Roulette // Chishiya x Banda // alice in borderland

Thirty Nine

He had to take a deep breath, otherwise his head would've exploded. He was back there, sky still bright and clear, wherever that was.

I hate dreams like this. Why does it hurt when I pinch my skin? I know this isn't the reality. It can't be.

Chishiya looked around, as there was nothing except for the abandoned buildings and Banda sitting near, his back leaning on a wall covered in vines. The area looked like Tokyo, probably a mirrored version of it, with the entire population wiped off. The weather was quite nice and regardless of how uneasy the place made him feel, he kind of wanted to take a walk. Explore, inhale the clean air.

"I shouldn't feel the temperature when dreaming, should I?" he asked walking up to the man and shoving his fists in the pockets of a hoodie he didn't know he had. Banda just looked at him confused.

"You're not dreaming, dumbass, you just got up. I guess you were dreaming, if that's what you meant."

I can't understand what's going on.

"I was? I don't remember what happened" Chishiya's voice kept coming out doubtful as he didn't know what to do or say. The wind made him cold and it seemed like the world had abandoned the population. Not the other way around. It was just him and Banda in an empty land.

"We walked through Shinjuku and you passed out" Banda replied unfazed.

"For how long?"

"I don't know. A minute."

Chishiya tried to remain calm, convincing himself that his mind will process everything at its own pace. That sooner or later he'll figure out what's going on. He sat next to Banda feeling moist grass under his body, fingers playing with a few vines from the wall. They feel real.

"Banda, I need the answer. Tell me about what happened today, what we've done, everything. I'm dead serious." Chishiya wasn't sure if Banda from his dreams would be quick to help but he had to try. He looked almost like the real Banda after all.

"Is something wrong with your head? Memory?" Banda frowned.

"Just answer. Please."

The man shifted, Chishiya sensing he was uncomfortable.

"I finished hosting another game while you ended up napping in our tent. We analyzed if it's possible to temporarily come back to normal world so you could visit your sister. We then decided to walk around, find if someone else is hosting games too. We figured participating could be a way to go back, well, eventually. We haven't found anyone though so we just kept walking. I said we could try again tomorrow, you passed out, now here we are."

Chishiya observed the tips of his shoes, more worn out than he remembered them to be. It felt good to have them on which only got him worried. Because I'm not supposed to feel this kind of things so well if it's just a dream.

"I've never told you about my sister" he murmured.

"You have. Days ago, when we were still at my old place."

"I don't rememeber."

They sat in silence for a few seconds, Chishiya rather surprised by sudden movement of the older who grabbed his wrist and made their eyes meet.

"Are you trying to trick me into something?" Banda looked at him so intensely Chishiya felt cold sweat going down his spine. "Nothing major happened since we decided to stay here. You didn't get injured or anything. I don't know why you're trying to act like you deal with a memory loss but it's not funny, Shuntaro."

The sound of his own name coming from Banda's mouth was strange; it sounded like it shouldn't happen. Chishiya exhaled, unable to get his mind to work normally.