Verge of Sanity [UNDER REWRITE]

TWENTY

Grabbing an apple off the counter, I took a huge bite. The only sound of the crunch resonating around the room as Chishiya stared at me. Raising a brow, I didn't let the man stop me from curing my hunger in the early morning.

"Having a nice time with your apple?" He chuckled, sitting on the arm of the couch. Eyeing his clothing choice, I continued to bite around the core. He wore a gray shirt with sweats beneath a long cover up. Not the best I've seen him, but I'll live.

"Better than you could ever be," I smirked, mouth full of the delicious fruit. Tossing the core into the trash, I attached the blade holders to the side of my thighs before inserting my daggers. "You ready to go?" I asked, multitasking chewing, wiping my hands and talking at the same time.

"I'm waiting on you, slow poke. Also, don't talk as you chew." He said before lazily hopping off the sofa to walk to the door with his thin coat following him like a lost pet. Slinging my usual bag over my shoulder, I grabbed my pollution mask, hanging it around my wrist while walking out the door after Chishiya. Once I left, he closed the door behind us.

"What do you think we'll find in there?" I questioned, pulling out a water bottle. Tilting my head up, I greedily gulped a third of the bottle. About to twist the cap back on, I saw Chishiya eye fucking my bottle, so I handed him the bottle without a second glance.

"Probably dead bodies." He responded before drinking from the bottle.

"You spoil sport. At least entertain me, come on now pretty boy." I groaned, stretching my neck. Rolling my head, my head stopped in his direction, waiting for him to respond.

"We'll actually find a sex dungeon. This whole game was all because of man who couldn't get off, so he killed people who couldn't make him cum." He casually told, twisting the cap over the bottle. His head turned to me with a mischievous grin as my head suddenly snapped up back into its original position. I was speechless. "What? You asked for it."

"Sounds like a personal problem. Are you referring to yourself?" I slightly leaned toward him, nudging him off his balance. Holding himself up, he jabbed me on the side of my stomach. "Ow..." I whined.

"Of course not, unless...?" He replied, adding a small pause. "Did you deprive me of release?"

"Denied!" I shouted. The distance of the entrance to the subway was growing smaller. Kuina was leaning on the side of the wall, waiting for us. Her head looked up once she heard my shout, waving her hand with a smile.

"Looking hot as always." She whistled at me, noticing how Chishiya rolled his eyes at the compliment.

"He's just so salty I'm better looking." I snickered, stepping down the stairs into a lower level. Kuina barked out a laugh, getting rid of the tension she and Chishiya had days ago. The two followed me toward the train tracks. We all carefully stepped down into the divot and walked ahead without too much worry. Trains shouldn't be working since everything else doesn't.

After a long walk, we eventually found a door way that led further in. Deciding to explore, we roamed until we found a room where bodies were scattered around. Kind of frisky for us to wander without flashlights, but no shame. We all walked into the back room, looking at what we found.

"Dead bodies yeah?" I stifled a laugh at Chishiya. He had a what-did-I-tell-you look when he turned to face me, his expression being deadpanned.

I heard sets of footsteps coming toward the front entrance and looked toward the other two. They had heard the same thing, walking back into the main looking room. Walking with Kuina, I noticed that the footsteps we heard belonged to two familiar people; Arisu and Usagi. Arisu's flashlight slowly lowered as the two stared with fright.

"We meet again." Kuina greeted with her hands locked to her sides.

"Hey love birds!" I did the same, causing them to sigh at the burst of energy. It gave them a moment to relax which was all I was looking for.

"You guys." Usagi pointed out, being slightly relieved, but not by much. After being tricked, there was no way they would let their guard down around us. "It's the first time we've seen you without the mask on..." That's something that should be the least of your worries.

Arisu looked toward me with a different expression in his eyes.

"Thank you for freeing me." The messy haired boy appreciated. I put up a hand with a grin to show that it wasn't a big deal. Chishiya was looking between me and him, a bit on edge, but continued regardless.

"Thanks to you guys, I have all the numbered cards with me—" As Chishiya had a small talk with Arisu, Kuina and I fooled around. I did manage to hear snippets of what they were talking about. How Chishiya found the place. Who the true mastermind might be.

All of a sudden, the screens lit up to a white background with the symbols of the cards plastered on certain screens along with an announcement.

"Congratulations to all players!" A female voice rang out.

"What?" Kuina said, surprised at the change.

"Interesting." Chishiya commented with his little smirk.

"What the hell?" I asked no one in particular with lidded eyes, not used to the bright light emitting from the room. The screens switched to the female who was talking, it was Mira.

"With the exception of the face card games, all of you have cleared all the numbered games thus far and emerged the victors. A sweet victory you've grasped by sacrificing numerous lives. I wonder how many of your comrades have died? Try remembering those that were shot dead with a gun. That girl you burned alive. Those struck with the lasers and those that drowned. Those whose heads were blown off. Those comrades of yours. The despair you've felt so far and those dying moments that you can never forget." She reminded as the screens changed according to her liking.

"I'm extremely touched! All of you players, we would like to give you a present." She excitedly squealed.

"Ah fuck you, but no thanks! Thanks for the offer though!" I shouted at the screen, hoping she could hear me. Mira's head disappointedly shook, disapproving of my comment. Kuina also jumped in.

"Are you returning us to the original world?" Mira let out a gasp, her smile widening.

"There will be new games! Let's play games together! You'll fight for face cards!" She gestured happily as if we were all with her idea.

"New games?" Kuina asked with a blank expression.

"I don't dislike the idea." Chishiya piped in. I looked at him with the most disgusted face I could muster up. He gave me a subtly wink before turning back to the screens.

"We've still got many more wonderful games prepared for all of you, so look forward to it!"

"This woman...Is she the game master?" Usagi questioned to herself.

"I'd rather see an alien on the screen." Kuina crossed her arms, plainly stating fact.

"Is this bitch still talking?" I complained, ruffling my hair.

"The next stage will commence tomorrow at noon. Let's have some fun together!"

"So we have to fight again." Usagi forced out with uncertainty.

"Yes, but one thing is different. We're finally seeing our target." Arisu said, eyes full of profound determination.

We were left to head back up to the surface to see 'Next Stage' plastered on a building. The whole group standing, facing it. I took the mask off my wrist to pull it behind my ears, pushing it up over my nose.

"We'll definitely find our answers there." Arisu stated. Blimps flew over the area with the image of the face cards hanging off of them. Everyone's faces, consisted of curiosity and something else. No one knew what was laid ahead of them, but it didn't matter because we were all going to face it. Whether we die or not.

The future awaited us with that something else. It is uncertainty.

But we'll survive. We're so close.

After all, we're on the verge of sanity.

We're so close to finally being normal again.