werewolf
arisu x gn!reader | 4.3k words
genre: angst, comfort
warnings: swearing, blood mentions, deaths, killing, aib stuff lmao
synopsis: this is a game of hearts, and you're used to both playing games and closing your heart off. this can't be too hard, right?
The game arena was a school yard. Not any school-- Specifically the one you used to attend. It was familiar in an uncomfortable way. You didn’t want your high-school memories tainted by dead people and blood. You sighed, and proceeded to step into the game arena. You walked over to the table and grabbed a phone.
Facial recognition in progress. Please wait a moment.
There are currently 7 participants.
Please wait until the game commences. Three minutes until registration closes.
There were already a few people here. From the amount of people who were there and the remaining amount of phones, the game would have a maximum of 10 people playing.
You exhaled quietly and went to lean on a wall. The game arena was rather small, in itself. Just… A school yard. It wasn’t extremely tiny, but it wasn’t large either. You tapped your foot over your ankle, arms crossed as you tried to think of what the game could be. In the middle, small, black walls-looking platforms were set in a circle shape. Between each of the 9 platforms was enough space for a person to sit. They seemed high enough to look over them. You frowned.
A familiar noise caught your attention and your eyes moved to the game arena entrance.
Arisu Ryohei, from… Second year of high school. This was him, for sure. Once he caught sight of you, he looked at you with wide eyes, only confirming your suspicions furthermore. You both looked back towards the “gates” at the sound of footsteps.
You knew them-- They were acquaintances, from the same class as you and Arisu.
Your head whipped towards the boy, who rushed to grab a phone. His eyes wandered around the screen, before he started looking down at the floor and breathing shakily. It seemed he’d got the same idea as you.
A hearts game.
You pushed yourself off the wall. “Ryohei-san--”
“Game registration has closed. There are a total of ten participants. The game will now commence.”
You froze.
“Difficulty: Three of Hearts.”
Three? Your eyebrows furrowed.
“Game, “Werewolf”.”
Werewolf? Wasn't this… That one game you’d play while all sitting criss-crossed in a circle? Or were you mistaking it. You glanced up to see people chattering among themselves, as Arisu focused on the phone screen. You looked back down.
“Rules. There will be two werewolves, one doctor, a hunter, and six villagers. The game will be played in a maximum of five rounds. Each round includes daytime, in which the villagers, doctor and hunter are safe and can investigate who the werewolves are, as well as vote someone out. Nighttime is the time for werewolves to choose who to kill. Werewolves are absolutely obligated to choose at least one person to kill, and the doctor can choose to revive someone.”
You stared at the phone, wide-eyed. You looked up hesitantly, and only now realized.
Yuuta, Mineo, Naomi, Yuna, Yumeko, Haru… They were all former classmates of yours. And the two players who’d arrived last were as well.
Ah. This was a hearts game, alright.
“Clear conditions: The team with the most members alive by the end of the time limit will win the game. You clear the game when this objective is fulfilled.”
“Time limit: 30 minutes. Game will start in five minutes.”
You put the phone in your pocket and immediately joined Arisu.
“Ryohei-san.”
“[name]-san.”
You both sighed, almost in relief, despite the underlying anxiousness in your voices. You cleared your throat. “How long have you been here for?”
“Enough to play… Three games… Yeah, three games.” he gulped, looking down a little before nervously glancing up at you. “What about you?”
“Seven.”
“Seven games?! That’s insane!” he exclaimed, before clearing his throat, “Sorry, that surprised me. You’re… You’re really good to manage to still be alive after all that…”
“Three is fine, too.” you sighed, crossing your arms and looking down, before glancing at the other players. Alliances seemed to be forming before the roles were even announced. You swiped your tongue over your bottom lip as you thought. “Ryohei-san. Are you alone?”
You looked up at him. He was staring at you with a confused look. “No, I… I mean I played a game once with this girl named Usagi, and now we’re allies… But I… When everyone disappeared I was… I was with Karube and Chota.”
His voice grew weaker as he spoke, the names of his two friends barely coming out from his mouth. So they’d died, then. You exhaled softly, putting a hand on his shoulder.
“Let’s win this, Ryohei-san.”
He nodded meekly, before looking up at you. He started nodding more vigorously, as if encouraging himself. “Yeah, let’s.”
You went to extend your hand, but managed to catch yourself. You walked past him but slowed down at his side. “Let’s not show any alliance. It could be a weakness. But whatever happens, we’ll win. I assure you.”
“Ryohei-san!” you exclaimed, running into the classroom and panting like you’d just ran a marathon. He looked up from his console as you speed-walked over to his desk. You slapped your hands on it and looked at him with wide eyes. “There’s the new game! It’s out at the local store! Everyone’s trying to get their hands on it we have to literally run!”
His eyes widened before he furrowed his eyebrows, quickly checking his phone. His eyes widened again upon looking at the date and hour. He instantly got up, grabbing his bag. “Shit, you’re right! Let’s go!” he exclaimed, running with you out of the classroom and into the hallways.
You bumped into several people, apologizing quickly and laughing loud right after, passing by Karube and Chota who gave you weird, yet familiar looks as they waved you hi. By the time you arrived at the store, you were panting and laughing like it was the best day ever. You felt adrenaline rush through your veins, making you smile widely. Arisu looked just the same.
“Ahhh!” he exclaimed, looking into the store, “Five copies left! Let’s hurry!”
This time, you both got the game. But when one of you didn’t, it was okay. You’d share it. You couldn’t recall how many times you’d pushed him on his class seat to look at the game you weren’t able to get, or how many times he’d snuck into your room so your parents wouldn’t know to play games he couldn't get for hours on end with you.
You always loved playing with Arisu.
This time, however, the game was different.
He looked at you, before humming in agreement and nodding cautiously.
“The game will now commence. Please walk over to the middle of the courtyard and sit down between the walls.”
You did as the robotic voice told, joining everyone in the middle of the courtyard. Everyone glanced cautiously at each other, clearly suspicious of everyone. You all slowly sat down on the grass, a safe distance set between each of you. As soon as you sat down, the sound of lasers made you flinch. You looked at your sides.
“A magnetic field will keep players from leaving their seats. If you get up, you will lose.”
You swallowed thickly, almost crossing out the cheating idea off in your mind notebook. They didn’t say anything about cheating, so you couldn’t be too sure.
You looked to the front. Arisu was sitting right across from you. You were all basically caged between tight, magnetic walls, and if anyone made a wrong move, they would die.
Fantastic. You sighed.
“Please take a look at your phone, and feel free to hide it from your side partners’ view.”
You grabbed your phone out of your hoodie pocket and looked at it from up-close.
Your role in this game is Werewolf.
Arisu stared at his phone screen with wide eyes, gulping. This was… Just as bad as any other role. As a werewolf, he’d have to kill people. As a werewolf, he was in a team of two against’ eight people out to get you. As a werewolf, your chances to lose highly depended on how good you were at lying. He glanced up at you. Your face was impassable. He couldn’t tell what role you got. Just as he frowned, you looked up at him, frightening him slightly. You smiled and waved.
He furrowed his eyebrows.
“The rules will be displayed on your phones. Please pay close attention to them if you wish to win.”
Arisu took a deep breath. Everyone here, he’d talked to at least several times during high school. It was at least half of his second year class. He glanced around him cautiously. Seemed everyone was nervous.
Except you. Or if you were, you were really good at hiding it. Which meant…
You would definitely be good at this game.
“Beginning round. Nighttime. Every night, the werewolves and the Hunter will have the possibility to kill.” the robotic voice stated, effectively making the boy flinch. “Please put your phones on your lap and cover them.”
Arisu frowned, looking around as to gauge everyone’s reactions. Some people hesitantly bent forward, effectively shielding their phone from anyone's view. His eyes widened. Oh.
He proceeded to do the same, staring at the phone screen intently.
Werewolf. Choose a person to kill.
Yumeko, Yuuta, Mineo, Naomi, Yuna, Haru, Touma, [name], Suna.
He gulped. He couldn’t kill anyone. He couldn’t.
Werewolf. Choose a person to kill. Time remaining, 15 seconds.
His eyes widened and his hand froze. If he made any movement… If anyone was looking, they would see. They’d know it’s him.
10 seconds.
Who could he even kill?
5 seconds.
Touma was chosen.
Arisu’s eyebrows furrowed. Huh? He hadn’t clicked on anything. Why… He blinked a few times, as if trying to snap out of his confusion. There wasn’t any noise. Touma wasn’t killed. Was it because he hadn’t chosen anyone?
Right as he thought about that, a splashing noise was heard.
“Round one. Daytime. Players, please get up.”
He hesitantly looked up. Touma was sitting further away… Head still down over his-- now bloodied-- phone. Red liquid poured down from his neck all over the floor, some of it slightly visible on the black walls. Arisu gulped and glanced at you. You were sitting right beside him. You barely looked at him, staring at your phone in a bored manner.
How…?
Some people screamed and others sighed at the sight of the boy’s dead body. Arisu could only look away and back on his phone.
“Touma has unfortunately been killed by a werewolf during nighttime. The doctor has chosen to save: Yumeko.” the voice stated, “Players, please discuss amongst yourselves and vote for a potential werewolf to be put down by the Hunter.”
Arisu looked down at his phone. Discussion time: 5 minutes.
“Uh…” someone cleared their throat, “I… I saw Yuuta move on his phone during nighttime.”
The latter’s eyes widened as he scoffed. “Why were you looking at me in the first place?! That’s cheating!”
“Cheating isn’t exactly against the rules.” you said, bringing Arisu’s attention to you, “This just confirms it isn’t, even.”
Yuuta gulped, hands fiddling with his phone. Was he the werewolf?...
“That doesn’t mean anything, anyway.” he scoffed, “You all saw what was on the phone screen, anyway. We villagers had to confirm our participation in the game...”
“Did we?” Mineo asked, scoffing a little as they crossed their arms, “I don’t recall.”
“Well, that’s weird, then. Because I remember having to do that, too.” Yumeko said suddenly. Mineo side-eyed her, raising an eyebrow.
“Uh-huh. So what you mean to say is that you two are werewolves?”
“No! I mean I’m a villager too, and I had to… To confirm my role-- Participation.”
You laughed. Arisu’s eyes widened. You watched the three banter amongst themselves and only chuckled to yourself, shaking your head.
“Yumeko, if you’re trying to save Yuuta because you feel bad for pointing suspicions towards him, you should at least keep up with his story, you know?” you said, grinning, “Or, you know, not accuse him of anything in the first place.”
She only gulped in response. Arisu watched, head whipping towards every direction as every argument that was thrown onto the table.
“Discussion time is now over. Please vote for the werewolf.”
Everyone stopped and looked down at their phones.
Voting time: 20 seconds.
There was silence as everyone voted.
Arisu’s finger trembled over the screen. He looked to the side sneakily. Yuna was voting for Yuuta. He figured a lot of people would be, after all that. So with a deep inhale, he clicked on the boy’s name. He frowned.
Werewolves cannot vote for anyone during voting times.
Ah. That made sense.
“Voting time is over. Everybody, please put your phones on your lap and cover them.”
He repeated the same movement as earlier and closed his eyes tightly. As a werewolf, he could choose to kill someone. But it appeared he wasn’t obligated to, despite the rules specifically stating otherwise. Which meant the other werewolf’s vote was enough to count.
He opened them again, gulping.
Werewolf. Choose a person to kill. Time remaining: 20 seconds.
Yumeko, Yuuta, Mineo, Naomi, Yuna, Haru, Touma, [name], Suna.
He exhaled quietly. Was he going really going to kill someone…? He stared at the names and thought. There were nine names, meaning he could accidentally kill the other werewolf. The game mastermind… Was seriously getting on his nerves. Before he could even start thinking about who to kill, the screen changed.
Naomi was chosen.
His eyes widened. Was this the other werewolf’s doing, then? And why? Why Naomi...?
A familiar splashing noise was heard and the boy flinched.
“Round Two. Players, please get up.”
Arisu looked up quickly. Yuuta, Naomi and Yumeko were dead. He freezed.
“Naomi has unfortunately been killed by a werewolf during nighttime.” the voice stated. Arisu’s eyebrows furrowed. Nothing about the doctor was announced this time. “Yuuta was the doctor, and has been mistaken for a werewolf by his fellow villagers, therefore getting killed as well. Adding to that, the Hunter has mistakenly killed Yumeko, a villager. Players, please discuss amongst yourselves and vote for a potential werewolf to be put down by the Hunter.”
Arisu looked around frantically. They were already down to 6 players. In less than ten minutes. How?!
No one said a single word for at least two minutes. Everyone was either too shocked by the several bodies and blood, or just thinking. You, on the other hand, were still looking at your phone. You seemed bored, sighing a little. You looked up at Arisu, catching his gaze, and smiled.
“We have to vote.” Mineo said, breaking the overbearing silence in the yard. He was sighing, “I say Arisu.”
The latter’s eyes widened and he straightened up. “What?! Why-- What’s your reasoning?”
“There was no reason for Naomi to get killed by the Werewolves-- Except I saw her. She kept looking at you. Meaning she probably found you suspicious for some reason. I say we vote for you… That’s the only lead we’ve got.”
Arisu could only stutter, breaths coming out a little shaky. Just for that?! Was that the reason why the other werewolf had voted for Naomi? How could he convince Mineo otherwise? Especially when they were right?!
“Okay.” Haru said, “We have two minutes left to vote… Who knows what’ll happen if we don’t vote. Sorry, Arisu.”
Suna scoffed at Arisu’s side. “That’s unfair as fuck, are you hearing yourselves?! Might as well vote for me, while you’re at it!”
“Yeah, he’s right. That’s just weird. Seriously, Mineo, what the hell?” Yuna said.
Arisu looked at you. Your chin was on your hand, elbow resting on your knee. You seemed like you had no intention to participate in the conversation whatsoever. He gulped.
“Well, then what, Yuna?!” Mineo scoffed, “You’re just gonna sit there, not vote for anyone and then end up getting killed for not doing so? You wanna end up like Yumeko over there, is that it?”
“Obviously she wouldn’t want to, you fucking idiot.” Suna sighed, “Listen, all we’re saying is that--”
“We?” Haru joined in again, “You guys are a team? Werewolves? Should we vote for you, then?”
“What?! We could say the same thing for you and Mineo, if you say that!”
“Discussion time is now over. Please vote for the werewolf.”
Arisu stared at the names. His hands were shaking. He focused. There had to be a way to at least know who the other werewolf was, right? What if he accidentally ended up killing them? He furrowed his eyebrows.
Voting time: 10 seconds.
He tapped his knee nervously.
5 seconds.
His eyes widened. The name list was in order of arrival, except for one.
He quickly pressed on Mineo’s name, even if he knew it did nothing.
“Voting time is over. Everybody, please put your phones on your lap and cover them.”
Arisu leaned down with a deep exhale. He knew who the other werewolf was, now. And he knew what they were planning.
Werewolf. Choose a person to kill. Time remaining: 20 seconds.
Yumeko, Yuuta, Mineo, Naomi, Yuna, Haru, Touma, [name], Suna.
He pressed on Mineo’s name again.
Mineo was chosen.
Arisu gulped, swallowing down his guilt as he stared at the screen.
Mineo was chosen.
His eyes widened slightly. So the werewolves could both make their own choice as to who they decided to kill… Meaning that two people could’ve been killed at once each night during this whole time. Goodness fuck.
A splashing noise was heard, and the boy closed his eyes tight.
“Round three, daytime. Players, please get up.”
Arisu looked up.
Mineo was dead.
“Mineo has unfortunately been killed by the werewolves, before getting the chance to kill one himself. Players, please discuss amongst yourselves and vote for a potential werewolf. As the hunter is now dead, the votes will have to be equal for the villagers to succeed in killing the werewolf.”
Haru gulped. “Mineo was the Hunter… And what they said… Does this mean the votes have to be unanimous… or either way the wolf will live even if the votes are right… Just because someone voted for someone else?”
“Seems like it.” you said, chuckling.
“Why are you laughing?” Yuna asked. You shrugged.
“Haru seems awfully nervous, is all.”
“Well, obviously I’m gonna be nervous!” he exclaimed, “If even one of us disagrees we’re… We’re doomed.”
“Right.” Suna gulped, “Maybe… Maybe they were right… Mineo, I mean. After all, the announcer said they'd been killed by the werewolves before getting the chance to kill one… So maybe Arisu is a werewolf after all.”
His eyes widened.
“Hold on!”
“Yeah, you’re right.”
“Sorry… Arisu...”
“Yeah, we should vote for him.”
“Guess so!” you exclaimed, sighing afterwards. You stared at him, before glancing briefly at the rest, “Damn, if Haru’s actually manipulating us and is a werewolf himself, though...”
Everyone stopped to look at you.
“What do you mean?” Yuna asked cautiously. You scoffed.
“Just what I said. I mean, he only started talking when Mineo did. What tells us he didn’t know they were the Hunter? After all, they were sitting next to each other. He could’ve easily seen the role on their phone.” you paused to sigh, shrugging a bit, “I mean, I dunno personally, but if his plan was to manipulate you, he’s doing a pretty good job at it.”
Settling suspicion. Arisu was right. You were the second werewolf. Time seemingly slowed as your smile widened. You looked so sure of yourself, he didn’t know how you did it. He turned around, seeing the upset expression on his former classmates’ faces turn into unsure ones, then turned the other way to see Haru begin to panic. It was all settling the way you’d hoped, he knew it.
Time came back to normal.
“What are you saying?! You’re trying to throw the game off, are you a werewolf?!”
“This is, like, the third time you accuse someone of being one, dude. Also… You did try and throw the game off, too, if we follow your logic. I’m just pointing out facts. Can’t blame me for that.”
“It’s Arisu.” Suna said, hands gripping his phone tightly, “Sorry, [name], but we can’t… Risk changing our votes now, it’s just…”
“Too bad, I guess.” you said, “Especially when you were so close to winning.”
This was extremely risky. For you more than for him, at this point. The way you talked, your choice of words, your expression, your tone of voice, your gestures. It was all perfectly made for them to doubt. And then, to think of the possibility of you and Haru being the werewolves.
Suna’s eyes widened but he didn’t falter. Arisu couldn’t see the boy’s phone screen from where he was, but he could definitely see the internal struggle he was going through trying to choose who to vote for.
He furrowed his eyebrows and looked down, hands tightening around his legs. He hoped he was right. Everything implied that he was, but nevertheless, he couldn’t shake the worry in the back of his head… What if he was wrong? What if the plan wasn’t right? What if it didn’t work as he’d hoped?
“Discussion time is now over. Please vote for the werewolf.”
He gulped, voting for Haru, even if it did nothing.
The werewolves… The announcements… The Hunter… The things they'd been too nervous to see… The rules… And at last, You.
“Voting time is over. Everybody, put your phones on your lap and cover them.”
Werewolf. Choose someone to kill. Time remaining: 20 seconds.
Yumeko, Yuuta, Mineo, Naomi, Yuna, Haru, Touma, [name], Suna.
Haru was chosen.
Haru was chosen.
A splashing noise was heard.
“Round four. Players, please get up.”
You looked up and stretched. Haru was dead.
“Aw.” you exhaled, before setting your face in your hand. You looked at Suna and Yuna’s shocked faces. “That’s too bad, huh? Hah.”
“You two…” Suna shakily said, gaze flickering from you to Arisu. “You’re the werewolves? Then…”
“Then you’ve lost!” you laughed.
“Haru was unfortunately killed by the werewolves during nighttime. Two villagers remain. Players, please discuss amongst yourselves and vote for a potential werewolf.”
Discussion time: 5 minutes.
Arisu exhaled.
“What? Wasn’t the voting unanimous?!”
Yuna fiddled with the phone in her lap. “I thought- I thought Haru was manipulating us… The suspicions on Arisu were only based on Naomi looking at him weirdly, that’s just-- That’s just not right.”
“Yuna?!” Suna breathed out heavily, “We’re gonna die! We’re gonna die because of your idiotic fucking--”
He died.
In an act of panic, Suna had tried reaching for the girl, forgetting about the magnetic field and passing through the lasers at the same time. You stared as his body fell limp on the floor, blood pouring from his forehead.
“Game end. Werewolves win.”
“Yuna.” Arisu stuttered, “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry, I-”
“Stop it.” she scoffed, sobbing. “I don’t need your apologies, Arisu.”
The laser killed her, and the sound of the magnetic field around you was heard again, turning off.
You got up and stretched. Arisu could only stare at the girl’s dead body, blood staining the old schoolyard’s grass. His hands trembled at his sides, head shaking sideways slightly. This couldn’t be right… She’d lost because she trusted him… This wasn’t fair… Not at all...
“We won, Ryohei-san.” you said. The boy whipped his head around to look up at you. Your hand was extended towards him, a smile gracing your face. He swallowed thickly. This was nothing new. He had to overcome it. He still needed to move forward… For the sake of his friends.
He shakily grabbed your hand, and instinctively fell against you. You slightly stumbled back and wrapped your arms around him.
“I’m sorry… [name]-san… I… I made you make the hard choices by yourself for almost the whole game… This was… This was such a bad play…” he almost laughed at himself in despair, “I’m so sorry…”
“Ryohei-san.” you sighed, “I told you we’d win. I don’t mind.”
Between the growing pools of blood around you, you held your teammate tightly in your arms. Arisu Ryohei… Now that you’d met again, you wouldn't be able to live with yourself if you were to let him get killed. It was already hard enough watching your old classmates die knowing half the blood was on your hands...
“Ryohei-san…” you said, head falling onto his shoulder. He pulled back a little, seemingly calmed down. He held the sides of your arms and looked at you with a confused look. “That was horrible, wasn’t it?... I’m sorry…”
His eyes widened. Your composure was so good this entire time he’d just thought you actually didn’t care-- Or that you were too used to it. But it seemed it did play with your heart in a bad way as well. It was his turn to hug you, hold tight around you.
“It’s okay. It’s not your fault. We got through this… We won… You played so well, even me, who was only good at games, couldn't keep as calm as you did… It’s fine. We’ll find a way out of here…”
“If you still think you’re only good at games, you’ve gotta be a real oblivious dumbass.” you chuckled shakily, looking up at him. You looked… Really beautiful when you were genuine. There was something about how much softer your eyes looked when you weren’t putting up that facade-- It reminded him of the way you’d look at him when you’d come into class. Just like the ache in his stomach reminded him of the butterflies he’d get every time you’d do so.
The feeling was almost enough to make him forget about the massacre around the both of you.
“A real oblivious dumbass?” he repeated, chuckling slightly. “What’s that supposed to even mean?”
“That you’re super smart.” you said, smiling slightly.
He smiled a little and looked down, sighing.
“[name]-san.” he exhaled, looking at you seriously, “Let’s be allies.”
You held his hand tightly and his eyes widened. You brought your intertwined hands between the two of you and you smiled. “Yeah. Sounds good to me, Ryohei.”
He smiled, nodding a bit. His game partner was back. With you by his side, he knew he could do it.
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