Friends With Benefits | Chishiya x Reader

Chapter Thirty-One

There are two final, isolated gunshots.

And everything beyond the flickering flames falls silent.

You sink slowly to the ground, pressing a trembling hand to the pillar's white plaster. Grey smoke swirls in their wake, shifting before your eyes as you digest what had just happened. 

Aguni got what he wanted, in the end.

"Three minutes remaining."

You hear Kuina shout that there is no time left to spare, and follow the people as they swarm Momoka's body. They work in a strange kind of harmony to lift and carry her out of the lobby to the Fire of Judgement; swiftly and silently, like worker bees.

As you move with the crowd you see Arisu pause by Asahi's body. He kneels beside her, eyelids lowered, reaching out.

You keep walking.

Momoka's burning is a solemn affair, and the residents of the Beach gather mournfully as they watch twin flames dance over the hotel and Momoka's body. The young girl lies among many others, the smoking graveyard a reminder of how quickly and cruelly a life can be taken. You hear the chime of congratulations, someone's phone notifying that the Ten of Hearts game has been cleared, and the announcer's cheerful tone seems morbid in the current situation. 

There is no glory to be had after a Hearts game, only the lingering senses of loss and regret.

Searching the sparse group of survivors your eyes land on a woman and a young girl, one with short hair and one with long, both with neat fringes. You breathe a sigh of relief for Asami and Nao stand hand-in-hand, murmuring quietly to each other. A little way away you locate Kuina and Ann at the forefront of those watching the fire twist and flicker. Arisu and Usagi stand next to the two women, close to each other, shoulders touching in a way that seems to say I'm still here. 

You look away.

The moon is full and round, and it too watches the outer walls of the Beach slowly crumble away. The hotel entrance, once grand and paneled with glass, is now shattered beyond repair. Bushes and vines of fire bloom in massive, blazing orange clusters through the broken door and at the lines where the hotel plaster meets outside soil. The rooftop is visible from where you stand, sparks colliding with the edges you used to sit on like shooting stars. You are certain there is nothing but ashes left of your post-it notes, your bracelets, your paper butterflies.

Yet you find yourself unsurprised when you see a flash of white move through the columns of embers in the hotel, unnoticed by everyone but you. 

As the figure recedes further into the lobby, your feet begin to move.

Maybe it's the influence of the stars in the sky that lead you away, arranged in a twinkling linear compass pointing back the way you came.

Or maybe it's just you and the feeling of your empty hands, or the unfulfilled promises still lingering in the air.

You allow yourself to follow.

When you push carefully through the Beach's crumbling doorframe, the lobby is not yet completely consumed by flames. You walk past the small bodies of fire that creep along the hotel corners, finding it fortunate that the lobby is mostly plaster instead of wood. A small white table lies in wait at the foot of the room; on it is a single card, the revered Ten of Hearts that Hatter had sought after for so long. 

A hand reaches for the card, clad in white fabric, but stiffens when he hears your footsteps.

Chishiya turns, and your heart jumps to your throat.