The Dormouse • ALICE IN BORDERLAND

xvii

BITTER TASTE OF VENGEANCE 

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"So," The girl in her twenties with long hair that covered her shoulders chimed in, breaking up the moment of heavy tension, everyone's eyes falling onto her, "Everyone's gone right? Does the round stop here or do we wait until the time runs out?"

Everyone began murmuring questioningly. Michiko looked down at her phone to see the countdown continuing on. There were fifty minutes left of the first round.

"I guess we wait." Mira stated, shrugging casually.

No one made a move, all nine of them waiting to see who would break the circle first, eyes shifting nervously from one another, anticipating for someone to shift the dynamic. Growing tired of everyone's lack of action, Michiko huffed before turning around and taking to the stairwell, wanting to get as far away as she could from Niragi's presence.

She reached the fifth floor, stepping out into a hall of private offices. Finding the nearest one, she sat herself down on the desk, shifting a few messily strewn papers out of the way before perching herself on the edge. Her eyes found the window, looking out over the dark city skyline. The building was tall enough for her to make out a few game venues lit up like beacons on the horizon, the rest of the city cast in darkness. More people would be out there playing those games, just as she was. Perhaps Chishiya and Kirika were in amongst those venues, currently putting their own lives on the line for the sake of victory.

Gazing out upon the horizon, Michiko suddenly missed the comforting presence of her headphones, wishing she could just pop them on and blast music in her ears, drowning out the silence. The silence made her think, and she didn't like to think. Thinking brought up memories. Brought up poisonous thoughts that she didn't have the antidote to. Music helped to keep that poison from infecting her too much. But it was absent. So she had to live with it creeping into her veins, infecting her body and her mind like a rotten disease.

She could feel the sticky blood coating her fingers. Ichida's head lying limp beneath her palms, his body going slack. A metal baseball bat in her hands as she slammed it over and over into a face that was unseen. Warm blood soaking her trainers as it pooled out of her mother's limp form.

Shuddering, she shook the thoughts from her head, trying to cast them away.

A door closed heavily, and she heard soft footsteps down the hallway, stopping by the door to the office she sat in. She could feel eyes boring into her through the glass door, and prayed that the person would decide to leave her be. If it was who she thought, she'd rather not talk to the person who had cast her aside, leaving her to stew in the trauma she held from a young age, causing her to become the person she was today.

Her prayers went unanswered as she heard the door open and the person stepped in hesitantly. Michiko stayed where she was refusing to turn around and lay her eyes on the woman. She heard a sigh from behind her and the presence drew closer, coming to her side and sitting herself beside Michiko, the teen gritting her teeth at the audacity. The heavy silence was held between them for an uncomfortably long moment, before Mahiru broke it, "So, Is this where you've been this whole time?"

Furrowing her eyebrows at the question, Michiko's eyed Mahiru with an expression of confusion, "Huh?"

"When you disappeared, is this where you went? Have you been stuck in this place all along?" The older woman kept her eyes fixated on Michiko's face, ignoring the disdain in her eyes.

Michiko turned her eyes away with a scoff. "Would that ease your conscience?" She asked in a sarcastic manner, missing Mahiru's eyes glazing over in disappointment.