................
When Yumeto and his friends enter the Class 2A classroom, there are Takeshi, Miki, and Hinako inside. Takeshi runs up to Yumeto.
"Were you guys called by Yohei too?"
"Yeah. I just got a call."
Yumeto answered Takeshi's question.
"Since Takeshi-kun and the others were also called, it must be decided from among us that whose name will be written. I don't think he'd write down the names of his fellow group members, and both Souta and Satoshi should have their own student handbooks."
"I guess... The problem is who Yohei will choose. He also knows that if he makes a mistake, he will die."
"That's right"
Suddenly, a man's voice was heard from behind Yumeto and the others. When he turned around, Yohei was standing in front of the door. Yohei moves onto the podium with a smile on his lips.
"Everyone seems to be gathering."
"Yohei-kun..."
Yumeto approached Yohei.
"It looks like you haven't written anyone's name in the student handbook yet."
"Ah.... As expected, I have to be careful this time. So, I'm the one who called you guys."
Yohei turns his head left and right to look around at his classmates in the classroom.
"If the person whose name be written by me, has a boy's student handbook, I will be punished. Yumeto, who owns your student handbook in your group?"
".....I can't say that."
"Well, yeah. How about Takeshi? If you tell me, I'll be indebted with you for the rest of my life."
"No, I can't tell you either!"
Takeshi answered firmly.
"By hiding who has my student handbook, I can protect myself and my friends."
"I see....I can't help it."
Yohei scratched his head and let out a deep breath. He moved his unmanicured eyebrows and stared at Yumeto.
"Hey, Yumeto. I betrayed you...your group. It's true, but I didn't betray you with good feeling. It's what I did to make me alive."
"Didn't you say you do that because you can play with Narumi-san?"
"...Ah. Well, I can't say it's not, the main purpose is to increase the probability that I will survive. Wakaba is the only one in Narumi's group who has died so far. But she didn't die in the king's game. What about your group? Seiya died, Tokisada died too, right?"
Yumeto's body started to move at those words.
"You're certainly doing well. As a transfer student who became the leader of the group and desperately protected his friends. You're like the main character in a drama series. Conversely, I'm a supporting character who betrayed his friends. But I'm still the one who survives in reality."
"Is that so? If the classmate whose name you wrote has a boy's student handbook, you will die here. You will receive the punishment of the king's game."
".....Certainly."
Yohei's eyes narrowed like needles.
"In that case, I have no choice but to make a serious decision. My life is at stake."
Yohei took out a student handbook and a ballpoint pen from his pocket. He opens a blank page and checks classmates's faces one by one.
"Both Yumeto's group and Takeshi's group are groups of three, with one male student handbook each. In other words, two of the six here have shields....huh?"
Yohei's line of sight shifts in order of Yumeto, Yuna, Fuka, Takeshi, Miki, and Hinako.
"For the time being, which group should we go from....Takeshi's side?"
At those words, Takeshi, Miki, and Hinako's faces turned pale.
Takeshi opens his puffy lips.
"Are you sure you want to write your classmate's name? Anyone whose name is written will be punished and killed?"
"Of course! If I don't, I'll die. Or are you telling me to die? You don't have the right to do that."
Yohei said as if he was about to fold.
"We're playing the king's game! It's only natural to kill people to survive!"
Yohei's eyes are bloodshot and the corners of his lips hang toward his ears.
"I will never die. I can easily read your thoughts."
"....Easy? Aren't you bad at thinking with your head? Your grades were below average, weren't you?"
"School grades don't matter. What we need here is an eye to see people. Of course, it's not about appearance. It's about what's inside."
"Are those eyes really with you?"
"Yes. I'll prove it now."
With bloodshot eyes, Yohei looked at Takeshi, Miki, and Hinako in turn.
Takeshi has a pale face and twitches his cheeks. Miki closed her eyes and lowered her head. Hinako shook her body little by little, moistening her eyes behind her glasses.
"...I see. Well, if you write this person name, it doesn't seem to be a problem."
Yohei writes something in his student handbook, keeping his gaze on Takeshi.
"Okay! I'm done writing."
"Who's name did you write?"
"You'll know right away. If they didn't have a boy's student handbook, they will be punished."
"But there is possibility that you might die?"
Takeshi glared at Yohei.
"Maybe you don't have the eyes to see people"
At that time, Miki's body, who was next to Takeshi, started to move.
All eyes are focused on Miki.
"Ah...Gah....."
Miki opened her mouth wide as if her jaw had come off and shook her head from side to side.
"M-Miki-san..."
Takeshi called Miki's name in a hoarse voice. However, Miki does not respond to those words. She is standing and jerking all over her body.
Before long, Miki's forehead swelled up. It inflates like a balloon filled with air and go inside it.
"Ah...ah..."
At the same time as Miki's voice, her swollen forehead burst open. Blood and pieces of flesh splatter around her.
"Ah...."
Miki slumped to the floor. Her legs continue to cramp as she jumps.
"Looks like my eyes were right."
Yohei wipes the blood off his cheek and smiles.
"Since it's a big deal, I'll explain. First of all, the one who have a boy's student handbook is Takeshi. It's you."
"....Me?"
"Yeah. The police were suspicious of you, and you were saddened by Tomoki's death. You also joined the shogi club and loves games. No one can say you're not the king. That's why you thought I'd pick you, did you?"
"Ku..."
Takeshi clenched his fists and quivered his pale lips.
"Well, if I could kill the king here, the next order wouldn't come, and it was a chance for me to become a hero, but I can't overdo it. So I decided to write the name of either Miki or Hinako who remained."
"Why Miki-san's name?"
"There is a reason for that. I expected Miki not to receive it."
Yohei looked down at the motionless corpse.
"Hinako seemed to have a strong feeling that she didn't want to die. When it comes to her, she might be asking you to hand over your student handbook. That's what I was afraid of"
"But, if that's the case, Miki-san....."
"Because Miki has lost her will to live. Didn't she think it was okay to die now? when the chairman she loved died too"
"..."
Yohei lets out a laugh when he sees the silent Takeshi.
"Apparently, it seems like a hit. Well, Miki's personality was easy to understand, and she looked like she was prepared to die."
"No way..."
Takeshi fell to his knees with a dumbfounded face.
"Hahaha, so did I tell you? I can read your thoughts."
Yohei's maddened eyes glared at Yumeto.
"Now then, it's Yumeto's group turn next. Instead of picking up either Takeshi or Hinako and finding out the one who without the student handbook, the chances of me dying would be lower if I chose among the three of you."
"...It's too late to ask you to stop, right?"
At Yumeto's question, Yohei smiled and shook his head left and right.
"Unfortunately, that's impossible. Honestly, I don't want to kill any of you, but I can't help it."
"That's right...Isn't it? We can't let each other die."
"Ah.... It's a pity that things have turned out like this. If I had lived a normal school life, I should have been able to become friends with you....."
Yohei's voice dropped slightly.
"Then let's get started. We still have time to spare, but I'd like to finish it quickly anyway. It's not really a fun task either."
Yohei looks at Yumeto, Yuna, and Fuka as if observing their faces.
"..... Hmm, if you're thinking about ending of the king's game here, then Yuna is my favorite. Yuna was the one who protected Tomoki the most."
"So you're going to choose Yuna-san?"
"Wait, don't be in a hurry. Yuna is certainly a candidate for the king. But I'm also suspect about Fuka."
"Do you suspect about me?"
Fuka raised her eyebrows and glared at Yohei.
"Are you saying I'm the king?"
"There is a possibility of that. You were against Tomoki's bullying, and you are also aggressive. In that sense, you seems to think more about revenge than Yuna."
"You're kidding! If I get the Keldo virus and think about Tomoki-kun's revenge, I'll give orders to punish only Seiichiro and the others. I will never do anything to get other classmates involved because they don't do anything "
"Certainly, but is that true? That said, I can't say that you are absolutely the king. There are already 12 people left, and of course I'm not the king, so I'm excluded. And Yumeto, who has nothing to do with Tomoki, is also different. There are 10 more... No, 9 because Miki died. But there also the possibility that the dead Miki is the king."
Yohei folded his arms and let out a growl.
"The problem is that the purpose of this order is not to specific the king. And the king maybe calculating about it."
"In other words, the classmate who you will not write down name is the king. Someone in your group, Satoshi or Souta in a group with only boys"
"Maybe so. Well, even so, I can't write the names of my companions, or Satoshi and Souta."
"Then, write down our name from among us!"
Fuka let out an angry voice and looked up at tall Yohei.
"But don't complain if the person whose name is written, has boy's student handbook and you die. Even if you die, it's not our fault."
"I know. But I'm not dead."
Saying that, Yohei looked at Yuna.
"Hey, Yuna. You... Do you have Yumeto's student handbook?"
"About that...."
Yuna looked straight at Yohei.
"Maybe I have, maybe I don't."
"Oh, you dodged it well. I thought you would react something, but it was opposite. By the way, you were in the theater club when you were in junior high school, weren't you?"
"Yes, you remember that kind of thing....."
"I went to the same junior high school as you. You played the role of a princess on the stage that the theater club was performing at the school festival. That was really great performing, Actually, at that time, I thought you were nice."
".....In this situation, are you saying that? Or is it a strategy to upset me?"
"No, no, this is serious. I know your charm. I don't think there are many boys who would refuse after being confessed to by you."
Yohei smiled while licking his dry lips.
"Well, even if I confess, it won't work anyway. After all, I feel like I'm a supporting character."
"Yohei-kun, you like Narumi-san, right? That's why you betrayed us."
"Hmm, well, Narumi is special. Maybe girls don't understand it, but Yumeto does, did you? She's really something, and there's no boy who doesn't fall for her."
"Even both Yumeto and Seiya declined Narumi's invitation?"
"That's because he's not around Narumi. Even Yumeto, if he's with Narumi, he'll instantly captivated by her. She's a devilish woman. But that's fine. Right now, the question is who has Yumeto's student handbook."
Yohei's gaze was fixed on Yumeto.
"..... Yumeto, the truth is, even without this conversation, I knew who didn't have a student handbook."
"..... Is that so? Then why did you try to find out who had the student handbook by talking to Yuna-san and the others?"
"It's like a final confirmation. And I'm already convinced."
Yohei moved the ballpoint pen and wrote something in the student handbook. Then he shows Yumeto what he wrote.
It was written as Yumeto Sasayama.
"Did you write my name?"
"Oh. I respect you. That's why I wrote your name."
Yohei looked at Yumeto with sad eyes.
"Honestly, Yuna and Fuka, I didn't know which one had your student handbook. But I'm pretty sure you don't have."
".....Why did you think so?"
"That's because you're a nice guy."
Yohei answered firmly.
"When you saw this order, you must have been thinking, 'Who should I give the student handbook to, Yuna or Fuka?' didn't you?"
"..... That's right. It's as you say, Yohei-kun."
"Yumeto...you're a good guy. Even though you don't want to die, you think it's okay to give up your life for your friends. I'm really sad that I couldn't become friend with you, If there weren't a king's game...Gah....."
Suddenly, Yohei's forehead swelled with dust.
"Oh... what is this..."
Yohei held his swollen forehead with one hand and looked at Yumeto.
"Oh no..."
"Yeah. I was the one who had the student handbook."
Yumeto silently took out his student notebook from his pocket. Yohei's eyes widened to the limit.
"No... way..."
"Yohei-kun was right. I thought I would be the one who handed over the student handbook to either Yuna-san or Fuka-san, but they didn't receive it."
"Ah...."
"Besides, Yuna-san told me that Yohei-kun should write my name."
Yumeto looks at Yuna next to him. Yuna made a sad face and opened her mouth.
"If it's Yohei-kun, He should know Yumeto's personality. I'm sure he would write Yumeto's name. Because that's the hardest choice to make him die."
"Gah...gah..."
Yohei's forehead burst like an explosion.
"Yu..meto.....help...."
Yohei collapsed on the spot with half of his face missing. His hands and feet continue to twitch and twitch. The movement also stopped after several tens of seconds.
"Yohei-kun, I wanted to be friends with you too..."
Yumeto muttered in a dark voice.
....................