The Winners Take It All | Chishiya [English]

Beyond the abyss

I would have to set an example.

Only if someone made the seemingly impossible possible, they would trust the theory. We couldn't wait long now, we had to act so that more team members didn't die. We were able to decide how we wanted to continue our strategy.

Us and no one else.

But for that... we had to move on. We had to get over the abyss.

I grabbed two balls out of the air. It was now or never, if I waited, we would be wasting time.

Wasted time could be deadly in the Borderland.

So... I jumped.

I heard Kuina calling my name in horror behind me, but I just focused on what was in front of me.

It was a new world, almost a different perspective.

I reached out and threw. My ball hit a person from the red team, who fell into the abyss before I landed on the next platform.

My team members had observed this new way of playing.

They gained confidence - but would it be enough?

When we jumped, we were moving. We were in the air.

Some say you may have been more vulnerable, but you had one advantage: movement.

We had stood on the platforms and were only given the option to move left and right. But when we were in the air, we were in a rapid, vague movement.

We broadened our horizons.

And so, I started climbing the platforms, jumping, running and throwing. The longer I followed this pattern, the more agile I became. I recognized new techniques and no longer felt restricted.

But there was something else.

Beneath the fear, joy developed.

A feeling that I couldn't understand. Why was I excited to play a game that could kill me at any moment?

Memories.

I had always loved dodgeball. It was a childhood memory that I had never forgotten.

It was a game that had taken away the pain - and now I was a young woman, but I was looking forward to a challenging game like a young girl.

And that didn't seem to have gone unnoticed by the Queen of Clubs. She smiled at me before we fell into a match.

Me against the leader of this game. Suddenly there were just the two of us. We jumped, ran, and threw.

"You defeated Akiko, right?" she suddenly asked as we jumped over a precipice almost simultaneously. I was a little distracted for a moment, but I caught myself quickly.

The Queen of Clubs knew my grandmother's name.

Who knows, maybe all the game masters knew each other - was that possible?

I nodded as I threw.

"She was my grandmother", damn it, why did I have to tell her everything? She laughed quietly.

"I know... It was really a very emotional conversation I had with her... A remarkable woman - your grandmother. She gave up so much to unite you," Fumiko also threw and I dodged her ball skillfully.

"It was a sacrifice that wasn't worth it in the end," I told her. "My sister died less than ten minutes after her, trying to protect my life."

"How tragic," I slowly had the feeling that she was making fun of me. But that was alright because I felt a force creeping up again.

Anger was truly a terrifying tool.

It could be good as well as bad.

I reached out and threw again. The ball was almost hissing through the air before...

...it bounced off.

I had hit Fumiko. The ball had hit her exactly at the level of her heart.

She smiled. "You're almost there. Now finish what you started; do you hear me? Whatever happens, you'll find out when the time comes," she said to me, "Akiko told me that you really are something extraordinary, Ayuna. I was really pleased to have played such a nice match with you."

Then she looked at the ceiling of the hall before throwing herself back first into the depths.

I couldn't look.

And yet... I knew that the Queen of Clubs had chosen this step with an intention. It was her pure will.

She had expected the consequence that my inner anger could have been her downfall.

It wasn't for nothing that she played with me. The two of us ran across this facility without anyone getting in our way. There had been a plan that had been carried out from the beginning.

Fumiko... Thank you for your sacrifice.

Nana... Thank you for your confidence, your sacrifice, and your love.

But now it was over. I had just finished my last game.

Jack of spades.

Queen of Diamonds.

Queen of Clubs.

The game is over!

Team Blue wins!

The players will be given a new visa!

I slowly trudged back to the lobby. I wanted to get out of this building as quickly as possible. Who knows how long we had been playing...

"We will come with you," said Kuina, who was suddenly standing next to me again. I nodded to her. I'm sure Chishiya wouldn't mind if I brought them with me.

So, we left the hall together.

To my surprise, the first rays of sunshine were already tickling our noses. The night had passed.

Hopefully Shuntaro wasn't back yet, he would have been wondering where I was.

"Come on, I'll show you the way," I said to the two of them and we strolled through the streets together.

"So, you and Chishiya are a couple now?" Ann broke the silence with a very personal question. It's funny how the two of them talked about love first. I glanced sideways at the forensic scientist.

"What makes you think that? Has Kuina already whistled?" I wanted to know, and the other young woman snorted in mock indignation.

"No, you just have hickeys on your neck, that's why I suspected that," Ann replied simply, starting to grin as my face fell.

Were the spots really that noticeable?

I was about to continue running when Kuina jerked me back by the arm.

"Guys, I think we should change direction," she murmured, and my eyes immediately went to the sky.

Oops, the King of Spades.

I had thought that he had already been defeated, but I was wrong again. There was no chance we could get back to the drugstore, he was coming from exactly that direction. We had no choice but to walk back towards the Shibuya intersection.

At the same time, we turned on our heel and started running.

My feeling told me that Shuntaro was no longer in the small apartment. I was sure he too was evicted by the uninvited guest.

No matter what happened, I would find him.

And so, we walked, step by step.

Two airships were still in the sky: Queen of Hearts and King of Spades.

Our hours of limited knowledge were numbered.

I was dying to finally find out what this country was all about and what would happen if we defeated the last game masters.

It was getting closer...