The Winners Take It All | Chishiya [English]

A port in hell and the lie of success

At some point I fell asleep over my thoughts.

In any case, when I woke up again, the sun had almost disappeared again and bathed my room in a dark, reddish light. I sat up and gave my body a little time to fully warm up. Then I stood up and took a closer look around.

I hadn't paid much attention to the room when I first arrived, but when I looked closer, I quickly noticed that 'Hatter' was making an effort to keep his people happy.

There was everything you needed to feel comfortable: drinks, snacks, towels... And electricity. I still couldn't fully understand how this was possible. But the bigger surprise actually awaited me in the bathroom. Out of habit, I turned on the faucet, expecting nothing as usual, but when the clear liquid bubbled out, I backed away, somewhat startled.

Water... running water!

True, they mentioned it in passing, but still! How was that possible? Was this really the safe haven in the great storm?

I touched the clear liquid.

Cold.

How refreshing.

I pulled my hand away and closed the faucet again before leaving the bathroom. I would take a shower later. But first I had the urge to explore the building. I wasn't sure about the whole thing, I wanted to know more about what I was dealing with and what Beach was...

...wait a minute, what was that?

I carefully bent down and examined the small package that I had almost stumbled over. It had been on my doorstep, so it was actually hard to miss.

Should I open it? Actually, yes, but why was I afraid? Did I really have that much mistrust? Why couldn't I just trust these people here? Apparently it was my common sense.

I lifted the package and weighed it in my arms. It was easy. Curiosity finally got the better of me and I opened it.

There were... scraps in the box?! What was that? I picked up one of those scraps of fabric and my face immediately blushed. It was a pair of pants, more specifically a bikini bottom. A very see-through item. If this continued, I might as well hide here.

I had completely forgotten the dress code.

I reached in again and then had the matching top in my hand. I threw it away in disgust. Had I ended up in a brothel? I reached into the box again, but the next item wasn't any better. However, I noticed pretty quickly that these parts had just been thrown in there. Every now and then a bottom or top was missing from a set, which didn't make the search much easier.

However, the further down I went, the neater the clothes became. In addition, the selection has become significantly better. I finally settled on a sports bikini, which was black. The top was printed with blue plants, the pants had a high waist and were therefore not too short. Still, I felt pretty uncomfortable, so I put my hoodie back on.

And what now?

Did I really want to go explore the building? Somehow I lost the desire for it. But I didn't want to stay here either, so what else did I have to do? Maybe I could find something to distract me. There were probably books or games here. So I pulled myself together and left my safe hiding place. One thing struck me as soon as I opened the door -

It was damn loud.

The walls and doors were quite noise-repellent.

Why was it so loud?

I was sure I would figure this out in less than five minutes. So I set off on my journey, wandering through hallways and finally finding the elevators, which of course still worked. At first I chose the ground floor because that was where most of the noise came from. Surely there was something there to keep me busy.

In fact, the atmosphere was completely different when the elevator doors opened. It smelled of alcohol and sweat. There were quite a few people milling about in the lobby, including couples who weren't afraid to make out in public. I immediately lowered my gaze so as not to have to see too much and just followed the music.

It led me outside. Despite the dusk, everyone was partying hard and having fun. It was crazy. The mood was as if we were not in a serious situation and weren't fighting for our lives every night.

I had to pull myself together not to shake my head. What drug did Hatter give the people? In any case, it wasn't trust - was it?

Just as I was about to turn around, I was nudged. "He- Hey Ayumi..." a drunk girl clung to me. I shuddered.

"I'm not Ayumi," I replied loudly and tried to push her away, but she didn't move an inch.

"Come, come with me! You promised us that you would tell us more stories!" she slurred and then laughed, "About your sister, who can't get her life together!" Now I was paying attention.

"What?" I wanted to know, trying not to make too much noise.

"Well, your sister! The one who didn't even manage to get a decent high school diploma and instead had that old dream of becoming a model! But she wasn't accepted!", her face came closer and closer to me . I dodged, but only saw red.

One life... Born from someone else's lie and success. His words immediately came to mind. That's what he meant. Ayumi... She had usurped my identity, taken my achievements and passed them off as her own!

Why hadn't I thought of this before? I could have trusted her to do anything to get to the top or to be the center of attention. Even if others were harmed, the main thing was that she made her profits.

It hurts.

Everything I had accomplished on my own had been taken away from me. And she would do anything to stop me from spilling the beans. No wonder her face was so derailed when she saw me yesterday!

Why did I have to show up here! If I had run away that day, it wouldn't have happened! If I hadn't lost my phone, I would be somewhere in Tokyo right now and never have seen her again! Then I wouldn't have cared that she was passing my life off as hers!

I finally managed to tear myself away from the drunk woman and stared at her coldly. "I'm not Ayumi. I'm Ayuna," and with those words I left her standing. I didn't turn around anymore, I just stalked back into the lobby.

At the same moment a loud bell rang, I guessed it was the fire alarm. And then it got loud. Louder than before. I swallowed as people suddenly came from all sides. The crowd was getting closer and closer and I noticed the panic that was slowly spreading inside me.

I had to get out of here! It was way too narrow!

Plus, the screaming was getting on my eardrums. The whole time they were cheering as if the best thing in their lives had just happened. And then it suddenly became quiet. Only then did I notice that nine people were standing in the gallery.

A pair of eyes studied me in the crowd. I knew exactly who it belonged to. My suspicions were confirmed when I looked into the person's eyes.

He turned the corner of his mouth back into his cocky grin. I just couldn't figure out what he was thinking and how he was acting.

He seemed like a puzzle that I just couldn't solve.