Too busy catching her breath, Ao didn’t realise Hatsuharu was getting a bit too comfortable snuggling her. But relief and weariness made her forget to feel annoyed. So she stayed there, calming down. They were the fifth team. Thank god.

Nearby, a team on the last plank bridge watched the two, expressions contorting in despair. Then one of them lost his balance. Hyperventilating, he flailed his arms around, trying to reach out to his teammate for help. She stood there frozen, before gradually extending a shaky hand. 

But it was too late. His body toppled sideways and he plunged, screams gurgling out of him. The remaining teammate wept noisily into her forearm. 

“I’m scared, I’m so scared. What did I do to deserve this? I don’t want to–”

A sharp clack echoed. Justice racked the shotgun as he crouched on the edge of the roof. The bullet shell ejected. He fired. 

An explosion of red. The cries ceased. Her limp, ragdoll body flopped and slid off the planks. 

“All those on the course have been condemned. One more to go.” Justice said. One more?  He turned to Ao and she tensed up. “Cheeky little shit, if it weren’t for your stunt you’d be there getting your brains blown out. I was looking forward to that.”

Then Justice disappeared. Sobered up from what she saw and heard, Ao decided to stop wasting time and move on down to where she assumed the second stage was going to take place. When she got up, Hatsuharu continued to cling to her like a needy toddler, burying his face into her shoulder. She tried to shake his hand off but his fingers had intertwined and locked themselves with hers.

“Let go. Get off me.” Ao paused. “Haru.”

Hatsuharu slowly peeled himself away and wiped sweat on his cheeks. Wait, were those tears? Can’t be. Ao wouldn’t know how to react if he was actually crying, so she quickly cancelled out that possibility.

“Ao.” Hatsuharu said. She looked at him. “You said my name.”

“Okay..?”

What a weird ass guy. Ao thought as Hatsuharu pinched the helm of her jacket and followed her down. Instead of being ten metres away, it was more like ten centimetres now, too close for comfort. But better than being distant. Much better than being dead. Ao supposed she really didn’t mind him that much anymore. At least not yet. 

—

Entering the building revealed that it was a theatre. The ceiling arched overhead and a giant crystal chandelier cast a golden glow over plush velvet seats. There were faceless mannequins in the audience, wearing elaborate suits and dresses. 

On stage, the successful players gathered. Ao and Hatsuharu joined them. To her surprise, the man that had pushed his partner off was not there. Even after all that backstabbing, he still didn’t make it. Serves you right. But there was a singular woman who didn’t seem to have a partner. She had her nose upturned and chin raised as she swept her uncaring gaze across the other players, as if looking down on them. Ao made sure to stand far away from her.

“Congratulations my dear sinners!” Justice exclaimed, applauding. He was among the mannequin audience with his leg kicked up onto the seat in front of him. “Sei, Juno, Rita, Raimon, Ennae, Lani, Ao and Hatsuharu. You’ve cleared the first stage!”

In an instant, the woman lost her arrogance. She scoffed nervously. “What about me? I passed too, fair and square!” 

“No.”

Then she was shot.

Justice lowered the shotgun, face twisted in displeasure. “Brainless fucking bitch. A single person isn’t a team, you know?”

Ao recalled Justice’s explanation of the game. It wasn’t meant to be sexual, that had been made clear, but there had to be some sort of relation between Lust and the game’s objective. If you were supposed to reach in a team (so no backstabbing allowed), then it must mean they were testing the player’s relationship with their partner. Lust, beyond sexual love, could also mean an intense desire. And in this case, probably an intense desire for the survival of your partner. Justice said that at the very start too, didn’t he? Therefore, abandoning or betraying your partner would mean failure. 

Ao wanted to share and explain this to Hatsuharu but feared the possible consequences of speaking. She glanced at him and caught him staring fervently at her. So she assumed he understood. She hoped.

“Now that the losers have been condemned, it’s time for the next stage!” Justice said.

“W-Wait! Can’t we have a break first? This is going all too fast… Please! Five minutes! I just need five minutes!” Juno, Sei’s partner, shouted out in a frenzy.

“Why wait?” Justice held up his hand. “That’s boring.” He snapped his fingers and–

Everything was dark. Or rather, Ao’s vision was being obscured. She tried to move but was restrained by what felt like heavy shackles. A similar clamp screwed her mouth shut. She could only breathe out her nose and listen to her surroundings. She wasn’t alone. There were muffled grunts, so at least one person was with her.

“Welcome to the second stage of Lust!” Justice’s voice boomed. By the crackly sound of it, he was most likely speaking through an intercom. “Don’t expect something so easy again. The first stage was just to weed out the weaklings. This is when the games really start!

You’ve been split into two groups. If you can’t move and see anything, then congrats! You’re in the lucky first group. Your task is to escape before the ceiling lowers and crushes you! What a challenge!”

Escape while being chained up and blinded? That’s impossible!  Ao fumbled with the shackles again. No, shackles wasn’t the right way to describe it. It was a big, thick chunk of metal that her arms and legs were stuck in. She could hardly move or bend her limbs in them. No way she would be able to get out on her own.

“Impossible! You think to yourself. But hold your horses Group 1, here’s where the second group comes in! Group 2, are you looking closely at your beloved teammates helplessly squirming about like maggots? Real closely? Do you want to save them? Well, all you have to do is give your body to them! Just cut off the body part that you want to give to your partner, and once you’ve done so, their body part will be free to use! 

Of course, you’ll be left in agonising pain that you might die from. And even if you live, you’ll be permanently handicapped. That doesn’t sound too good in the long run when you have to compete in other games with perfectly strong and fit players. But I’m sure that won’t be a problem since you all want your partner to survive, right?”

No matter how you looked at it, this was clearly not in favour of the Group 2 players. It almost seemed as if they were the only ones being tested. You could even say that those in Group 1 were the lucky ones, not needing to go through the mental and physical torture of disfiguring yourself for the sake of your partner… Or were those in Group 2 actually the lucky ones? Unlike Group 1, their survival was not dependent on someone else. They could choose to not do anything. Would they be punished for that like before? Ao wasn’t too sure.

“However,” Justice drawled. “If your partner is first to leave the room, you’ll be completely healed, like nothing ever happened! So? Are you going to chop off your body to bet that your partner will be number one, or are you going to leave them and watched them get crushed? The choice is yours, Group 2!”

A deep rumble came from above. The ceiling had started to descend.

“I forgot to mention… Group 1, feel free to communicate with Group 2! They can hear your every word loud and clear! That is, if they’ve given you their tongue. And it goes without saying that Group 2 will not be able to reply. You have 30 minutes. Have fun escaping!”

Gears were turning in Ao’s head. She knew she had to rely on herself and not expect much out of Hatsuharu. It wasn’t that she was looking down on him. But if she were placed in his position, she would definitely hesitate in slicing off her body parts. In fact, everyone would hesitate, wouldn’t they? It would be abnormal not to. Humans were selfish creatures who would want to save themselves first. That was why she couldn’t count on Hatsuharu to immediately sacrifice himself. Now then, what could she do to–

The restraints on her legs released. The metal blindfold dropped to the floor with a clatter. Ao’s eyes widened. That could only mean one thing. Hatsuharu… he… 

No time to think about that! Shock, gratitude—push those emotions aside! Ao couldn’t waste this opportunity given to her. As she shook the restraints off, she adjusted to the dim light. 

There was clutter all around her. Dusty wooden beams, boxes, rolls of cloth, et cetera. Three other players were with her. Bodyguard –there was no mistaking his sheer size–, another boy (Ennae? Was that his name?) and… Sei! He rubbed his jaw, the Saw-like contraptions tossed to one side. 

“Juno, I can reveal that right now. You don’t want that, do you?” Sei said. A second later, the other restraints fell off his body one by one and it didn’t take long before he was entirely free. Stretching his limbs, he began to walk around the room, analysing it. 

Ao couldn’t believe her eyes. Sei’s partner, that wimpy Juno woman, didn’t come across as the type who would so readily dismember herself for him. What he said… it must be a threat then. Ao shivered as she got on her feet. It would be best to avoid him at all costs. She wondered what secret could drive that woman to go such lengths, but quickly dismissed the thought as she investigated the room.

Behind cardboard boxes, Ao found a rectangular smudge of white sticking out from a crack in the wall. She pulled it out with her feet and crouched to take a closer look.

It was a piece of paper. Words were scribbled on it:

“How may I live without my name? I have given you my soul; leave me my name!”

What the hell is this?