"Come, you. Not that far to go, I promise-" Arisu whispered encouragingly. He gently rubbed your back, an arm around your waist in an attempt to pull you to the very last game venue of the Borderlands. During the King of Spades game, where you, Ann, Kuina, Aguni and Heiya had tried to corner the King and lead him to the room Arisu had prepared for the bombing, everyone had either gotten hurt, or hurt to the point of being on the verge of death. Luckily, you had only been stabbed a few times in the leg, not the worst of the injuries. You had weakly argued that you still had enough blood in your body to help Arisu complete the last game and bring everyone back to the real world, so the boy could only let you come along and hope that it wouldn't be that hard of a finale.

With herculean effort, Arisu and you arrived at what looked like a rooftop rose garden, every bit of floor a pristine white, the fake grass and plants lush green, and the very real roses blood red. The scent of fresh flowers mixed with the metallic tang of your own blood from your leg wounds. At a little coffee table under an open gazebo, stood a woman in a long, elegant black dress, long, black hair matching with the outfit. She was giggling to herself as she arranged some cookies perfectly beside each other on a beautifully decorated plate, a set of three china tea cups ready to be filled beside the tea pot. She looked up as she heard your pained grunt, eyes widening like a little girl's.

"Ah! Goody! You two have finally arrived!" she clapped her hands together politely. At a closer look, the woman turned out to be none other than Kano Mira from back at The Beach! The sound of her cheerful voice sent a chill down your spine despite the warm air.

She smirked slyly as she noticed the recognition in your face, stepping closer gently and hesitantly.

"Allow me to introduce my game to you. This game, the one that we're all about to play, is called The Queen of Croquet! Lawn billiards is what they used to call it in 19th-century England, at the height of its popularity. I don't believe that it was ever quite so popular in Japan," Mira began to explain with obvious enthusiasm.

"We don't know the rules-" Arisu piped up, worry evident in his voice.

"You don't really need to. Don't worry. It doesn't matter which one of us wins!" she laughed, the sound清脆 but unsettling.

"What?!"

"Clearing Croquet is simple. You just have to complete three little sets of croquet games without withdrawing. If you decide to give up, game over. Weapons are also allowed here. It's so simple. Just three little rounds of croquet!"

"W-we just have to finish three rounds?" Arisu asked, looking back at you with hope in his eyes, a small smile already forming, "We don't even have to win?"

"Exactly! Simple, huh? Now, why don't we begin? Each side has two balls, one blue and black, the other red and yellow. To win, you need to pass your balls through the six hoops in a certain order, then hit the final finishing peg before your opponent does! Now with all that said, shall we begin?" Mira smiled and batted her eyelashes, her gaze lingering on your injured legs.

"Oh you poor thing~" she cooed, her tone suggesting she knew exactly how much pain you were in.