deadly games
❝the L shaped building❞
"I STILL DON'T UNDERSTAND HOW YOU MADE THAT." you told Chishiya, who was testing his taser once again.
"Not everyone can." he replied focusing on the device.
Your day started with Kuina as usual. You two were chatting in her room, when Chishiya suddenly came in. He seemed to be in a good mood today. You hoped that the conversation from last night would make a progress between the two of you.
The reason why Chishiya came into Kuina's room was that the lightning was better. At least that's what he said. He needed natural light for his last adjustments at his taser.
You had no idea how he even thought about making that thing, but you let him be.
"We're not 'everyone', we're your friends." Kuina said and you already knew that Chishiya will make some sort of dumb excuse only to contradict her.
"I wouldn't exactly use that term, but you're tolerable. Both of you." he said his attention still being on his taser. "I'm going to bring this thing for tonight's game."
"Why do you want to play when you have so many days left?" Kuina voiced your exact thoughts.
All three of you decided to play tonight. It was risky, since you could easily be sorted in the same group as them. You were starting to feel sick only at the thought of playing together in the same game.
There was no chance that Chishiya or Kuina would change their minds about playing, though. Kuina's visa will expire tomorrow and Chishiya already made up his mind on the subject.
"Out of boredom, I guess." he answered.
"You won't be so bored if you find yourself in a Hearts game." your words made him give you a short blank look. "What if we're being sorted in the same group?" you finally asked the question that's been bothering you the entire day.
"Don't think like that!" Kuina scolded you.
"There's nothing we can do. If that happens, we'll try to survive. No matter what it takes." Chishiya simply said, like it was nothing.
Deep down, Chishiya was a little afraid. He couldn't even acknowledge the little emotion that kept bothering him. Your company and Kuina's became enjoyable to him. He wouldn't exactly call the two of you his friends, only because he didn't know the true meaning of that. The blonde was also bad at apologizing, that's why he brought you that book last night. You appreciated the little gift, even if you already knew what the book was about. It wouldn't be the first time re-reading Jane Eyre, anyway.
"I guess you're right." you fed his ego again by agreeing with him.
"So, have you started reading the book yet?" Chishiya asked unexpectedly.
"What book?" Kuina jumped into the conversation.
You totally forgot to tell Kuina about the other day's conversation with Chishiya. It's almost like she lives for every single interaction between you and him. You didn't hate her excitement towards the two of you, but it got a little annoying from time to time.
"He gave me a book yesterday." you chose to tell her.
"Him? Chishiya? When did it even happen? You were at each other's throats yesterday. I admit, I found it weird how there wasn't any tension since he came in here earlier, but I didn't put too much thought into it. Now tell me everything." Kuina said in a fast manner, ignoring the fact that Chishiya was right there. He was amused at the fact that she had no idea about his conversation with you.
"We talked the other day. In a civil way." you tried to make the story shorter.
"Just like that?" Kuina almost couldn't believe it.
"It started getting civil after you accepted the book. Not to mention how you almost hit my face with the door." Chishiya finally joined the subject.
"I had every right to. You know that you acted like an asshole, so don't try to make yourself the victim here."
"Whatever."
♤ ♧ ♡ ♢
The little piece of paper that had the number '9' written on it kept giving you anxiety. Every time you found yourself on the verge of entering a new game, you wanted to run away as fast as you could. But that wasn't a possibility, since a laser could fry your brains anytime for disobeying the rules of this cruel place.
You left Kuina's room two hours ago to get ready for the game. Your eyes were going around the lobby, looking for the familiar face of Kuina. Or Chishiya. You were curious if they had the same number on their pieces of paper. The only thing you could do in this situation was to hope that they didn't.
Before you were able to find the two of them, someone else found you first. You were starting to feel sick at the sight of Niragi, who was approaching you.
"Hey, princess. What's your group?" he was getting a little too close to you, starting to make you feel uncomfortable.
"Hopefully not the same as yours."
"You don't want to see me die? That's cute." he put his arm around your waist and you easily started feeling the disgust.
"No, I don't want to see your face for a whole game." you said and he looked offended, but it wasn't enough to make him go away.
"Playing hard to get, I see."
"Listen, I'm flattered that you took a liking on me, but it slowly starts to look like an obsession rather than a simple crush." you said and he let out a laugh.
The sound of his voice lost your interest, once you spotted the two people you were looking for. They also noticed you next to the pierced guy. They easily took the hint by the look on your face that was telling them to hurry up and get rid of the dark haired guy.
You thanked God, while they were getting closer.
"Hands off." Chishiya told Niragi, when him and Kuina arrived in front of you.
"Or what?" his arm left your waist and his attention was fully on the blonde, trying to look threatening.
"Or you might look even more stupid, than you already do." by the look on the blonde's face, you could understand that he was thinking about all the possible ways that could make Niragi regret going near you. You couldn't understand Chishiya's sudden change of heart when it came to you. Niragi, however, looked bothered by Chishiya's words.
Niragi was about to continue the conversation, but he changed his mind as he looked at some militants making him a sign to go over there.
"I'll see you later, princess." he winked at you before leaving towards the militants.
Kuina was never getting involved when it came to the militants and that was smart. This fact didn't mean that she wasn't mad whenever Niragi was talking to you. Everyone could sense that his intentions weren't good. The girl swore to herself that if he will ever do something to you, she'll forget about her rule of staying away.
"Did he do something to you?" Kuina asked with concern while hugging you.
"No. Thanks for that." your eyes went on Chishiya and he only gave you a short nod. That simple gesture made the corners of your mouth slowly go up.
"Let's talk about this later. Now, which group did you get?" Kuina was trying to see the number on your paper.
"Nine." that one word was able to make Chishiya's eyes lock with yours. His reaction was telling you that the exact thing you hoped it wouldn't happen, just happened.
"Oh..." Kuina said, her eyes going from you to Chishiya. "I'm in the fourth group." she tried to lighten the mood.
"Then, you better get going. I think they already left." Chishiya told her. Kuina's eyes got bigger, believing that what he said could be true. She probably met the ones who were part of her group, since she was scanning every corner of the lobby to see if they were still around. When she didn't see anyone, her hand went up for a little wave, leaving you alone with Chishiya.
"You know, there are very low chances of it being Hearts." you tried to make the situation feel better.
Chishiya didn't look bothered at all by the fact that he just got sorted into the same game as you. However, that's just how it looked on the outside. On the inside, a battle was happening. Would he let you die if it were the case?
"Whatever, just make sure you don't die. Let's go."
You followed him through the crowd of people. Soon, you were out of the building and you felt like you could normally breathe again. The Beach was suffocating, especially at night when the games were beginning. There was that constant feeling of someone watching your every move, making you feel nauseous. The chances of it happening were extremely high as well. At the Beach only a few people had someone they really trusted and you weren't a part of those people.
You kept following Chishiya, until you could properly see two men next to a car. You recognized Aguni and you found it funny how it was the second time being in a game with him. You were also able to recognize another guy as one of the militants. Aguni looked a little suprised at the sight of you, but his expression shortly changed.
"Get in." Aguni said and that's what everyone did.
You were sitting in the back, next to Chishiya, who had his hood on. You liked his white hoodie, it looked good on him and you knew he liked it too. He was wearing sweatpants now, instead of a swimsuit. You were also wearing the pair of black sweatpants you wore in your Hearts game. It was way better than having to be formally dressed everyday.
Your mind ran to the thought of this game. You really hoped it won't be Hearts or something that could easily be the death of you. As much as you hated it, there was absolutely nothing you could do about it.
The car stopped in front of an apartament building. It had the shape of 'L', which made it look interesting. Aguni stayed in the car, while the three of you were getting out.
"Aren't you coming?" you asked Aguni.
"I'll be there before it starts." he said and you nodded.
That only left you with Chishiya and the other militant. You didn't bother thinking about Aguni's reasons. You had deeper thoughts than that, those included how this game might go. As you walked towards the registration point, you could easily see that there were already a lot of people gathered. You counted them as being seven. This was the first time you played with so many people.
Your attention went on some girls wearing heels and expensive clothes, meaning that they were most definitely beginners.
After you entered the area, you walked side by side with Chishiya to get a phone. When the face recognition was over, the robotic voice said how many people were now registered.
Chishiya got out of his pocket the little device he was working on today, followed by a cable. He noticed a charging socket and he plugged in the cable, in order to probably charge his taser. When he was done, he leaned on the wall, getting out of his pocket another cable. That one looked like earphones and your eyes were fixated on them, while leaning on the wall next to Chishiya.
"You truly amaze me sometimes." you whispered, so he could be the only one hearing you.
"I'll take it as a good thing."
"How did you even find those?" you asked him.
"I walked into a record store the day we got here. Right after I left you." he explained and all you could do was slowly nod.
Neither of you said anything else. Your eyes started to go around the people you were about to be stuck in a game with.
Besides those two girls, there were two men dressed nicely. You hated suits, you thought men looked ridiculous wearing them.
There was also a woman, wearing glasses. She looked pretty normal to you, but she still didn't seem to have too many chances of survival. You noticed a man wearing a stupid hat, he looked like he played before, but his wins were probably based on luck. However, they got to his head.
The last one was a guy wearing a blue cap. He looked lost and there was something in his eyes, that made you feel bad for him. It was probably the first time you were feeling bad for a beginner.
"I know what you're thinking. Don't." Chishiya told you and surprisingly, you listened to him. He was right, if you wanted to survive, you didn't have time to explain what this was to every single person. They were going to find out on their own, just like you and Chishiya did.
Another person just walked in there to get a phone, but you didn't bother to continue analizing someone else. You just wanted to get this thing done. You felt a little nervous, when you heard how soon the registration will close. You started to scratch your right palm with your nails and to tremble. You had no idea if the trembling was because of the game or because it was cold outside. You were only wearing the sweatpants and the top from your white swimsuit, but you didn't think the trembling was because of that.
The truth was that you weren't scared of playing this game. You were afraid of the possible death of the person next to you. It was annoying how you suddenly started to care about his life, but all you could do was try to accept it. He also had a very high surviving rate, which should normally make you stop worrying.
You felt his hand slowly grabbing yours, to stop you from scratching the palm. This gesture was out of his comfort zone, but he noticed your worry and wanted it to stop. This simple action he took, was enough to make your heart skip a beat.
More steps were getting closer, but all you could think about was the fact that Chishiya was holding your hand. You expected his hands to be cold, like he usually was around others, but unexpectedly, they were warm.
Some people around you were talking. You didn't pay any attention to them. They stopped, when the robotic voice said how the registration closed and there were now fourteen participants. The number of people increased since you got there.
"Excuse me, just what is this? I ended up here. I have no idea what's going on." you assumed it was the guy with blue cap talking, but you still didn't look up to watch the scene.
Only when you heard the two familiar voices, realization came across you. Your head moved up quickly, and you didn't even know you could move it that fast. You blinked a few times, making sure you were seeing right.
When you finally understood that they were really there, the sight of your two friends, made you breathe heavily. You didn't know what to feel about them being there. You were angry that they got stuck in such a place, sad that you were in the same game as them and happy that you finally saw them again.
"Karube? Arisu?" you asked with big eyes, still not being able to fully process their presence.