"NOW!" You shouted, running to the side while shooting them with every last paintball you had. They shot back, but sadly for them, they had wasted most of their paintballs in your last battle or doing target shooting. You quickly hid behind Chishiya's shield, forcing them to waste quite a few paintballs.
"You lured them here faster than I anticipated. Also, I didn't expect you to bring this many enemies. I expected three at the most," Chishiya sat down, crossing his legs with his hands placed comfortably in his pocket. You curled your hair to the back of your head, before heading back out. You bounced on the iron shield and onto a shipping crate next.
You then caught their attention by doing a side flip down, shooting them who were in all directions with both of your guns. "This is why I always use dual-wield weapons instead of just one!" You exclaimed with pure ecstasy. It was your turn to turn the tables around.
You noticed that Maki and Misaki had run out of paintballs and were retreating. You turned your attention to Yaba and Banda who were shooting while fighting Haruto and Keiji. "Screw it!" Yaba sweared, before heading towards you. "Kayami, I ran out of paintballs. Hurry up and swap one of your guns with me!" He hollered to you, dodging Haruto's shots.
Haruto had shot him in his leg, causing him to nearly fall down. You tossed him one of your guns, him catching it successfully. "Use it wisely, I don't have much paintballs left in that one!" You called back to him. Banda was simply hiding behind a corner and coming out to shoot them once he had aimed at them properly, not wasting a single paintball. Despite some of them being blocked by Keiji's shield, he still managed to earn quite a lot of points.
You were just about to turn around and chase after Maki and Misaki, but you were met with a hard chest. You looked up to see Kousuke with his gun in his hands, his messy bangs swaying with the wind.
You turned back around and tried to jump off the shipping crate, but he grabbed you by your elbows before you could make a move. You tried to squirm out of his tight grasp, but your arms were immobilized and he was far too strong for you.
"Get off of me!" You screamed, catching Chishiya's attention. Knowing that he was already winning, Kousuke decided to play around with you instead of earning more points.
Swinging your body left and right, you tried to loosen his grip on you, anything just to get out of that sticky situation. Fidgeting your body, you found that it was futile to try anything, and you were under his control.
Out of instinct, you bent your leg forward and attempted to kick him from behind.
He quickly let go of you and kicked you onto the shipping crate head-first. You felt dizziness swirl through your head, your vision blurring out. Then, you spat out some blood onto the shipping crate, desperately attempting to crawl away from him. You fought it hard, trying to stand back up, but Kousuke beat you to it and stomped on you.
He bent down and whispered into your ear, "You know, you really got me there with your plan. But, the one who will survive is me." He grabbed your pink hair, stretching it, before banging it onto the metal shipping crate.
"Akira...Shuntaro..." you yelped, before blacking out into a deep nap, tasting the metallic, yet salty taste of blood.
"Help....me!"
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(you blacked out remember? I really wanted to write about you waking up to a game clear, but that would take you out of the edge of your seat.)
CHISHIYA'S POV:
I looked up from my hiding spot to see that Kousuke had knocked Yuki out cold. I needed to get her out of here, and fast. He grabbed her by her leg, and tossed her down toward the hard concrete ground.
Suddenly, my body acted by itself, and I found myself sprinting towards Yuki. I caught her in my arms bridal style. I glanced at the blood flowing out of her mouth and the stains of color on her body. I quickly ditched the shield there as it was dead weight and ran off with Yuki in my arms. We could not afford to lose any more points.
I looked to the side and saw that Banda and Yaba had both ran out of paintballs. The only gun left that had a few paintballs was Yuki's gun, but it was all the way on top of the shipping crate. At this moment, we had 27 000 and the Jack's team had 27400. We were really screwed unless we somehow managed to take Yuki's gun and get about two headshots.
I sat down, still holding Yuki dearly in my arms tightly, trying my best to shake her awake. I did not want to admit it, but she was our only hope of getting that gun back and earning us some points.
"Yuki, you've got to wake up! You're our last beam of hope in winning this game. Yuki!" I tried repeatedly to get her to wake up. Her pulse was slightly higher than before, but I needed to get her up. Only she had the physical ability to get us the most amount of points.
No matter how much I tried to awake her from her unconsciousness, all my efforts were all to no avail. Was our lives really going to end like that?
I took in a deep breath, and accepted defeat as it was, leaning against the cargo container.
Death was not something to fear, but it was something we should not deny. Instead, we should acknowledge it and simply avoid it.
All the time in these games, I have only won by manipulating people and using them to my own benefit, including Yuki and her younger brother. Never have I won a game with my own effort.
Oh well, this borderland has changed my outlook on life greatly.
I guess...this is the end.
"So this is how it feels like to lose. We only have 20 seconds left on the clock, and there's nothing we can do. You have any last words to say?" Banda queried me, slumping his shoulder in defeat, signifying that he did not have a single strategy to win. Soon, I felt a slight tug on my hoodie. I looked down and found out that Yuki was awake.
Yaba came around soon enough and sat down next to Yuki, before he threw his gun across the ground. "We're about to die, and you're still being lovey-dovey with that girlfriend of yours? She looks pretty beaten up. But, Yuki, I have to thank you for saving me in the Jack of Spades. I owe it to you, and I don't blame you for my death."
"Neither do I," Banda added,
She coughed up some blood, staining my hoodie, but it was the least of my worries. She was weak, and her face was extremely pale. Tugging onto my hoodie tightly, she laid her head down on my hand that held it up.
She had heard Banda's question, and answered it with a shaky breath.
"I...have no regrets coming to the borderlands. It...made me appreciate my worthless life. If I had just one regret, though...it would be that I didn't get to give Akira a good life..." she solemnly mumbled, tears welling up in her eyes. She grabbed onto my hoodie tightly, holding my chest close to her face.
"I'm sorry...all of you..." she began crying like any other girl, showing her inner insecure self that was just a small girl who was trying to put up a strong front in front of others, and protect them. Her sniffing, her whines, her usual smile fading, every part of it made me want to join her as well.
"Don't...leave. I still want to...live," she choked out more blood onto the concrete ground, not being able to speak. "I—" I placed my palm over her mouth, preventing her injury from getting worse.
"It's okay. This isn't your fault. In fact, it's mine. For not protecting you. You don't have to say anything anymore," I assured her. For the first time I had seen, the sparkle in her eye seemed to have disappeared, and she looked lifeless at that moment.
Her tears kept pouring out of her eyes, and those blue eyes as clear as the ocean could tell any passer-by her feelings.
This time, there was nothing in her eyes. No beam of ecstasy, no will of fire, no wave of sorrow.
I somewhat wished that I could have met Yuki in the real life and been with her for a longer amount of time. As the saying goes, nothing ever lasts forever. But, I am lucky for entering the borderlands, or else I would not have met that amazing girl, or the only girl I considered to be beautiful.
"Oh well, we lost. I hope we can meet each other in the next life, if there is one." I stated, looking up to the sky, to see...Yuki's younger brother?
Akira slanted his body to the side, making me wonder what the hell he was doing. We were already losing, so why try so hard? He was severely injured, and we only had 3 seconds left.
Akira, apparently, slanted his body a lot, charging at Kousuke. He had blood dripping out of his mouth and his nose, but his determination was not failing. Kousuke tried to shoot him, but he jumped away, using a circular board to shield him. The point system changed at the last second, and our team was leading by 100 points in the end.
"Don't tell me..." I mumbled.
"That what he was holding was the last target?" Yuki finished my sentence for me. Her jaw dropped onto the ground in absolute shock. Neither had I expected Akira to be so strong as to save all of our lives, Yuki. You have raised a brave young man.
"The challenger's team has cleared the game. Congratulations." The female robotic voice announced, leaving everybody in the arena speechless.
"You owe me every fucking thank you in the world." Akira called out to us. I had to admit that at that moment, that youthful boy had earned my full respect. I expected him to just lie down around lazily and give up on life, but just like Yuki, his flare of determination does not easily waver.
"He went out to pry the last target out of the shipping crate, knowing that if Kousuke shot it, they would lose 500 points and put us in the lead. He saved all of our lives," I explained. "And, while he was charging at Kousuke, he slanted his body to hide the shield so he would not figure out his plan."
(I got inspired by the 2nd episode of Demon slayer for this scene when Tanjiro slanted his body to hide his axe while fighting with Giyuu.)
Banda grinned from ear to ear. Yaba stood up from his position. He said, "Thanks, kid. You're tougher than I thought."
Yuki was tearing up, unable to speak words with her mouth. It still hung agape after so long. Kousuke stood up on top of a few shipping crates. He shouted out to us, "Oi. This is the first time we're trying out our own game and it's the last? I've got to admit that you guys make a good team despite your differences. Survive these borderlands for me, so my death won't be in vain, okay?" He looked up at the sky towards the red laser that shot through his head, before lying down on the shipping crate. "Fucking kid killed me..." he muttered his last words.
The vests around our upper body detached and fell onto the ground. Yuki tried to stand up, but she tilted her body against the wall, clutching onto her head in pain. I must say, she got pretty beaten up by Kousuke. I lifted her up bridal style and continued to carry her despite her complaints that she could walk on her own, leading her toward the exit of the game.
On a round table was the Jack of Clubs card. Sadly, we did not get any information from any of the games we had played. Even when I had asked Yuki, she said that the Jack of Spades did not give her any information about the borderlands. They had all said the exact same thing, "You'll find out soon enough." What if they themselves did not have any more information about the borderlands than us?
Akira walked next to the both of us. He saw how I was touching her and frowned. "I can carry my own sister. Get away from her."
"Your sister has been injured on her head pretty badly. Besides, she's been saving my life too many times. I guess it's time I returned the favor."
Yuki let out a smile, before she snuggled into my chest and fell asleep, possibly having fainted from the injury.
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(Second person POV)
Soon enough, the three of you ended up in an inn, which had a hot spring. You slowly walked around it, and ended up at a hot spring. "This is just nice!" You exclaimed, placing your hand into the water to feel its temperature and current state.
Chishiya walked over, checking the hot spring out. Akira went over, questioning, "But...how are we going to shower if there's only one hot spring here? Yuki's a girl and we're guys."
You placed your finger on your chin. Chishiya spoke up, "We could all take turns showering. That way, we won't be able to see what we don't want to see."
You thought of a slightly better idea. "Why don't we all share it? I can't wait any longer, and I'm not going in with my clothes on. We'll just... split it into two halves and face away from each other!"
The three of you agreed on your plan. You all went into another room to grab towels for the each of you. You wanted to go in first, so you warned the two other men, "Akira! Shuntaro! I'm removing my clothes, so don't look until I go in and say that you can!" They both acknowledged you and turned around, also removing their clothes and going in.
"Are we all done?" You asked, already sitting inside the hot spring facing away from them. "Yes." Chishiya replied. You turned around and faced the both of them, hugging your knees with a slight sense of embarrassment. "Why're you so tense? Never showered with the opposite gender I see." Chishiya said calmly.
"I know you're a doctor and you've seen LOTS of things, but stop being this frank!" You complained, a pink hue rising to your cheeks.
Soon enough, you relaxed, playing your knees away from your chest. You dipped your hair into the water, and began cleansing your hair from all the paint that was stained on it from the previous game. Your hair got all wet, drooping around your face. You went to scrub your arms and legs, removing every single last bit of paint on your body.
You lifted your head from the water, and found both Akira and Chishiya staring at you. "What? Don't worry, I closed my eyes when I went into the water. Why were YOU staring?" You felt mortified, splashing water at Akira playfully.
"H-hey! Chishiya was also looking! Why're you only splashing water at me?!" Akira shouted, getting his hair wet too. Chishiya chuckled, washing himself too. That was one of the only peaceful nights in the borderlands you had in a very long time. The two of you were splashing water at each other mercilessly, Chishiya's (crusty) dry hair also getting soaked.
Soon, you stopped attacking each other with water upon getting exhausted. The three of you had finished washing your dirty, smelly bodies and were just relaxing in the warm water without another care in life. You eyes were soon met with Chishiya's eyes, and the two of you stared at each other for a while. A smile crept up onto your face.
"I desperately want to kiss him right now. Even if his hair is all wet, he still looks so hot," you thought to yourself. Your cheeks were burning with his warm stare that for once, was not a cold, heartless one. You liked spending your time in the borderlands with him a lot, even though he was not really a team player. He genuinely cared about you, and your trust for each other increased over time.
Eventually, you found yourself falling for him deeply. You could not control that feeling, but you somehow liked it. You recalled all the times where you would sit at the beach's rooftop with him just chatting and admiring the stars. All the times during games when he would look out for you and save your life so many times.
Your breathing grew heavy, and you realized just how much he had you at his fingertips. The two of you uncontrollably inched closer to each other slowly, until...
"Ahem ahem. Please do not start having sex in here in front of me." Akira interrupted your moment, crossing his arms.
The two of you looked at him awkwardly, blushing furiously.
"Alright, I'm leaving, so turn around please..." you stuttered. Once you made sure that they were not peeping, you quickly got out of the hot spring and wrapped the towel around your body. You dried your hands and picked your clothes up, heading towards your own room.
In the cupboard, you had found a nice short-sleeved ruffle mini pink dress with a black ribbon tied around its waist level on a hanger, along with a few other pieces of clothing. "Looks like someone's been staying here before the borderlands." You talked to yourself, putting some underwear you had found on. It was just about your size, the skirt being at your knee level. Although the sleeves were loose, they were doable.
You headed back down, towards the hot spring. You then began to wash your original clothes. "This pink dress really matches your hair color." Chishiya commented from behind you. You turned around, seeing that he was wearing his original clothes, and had soaked his hoodie in the water. "Aren't you going to wash your pants? They have some paint on it too."
"No. They're black, so it doesn't make it that visible, and the pants here aren't my size." He responded plainly. You smiled, and patted the seat next to you to offer him to sit down with you.
He took out a yellow packet of biscuits out of absolutely nowhere and began eating them. He took out a round, palm-sized biscuit and offered it to you. You took it and popped it into your mouth, before exclaiming, "This biscuit is tasty!"
"I know. I just had to take some free food from the Jack of Hearts game."
"Say, who was the Jack of Hearts and the King of Diamonds?" You asked, curious if that information might be useful to solving the mystery of the borderlands.
"The Jack of hearts was just an emo guy. The interesting thing is that the King of Diamonds was Kuzuryū." He answered. Your mouth hung agape with this information that you had just received.
"Really? I've ever expected him to be one of them?! Who knows, maybe another one of the Beach's executives or members could be a games master!" You exclaimed, swallowing the crunchy biscuit that was absolutely delicious.
Soon, you found Chishiya's hand touching yours. Looking right down at it, your eyes widened and you felt yourself turning into a tomato. He looked straight into your eyes with confidence, ready to take a move.
His hands crept closer, before it was crawling up your arm. "W-What are you doing?" You stuttered, a million thoughts running through your mind as he gripped onto your arm, pulling you so close that you were facing him. He moved himself so close to you, that you could feel each other's heartbeats racing.
Your eyes held contact with each other, not wanting to let go of the other's gaze. Soon, you found yourself not being able to move a muscle.
At that moment, you looked out into the sky outside your wooden window. "The moon's beautiful, isn't it?" You teased him, chuckling and trying to hide your nervousness with love.
"So do you. Well, now I can die happy," he flirted with you. Then, he could not resist himself, and he let himself onto you. He lifted your chin to meet his, and his soft lips crashed onto yours with desperation, as if he had been waiting to do so his entire life in the borderlands.
Flabbergasted, you relished in the moment, until you could not breathe anymore. Although you tried to pull back, he placed his hand behind your head, restricting you from letting go even if you were out of breath.
You gripped onto his veiny neck, letting your intrusive thoughts run wild. Your face was nearly red hot from holding your breath for so long, and he finally let go of you.
You gasping for air, he smirked at the sight of you out of breath, before hugging your waist and stroking your hair with his other hand. "Hmph, it seems like I have way more stamina and endurance than you," he teased you jokingly.
"Wanna test it out?" You replied, before letting your body onto his. (Ah yeah...if you get it...😏)
"I hope A-Akira duh-doesn't hear us-s," you said in between kisses planted on your neck by Chishiya. From partners in crime, to friends, to the closest allies, to boyfriend-girlfriend relationships, the both of you came from a simple encounter to a perpetual relationship.
(Okay! After this, we're going to go pay a visit to the King of Hearts! We've been going on the easy road so far by playing all the Jack games, so why not play the most difficult mind game?)