another new room, she keeps seeing the same glowing red door over and over again, each time on different doors. She kept entering the glowing red doors for a few minutes, until it was the 49th glowing red door that she opened, and entered a room full of kids' toys all over.
She immediately saw a 2,4 meter tall man, missing both of his hands, with his head down, almost passing out, sitting on the floor, with his back leaning against the wall. He seems to still be alive, and he’s still conscious, given his heavy breathing.
*!*
She also saw that someone with long, black hair was charging towards the dying man with a ‘katana’.
“Luna-dono, I apologize, but please jump off my back. I have to quickly get in between that woman’s attack!”
“Okay!”
Luna jumped off of Kasumi’s back and landed on her butt on the floor.
“OUCH!”
Kasumi summons her unsheathed purple katana in her right hand and runs as fast as she can to stop the woman.
*CTANG*
*!!!*
Kasumi successfully stopped the black haired woman from killing the man by altering the trajectory of her long knife.
“STOP THIS!! LET’S NOT MURDER ANYONE ANYMORE!! DON’T LET THE GAME MASTER ENJOY THIS STUPID GAME!!!”
“K-Kasumi-san?” said the black haired woman.
*?*
“(Huh? She knows who I am??)”
“D-Do I know you?”
*BWOOOSSHH*
The black haired woman suddenly jumps back away and lands 5 meters from Kasumi.
“What’s the big idea, Kasumi-san?? Why are you protecting a murderer like him?”
“Murderer?”
Kasumi takes a glance at the tall man behind her on the floor.
“I apologize, but it’s really hard to imagine someone with no hands like him to be able to murder anyone, unless. . .”
“Yeah, that’s right! I was the one who ripped his hands apart! Just before I met him, he wanted to eat a child, you know?”
“So, is he an officer?”
“Yup, yup! So, please move out of the way, Kasumi-san! I am going to kill that guy and finally have an audience with the Game Master! And then we can finally get rid of this stupid and boring game! I AM GOING BACK TO MY BELOVED!!”
“. . .”
Kasumi was a bit startled by the black haired woman’s sudden change in demeanor mid-talking.
“Say, how do you know my name? I don’t think I’ve ever introduced myself.”
“HUUUUUUUUUUHHHHHH?? THAT IS SO MEAN, KASUMI-SAN!! WE JUST MET EACH OTHER AND YOU’RE SAYING YOU ALREADY FORGOT WHO I AM? OH, COME ON NOW!!”
“I am so confused right now. . .”
“I’M SAKURAI HANA!! ARE YOU TEASING ME, KASUMI-SAN? I AM REALLY, REALLY NOT IN THE MOOD FOR JOKES, RIGHT NOW!!”
*!!!*
Both Kasumi and Luna were confused and shocked by what the black haired woman said.
“Eh?? Hana-san?”
After looking carefully, Kasumi realizes the woman’s face and clothes really do resemble Hana’s, especially the black painted star under her left eye. But Hana’s hair and eyes were both red, and the woman speaking to her right now has black on both of those features.
“A-Are you really, Hana-san?”
“Huh?? What kinda question is that? Of course, I am!”
“What happened to your eyes and hair? They’re black!”
“Hm? AH!! THESE!! Hmm. . . How do I explain this?”
Hana thinks to herself for a few seconds.
“Let’s just say, this is how I look when I am enjoying myself!” said Hana with the biggest and creepiest smile ever.
“. . .So it’s true then??? When the Game Master announced that you were the first one to kill an officer, was it really you?”
“AAAHH!!! OF COURSE!! REMEMBER!! HE SAID THAT ANYONE WHO MURDERED TWO OTHER PEOPLE INSIDE THIS MAZE WILL BE GRANTED AN AUDIENCE, AS WELL AS THE RIGHTS TO BRING ANYONE WE CARE ABOUT TO GET OUT OF HIS STUPID MAZE!! I WAS THIS CLOSE AND I WAS PLANNING TO USE MY RIGHTS TO GET YOU TWO OUT WITH ME!!”
Hana was suddenly shouting.
“Though, since we met now, I guess we can just go together after I kill that guy!” said Hana, pointing to the tall man on the ground.
And now her voice is calm again.
“. . .”
“(What is this? There’s something wrong with her. She feels like a completely different person from the Hana-san that I talked to back in the clothing store.)”
*!!!*
When Kasumi was talking to herself inside her head, her gaze wandered off from Hana towards the entire room full of kids’ toys. To Hana’s left, there’s a cut tongue, lying lifelessly on the ground, on top of a small puddle of blood. And then her eyes wander off again, and she sees that there are two detached hands lying on top of a small puddle of blood, each away from the other.
“Hana-san. Did you do all of that to that man over there?” asked Kasumi, pointing to the tongue and the hands on the floor.
“. . .”
“Kh kh kh kh kh!”
“Hehehehehehehe!”
“HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!”
Hana started laughing in a very quiet voice, yet her laughter gradually got louder to the point where she laughed hysterically and openly without a care in the world.
“BEAUTIFUL ISN’T IT? LOOK AT THE STATE OF THAT MAN!! HE SAID HE WAS A FAMOUS MURDERER IN THE UNDERWORLD!! YET LOOK HOW HE LOOKS RIGHT NOW!! PATHETIC!! BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!”
“. . .”
Kasumi feels uncomfortable. She has already adapted to seeing people from the Underworld acting crazy and fanatic about their murders and being proud of them. Yet now, she gets that same feeling coming off of Hana.
*!*
*Step step step step*
Hana suddenly walks forward without warning. She nonchalantly approaches the tall man on the floor while walking past Kasumi. Hana lifts her long knife above her head in front of Dane, the tall man.
“I forgot who your name is, but this is where it ends! Please die and open the path to the Game Master for me so I can finally be reunited with my beloved man!”
Hana swings her long knife down without hesitation.
*CTANG*
*!!*
And yet again, Kasumi stops her swing with her katana. She is suddenly standing next to her.
“Kasumi-san?? Care to explain what you’re trying to do?” said Hana while putting on such an innocent smile at Kasumi.
“Hana-san! Please, stop this! We don’t have to kill anyone anymore! I’ve already asked a bunch of people to follow a specific plan to stop this whole killing game without any more killing!”
Hana lifts her long knife above once again.
“Kasumi-saaaaaannnn! Please move out of the way! Otherwise, I can’t kill this guy off!”
*WUUUSSHHH*
Hana swings down her long knife once again.
*CTAAAANNNNGGG*
Kasumi did not move, and instead, she deflects Hana’s knife harder than before.
*thud thud*
Hana takes a few steps back from the impact of the deflection.
“Kasumi-san, are you going to get in my way?”
“No, Hana-san! Like I said, I already had a plan and asked a bunch of other people to follow through with it. This way, we can stop this whole killing game right at its root!”
“Kasumi-san, I said, ARE YOU GOING TO GET IN MY WAY OF REUNITING WITH MY BELOVED MAN?”
*!!*
Kasumi suddenly felt extreme murderous intent coming from Hana. She enters her battle stance in reflex.
*BWOOOSSHHH*
Hana suddenly lunges at Kasumi at close range. Black feathers are starting to appear, floating around her body.
