The Winners Take It All | Chishiya [English]

...and I try to ignore it

The safest place seemed to be the roof.

Firstly, I would be able to observe everything there, and secondly, it was unlikely that anyone would get lost here.

To be on the safe side, I still sat down in the shade of the little house that led to the stairwell. I didn't know if I was just being paranoid, but something told me things were about to get much worse.

You could hear the screams, the shots, and the crackling of a fire. I felt like I could hear the souls of the departed screaming in pain, even though it wasn't like that. It was just my imagination, but my mind just wouldn't let go of the idea.

What would have happened if Sakusa had been here? Which side would she have taken? That of the military? Or maybe ours? If I was honest, I didn't even want to think about it. She wasn't here anymore, so I didn't want to just speculate about her and maybe even get the wrong answer.

That wouldn't be fair - the dead should find rest.

Were Kuina and Chishiya okay? And what about Arisu and Usagi? Now that I found some peace despite the game, I could no longer suppress my thoughts. The feelings spilled over again and threatened to throw me completely off track.

"Fire! Fire!" another burst of panic erupted below. Apparently, there was a fire in the hotel. Was it even safe on the roof now?

I was snapped out of my inattentive state when the door squeaked. Damn, I was wrong when I said no one else would come here.

And Niragi of all people had proven me wrong. There he was crouching while he pointed the barrel of his gun at the people who were escaping the building and now meeting their bitter end outside because of his bullets.

Would I be able to push him off the roof? Would that be my revenge? No, I couldn't risk it. It would be my death! He was stronger than me, and I only knew a fraction of his abilities. It wasn't worth it.

All I could do was wait and drink "tea" in the truest sense of the word.

And so, I sat behind the house while he laughed and shot people like they were balloons in a shooting gallery. I was now sure that something was wrong with this guy.

The door opened again, and the wild Niragi gave the people the chance to find a safe place - if there was one at all.

I dared to catch a glimpse of the new visitor. My blood froze when I saw who it was.

Chishiya.

He stood there, looking as harmless as a little kitten - at least that's how it had to look to strangers. But I saw the blazing flame in his eyes. He had a plan, I noticed it immediately. And I was sure I was about to find out.

"Chishiya~," Niragi rolled his name. He didn't sound pleased. "What are you doing here?", he wanted to go back to his "game", but Chishiya wouldn't allow that.

"I could ask you the same thing, Niragi," he paused, "Someone has switched the power back to the main generator. There is a traitor in the Beach." Niragi grimaced.

"Are you implying that the witch and the traitor are the same person?" he laughed, "But I'm neither!" Chishiya grinned and apparently Niragi felt offended by this. "Why are you always grinning like that? Do you want to look like you're smart or what?" he seemed to find himself funny. Chishiya grinned even more.

"I'm smart," he answered simply, and the other man spat.

Suddenly he stopped: "Mmh, would you still be such a bitch if I brought her into the game?" The next moment a bullet hit the wall right next to my head. I cringed.

He had known that I had stayed here. Since when?

"Come out, come out, Shawty! Don't worry! Or should I maybe put another bullet in your head?" he gave me the choice, how nice of him. I slowly came out from behind the wall and strolled towards the two of them. I stopped in the middle. Chishiya, as well as Niragi, eyed me with a selfless look. I just didn't say anything back.

"So? Cold feet already?" Niragi asked again and Chishiya shook his head.

"No," he said, and I tried not to seem too hurt. What did I expect tho?

"Well, then it shouldn't be a problem if I shoot her now, right?" he pointed his rifle at me, at the same moment Chishiya ran off.

He threw the cards into the air and Niragi's eyes widened.

"When did you-" he demanded as he pointed his gun at Chishiya.

He had the rifle, while the other suddenly - a WATER GUN? SERIOUSLY!?

What was the point of that? Apparently, that's exactly what Niragi was wondering, because he simply laughed off the situation and was about to pull the trigger when suddenly a wall of fire came towards him.

Not just him... but me too! I was in the way!

At the last moment I bent down, but unfortunately the ends of my hair had caught fire. The hot flames crackled; I felt the panic flaring up inside me. The heat crept up my neck, but I couldn't move - my muscles had locked up.

Chishiya was crazy: a flamethrower? How did he do it so quickly?

Niragi staggered to the edge of the roof, screaming, and cursing loudly.

And then... he fell.

But I hardly noticed because I was suddenly thrown to the ground and rolled around like crazy. A burning smell hit my nose and I knew that the bottom half of my blonde hair was no longer blonde but black.

"Thanks for the new hairstyle," I remarked wryly, and he simply grinned before helping me up.

"What are you doing here?" he asked me curiously as we collected the cards together.

"I didn't want to stay down, so this place seemed safest for me. But apparently, I was wrong," I replied, handing him back the last of the cards. At the top was the 9 of Hearts, which we had played. I stared at it a little too long.

It brought back unpleasant memories.

"You're scared."

He said what I had tried to suppress. I didn't want to believe it. But since our last game of hearts, I was extremely afraid that I would have to suffer like that again.

I assumed the 10 of hearts would be the same.

"Yes," I admitted, "Is that bad?" He didn't have an answer for me, or rather he didn't want to give me one. Instead, he turned away and nodded towards the door.

"Come on, the show is just starting now," he said simply and disappeared back inside. I took another look at the night sky, then followed him.

"When you're there, suddenly I'm not afraid anymore..."