♠ ♦ Alice in Borderland ♣ ♥

8

I soon notice that Soran isn't the only one following me.

'Wait,' I hear the boy from the game venue mumble. I'm at the end of the street when I stop and look back. Soran turns his gaze to the ground and I look at the boy. 'Thanks,' he says, 'you didn't have to do that.' He says it in a way as if he would've more than understood it if I had shut up and let him drink the poison, but how could I have lived with myself if I hadn't interfered?

'Of course that was the only right choice,' I tell him. 'I'm sorry I thought of it so late. If I'd thought of it sooner, they couldn't have treated you so roughly.' Now he's looking at me inquiringly, as if he's trying to figure out what I'm all about. He seems to realize that I mean my statements, which makes him seem even more confused.

The unknown girl who had joined the game leaves the bar, but my former friends are still nowhere to be seen. She glances at the boy in front of me and then decides to go her own way. It seemed as if they were traveling together, despite also being aloof with each other. Apparently their journey is now over.

'You're new here, is that right?' Soran looks up at me with an alarming look in his eyes, as if he wants to tell me not to reveal too much information about ourselves, but I look at the boy and nod. 'But this wasn't your first game.' I nod again. He seems lost in thought as he continues to look at me. 'I wonder...' he mumbles, but then he shakes his head. I keep looking at him expectantly, but he says nothing more.

'Kairi, we have to go,' Soran says. He puts his hand on my shoulder for a moment and then takes a few steps forward. I lift the corners of my mouth slightly before turning away from the boy. 'Hearts games are the worst,' he says, causing me to stop immediately. 'They're psychological in nature and play with your feelings. They drive the players into betrayal and madness.' When I turn back to him, I see a sad look in his eyes. 'Those games leave a mark on you that can never heal. Even when you have to play a different symbol, you're thinking about who will betray you.' I prefer not to have this conversation here, whilst I have a view of the arena. What if the others come out? I don't want to see them anymore. He seems to sense it. 'I was planning to restock my supplies if I were to be still alive after the game,' he says. It seems like the realization that he could've died during the game doesn't shake him anymore. That's just the new reality. 'The store isn't far from here. You'll also need some stuff.'

I feel Soran's eyes burn into my back, but I don't look back at him. This is our chance to learn more about how it works here and how we can adapt. We'll need that if we're going to survive. 'After that, we can each go our own way, of course,' the boy adds. That sounds like a great plan, so I nod at him. I ignore Soran's warning glances as we start moving and continue to stare at our newest companion. 'What's your name?' I ask him. 'Yuki,' he replies.

The moment we met comes back to mind. He had looked at me as if he knew me from somewhere, but I had no idea who he was. After hearing his name I still haven't. He doesn't seem to mind. Could he really have seen me before, or was he confusing me for someone else? He's already heard our names when Soran and I picked up our phones, but I still introduce ourselves again.

At first the moonlight is enough to see the road, but when we walk into a camping store, I soon see nothing. Fortunately, Yuki quickly found the first flashlight and it's made easier for us to collect things. After Soran and I have both found a flashlight, he grabs the first backpack he comes across and goes to search a little further in the store. I know he can still hear us, so I ask my first question.

'The number that comes with the symbol represents the level of difficulty,' I say first, to which Yuki nods, 'and you just explained what hearts stands for. What do the other symbols stand for?' I watch as he stuffs a handful of protein bars into a backpack and scans the other edibles. He takes the two bags of nuts lying there and reaches one of them towards me. As I take it from him, he says: 'Clubs stands for cooperation, but sometimes also a combination of everything. According to most players, those games are the easiest to clear, because you're theoretically not alone.'