The Dormouse • ALICE IN BORDERLAND

xv.

ANGER

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Forty Hours after the death of Nakajima Ichida

Once again, Michiko found herself wandering the empty streets of Tokyo. With the absence of the bustling metropolis of people, the city had begun to be overtaken by nature. Short stems of grass and weeds were starting to emerge in the cracks of the concrete. Animals were roaming the streets that had once belonged to humanity, taking over the city as their habitat. From one end of the street, Michiko observed a deer feeding at the shallow grass silently. She hardly moved a muscle, not wanting to disturb it. She wanted to let it have peace for a little longer before inevitably scaring it away.

The animal didn't sense her quiet presence, continuing to feast without any care. It had become desensitized to any human existence, taking over what was once their city. Stepping back, Michiko was about to turn away, to let it continue to roam freely, when the deer's head snapped up, and Michiko felt its stately eyes bore into her, antlers towering into the air. For a second, they held each other's gaze, before a crack struck through the silent city. The stag, with a hole shot through its flank, crumpled to the ground. Michiko breathed out, twisting round to face whowever took the shot.

Behind her, a man sauntered to her side, the offending rifle that had killed the deer resting casually up against his shoulder, barrel still smoking. Dark hair was pulled half up in a bun, with a couple of strands, damp with sweat framing his face. There was a self-satisfied grin at his lips, and Michiko glowered upon seeing the sight.

The man stopped beside her, eyes taking in the harsh glare on her face. He grinned down at her. "What? Sad that I killed the cute deer?" Michiko didn't dignify him with a reply, instead, she simply held her glare in place, refusing to crack under the pressure of his taunting gaze. "Aw, did it remind you of your dead friend?" He stepped away with a laugh and an abrasive ruffle of her hair that Michiko flinched away from. Niragi continued towards the deer, ordering a couple of the other militants to round up the carcass.

As they were busy, Michiko glared venomously at Niragi's back, eyes watching his easy going posture and actions with a heavy resentment. As she watched him carefully, she reflected on the last couple of days. As much as she could remember.

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After the six of hearts ended, and the remaining players were released from the game, Michiko, Chishiya and Kirika were forced into a vehicle with the other two players, Niragi and Aguni. The entire journey had been a blur, and Michiko remembered none of it. She only vaguely recalled being dragged through a large building, stripped of any potential weapons and tied to a chair in a conference style room.

She remembered questioning how they managed to get running electricity when the entire city was out of power outside of the games. Then he sauntered into the room, loud and carefree. He introduced himself as 'Hatter', the leader of the place they called the Beach. The Number One. Dressed simply in a pair of swimming shorts and an extravagantly patterned robe, his chest on full display and sunglasses over his eyes despite it being dark outside still. His hair fell in soft waves to his shoulders, the coarse hair of a goatee and mustache framing his lips. He had claimed he had the answer to the end of the games, and showed them a mural of a deck of cards spray painted on a sheet hung upon the back wall of the conference room. It was simple, he said. They work together to collect the whole deck. Once they did, then only one person can go home. Everyone had been numbered. The order people would go home in once they collected a complete deck. Once they managed to send one person home, everyone would move up a place. Rinse and repeat, until all of them made it.