I forced a smile as Yori stood up and let go of me.

  Hiding my inner thoughts wasn’t about anything selfish like it normally might be. I knew he’d been through a lot, and I didn’t want to burden him with anything extra right now, especially since I already knew how he’d react if I told him what I was thinking.

  He’d tell me that obviously being human is worth losing my skill… but he could never understand the consequences of that happening. I’d be fine explaining everything to him one day, but now wasn’t the time.

  I noticed Yori’s smile fade as he was about to start talking.

  “Yaeko said that you didn’t earn your intelligence… and that you were lucky to have it…” He slowly looked down as his voice softened.

  “After going through everything you went through… hearing that must have been incredibly painful… I don’t know how you hid your reaction so well…” I could tell he brought it up so that he could comfort me about it, but there was no need.

  “Not at all, I don’t really blame her.” I sat up and smiled as I gently rubbed my cheek where Yori punched me. “I don’t know how much of that was genuine, and how much of it was an act to protect her image.” Yori nervously smiled in response as he was forced to accept my insight after learning how accurately I read people.

  “Since I don’t know, there’s no point taking anything she says seriously.” I stood up and went to my en-suite, splashing water against my face.

  “I’m sorry about that, by the way.” I chuckled, turning around after I finished drying my face to look at Yori.

  He was nervously sitting in his chair while he looked back at me.

  “You have nothing to apologise for.”

  His lips parted ever so slightly in shock.

  “You either cared so much that your emotions overcame you, or you knew what you were doing and you did it because you were that desperate to break through to me.”

  I chose not to comfort him in the traditional sense.

  I didn’t smile.

  I didn’t speak warmly.

  Instead, I chose to show him how my unique lens allowed me to completely forgive him.

  “Either way, there’s nothing you should feel sorry about.” He nodded but he still couldn’t look at me, so I decided to change the topic.

  “Random question…” He faced me as I turned around, looking around the room. “Why do you think they gave us such a large room? A big and comfortable bed? A vast array of clothes?” He thought for a few seconds before replying.

  “Maybe they knew how draining the games would be? Wait no… let me think how you would approach this…” I smiled and quietly laughed, waiting for him to continue.

  “You said they designed the game to damage our friendships. That means they knew the game would be draining. We can assume the rest of the games might do the same… so why would they try to make us comfortable?” He looked down for a few seconds before suddenly looking up with an excited expression.

  “Is it because they want to create a comfortable environment for anyone who feels isolated to stay in? That way, it’d be easier for them to tear us apart…” His excitement faded into fear as he reached his conclusion.

  “It could be, but at the same time, wouldn’t it be more effective if they gave us terrible living conditions?” I waited, letting him consider the possibility.

  “If we had a small room, an uncomfortable bed, no ensuite… we’d be way more on edge and we’d snap at each other more easily.” He nodded in agreement.

  “So, why do you think they didn’t do that?” He asked, and I took a deep breath in as I thought.

  “I think they want us to be well rested so we’re performing at our best during the games.” I patiently waited since I wanted to see if Yori could figure it out.

  “Right… there were cameras during both of our games… but if this entire thing was strictly for entertainment, then why did they have to kidnap us? Couldn’t people just sign up to compete- no…” He swallowed as he paused. “You would use every detail to reach your conclusion…” he looked away.

  “They designed a game to destroy our friendships… that’s the entertainment. Or at least one aspect of it.” He turned back to face me. “That’s why people couldn’t just sign up. They need entire friend groups to play and there’s no way anyone would agree to the games if they knew what they were designed for… that’s why they kidnapped us.” He was getting sidetracked but he returned to the point.

  “I’ve only been analysing the second game… you would consider the first one as well. We played against strangers in a game that rewarded psychological reads and bluffs as well as tactical foresight and resource management…” He stood up and began pacing around my room.

  “What if the audience watching us cares primarily about the mind games and strategies we come up with?”

  He paused and looked away from me.

  “What if they’re toying with our friendships just as a secondary cause of entertainment…”

  I watched as the fear in his eyes grew.

  “Right? It’s disgusting, isn’t it?” He looked at me, but he was still afraid.

  “The things we value above everything else… they’re trying to take it away from us, and that’s only the side dish for the meal that they’ve prepared.”

  I looked away for a second.

  “They don’t even care about the consequences it’ll have on us.”

  I felt anger welling up inside myself, so I quickly diffused it by taking a deep breath in before I continued.

  “I won’t let them break us apart.”

  He didn’t show any reaction at first, but he eventually smiled. I decided to pivot after a few seconds, asking him some more questions.

  “Have you seen the clothes they’ve given us?” He seemed confused by my question, so I opened my cupboard and showed him some of the clothes.

  “No, why are you asking?” I turned to see him shaking his head.

  “All these clothes are the correct size.” He stared blankly for a few seconds, before his face morphed into a shocked expression.

  “They knew what size you’d need…” I nodded, waiting for his next thoughts. “Wait, no… what if they checked your size after we passed out, and then filled your wardrobe with the corresponding clothes?” I knew he was clinging onto a naive hope, so I shook my head before replying.

  “There’s a much simpler explanation. Remember those pictures Keiko showed us at the start of Democracy?” I noticed the precise moment that the realisation settled on his face.

  “They had pictures of our homes and families… they even knew details like what sizes we are…” He painfully looked away.

  “They specifically chose to target our group.”

  His lip quivered as he turned to me, looking for confirmation.

  “Yeah, I managed to figure it out but I didn’t have any proof, so I figured it’d be better to explain it like this.” He was still scared, so I tried comforting him.

  “From now on, whenever we need to discuss something important, it’ll be in person in this room.” He gave me a confused look so I briefly explained. “I’ve already checked this room for any devices that record audio, and I wouldn’t put it past them to track our texts.” I closed my cupboard and smiled at him to give him a sense of confidence.

  “Why do you think they targeted us?” I hid my reaction as he asked the question.

  He’s just gotten over his fear. I don’t need to reveal the fact that we had a traitor.

  My biggest advantage is that the traitor doesn’t know I’m looking for them. If Yori is the traitor, I couldn’t afford to give up that info. Even if he's innocent, he could accidentally leak it.

  What if Yori’s the traitor?

  If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

  What if Yori’s the traitor, and that’s why he’s so willing to accept me?

  No normal person should be ok with how I think.

  What if he’s accepting me to manipulate me?

  As I realised this, I realised it was equally important to hide any suspicions I had.

  I couldn’t afford to show any markers of anxiety or distrust. If he was the traitor, it would be devastating if he realised I was onto him.

  I calmly smiled before answering his question.

  He knows how rational I am. If he’s the traitor, he won’t believe that I haven’t already thought about it. If I just ignore him, then he’ll assume I’m intentionally withholding information or that I’m onto him. I need to think of any other explanation for why our group got targeted that didn’t include a traitor entering us into the game.

  “If I had to guess, it’s because our friend group is small enough where they can keep track of everyone, but it also has dynamics they’d find really interesting.” He silently looked at me, waiting for me to continue.

  “We have the lovers, Osamu and Yaeko. The childhood friends, us and Mei. Hibiki and Choko are equally close. Lastly, the one that needs to be trusted. Nobu would be the perfect fit for a game like this.” I watched his face for a response.

  I couldn’t afford to relax or take anything lightly.

  “Yeah, you’re probably right. That makes sense.” He replied as his phone got a message. “Mei said that she went back to the canteen to finish eating. She wants us to join her as soon as possible.” He stood up and started walking to the door.

  I replayed our entire conversation, focusing on the unrealistic likelihood that everything he said was genuine.

  I just couldn’t believe that someone would try so hard to save a friendship.

  Rationally, it points to him being a traitor.

  At the same time, I’ve lost my ability to have as meaningful friendships as normal people. My inability to see Yori’s kindness as genuine could just be my own fault, rather than a sign of his guilt.

  As we started walking to the canteen, I messaged Osamu asking him how he was doing. I knew that Yaeko would be doing better by now since Mei wouldn’t have left them until she was sure of that. However, I knew that Osamu was in a much more complicated position.

  He doesn’t know what to think of me after I pushed Yaeko to that state, and he wouldn’t know what to think of Yaeko after I predicted her manipulative tendencies. I knew he’d be struggling a lot with both of those decisions, especially after I’d helped him so much.

  When we reached the canteen, Yori paused before entering.

  He hesitated and looked back at me.

  I decided to have a look and I immediately understood.

  Mei wasn’t alone. Osamu was with her.

  The surprising part was that Yaeko was nowhere to be seen.

  I expected to see Mei by herself. It could have made sense if Yaeko was here with Osamu.

  Mei might have gotten Yaeko to agree to talk to me, or just blindsided her. The fact that Osamu wasn’t with Yaeko could only mean one thing.

  One of them wanted some space.

  I walked through the door with Yori following me. Mei was facing us, waving as soon as she saw us. It wasn’t an energetic greeting like normal. It was just a small, casual wave, like a polite greeting.

  We could tell that something happened before we even sat down. The atmosphere was far too tense.

  Osamu turned when he saw Mei wave at us, and he didn’t show any signs of nervousness when we made eye contact. He just turned back to the table and slouched his shoulders.

  I sat next to Mei and Yori sat next to Osamu, and Yori and I exchanged glances. He wanted to ask where Yaeko was, but he knew it was smarter to let them bring it up.

  “Yori, are you still hungry?” Mei asked when she realised Yori was looking at her soup. “I put your other bowl away because it got cold, but you can go get a warm one!” Yori nodded his head as he stood up without speaking. Just being in this environment was draining his energy too.

  “I’ll come with you, I need to get some more water!” I immediately picked up on how off that was. Mei waited until Yori agreed to go to the counter. It was only after he agreed that she said she also wanted to go get some water.

  I immediately glanced at Osamu, and he leaned back as the others left the table.

  Osamu didn’t look nervous or surprised. He knew Mei was going to give us a private moment. That made it clear that Osamu wanted a private moment. I waited for him to begin our conversation, wary of how little time we had.

  “You’re probably wondering why I’m not with Yaeko right now…” I silently nodded, encouraging him to go on. “She was willing to let me in on all of her pain when I talked to her after lunch…”

  He took a deep breath, and he glared into my eyes.

  “Despite that, what you did broke her so much that she won’t even let me be in the same room with her.” His fists clenched as he closed his eyes to calm himself down.

  “I know you aren’t stupid.

  You knew she wasn’t letting me in because of her pride.

  You knew that publicly exposing her like that would break her.

  Why would you do that?” He finally took a deep breath in as he opened his eyes.

  “It was the only way for me to help her overcome her weakness.” I watched as the fire in his eyes roared brighter. I realised there wouldn’t be any effective lies to give him, so I told him the truth.

  “I thought you’d be able to comfort her, but I didn’t expect that.” I waited for him to look at me. “I’m sorry for the trouble I caused you.” I could tell he wasn’t done, so I quietly waited for him to ask his next question.

  “What do you mean?” His voice shook with anger, but he held eye contact.

  “I don’t have enough time to explain before Mei and Yori come back.” He looked at the counter, then back to me. “I’ll answer any questions you have, but it has to be in person.” He didn’t seem to wonder why I added that condition as he quickly replied.

  “Ok,” his voice grew cold as he nodded towards Mei. “Sure.” I turned around to see Mei and Yori returning with their food and water. I could tell that Osamu hated acting like everything was ok, but he was willing to mask it to keep Yori and Mei from finding out about Yaeko’s pain.

  We tried talking casually as Mei and Yori finished their lunch, but things were still tense between Osamu and I. On top of that, I noticed Mei glancing at me every now and again, but I ignored it for now. We’d get a chance to talk soon enough.

  Yori and Mei realised that Osamu could use some hanging out to distract him from everything, so the three of them headed over to a common room that Mei had found while I excused myself. I told them that I wanted to take a nap and that I’d meet them later.

  By the time I reached my room, it was 2:30. I wanted to talk to Mei and Osamu individually before my meeting with the boss at eight, so I sent Osamu a message telling him to meet me in my room at 4:15 and set a 90 minute timer before going to sleep.

  I woke up feeling refreshed.

  I’d been processing a lot during the games we played, and I had a very emotionally charged conversation with Yori, so I felt a lot better as I got out of bed.

  I checked my phone and read a message from Osamu, confirming that he’d be there. I brushed my teeth again and waited until I heard a knock on my door at 4:10.

  I opened the door and Osamu immediately stormed into my room, slamming the door shut behind him.