❝ CHECKMATE ❞

46

You felt your breath leaving your lungs as you heard the recording.

You are now lying down on your bed after staring at the thin air while sitting in the corner of the room for almost an hour, leaving the walkie-talkie locked inside the cabinet as it brings you chills, either from the cold weather or from the recording itself.

The loud thunders didn't even daunt you. You tried to sleep, turning around in the bed, wrapping a pillow around your head while stuffing yourself beneath the blankets. 

The recording left you in guilt that makes your chest heavy. You feel a lump in your throat forming as tears form in your eyes from the fear and torment that is starting to wrap around your head. You turned your back to Mikey to cover your mouth, attempting to hide your uncontrollable cries, hiccups, and weeps, fearing Mikey would hear you and wake up.

But Mikey is fully awake and heard everything, even the recording.

Again, guilt.

The morning quickly came, and last night's thunder made you heavily asleep until the morning dew drops, lulling you into a deep slumber. Your eyes groggily fluttered open, but your body refused to wake up from its fatigue. However, you sensed a presence on your side that caused you to completely awaken.

You see a man with a bandage plastered on his cheek, and he's preparing some bandages and putting some alcohol in them while he searches the aid box for other items, but you noticed that he's struggling, but he's trying.

"Rindou, what are you doing here?"

He turned his head to you, "You're awake, sit up."

"Huh?" You blinked.

"Your wounds," He muttered with a tint of worry in his voice, "From our fight, I'll heal it."

"Um—" You were about to protest until you felt him tug your wrist and made you sit closer at the edge of the bed.

Rindou tenderly checks your arms that have some bruises and he gently dabs an ice pack on them. You didn't utter a single word as you just let him do it. After that, he wraps some bandages and plasters some on your body, especially on your cheek which now leaves a scar.

"Ouch," you mutter, hissing.

Rindou looks up from the sound and raised his brow, then started to dab the cotton gentler. "Still hurts?"

You shook your head while your nose is scrunched, trying to subdue and hide the pain.

Aside from that, you noticed something, and he also has one on his cheek.

"A matching scar, huh?" You bantered in a whisper.

"Shut the fuck up," he said, still the same stubborn and aggressive Rindou.

This man can really change his facade in just a second, making you roll your eyes.

"You shut the fuck up," You pulled your wrist away from him while he's aiding. "You slashed my face."

"Didn't you break my fucking dick?" Rindou retorted.

"You deserve it anyway."

"Excuse me, missy? I was in our hospital's ER for two business days, doing what? Hearing the doctors blabber out my dick's situation, they were like 'oh sir Rindou! Your dick needs stitching or it needs to be healed for another week with pain killers'." Rindou mocked the doctor's tone annoyingly as he rolled his eyes.

"So, you accepted the stitch and they saw your dick?" You yawned lazily while your eyes are on the bandages on your arms, fixing it.

"No, the fuck?"

"Eh, it's still small anyway." You shrugged.

"Small, huh?" Rindou smirked smugly as he raised and tilted his head.

"Did I lie?" You blurted out, hell you don't care now if he breaks your bone right here right now.

"See for yourself."

"Fuck off." You shoved him off as you glare at him.

"' Mkay then," Rindou stood up, "But, let me tell you this first," He suddenly grabbed your chin as he made you look up at him.

"When my dick gets better, I'll show you what small you're talking about and fuck the shit out of you."

"Go ahead." You provoked.

He looked at your mouth up to your lustful eyes, and he just breathily chuckled as he lets your chin go and walked out of the room with haughty-like conduct.

"What the hell." You were about to curse at his face again until you notice that he was gone, and those were the last words you heard from him as he went out.

Now (Y/N) only got to figure out if he said it as a joke or really meant it.

A few hours passed, you went out of the room, and you were walking down the hallway. You were passing by each door in the hallway until you heard one door click open.

You looked at your side to see Ran suddenly opening the door and you looked behind him to see a few of the Bonten men inside of the room which you noticed as well that inside is the casino room in their mansion.

"Oh, you're here." Ran beamed.

"Hi?"

Ran looked behind him to see the other men looking in his direction, "Why don't (Y/N) join in our little game?" Sanzu said as he waved at you from inside the casino with a flashed grin.

"No," you said then walked away.

"We'll give you something in return." One of the men said.

Coming to a halt, you turned around to see Ran and Koko standing against the doorframe, Koko lifting a card between his fingers as he cocked his head to the side and grinned boldly at you, "You want this?"

You walked away, scrunching your nose and rolling your eyes, till Ran spoke in a sonorous tone.

"We need to work with that attitude, don't we?"

You took the chance to drop a sigh while facing back at them, "What do you want?" Then soon you faced them again.

"Did I mention we're playing a game? Would you mind joining us?" They stated, and it sounded more like a command rather than a question.

"N— fine." You finally gave in with an irritated tone.

Following that, you approached them as you entered the casino room with Ran and Koko. You could feel the lingering stares of other males from the casino as soon as you walked in.

Say, it's like that time in the nightclub where you're still a waitress and had to serve them in the VIP room.

Sanzu is playing billiards with Rindou at the side of the casino, his fingers gliding over the cue stick as he leaned forward to have a better aim at the billiard balls, and there, he targeted one and it precisely shot. As soon as he spotted you, the man straightened his posture and placed the cue stick on top of the table, leaning against it with his arms crossed, "Oh? Looks like someone will play a game, a dangerous game I shall say."

"She is, she'll be playing." Koko yawned as he slung his arm around and you stumbled a bit but you just shrugged his arm off.

But then, you saw Mikey just sitting at a large round velvet couch on the corner of the casino. Your eyes locked with him from the distance and your eyes widened in surprise from his stare. You don't know if it was something from yesterday, but he got more... intimidating and domineering, at least that's what you thought.

"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's start, shall we?" Ran said and you looked at your side.

"What exactly will I play here?" You asked while looking around, thinking about the variety of games in the casino.

"Chess."

"Should I be surprised?" You joked in your head. 

"Tsk tsk. Good luck." Ran just chuckled from behind, leaning against the pool table with his arms cross.

You just scratched your head in confusion. Not only does (Y/N) need to figure out if Rindou really meant what he said a while ago, but also what did Ran mean?

But one thing is for sure, it'll all come out in the same conclusion.

"Mind reader or some shit." You thought.

The Bonten men, excluding Mikey, walked towards the table area and placed the chessboard on it. The casino room suddenly went dim, only the bright light on top of the table as it illuminated the game.

"Wait, who will I play with?" You asked before joining them at the table.

They looked at each other before answering.

"Kakucho."

You felt your heartbeat quicken in tense suspense as you heard his name, knowing that of all the men here in Bonten, he's the one with whom you've had the least interaction. You don't know his moves, how he plans things, or his way of motives, which gives him an advantage in the game. Even so, you're certain that you're trapped with these predators' dangerous game.

"Let's start?" Kakucho raised his brow, and you nodded slowly as you sat on the chair, being faced with the chess game.

But what (Y/N) didn't notice, Kakucho secretly held a smirk as he sat on the chair.

"Right, I'll start." You mumbled since you have the white side on the board.

Your hands went to the pawn, and you gulped as you felt each of the men intently watch your moves, making you nervous, "Stop looking, damn it."

Then Kakucho moved his, and he headed right straight for the "Knight," skipping it forward. Making a center-of-attention entrance move.

You bit the inside of your cheeks as you analyzed what he was doing, and you quickly moved your pawn from between the bishop and queen.

"Oh yeah, wait, you forgot something, (Y/N)," Sanzu said.

"What...?"

"You forgot to ask the consequence if you lost." Sanzu grinned as he walked towards you.

"Fuck."  You did, you totally forgot, "What is it?! I refuse to continue the game unless you tell me," You muttered as you rose from your seat, causing a loud screech from the chair, which drew the men's attention to you.

As you were standing, you felt some hands hold your shoulder and push back down on the chair, "Hey, loosen up a bit, you're too nervous," Sanzu chuckled as he shushed you with his finger as he bent down at your level.

"Shut up," You pry his finger away, "Just tell me, what is it?"

Pretty sure, it's not the same with Jiro, right?

"Let's call it a surprise, yes?" Sanzu's grin widens.

"I'm not playing with this bullshit." You said as you dropped your pawn.

"(Y/N)." Ran called with a scolding tone.

"What?" You batted him an eye.

"You're not going to die or anything if you lose, calm the fuck down." Rindou suddenly said with a groan.

"Just remember what I said to you a while ago." He added, making your eyes widen.

"Continue the game, I'm getting impatient." Koko sighed.

Kakucho moved his part, and he moved his pawn, the same thing with you.

You gritted your teeth as you mirrored his next move, moving the pawn as well.

"You have a lot of chances. Don't be too scared to move your piece." Kakucho whistled as he moved his piece then leaned back on the chair.

The game soon then just continues for some minutes...

They said Bonten is one of Japan's worst criminal organizations, meaning, these mere games mean something more than 'dangerous', right? Or shall I say, 'dangerous' is an understatement?

As you remembered, being alone with the Bonten's trio is dangerous enough.

Now, what if this time, being alone with all of Bonten's higher-ups?

A dangerous game, indeed.

"Tsk tsk," Some of the men laughed at your pitiful attempt after some few minutes on the game, "You're losing, (Y/N)."

You didn't care about the fact you're going to lose, but the consequence of it.

Now, some of the pawns are gone in both of your and Kakucho's boards. The pieces behind such as the queen, king, bishops, knight, and rook are now exposed.

Suddenly, you felt Koko's presence sit behind you, and his arms rested on your shoulder like he was hugging you from behind, and pretending that he was "watching" the game.

You stiffened in your seat, and you knew they were doing this on purpose.

"Noticed so suddenly, so smart of you baby, you earned a compliment I guess," Koko smirked at your move.

You lowered your head to focus more on the game, ignoring how the card between Koko's fingers was lightly gliding on your shirt.

"Why don't you move that rook there forward, hm? I'm sure it'll make Kakucho lose." Koko whispered to you.

"I don't think so, if she moves rook forward, her only bishop and knight will be exposed to Kakucho's piece," Ran replied.

"No, what if, (Y/N) doesn't move the rook, knight, and bishop, but instead, the pawns only to guarantee if ever Kakucho does something risky." Rindou replied.

"Risky? Kakucho already has an advantage and there's a lot of changes in both sides, but still, (Y/N) should stick with the castling move." Sanzu added.

You knew they were doing this all on purpose.

Your brows knitted in confusion as their words and suggestions jumbled in your head, causing you to lose concentration and forget your next move.

"Shit." You cursed in your head as you did a risky move on your piece.

Kakucho smirked as he watched you move your piece, and he then moved his queen out of the pawns, or shall we say the most powerful chess piece in the game.

"Aw," Kakucho cooed as he looked at you, "Don't be too scared to move, I'll make you win, don't worry."

You only glared at his pieces as you observed them, calculating your next move as Kakucho is only tapping his fingers at the table while patiently waiting for you.

You also moved the queen. Next, is Kakucho moving his queen as well? If so, you've completed your move, but now he's moved his bishop to the opposite side of his queen, thus trapping your tactic and objective.

"Checkmate."

Your eyes widened, looking at the king on your piece to see it so vulnerable and exposed to Kakucho's piece. You tried to move your king, but still, there's no escape from Kakucho.

"Seems like we have a winner, Kakucho Hitto!" They announced.

Indeed, what a move.

"You lost, (Y/N)."

Your hands were trembling as your dilated pupils were struck on the board. Your body tensed, and you suddenly remembered Mikey was still seated on the corner couch.

You turned your head to look at him but the couch is empty, yet you spotted Mikey leaving the casino room, making you blink in perplex.

"Anyway, so? I lost, okay," You shrugged it off then stand up from your chair, "I'm out of here."

You were about to walk to the door to head out until you heard one of the men speak.

"Did you forget about your consequence, or rather, punishment?"

"What?" You sighed.

"Why don't you come with us to find out?" Sanzu tilted his head.

"Um, okay...?" You gave them suspicious looks, staggering back a bit from their words that were tinged with a scintilla of threat.

"Follow us." They said, and you slowly walked to them, following them as you walked through the large casino.

(Y/N) looked back to see that your "opponent" or Kakucho didn't follow Koko, Ran, Rindou, Sanzu, and (Y/N), instead, he's just sitting relaxing back on the couch.

Kakucho's head is thrown back at the couch while he's manspreading, blowing a puff of smoke as he winked at you and he mouthed some words, "I'll join y'all later. Good luck, (Y/N)."

"H-huh?" Your eyebrows furrowed from these men's plan on this consequence or punishment, but surely... it won't cause you harm, right?

It's not only a game of chess but a dangerous game of predators and prey.

Again, being alone with 'The Bonten Trio' is dangerous enough.

Now, what if this time, being alone with all of Bonten's higher-ups?

A dangerous game, indeed.

There was a little corridor at the end of the casino that you and the men were heading down. One of the men unlocked a double door with a fancy velvet cushion pattern, but your stomach dropped as your eyes widened in shock as the door slowly opens, revealing something...

"Checkmate."

It's a red room.

A/N: some might be wondering, what do i mean by the "yes" or "no" that i made u guys pick regarding to "kakucho"? ;))   (check my wattpad message board)

anyway, i apologize for the late updates, i just got back from my clinic/meds and had to finish my pending school works, had some errands and other stuff... this week is stressful and just chaotic, deadlines and emails pls slow down I beg🙏 but anyway here's a chapter! love uu all and see u in the next chapter ;)