Roulette // Chishiya x Banda // alice in borderland

Seven

! +18  !

Finding the hospital's basement was more of a challenge than he thought it would. Most of the staircases were broken and unusable, not to mention all the helpful signs were long gone from all remaining walls and doors.

No wonder I couldn't figure out where he sleeps, Chishiya thought, finally finding his way down. The basement turned out to be a surprisingly warm place, dark but with multiple candles lit up all over. When his eyes adjusted to the darkness Chishiya spotted a few cabinets, a big bed and a tiny stove on the floor that Banda cooked something on while sitting down. He hungrily looked at the rice being cooked in a pot.

"Took you a moment."

Banda glanced at him, then got back to preparing food. Chishiya noticed big water canisters near the exit and lots of food supplies on the shelves. It seemed like Banda could've survived there for weeks if his visa never expired.

"Pretty cozy in here. And you didn't tell me anything about it." Chishiya looked around.

"Why would I?"

"Fair point." He wanted to be sure I don't steal things and leave, I guess.

Chishiya sat on the floor next to him and watched him make a strange combination of food - plain rice with cookies, dry crackers and pickled carrots. In all honesty Chishiya couldn't have figured out a better meal himself. It was hard to find food that had any nutrients, and it was necessary to move around a lot so they couldn't even grow plants and find vegetables in any way.

While eating Chishiya attempted to make an eye contact with Banda.

"Sorry about that, you know, during the game" Chishiya said, trying to sound at least a little bit like he cared. "I wasn't thinking really. Glad you stayed on my side though. I thought you were more of a mind games person. Didn't expect you to be this physically strong and fast, you really carried us through."

He didn't lie, Banda really was impressive when it came to that. Chishiya started to wonder if there were any games he could even consider himself to be bad at.

"I just like playing" Banda replied, taking a spoonful of rice. "I don't even know when my visa expires anymore. I've joined all games I could find. If I cared about avoiding them I'd probably just stay here until it's all over. I would think you're enjoying this world too."

"Oh I am. In my own way, probably."

They got quiet, finishing their food in silence. Chishiya kept glancing at him but Banda didn't glance back even once.

"What do you do all alone when you don't play games?" Chishiya spoke again.

"I read. I've got some books. Sometimes I play scenarios or solve puzzles in my head. Being in prison got me used to sitting in a small room with nothing to do."

"I see."

It probably wasn't that new to Banda then. Some people were going insane here, which was why they formed teams and built little communities in the first place. The Beach was a great example. It functioned pretty well and existed as long as it could, until it didn't, of course. Who would've seen it happen?

Chishiya thanked him for the meal and put everything aside. Banda picked things up, placing them back on dusty shelves. Chishiya had a chance then. It was stupid. Probably the worst idea he's ever had. But it could've worked.