Hope Always Dies Last | Chishiya [English]

On the trail of life

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"Whoa, the color hurts in your eyes," Niragi moaned and put his hand in front of his pair of eyes. I silently agreed with him, the red was uncomfortable.

Hiyori looked around curiously while Ann still seemed to be thinking. I watched as she swept her gaze down the hallway, then at her suit. "Shall we move a bit? Standing still is never good," she finally says, "And I need some more information to work with." We didn't object, so soon our footsteps could be heard. We walked away in silence.

The hallway was long and dreary, it was a little tiring to focus on smaller details as the red color was quite distracting.

"Look there! Isn't that a stop sign Kuriku was talking about?" Hiyori wanted to know and pointed to a large sign hanging on the wall. Next to it was a glass door leading to the stairwell, revealing yellow wallpaper.

"The first decision?", Hiyori scratched his head, "What's that supposed to mean?" "We just draw lots", suggested Niragi, "Then the loser goes alone."

"No," Ann interrupted, "It's a game of diamonds, remember? There has to be logic behind every decision, I'm 100 percent sure." I agreed with her. "I agree with you there," I murmured, "There's a reason every path has to be walked by at least one player." "What do you suggest?" Hiyori wanted to know, shifting from one foot to the other impatiently.

"Shiraishi... What do you think? Why are there attributes?" Ann asked me and I stared at the door. "Well... From my point of view, we're supposed to 'act out' a life, right? A life is shaped by a lot of different things, but mainly by strength, intelligence, emotion, and relationships, which in turn would fit the attributes. So, we embody life itself, divided into its component parts", I mused, and Hiyori leaned against the wall. "Wow," she said, "where did you get that from?" I just shrugged and looked at Ann. "I have a similar guess. The attributes are needed in different areas of life, but not at the same time," she added. "That might explain why there are different paths."

"We need to assign the right attribute to the paths?" To my surprise, Niragi spoke up, looking serious for a change. Ann nodded. "But how do you recognize it?" Hiyori wanted to know. "The name," it slipped from my lips and the attention was drawn to me. I cleared my throat and brushed a loose strand of hair away from my face. "There are six paths. The yellow path is the 'educational path', or so it was on the plan," I said, and Ann raised an eyebrow. "You remembered?" she wanted to know, and I nodded slightly.

"Well... education, isn't that knowledge?" Hiyori asked casually and I nodded again, then looked at Ann. "Your commitment," I said, "I think that this path is linked with your attribute."

She nodded before putting her hand on the doorknob. The door opened and Ann went into the stairwell. She glanced back at us, then climbed the steps and disappeared from view.

"Okay, let's continue now," Hiyori said, "I don't want to run into the queen of diamonds again."

We trudged on, the red hallway made a curve, and we stood in a new corridor that again seemed endless. I looked around curiously and took a sidestep when-

"Hey, are you suicidal?" Niragi grabbed my collar and roughly pulled me back towards him. My heart quickened in shock, and I looked at where I had been just a moment ago. A huge hole gaped in the floor.

"Interesting," I heard Hiyori say and Niragi let go of me while I was still staring at my deathtrap in disbelief. Damn, now that ass had saved my life!

"A hole," Niragi ventured a little closer to the abyss, "And a pretty big one at that." He coughed and I thought I saw blood on his lips. But I couldn't ask him about it because our thoughts were interrupted by the woman's voice.

The red team may now enter the playing field!

"They're coming, great," Hiyori leaned against the wall, "Any suggestions?" Niragi pointed to the other side. "The distance is not big, if someone plays catapult, you can easily do it. See those wooden planks there? You can then put them over the hole," he said, "volunteers?"

"I jump," I heard myself say and Niragi frowned, then grinned. "Agreed, Nohara," he raised his hand, "I'm your catapult."

Oh damn. I had hoped he had forgotten. Now he would tease me with the surname as long as we were playing together here. I was already annoyed; how would that play out till later? We were still at the beginning!

"Good," I stayed calm and let the man approach me, although a queasy feeling was spreading in my stomach area. The last time that man touched me, he nearly raped me.

He grabbed my foot and then my thigh before lifting me up. I ducked my head as I nearly hit the ceiling. "Look out!" I hissed before he just grinned knowingly. In the next moment I was already flying.

My landing on the other side was rather rough, I could feel my chest starting to hurt as I hit the ground with a jolt. Apparently, I was hurt more than I thought in that stupid car accident. "A warning would have been nice," I muttered as I grabbed the wooden plank and pushed it the other way, allowing the two of them to pass easily. Niragi just grinned stupidly and stalked past me; Hiyori just chuckled. I pouted before I had a brainwave. As the two walked forward, I pulled back the wooden plank and let it disappear into an alcove.

Who knows, maybe that would do something.

"Another stop sign," I heard the two say when I got back to them. This time we were in front of an elevator. Damn, how big was this hotel?

"Green," Niragi murmured, "Nei-chan, what does the color mean?" Am I wrong or did I suddenly see jealousy in Hiyori's eyes? No, that couldn't be, I must have mistaken it as another emotion.

"It's the Adventure trail," I replied, "I guess it's clubs. Experiences are shaped by relationships and-" "Emotions," the other woman interrupted, not being wrong. "Exactly," I replied, "It's your mission."

The two pressed the elevator button and we waited for the elevator to arrive. Niragi waved at me with a sneer and Hiyori also seemed pleased that they were leaving me.

Well, shit.

I had completely forgotten that I now had to walk alone. That could be fun...