playing cards | ryohei arisu

22

"Hana?" Arisu held the woman in his arms, gently shaking her with a worried expression on his face. "Hana!" 

Hana opened her eyes slowly, then looking up at Arisu. "You're here..."

"Of course I am," his voice was a whisper as he spoke. "I'm here for you."

"I was just with you at the bar with Karube and Chota," she looked up at Arisu again, looking at the worry in his eyes. "It felt so real, I-I don't know."

"You're okay," Arisu reassured. "As soon as we're out of here we'll go back to the bar."

"Okay," Hana's eyes fluttered shut and open again. "Where is Hiroko? She was hurt badly, I need to see her."

"She's over there, against the wall," Arisu pointed out. "She's okay."

There is one final game. All players wishing to register must do it immediately. 

And then the realization hit Hana. 

The games were finally going to be over, but she was in her weakest state and she didn't want to hold Arisu back. "Are you sure you want to bring me to the game?"

"Of course I do," Arisu replied. "We'll get out of here together, okay?"

"Okay," Hana said.

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Arisu held Hana up as they walked through Shibuya crossing. Chishiya and Niragi still remained in their spots, not moving due to their wounds.

The sharp pain in her stomach caused her to groan as Arisu helped her step forward.

The man noticed and looked at her. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm okay," she sighed before looking up at one of the taller buildings in the area, noticing the Queen of Hearts flag hovering right above it. "That's where we need to go."

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The pair soon made their way to the top of the building. There was a glass balcony surrounding the edges - was this going to be a deadly game?

"If there's a rule that says the two players must kill each other, I won't hesitate to protect you, Hana."  Arisu told her.

Hana shut her eyes for a moment, the images popping into her mind if that was gonna happen. 

"You're just saying that to sound cool, right?" Hana opened her eyes and looked up at Arisu, a small smile painted across her face.

Arisu smiled back, sharing a long look with her before planting a kiss on her forehead. "Let's go, then."

Arisu still had his arm wrapped around Hana to help her stand up and also walk toward the game. When they got a bit closer, the arena was smaller than usual - the area seemed brighter and more calm than the other games were.

Hana and Arisu shared a look before walking through the gate. 

They both looked at saw a familiar woman in a black and white dress stand up and start to walk towards them. 

She raised her arms up and smiled at the two. "Welcome to the final game! Allow me to explain the rules. Here's the game we're about to play - Difficulty level: Queen of Hearts, 'Croquet!'" 

"Are you serious? Croquet?" Hana asked out of disbelief. 

Mira smiled again. "Often called lawn billiards, it's a ball game that was popularized in 19th century England. But I'm afraid it's not very well-known in Japan."