The Winners Take It All | Chishiya [English]

Feelings are a lousy companion

"Ayuna... wake up!"

Her gentle voice penetrated my consciousness and left behind a warmth that I had felt only occasionally.

"Sunshine. The day has already started! You really wanted to take a walk to pick flowers!"

A feeling of affection, love... How could I ever forget that?

--

The sun's rays tickled my nose, and I woke up from my sleep with a huge sneeze. I looked around in confusion as my eyes adjusted to the light.

Leaves.

Birdsong.

Trees.

Earth.

The damp, musty smell.

I had no idea where I was. It looked like a forest, but how the fuck did I get here?

"You're awake, perfect," my questions were immediately answered when Heiya's head appeared in my field of vision. She grinned at me.

"Where am I?" I wanted to know as I sat up painfully slowly. She just nodded in one direction.

"We're still in Tokyo - just in the overgrown part," she told me, "But that's irrelevant now. What's more important is the question of who this Chishiya is that you've been calling for all this time."

Oh no...

I hadn't - oh God, how embarrassing!

The blush immediately rose on my face, which only made her grin even more. But luckily for me she didn't probe any further and just pointed to my side. "You were very lucky. I don't know how much you remember, but at the end of the game you lost consciousness. Aguni and I took you with us because otherwise you would probably have bled to death. He stitched up the stab wound, but he didn't do it as good as a real doctor. You should be careful," she informed me, and I briefly touched the supposed spot. It throbbed a little, but the pain had subsided.

"Thank you," I replied, "also for your trust..." She waved me off.

"Aguni had mentioned that you were quite strategic. And once again he was right... really, I'm really impressed with what your brain has come up with!" she said as she shouldered a backpack and finally held out a hand to me, so she could help me get up. I bowed in thanks.

"Where is Aguni anyway?" I asked as she looked at a compass. She looked up briefly and then pointed to a small clearing: "He's just resting a bit." I nodded briefly and then looked through the canopy of leaves towards the city center.

"You have other plans, I assume?" she asked, and I nodded again, albeit hesitantly.

"There are people waiting for me," I told her, and she grinned. If she said his name again right now, I would sink into the ground!

"Then we don't want to stop you. It was very nice meeting you, Hayashi Ayuna. Let's hope we meet again sometime," she said, "You should hurry up. It will get dark soon. The King of Spades is hanging out around here, you would be a great target for him."

"The King of Spades is here?" I was a little surprised. "He's even hanging around here?" She nodded as she shouldered her bow.

"We suspect that he can track all players. You shouldn't walk around unarmed anymore, okay?" she advised me, and I nodded.

"Then... Goodbye. Thanks again for your help! Will you mention my gratitude to Aguni too?" I asked and she smiled.

I liked her smile. It seemed timid and somehow showed a gentle side of her.

The Borderland had demanded a lot from her too - somehow, I saw a connection between us.

She waved at me before I turned and walked away in the other direction.

But I didn't get far.

I had only been running for five minutes when a bullet whizzed past me. I was just able to throw myself out of the line of fire before the hail of bullets started.

The King of Spades was here, but not just him.

"ARISU!!!"

Damn... Was that Usagi? It was already getting dark, so I couldn't see much, and I tried to keep my cover.

Then it was quiet. I heard footsteps, but they were moving away.

That was close, Heiya had warned me after all! If only I had listened to her!

"Arisu?", yes, it was really Usagi!

"Usagi?" I called quietly into the silence, but at first, I didn't get an answer.

But then came a tender reply: "Ayuna? Is that you?"

"Yes! You're fine, what luck!" I whispered and finally dared to come out of my hiding place.

Then I saw her.

Usagi was crouched behind a tree but looked completely contrite. I suspected that she had just been separated from Arisu. I could literally feel her fear, but my intuition told me he was fine. After all, Heiya and Aguni were also in the forest, but maybe I shouldn't necessarily tell her that.

My gut feeling was that she wouldn't be able to handle it.

"Where are the others?" I asked her and she looked at the ground.

"We were separated from Ann. Kuina is looking for her, Chishiya and you. And Tatta... sacrificed his life for us. In the King of Clubs game..." I felt angry when I heard the latter. I had barely known Tatta, but it still hurt. "And what about you? What happened to you?" she wanted to know. I swallowed and grabbed my left side again, unnoticed.

"Well... It's complicated. Chishiya is fine, at least he was before the Jack of Hearts game, but I don't know what's going on with him now. I played the Jack of Spades, more or less," I said, while Usagi looked around uncertainly.

What was going on between her and Arisu? I was very interested in this - but it wasn't my right to ask.

"He's fine," I tried to reassure her, "Don't worry, Usagi." She looked at me perplexed.

"And how do you know that?" she asked, and I just smiled. It was a smile that hadn't come across my lips for a long time.

A real smile.

"I know a lot, remember?" I replied as I started moving. When I thought about it, it sounded pretty arrogant, but I didn't mean it that way.

"You'll see each other again, okay? Don't give up hope yet - it's too early for that."

She seemed to want to say something else, but I turned around. My gut feeling told me that I shouldn't stop Usagi any longer - it was her fate to find him again.

I raised my hand in farewell and then began to make my way south.

So it happened that I was on my way back to the apartment at dawn.

Was Chishiya there?

Or had he not survived the game?

Maybe he had simply moved on because I didn't come back?

There was one thing I had to say: feelings were a lousy companion, they never left you alone.

And why did I call his name in my sleep? Hopefully that wouldn't happen again, especially in his presence.

Just the thought made me shudder...

Don't think about it, Ayuna...

Shibuya came into view and with it the building with the apartment. I headed towards it with determination.

Now I was excited to see what awaited me...

Chishiya, what did you decide to do, what happened to you?