deadly games
❝encounters❞
PEOPLE WERE TRULY INTERESTING. The human brain was such a difficult, yet sensitive subject. No one can match anyone's personality entirely, because everyone has their own way of thinking things through. You wished to understand it better, but unfortunately you didn't think you'd ever be able to discover how things really worked.
Taking the Beach as an example.
It was definitely something else. You didn't expect to finally find the people partying like they had no worries, while deadly games were happening all around Tokyo.
"Electricity really works around here?" you asked Ann surprised.
"Yes, it does."
You were supplied with a two days visa and you didn't complain about the small number of days. It was enough for you to have this time off. Besides, the concept of playing more of these games made you curious. As weird as it sounded, you wanted to play all game types.
You were about to meet the famous Hatter that Ann has been telling you about on your way there. It's been almost an hour since you officially stepped into the Beach's territory. Apparently, Hatter made the place and he was somewhat of a 'king' around there. Everyone praised him, including the beautiful darked hair woman you played with, a little earlier that night.
You couldn't help but think once in a while about those teenagers that lost their lives in the game. They had so much ahead of them. Whenever you thought about them you tried to cover it with the same words. The girl brought the death upon herself, it wasn't my fault that she remembered a lesson wrong. And the boy made his own choice.
You stepped into the big room, where you were supposed to meet Hatter.
A woman with long black hair made you a sign to take a sit on a chair. You did that, without taking your eyes off of her. There was something weird about her, she didn't give you a right vibe. Even though she was very good looking, there was something in the combination of her eyes and smile that just didn't sit right with you.
You weren't able to think it any further, because of the man that suddenly came in. He wore a weird outfit, but you weren't in any position of judging his fashion choices. Especially in such circumstances where he was somewhat of a 'superior'.
"Welcome, welcome! Ann has told me quite some positive things about how your first game went. She is very impressed, if you ask me. I was hesitant at first, but Ann is one of my most trusted people here at the Beach. Ann hardly gets impressed, so when she said that you left her feeling that way, I approved of your stay here." he said with a weird enthusiastic tone. "I'm the Hatter you heard about, nice to meet you! We only have two rules here. First, you'll always have to wear a swimsuit, because it's called 'the Beach', after all. Second, have fun! Do whatever you please, just like you did back in the real world. Drugs, sex, alcohol, you can find it all here!" he exclaimed and you didn't know how to react.
"Thanks." you said unsure and sat up from that chair. You were about to leave, when Hatter stopped you.
"Also, if you keep up with the good work in games, there's a high chance of you becoming an executive. Executives are the ones that help me with my decisions and hear them first. I think you'd like it as one. Who wouldn't?" he spoke again and you nodded. "Alright, I won't keep you any longer. You must be tired. Ann will show you to your room and here's your bracelet. You have to wear it, so people will know you're a member of the Beach." all you could do was offer him a grateful smile, with a tint of fakeness. It was all too sudden for you to show too much gratitude. After that, you walked out of the room with Ann by your side.
"I think he likes you." Ann stated and you chuckled.
"You made sure of that."
"Well, I was totally lost back there, and you pretty much saved my life. I have no idea what made you remember that, but I'm thankful. I'm sure Aguni is too." she said and all you could do was nod and give her a genuine smile.
You couldn't save them all, but you'll get over it with time. Not everyone is able to live in such a world. It probably made you seem like a bad person through someone else's perspective, however other's opinions were never exactly relevant to you. At least, strangers' opinions.
Ann stopped in front of a door. Nothing different from the other doors you passed by on your way.
"A swimsuit should be placed on your bed. You should find a few other clothes in the closet. If you need any help, my room is five doors ahead." the woman said while handing you a key.
"Thank you, Ann." you said and she nodded while putting her sunglasses in one of her pockets. After she left, you opened the door. It was bigger than you would've expected.
As you closed the door, you could finally take a proper look. This room wasn't too special, it definitely provided the privacy you needed, but other than that it was like any other. It had enough space for you to not feel trapped between four walls and that was a good enough reason to be content. If living there meant that you'd have to clear a game once at a few days, it seemed like a fair arrangement to you.
You walked towards the bed and found a two piece swimsuit. It had the color of sage green and it wasn't too bad. You could definitely put on a t-shirt over it. You walked to the wardrobe, replaying Ann's words about some more clothes. Luckily, there really was another swimsuit, some black sweatpants and two black large t-shirts. It wasn't much, but it was what you needed.
You changed into the sage green swimsuit you found and right after, you put one of the black t-shirts on. Once you were ready, you had no idea what to do. Going downstairs to the bar was an option, but you didn't feel like partying after you almost died tonight. A good sleep was the perfect answer, after what a day you had.
You jumped on the big bed and put the white blanket over you completely.
Little did you know that while you were asleep, two other people have found their way to the Beach.
♤ ♧ ♡ ♢
After a good sleep, the natural light that came from the windows woke you up late. You didn't think you'd sleep this good on your first night here. The doubts were obviously there and hard to ignore, but you were lucky that you found Ann and Aguni. Things seemed to be way too perfect around this so called Beach, making you wonder how longer will things remain this way, but you might as well enjoy it while it lasts.
Since you arrived here, you didn't have enough time to think about your three friends that were in the original world right now. Did they notice your absence? Were they worried? Chota probably announced you as a missing person, if they did notice.
If they didn't, Arisu was probably getting yelled at by his dad. Karube was probably secretly-but-not-so-secretly fucking his co-worker and Chota was for sure working at his shitty job. You loved those guys and missed them with your entire heart, but you were happy they weren't there. You couldn't have handled seeing them get hurt.
You finally got out of bed and wondered what should you do today. You didn't feel like being a step closer to death, so you'll probably end up drunk at the bar tonight. That sounded pretty good to you, considering that you still didn't drunk away your worries about being in such a place.
You arranged your hair a little, as you passed by the wardrobe's mirror and left the room when you were done.
The lobby was obviously occupied by many people. As your eyes kept scanning the perimeter, they landed on something — better said someone. It caught you off guard. He didn't notice you, since he was talking to a tall woman with her hair braided. His light blonde hair wasn't tied up anymore, it was kept loose and it slightly touched his shoulders. You couldn't make up your mind if he looked better or worse. It looked good both ways, though you'd never admit that to yourself.
A battle was going on inside you. A part of you was telling you to go to him, while the other one told you to forget about him and act like he isn't there. He was an asshole the other day, he left you in the middle of nowhere. Why should you acknowledge him now?
You were about to take your eyes off of him and leave, unfortunately his gaze caught yours, creating an uncomfortable eye contact. Two seconds passed before he waved at you, his gesture left an obvious trail of surprise on your face. The only thing you sent him in return was a glare, deciding to leave the building.
It seems like he found the Beach sooner than you expected. And he did it on his own. So annoying. You knew that one day you'd wake up around him somewhere. Either the Beach or a game. It just happened to be the Beach, not even a full day since your last interaction.
The bar was getting closer to you with each step you took. Some people might think you were angry by seeing the pressure you put into each step. But you were just frustrated. How could you not be?
Right before you were able to take a seat in front of the bartender, a random guy approached you. You sighed, more annoyed, because of the fact that you couldn't have a quiet day. All you wanted was to be alone, drowning in your own thoughts and sorrows, while thinking about the people you probably will never see again.
"You're new, I suppose." the guy had a lot of piercings and you didn't like anything about him for some reason. It was just a hunch that kept telling you to stay away from him. Your instincts were usually never wrong.
"Yeah, and definitely not interested." you said and finally sat in front of the bar. Unfortunately, the guy took a sit next to you. He was the persistent type of guy, great.
"I'm Niragi." he introduced himself, completely ignoring what you said earlier. What it seemed weird to you, was the fact that he looked at you like he knew you. Maybe you just reminded him of someone he knew. That thought put a hold to your overthinking.
"Okay, Niragi, I've had quite a day yesterday and I could really use some peace right now, by drinking something that this bar has to offer me. You can stay here, as long as you don't talk to me." you said and he seemed unphased by the way you talked to him. Soon, it was followed by a frown. Seems like Niragi can't handle a rejection, but to your surprise he listened. Something was telling you that he didn't leave, because you subtly told him to. You had the feeling that you'll be often seeing him around, and you didn't like the idea at all. There was something wrong about him.
You asked the bartender to get you anything strong. And soon, you had a glass full of alcohol in front of you. A smile appeared on your lips, as you took a long sip from the glass.
Niragi's old seat was taken by someone else. Normally, you wouldn't have minded, but since that person definitely tried to get your attention by not taking their eyes off of you, you sighed. Annoyed that you couldn't drink in peace, you looked over there, seeing that it was the same girl Chishiya was talking to earlier. Now that you took a closer look at her, you had no doubt that she was gorgeous. She had a cigarette between her lips, the weird part was that she wasn't smoking it. She was just chewing on it.
"Hey, I'm Kuina!" she introduced herself to you all hyper. She seemed to be nice, but you didn't think friendship was that much of a good idea in a place like this.
"I'm Y/N." you said on a less energetic tone and drank from the glass again.
"Your game went badly?" she tried to guess your reason of drinking.
"No." you continued to say, your attention glued on the almost empty glass. Poor girl probably thought of you as an alcoholic. "I don't really feel like opening up. Sorry." you drank the rest of the liquor all at once, just to get away from the suffocating situation you found yourself in.
You left Kuina alone at the bar and you felt a little bad for doing that, but you had to find a certain blonde. As much as you wanted to ignore him, you couldn't. It wasn't the alcohol effect that made you do such an impulsive act — only a glass couldn't possibly do that. The reason was your pure frustration that you should've unleashed in front of Chishiya, not Kuina. He was the one that planted those negative feelings inside you, after all.
You went back inside the lobby and he was in the same place you last saw him. He was leaning on a wall, trying observe everyone around him. Then, you walked with a little too much confidence towards him and a smirk cracked on his face once he saw you approaching. He knew you were angry about how he treated you, but he also didn't care at all. To him, you were just a stupid girl who tried to prove herself to others.
"I see you survived." Chishiya talked first.
"Why are you here?" you asked him once you were in front of him.
He was now wearing a white hoodie and a swimsuit, instead of an elegant shirt. Understandable, since you couldn't do much work in elegant clothes around there. Plus, there was that rule the Beach had.
"Not even a 'hello'?" the blonde mimicked a hurt expression. "I didn't think you were the uneducated type, wifey."
"Whatever. Approaching you was a terrible idea. Just don't talk to me, okay? I'm sure you will love pretending not to know me." you said and you were about to leave, but he grabbed your wrist, turning you back to face him.
"You surely enjoy to start drama with me, don't you?" he asked and you furrowed your brows, releasing your arm from his grip.
"And you enjoy to piss me off, don't you?" you asked, getting another playful smirk out of him, as a reaction. "For real now, how did you find the Beach?"
"If you want answers from me, you'd have to give me some information in exchange." you gave Chishiya a confused look, that made him continue. "I, somehow, heard the executives talking about you. Seems like you saving the life of two important people around here, gave you some privileges. They definitely like how your mind worked at that game you played last night. I still don't understand how such a thin layer of brain like yours could impress them, but you gaining their trust might be useful to me"
He was different from the last time you saw him. From his looks, to the way he wasn't holding back any of his personality's defects anymore. He wasn't the nicest from the start, although he did try to keep his remarks on the down low. Probably because of your parents, which was a stupid factor.
"Useful how?" you decided to not address the way he just called you stupid once again. It wasn't going to stop him from continuing to do so, that was something you knew for sure.
"You'll find out, eventually." Chishiya ended the conversation with these words and left the lobby, having his hands in his pockets. You couldn't help but feel some sort of dèjá vu as you stared, once again, numbly at his back.
At least, you were right about one thing about him. He was smart enough to survive the game he played and something was telling you his game had a higher difficulty than yours. You were lucky to get paired with executives on your first game, but that's all. If it was Chishiya in your situation, he probably would've been an executive by now.
Chishiya on the other hand, didn't have a solid opinion formed about you. He thought of you as a foolish person, but nothing more. He overheard multiple people at the Beach, talking about how great you handled the game's situation. But once he found out the game difficulty of your game, he wasn't so impressed anymore.
It was harder for him to understand people back in the original world, since everyone was faking it. But in the borderlands it was another story. Humans would show their true colors in a second, if it came to their life. He liked that.
"So, how do you know each other?" Kuina asked the blonde, after she found herself in his presence once again.
"Complicated." he wasn't lying when he gave her this answer. You don't hear everyday that you met someone in here, through an arranged marriage back in the original world.
The two of them met randomly on the street, right after Chishiya left his Six of Diamonds game venue. He didn't talk to her, at first. And he wouldn't have done it, if Kuina didn't kick him after the countless times she got ignored by him.
Even after Kuina was able to get a few words out of him, he didn't try to get to know her. When she realized that he had absolutely no intentions to, Kuina knew that she should stick with him. Chishiya hated how she followed him around like a lost puppy, but the way she kicked him between his legs, made him accept the situation with a totally hurt ego.