"Yuta, throw the dice!"
A cheerful yell comes into my right ear, waking me up.
I feel dizzy as I struggle to open my eyelids.
"Just throw the damn dice, Yuta!"
This time, a more aggressive yell follows from my left ear.
"What dice?" I say as my vision finally becomes clear.
Still not having raised my head, I inspect a mysterious 8-sided dice in my hand.
My mind wanders off as I notice the transparency properties of this dark purple dice.
I bring it closer to my right eye, trying to see through.
"It's beautiful, isn't it?"
I lose my focus and tilt my head to the voice coming from in front of me, as I move the dice away from my eye.
A young white-haired boy is sitting in front of me, heartwarmingly smiling at me.
"Y-Yes."
I feel excited as someone else admires such a small thing like me.
The boy softly giggles.
"The dice in your hands, Yuta. Throw it."
This time I catch a glimpse of the voice coming from my right.
There is a girl in a school uniform looking straight into my eyes.
She is slightly squinting her eyes. I can tell she's pretty frustrated.
I can't help but find it cute.
"JUST HOW LONG DO WE HAVE TO WAIT FOR YOU TO THROW THE DAMN DICE?!"
A voice full of anger comes from my left.
The blonde guy in a school uniform sitting there doesn't seem to control his temper as well as the girl.
But I understand his feelings, I would piss myself off as well.
I'll throw the dice if they are so desperate about it.
It would be a lie if I said I'm throwing it because they asked me to, though.
Seeing those three individuals - no, two - so eager about me throwing it, I got really curious myself.
In life, every little action is a decision.
So I'm excited to see what this little dice throw will decide.
I gently roll the dice.
The individuals in school uniforms switched up the instant I threw the dice.
From being frustrated, their faces quickly turned serious as they leaned towards the dice.
As I raise my head, I see that only the white-haired boy in the front didn't move an inch.
Still smiling, looking straight into me. Creepy.
Suddenly, a sound similar to breaking glass fills the room.
I quickly look down and see a dice shattered into a million pieces.
A loud school bell rings.
The blond guy slowly stands up and slaps my back.
"Good roll, Yuta!"
he says as he walks away.
My back now burns with pain - an aggressive way to show gratitude.
"What are you waiting for, Aya? Come already!"
he yells at the girl on my right.
Her name seems to be Aya.
"Just give me one second, Haruki,"
she replies, staring at the shattered dice. I can't figure out what she's thinking.
Suddenly, her head tilts up, straight towards me.
"Thanks, Yuta,"
she says as she stands up and leaves with Haruki.
I look at the remains of the dice, amazed at how many little pieces it has.
It is made just like humans.Â
"Hey,"
a voice interrupts my thoughts.
I raise my head and see the white-haired boy staring at me, smiling sharply.
I turn around, expecting to see Aya and Haruki, but no one is there.
I only see a stairwell leading to the basement behind me and a balcony in front.
This room gives me creeps, not like a school setting I had anticipated based on Aya's and Haruki's uniforms.
I don't like this place.
My frustration grows, as nothing makes sense.
What is this place?
Who are these people??
Why do I have to roll the dice???
My head fills with questions, breathing becoming harder, frustration turning into fear.
"Do you want to know about the game?"
I freeze. The white-haired boy isn't smiling, his face devoid of emotion.