𝐂𝐑𝐀𝐙𝐘 , alice in borderland

今際の国のアリス ── EPISODE THREE

"You're name's Miyu, right?" Usagi asked, stopping Miyu outside of the arena.

Miyu squinted at her. "How do you know? I didn't tell you my name."

"I heard the one with white hair call you it, just before," She admitted. "When he was asking you to go with him to... what was it called? The Beach?" Miyu nodded.

"Yeah, but stranger danger, y'know?" She joked. "My name is Miyu, though. Why?"

She shrugged. "Just being friendly. You seem pretty smart."

"Probably because I am." Miyu nodded. "I'll be going now." She gave Usagi a small wave before walking off, excited to have a shower and clean the blood off her, and take five days off to do whatever she wanted.

. . .

Miyu searched around a department store with a bag full of clothes. She was on edge and had a knife that she had found strapped onto her thigh in case she ran into anyone. Miyu didn't know how other people acted outside of the games, but based on the few dead bodies she had seen nowhere near any game arenas, she assumed the worse.

When Miyu had gone shopping for food and medicine and inhalers, she had been met with empty shelves, shitty, expired food and already opened packets littering the aisles. She considered herself lucky when she found a packet of painkillers with three left and an inhaler that had around 40 uses left. Miyu knew she was lucky that no one had raided her house, that had been full of supplies since she started living in it.

Miyu tensed when she heard voices in the departments tore. One of them she recognized from the game, remembering the voice belonged to the one with orange hair. She overheard them talking about going to the Beach, which Miyu could only assume was the same Beach Chishiya had asked her to visit. There were other voices, causing Miyu to figure out that they were a group of four. Once they fell silent, she walked away to continue her shopping.

. . .

Miyu winced as she changed the duct tape on her stomach in front of the bathroom mirror. The wound was healing, Miyu noticing scar tissue being formed. She got changed into her new pyjama pants and a sports bra, walking around the house like she owned it.

Miyu grabbed a jar of peanut butter and a spoon, feeding herself spoonfuls of the spread at a time as she lounged on a bed in the dark of the night. She could hear arenas being opened up and people travelling to them, footsteps and murmurs being heard. Miyu regretted staying in a house that was open enough for people to see inside as they just walked past, the windows having no blinds or ways to cover them.

She was yet to light the candles, two in the bedroom, three in the kitchen and three in the living room. Miyu always waited until the night fell relatively silent and could hear people competing in games to light the candles and journal and eat, always blowing out every candle when she heard people leaving their games, using them as a sign for when she should sleep. Miyu didn't want to interact with anyone outside of the games and what she was forced to, not wanting someone to get attached to her like Sakura had. She didn't want to feel guilty for someone dying, and Miyu knew the only reason she felt bad for someone dying is if they had become friends.

Miyu didn't need friends. She had friends when she was a teenager, and she ended up with debts and loan sharks on her tail.

Miyu lit the candles once she heard the games being played around Shibuya. She pulled out the journal she had found and a pen, laying on her stomach on the bed she had claimed as her own. She started writing down the names of the people she wanted to get revenge on. There seemed to be no police, nor consequences to people's actions in the Borderlands. Miyu was going to take advantage of that.