Hope Always Dies Last | Chishiya [English]

Through the wilderness

Chishiya met us as we left the building. His gaze went back and forth between Heiya and me before he tucked his hands in his jacket pocket and grinned. Heiya nudged me.

"That's the guy?" she asked me, and I nodded before the woman tossed her hair. "Pretty boy," she said again, "Call me when he's free." I slapped her on the shoulder, and she grinned before we stopped in front of him.

"You were fast, Chishiya," I greeted him, "Or were you just scared that I would mess up?" A smile crossed my lips, and he raised an eyebrow before replying, "No. I just wanted to make sure you were alive." "Aww, a gentleman," Heiya leaned forward and looked at both of us, "You hit the jackpot, Neiru." "Shut up," I said to her, and she raised her hands reassuringly, before she shouldered her bow.

"I have to go back now," he finally said. "The parade will be back at the beach soon."

Apparently, the time had come where I once again disappeared into solitude. Why did I feel so sad? I felt like knifes were thrown at me which hit me right in the heart. "Okay," I breathed, lowering my gaze. "We'll meet here," he handed me a piece of paper with an address written on it. I nodded and put it in my pocket, then looked at him again.

"Chishiya?" he hummed, "Promise me you can escape from Beach safely." He grinned again and then nodded. At that moment I knew that nothing could happen to this man.

"I'll take care of your bitch," Heiya joined the conversation, "then the poor Neiru won't be alone."

"Who are you calling a bitch?", I put my hands on my hips in a protesting manner, "And what's the point of this comparison? I'm not a whore!" "Just that you feel addressed is enough," Heiya winked, and I pouted slightly before turning to Chishiya again. He grinned, but this time it was real.

"Two have found each other," he finally said, "Now I know why you get along so well." "Haha", the sarcasm was good to hear again, "Now make sure you come back."

He turned away; I felt my heart clench a little.

Not a good idea, Neiru...

Nevertheless, I ran again and fell on his neck. He was a little surprised at first and tensed up, but after a few seconds he returned the hug. "Sorry," I mumbled, and he chuckled slightly. "It's okay," he finally answered, and I let go of him. What he then did, however, surprised me. His hand grabbed my collar, and he pulled me towards him once more, then our lips touched.

Wait... Chishiya just kissed me? He had taken the opportunity first...

I was bright red when we parted. He grinned mischievously and waved at us before sauntering back to the car. I looked after him with wide eyes.

"Damn, he has wrapped you around his finger," Heiya appeared next to me, and I winced before looking at her. "Did you like the show?" I asked, "It was a special edition." She chuckled and then grabbed my arm.

"Come on partner, let's find a place to camp."

----------------------------------------------

"All my little ducklings, swimming on the lake, swimming on the lake, heads under the water, tails in the air!"

"Heiyaaaa, I swear, if you sing that song one more time, I'll rip out your hair without mercy!" one could hear water as I filled my water bottle at the river. In just a moment we would put the clear liquid through a filter to make it drinkable.

I slowly got used to the new environment. We've been on the road together for two days now, and at first, I found it a bit difficult to adapt to the events. Beach had really been a privilege; one had been able to completely cover human needs. However, now that we had no running water or cooks, we had to figure out how to support ourselves.

Heiya was a pro, that's all I could say. She hunted with her bow and made sure we got something fresh on our plates at every meal, which was definitely a good thing. We had to stay strong, which made a balanced diet all the more important. I took care of water, plants, and other things that we could use. Until now we had been able to achieve a good level of comfort through our division of labor. I also used the time every now and then to drop by the apartment that Chishiya had prepared. But they hadn't shown up yet.

"You kill fun!" Heiya grinned and I gave her the middle finger before jogging back to our camp and hanging up the bottle to filter. My partner followed me and dropped onto the insulating mat.

"You have to play tonight, don't you?" I asked and she nodded slightly before looking up at the sky. The sun was at its highest point, so it would still be a few hours.

I still had nine days left on my account as I had some time left over from the last few games, so I wouldn't be accompanying her. "Well, why are you looking so sad all of a sudden?" she asked, and I broke my silence with a smirk. "I'm not sad," I replied, dropping onto the mat next to her. She groaned slightly when I punched her side. "Not at all, Neiru. You totally didn't just give me that 'seven days of rainy weather' look at all," she said, and we started to grin.

"Stupid woman," I mumbled. "Spinach quail," she replied, and I looked at her in confusion. "Spinach quail?" I wanted to know, "What's that supposed to be?" "Check it out when you have internet again," she gave me a mischievous look and I made a face. "Great," I replied sarcastically, and we burst out laughing afterwards.

How good it was to roam the wilds of Tokyo with her.

"You should go to that address your friend gave you tonight," my attention automatically snapped back to her. "And why?" I urged as she pushed her hair back from her face. "It's better that way. I guess they're coming soon. You should be there when they are arriving. I'll catch up after my game, okay?" She smiled at me, "I can't live without you, Shiraishi, you're the perfect person to annoy!" "Hahaha, very funny," I tried to pout, but couldn't quite manage it.

"Don't leave me, do you hear?" I reminded her, "If you die, I'll kill you personally." She laughed out loud and patted my shoulder. "Try it if you can," she pointed to herself, "I don't give up easily."

Heiya Akane was someone I grew to like in no time. I wouldn't take it if anything happened to her, that's why the decision was so difficult for me. However, I trusted her, she was strong enough to fight her way through the world, after all she had made it through the last few weeks. And she was right: I really wanted to be there when Chishiya, Kuina, Arisu and Usagi arrived. I wanted to greet them, see if they were okay. They would be there soon; I was sure of that. Beach should be absolute chaos right now...

"Come on, let's pack up. The way from here is a bit further and I want to rest a little before my game," Heiya said to me, and I nodded before we got up almost synchronously and gathered our things.

A strange foreboding settled in my stomach as I reached for my backpack. It was weird, I couldn't let go of the thought.

Why did I suddenly have the feeling that something terrible was going to happen tonight?