The Winners Take It All | Chishiya [English]

The importance of peers

I didn't know the last time I'd had a hangover like that.

When I got up in the morning, I felt like I had run a marathon in the blazing sun. My head was pounding, and I wanted to stay in bed, but my back would fail me if I did.

I sat up carefully, squinting against the bright light as I tried to remember yesterday's events.

The conversation with my twin sister came back to me and anger immediately ran down my throat. Afterwards I went to the bar and had a drink. But I didn't know exactly how I got back to my room.

Strange - it was as if my memories had been wrapped in cotton wool.

I forced myself to finally stand up because I felt gross. I still hadn't washed my bed liners, and the fabrics slowly began to take on a life of their own, which was noticeable in a very strange smell.

Sighing, I dragged myself into the bathroom, freshened up a bit and then padded back to the bed, where I took off the sheets and duvet covers. I deliberately avoided looking in the mirror because I knew I wouldn't have liked the look.

When I had finally finished stripping my bed, I left my quiet realm and plunged back into the hustle and bustle of Beach. I expected there would have been more going on, but as I walked through the hallways, I didn't see many people coming my way. Apparently, most of them were still asleep at this time.

I stopped in front of the map and studied it, having absolutely no idea where the washrooms even were. But the outline drawing of the building helped me enormously and I finally found myself in the elevator that took me to the lowest floor of this facility.

I hauled the items to the washing machines and then got new bedding. Just as I was about to turn around from the shelf, I bumped into someone. I dropped everything in shock.

"I'm sorry!" I apologized profusely as I collected my things again. I heard a giggle before I looked up and looked straight into the stranger's face.

"Don't worry about it!" she held out her hand to me, "Hi!" I accepted the hand, and she helped me up from the ground. She looked nice, but I immediately noticed the pistol strapped to her waist. Was she a member of that weird, crazy hotel fighting group?

"You don't seem to remember last night," she remarked as we walked side by side to the elevator. I looked at her questioningly and she smiled. "We already got to know each other yesterday afternoon/evening. You drank with me at the bar. I took you to your room when you were drunk," she said and the mystery of yesterday seemed to be solved. I blushed a little because I was embarrassed. She just laughed.

"Thanks for your help," I murmured, tucking the bed sheets a little tighter under my arms. She nodded and we walked on together in silence.

"By the way, I'm Sakusa Yuki," she finally introduced herself as we waited for the elevator. I looked at her briefly.

"Hayashi Ayuna, I prefer my first name though," I replied, and she smiled.

"My pleasure, Ayuna," we entered the elevator that took us to my floor. Surprisingly, Sakusa also got out with me and followed me inconspicuously.

I let it go as I didn't feel like she had any bad intentions. If anything, her company did me good.

I let Sakusa enter my room and she plopped straight onto the couch while I remade my bed. "Tell me, where did you get that wound on the back of your leg? I just heard that your game was hot..." she wanted to know, and I paused before looking at her briefly.

"An alligator thought I was his snack," I said, and her eyes widened slightly before she cleared her throat.

"Oh... Wow. That must have hurt," she said, spreading her arms on the backrest. I shrugged my shoulders. In fact, I barely felt it anymore.

I grabbed the pillow and fluffed it, then I was done. First, I thought about what I should do now, then I sat down in the chair which was facing her. She seemed to examine me briefly.

"This isn't meant to be hurtful, but the rumors about you somehow don't match you. You're completely different than how this Ayumi describes you," my chest tightened a little as these words fell into the silence. I swallowed. The young woman opposite seemed to be watching me intently.

If I was honest, I wasn't expecting to have a conversation like that with her.

"Well... Yes... What do you mean?" I asked to get a clearer picture. I wouldn't miss the chance to find out about the rumors my sister had started.

"So... She said that you weren't the brightest in the world, to put it nicely. She also described you as selfish and a little crazy. According to her, you didn't really can take care of yourself, that you would still have been following your parents' heels while she went her own way," if the situation hadn't been so serious, I would have wanted to laugh. She had described herself and put the image on me!

"And what makes you think otherwise?" I wanted to know and pushed a strand of hair out of my face.

She thought for a moment: "You're rather quiet - in contrast to your sister. And the way you communicate with others is completely different, I noticed that yesterday while drinking. I just can't imagine that you are a little bitch, you know? You seem too smart for that."

She didn't know how warm it suddenly became inside me. I didn't think I'd ever need those words, but I felt better.

"Thank you for the kind words," I replied, then there was a short pause, "You... can I ask you something?"

"Always, spill it," she replied. I hesitated for a moment.

"Are you in that fight club?" I asked and she snorted.

"Fight club? Hahahaha! I've never heard that one before! Really good description, Ayuna! But right, I'm in the military - why?" she looked at me curiously.

"Do you happen to know what relationship my sister has with Niragi?" her eyes darkened a little. Had I somehow unconsciously hit a sore spot?

"Nobody really knows. I'm not even sure if they even know themselves," she said, and a sour expression came across her face. I decided to ask her about this reaction later.

However, I was also happy to have someone to talk to. In this world it really helped if you met a like-minded person with whom you could exchange ideas. And Sakusa really seemed like a nice person.

We talked until late into the night, she told me a few little details about the beach and told me about her games. I also described to her the four games I had to play. But we didn't get to talk about the topic of Niragi and Ayumi anymore.

I had probably found a friend that night - at least now I had someone I wanted to trust.