♠ ♦ Alice in Borderland ♣ ♥

20

'Has the bleeding stopped?' Chichiro asks concerned as he tries to inspect my hand. When I hold it up, the thin piece of fabric is red rather than yellow. 'Yes,' I reply, 'this is old.' He doesn't seem quite happy about it. 'I think you should go get a new vest,' I say, trying to lighten the mood. 'It's not much use with a broken sleeve.'

I think of the moment he tore his vest right after the game ended to bandage my cut. Because of everything that was going on I had cut my hand just a little too deep, but blood had to come out at short notice.

No one really responds to my joke, and there is silence, making the drive back to the Beach almost unbearable. I'm mad at Hansai and Ringo for their behaviour in the last room. If it had been up to them, one less person would've been sitting here, or at least with one arm less. If I hadn't desperately wanted to go back to see Soran, I would have insisted on walking back to the Beach.

'So it was an escape room?' the driver says. He can probably also feel the chilly atmosphere in the car and wants to make an effort to make it better, but talking about the game doesn't exactly make it better. 'Yes,' Ringo replies curtly. Obviously nothing more needs to be said, so we sit out the rest of the time in painful silence. I can almost feel the six of clubs poking in the pocket of my cardigan. After feeling so liberated when I ran out of cards, this feels all the harder. 'Here,' I say when we get to the Beach and get out of the car. I reach into my pocket and hand my card to Ringo. 'You're an executive member, aren't you?' He nods. 'Then you can make sure it gets to Hatter.' He takes it and seems to want to say something, but I already walk past him. 'Kairi,' he says, but I keep walking. 'Later. There's somewhere I need to be.'

In silence, Chichiro walks inside with me. 'Thanks,' he says. I don't even know where to start with this conversation. I want to scream at him how he could have put his life on the line like that. What if it had been the case that an error meant a laser beam? But I don't have time for this. I have to go to the room Soran and I reside in. 'We'll talk later,' I tell him, and he nods. Then I continue my way through the corridors.

Out of breath from running I arrive at the room, but I can't find the oxygen once I'm inside. Where is Soran?! I call out his name as I look everywhere, even in strange places like the closet or under the bed. He's not in the bathroom either. An awful feeling comes over me. Did he come back at all?! I should've checked before I stumbled in here like a headless chicken.

I want to walk back to the door, but the thought that we might miss each other keeps me from going back into the hallway. We were given an hour for our game and we almost used it all up. This was the longest game to date. What if he was the one who thought I wasn't coming back? Maybe he hears word of our return and comes to the room to check if I'm still alive.

After a deep sigh, I sit down at the desk and grab the first-aid kit. The cut hurts more than expected. Throwing alcohol over it isn't a good idea at all, but I have to disinfect it. Clumsily I then bandage it up with real bandages and decide it's good enough. I'm just done when I hear the door open.

As fast as I can I turn my head to the door and jump up in relief. 'Soran!' My chair falls to the floor, but I don't pay attention to it. I quickly approach him and wrap my arms around him. 'I'm so relieved...' The release almost brings tears to my eyes, but I want to stay strong. He wraps his arms around me tightly before letting go and looking at me, inspecting me. Finally his eyes land on my hand. 'You're hurt,' he says annoyed. He's not annoyed at me, but at whoever did this to me. It will frustrate him that I was the one myself. I wave it away.

'Which game?' I ask him concerned, whereupon he shrugs. 'Three of spades,' he replies dully, 'you?' I examine his face. There's a certain hardness that I don't recognize from him. 'Six of clubs,' I reply. 'Yuki?' I want to know. He shrugs. What kind of reaction is that? 'Where's Yuki?' Soran looks up at the slight panic in my voice. 'What do I care where he is?' is the answer. If he hadn't survived, wouldn't he have reacted differently? I'm not sure. 'Did he survive?' I ask for clarification. 'Yes,' Soran replies indifferently. Why is he acting so weird?