Bathed in cold sweat and with a racing heartbeat, I wake up from my dream and flip back the covers. I need a moment to collect myself and run restless hands through my hair. Damn, we're already living in some kind of nightmare in which we participate in games designed to kill us. Why was I under the assumption that we would at least be allowed a peaceful night's sleep?
Although I left the window ajar during the night, an unpleasant film of sweat has formed all over my body and I close my eyes in order to be able to process my dream somewhat calmly. But every second that I remain sitting in the bed with my knees drawn up, I become more and more restless and nervous.
Confused, I look at the alarm clock on my nightstand and realize that noon has not yet arrived. Sighing, I get out of bed to get my hormones going and shake off the thoughts.
I freshen up briefly in the bathroom, brush my teeth thoroughly and comb my hair. For a minute I toy with the idea of jumping in the shower, but quickly decide against it and decide to leave the hotel room.
After a short detour to the breakfast room, I head for the pool area, which seems to be empty at this time of day. In passing, I take one of the folded blankets from the self-built, makeshift lounge of the military squad and make myself comfortable on one of the clean loungers.
Lost in thought, I sip my glass and stare at a random point in my surroundings. It's not that I feel bad or sad about my dream. It's more like a muted feeling is taking up residence in my chest like a tumor, spreading millimeter by millimeter. I haven't consciously noticed this feeling in the games for a long time, strange.
Something moves in my peripheral vision and I react automatically by watching the woman coming towards me. She stops in front of me with her arms crossed and looks down at me with her usual normal expression.
"Drinking so early in the morning, what happened?", Ann asks me and I smirk slightly.
"It's herbal tea," I say truthfully, "The kitchen staff this morning probably wanted to get back to bed early because all the cups had a coffee rim, so I grabbed an unused glass"
"Still, you were lost in thought. I wanted to go to the sauna, are you coming?"
"The hotel has a sauna?", I ask amused, looking at her incredulously, "It's not really my thing"
"The sauna is gender segregated and no one is ever there at this hour. Eventually everyone gets out of here slowly over the next twenty minutes" she explains and I relent.
"Suddenly sounds tempting, I'll join you".
I quickly finish my glass of cold herbal tea and then follow her inside the hotel. Together we walk down the stairs into the spa area and I have to admit, I've never been down here before. Behind the main passageway area is a small whirlpool and I discover the changing rooms behind it. Ann takes two towels from a pile of obviously clean ones and presses one into my hand. Without another word she disappears into one of the cabins and I do the same.
I quickly get rid of my clothes and carefully fold them before my gaze lingers on the small, dusty mirror. Instinctively, I run my hand over the blue-swollen area and try not to flinch under the light pressure. A misshapen, blue-purple spot has formed just above the shark bite wound, which has been stitched shut several times, and looks as if the healing process is slowly beginning. Rolling my eyes, I tie the towel around my body and step outside.
I sit down in the small, wooden room in one of the corners and breathe in the fresh steam. There's something relaxing about it, and for a moment I close my eyes.
"So, why are you up so early today?"
"Nightmare," I reply only briefly bounding to enjoy the quiet and the pleasant warmth, but I can feel her scrutinizing gaze even with my eyes closed, so I concede defeat. "Well I was in my normal life and was faced with the choice of coming to Borderland voluntarily. My dream self thought because I knew the rules and wanted to see everyone again that I could say yes without a care. But when I got back here, things changed."
"In what way? Were the people you wanted to see no longer there?" she asks and I open my eyes to see her interested expression.
"The rules of the games have changed"
"From the games?" she furrows her eyebrows and I nod in confirmation, "In your how many games did you die in a dream?"
"In the first one," I admit, lowering my gaze. Normally, in my experience, the games are designed so that at least one dies but also at least one survives. But the game I was in in the dream had no rules that were transparent to me. I was helpless and somehow it makes me afraid of the next game.
"I've been here a long time," Ann snaps me out of my mental flashback, "The rules of the game don't change that quickly. And you're smart. Not as smart as me, but it should be easy enough"
With a puzzled look I look to her and recognize her proud grin. It may seem a little stuck up to some, but all I can do is start giggling. She may be a few years older than me, but I don't think she's lost a spark of her sense of humor and it's just too classy. The nature of her pride and intent to cheer me up I think really worked.
"The Hatter has issued new regulations," she introduces the new topic, "You can no longer count on playing only after your last days off the visa have expired. He knows you're good and wants to collect more and more cards. You will have to play more often than usual. Not to mention that the lives of ordinary beach members have no value."
"Did you know that some people think I'm like a familiar person to him," I say Arisu's comment out loud, grinning.
"I don't care what the small minds think. But I've picked up on that too. The Hatter likes you and sees your potential, but he hasn't been seeing you as a-"
"A card-carrying player," I complete her sentence. "How was your game with Arisu," I deflect from the topic slightly, feeling inwardly relieved to talk to someone about my dream.
"Like you said yesterday, he's not completely on the ball," she replies and I just snort with a smile.
"I said he I smart," I correct her.
"Didn't I just say that," she replies closing her eyes and leaning her head back on the flowing wall. I do the same, but my curiosity creeps up on me again. She seems to notice my glance in a brief moment as she opens her eyes again, "Three switches A B C, one light bulb and only one way to open the door to it when you flip a switch. What's the solution?"
Excitedly, I think about it a bit and inwardly I also know that the answer is on the tip of my tongue. But the images of my dream-game failure burn themselves into my head and in a certain way they seem to block me.
Out of sorts, I just imperceptibly shake my head and the muffled feeling in my chest seems to make itself known again. Strange. Ann seems to have taken notice, and while I overhear this incidentally, the word light bulb repeats itself in my mind.
"Energy generates heat," Ann helps me out and I conclude how the riddle is solved. "You're being affected by your dream. It's okay, just don't let it happen when you're in a game."
Nodding my thanks just slightly I feel uncomfortable. Ann is a good conversationalist and I get along with her, but showing such weakness in front of one of the leadership members is unusual. Well, the last game was like that too, I mean I instinctively held a gun on a man in the waiting room. All these close successive coincidences, possibly I have an inkling of what is coming soon. Maybe it's some kind of forewarning.
"I'll try," is all I can bring myself to say and look back to the woman across from me. I have just been unable to solve the not very challenging riddle that made up Ann and Arisu's last game. Another bad omen. Never must I be so thoughtless in a game, for it means my death.
I close my eyes and lean my head against the wooden wall behind me to relax and sort out my thoughts. I breathe in the warm, pleasantly charcoal-scented fumes and can feel a film of sweat slowly forming over my skin. I don't move a muscle and just try to shut down my cognitive system, think about nothing and just switch off.
After a restful while, the pleasant silence gives way to a steadily increasing noise level and relaxed, I open my eyes only to realize that Ann also sees our time coming to an end. We don't need words of communication to understand each other and both wrap the towels around our bodies to leave the wood-lined warming room to escape the impending hustle and bustle.
I change comfortably in my locker room before stepping out and looking around for Ann by the wall-mounted hair dryers. I can't spot her anywhere, but I can guess she had changed earlier than me. Still with the pleasant warmth of the sauna on my skin, I step out of the wellness area and head for the entrance hall, where I see people sleeping it off on the comfortable cushions in the entrance hall as well as the motivated people who force themselves to stay awake in order to be able to take a nap in a few hours. I fix the door of the restaurant and in the same second something unexpectedly hits me in the face. Inevitably I flinch and try to suppress a surprised scream. Reflexively, I stretch out my arms and grab the object before looking down at the fabric in confusion and recognizing a brown coat. Questioningly, I look up and finally spot Ann, who is standing in front of me with her arms crossed. At first glance, I see that she has put on a leather jacket over her previous clothes and is wearing black studded boots instead of flip-flops.
"Are you going to stand there forever?" she asks in a motherly voice, looking at me waiting under her sunglasses lenses. Confused, I start to speak, but close my mouth again and scratch the back of my head.
"I just got up and soft-boiled, so would you mind giving me a little boost?", I grin awkwardly and look to the side at Kuina and Izumi, who are walking towards us.
"We're going to get Izumi her dress," says Kuina who also seems still sleepy and walks past us with her straw in her mouth. Izumi, in contrast, seems wide awake and pushes me after Kuina.
"That's right, so move," she laughs, and grinning, I give in. As we walk through the front gate, a cold wind immediately blows against me and I put on the coat Ann threw at me. A little too big, but it gives me a chance to snuggle into it.
"Didn't the milliner mention anything yesterday?" asks Ann who is catching up to us. After all, she could have just mentioned it earlier.
"Between the fifth and thirteenth drink, I guess he must have forgotten to mention it," I just shrug, but when I hear a laugh behind me I wince a little.
"But unlike our newcomer, I don't need to sleep until noon to sober up," chimes the hatter's voice, who pats me on the shoulder the next moment. In my early days, I might have been afraid that a bullet would be waiting for me after this embarrassing moment, but I can only return his weak laugh and follow them across the parking lot to two waiting cars. Unnoticed, I roll my eyes and stop a little distance away from Ann when I spot the waiting men.
"What, a class trip to Disneyland?", I raise my eyebrows and look up at the forensic scientist next to me, who doesn't have too enthusiastic an expression on her face. She doesn't really seem to have found the relaxation she was aiming for in the sauna earlier.
"Hardly. The Hatter wanted to stock up on some weapons and medicines. Niragi is his escort chosen by Aguni, Katsu is gathering derweilige ingredients for the kitchen, and since I'm coming with you, I want Chishiya to help with the medicines," she explains, heading for the front cart. My gaze darts to Chishiya, who has lowered his head to hide the muted grin on his face.
"Disneyland it may not be," Niragi begins, sauntering toward me with a bored expression on his face. He stops beside me, looks down at me slightly, and raises his hand to my eye level before opening it and I see a key dangling. "But you might like this one too"
"You're really going to let me drive?", I grin like a honey pie horse and a small smile flits across his lips as well. I snatch the keys out of his hand and look past him to the others. "Who's going?"
It doesn't take a special connoisseur of human nature to realize that no one seems to be really excited about this idea. No wonder, the only time I sat behind the wheel here in Borderland, I slammed on the brakes and chased my passenger out the windshield. And everyone here knows the story. I wasn't exactly expecting pure enthusiasm, but this is mildly disappointing.
"Sissies," Niragi growls in amusement, playfully licking his lips as he heads for the passenger door and demonstratively sits in the car. He can't help it, yet I nod in satisfaction and while everyone else heads for the first car, I get behind the wheel of the second.
I follow the first car for a while, but slowly I get bored and drum impatiently on the steering wheel. And the silence doesn't make it better, also no new instructions come over the radio in Niragi's hand. I thought if I'm allowed to be behind the wheel, I don't have to obey speed limits or road signs. A thought occurs to me and I glance unobtrusively at my co-driver, who is keeping a closer eye on our surroundings than necessary. Carefully, I take my foot slowly off the gas and place my hands calmly around the black steering wheel so as not to raise any unnecessary suspicion.
"Where are we going, anyway?", I ask with an angel smile, trying not to bat my eyelashes too hard because of anticipation.
"Midtown, Akasaka, and Roppongi malls," he answers calmly, and as his gaze moves to me, his eyebrows draw together slightly and my smile turns into a mischievous grin. "What are you up to?"
"Get there faster and get something to eat?", I reply honestly and just shrug my shoulders. He stares at me motionless for a moment before looking back at the road, bored. He would also prefer not to chug along behind the first car all the time, especially since I'm still barely noticeably throttling the pace to provoke him a little. But his job is to watch out for the hatter and accompany us for protection.
"Fine by me, something to eat couldn't hurt," says the man next to me and slightly surprised I look to him. Being friendly twice a day and before it's even noon?
"Did you just ... Agreed?"
"Oh believe me, the way you're reacting I wish I could take it back right now," he rolls his eyes and snorts out in annoyance.
"No, you said it! No take-backs," I laugh and step on the gas. Niragi picks up the radio to let the others know.
"We'll go ahead and make sure there are no unpleasant surprises waiting for us".
Satisfied, I nod and turn up the radio music before overtaking the others and turning at the next intersection to take a shortcut. The first car may be on the most pleasant route to get around Tokyo without much traffic, but we are in Borderland. A lot of traffic is not common here, so I may as well speed through the interior. My passenger seems to like it at least as much, because he laughs out loud and opens the window on his side to stick his arm out and feel the breeze. Since it's not a bad idea, I roll down the window on my side as well and do the same to him.
After fifteen minutes, I uncomplicatedly just park in front of the main entrance and pull the handbrake, then, refreshed and wide awake, I jump out of the driver's seat and stretch extensively. Together we get something from the grocery store at the entrance and I make myself comfortable with a plastic bowl baby carrots on the hood. The clouds continue to gather and a pleasant smell of summer rain creeps into my nose. This constant sun is starting to get on my nerves, so the weather is a welcome change right now.
After about six minutes, Ann parks the car in front of ours and I watch them get out, deeply relaxed. Izumi is beaming from ear to ear, I still wonder why the Hatter is making such a fuss about this wedding. I'm really happy for her, but with our situation, I was thinking more of a quick Las Vegas style short wedding and the Hatter playing the Elvis priest. But now we're going on a supply run and picking out a dress. It's possible the Hatter is using this event to keep Beach residents in line. Motivated people bring him more playing cards than anxious ones.
"Just an unrelated question," Kuina grins, taking the straw out of his mouth, "How close have you come to losing your driver's license?"
"Huh? What license?", I shrug and jump off the hood. I hear Niragi next to me growl a little angrily, I guess he thought I had a driver's license. But he doesn't dare to snub out loud, after all he called the others wimps earlier. Ann and Kuina try not to grin even wider and Chishiya's mouth twitches a tiny second longer than usual.
Self-satisfied, I continue chewing on my baby carrots and together we enter the mall. Purposefully, Izumi heads towards the bridal fashion stores and both Ann, Kuina and I follow her while the men head in a different direction.
"I talked to the milliner about the dress code at the hotel. He said there is an exception for the dress, but I think it should still resemble a beach dress," Izumi informs us and starts talking about patterns and types of fabrics. While Kuina starts looking at the dresses in the first row of bars, I look around a bit and lean a little towards Ann.
"Didn't think wedding dress shopping was your thing".
"It's not, but worst case scenario, a new dress jumps out for me" she replies unimpressed and seems to pick out a row of dresses.
"And you're doing it because it means a lot to Izumi?", I ask curiously, giving her a nudge towards a morally correct answer.
"Sure thing," she says dryly, unconvincingly, before walking over to the display dresses on the left side of the store. I understand, killing time until Izumi finally tries on her already pre-selected dress. I stop for a moment and watch the three women, but I come to the conclusion that something is missing here. The modernized music system is out of the question, so I guess I'll have to reschedule and do a little snooping around. All bridal fashion stores have suitable music playing over the loudspeakers, but some of these stores have an elegant record player for the atmosphere. And that's exactly what I find in the back compartment. I comfortably put on an old classic and walk to the storage room. One thing you learn when you watch a lot of tearjerker movies: There's always champagne in stores like this. I discover the refrigerator, even though it's not working it's loaded with expensive looking bottles. The store must have had a good turnover if they don't offer cheap champagne.
I grab four glasses and two bottles, then return to the others and put everything on the table in front of the dressing rooms. Ann seems to like this idea, because she opens the first bottle with a few deft hand movements and pours for everyone. I gratefully accept my glass and also press one into Izumi's hand before taking a first look at the selection.
Pompous dresses with hundreds of layers of tulle and rhinestones hang everywhere, one more elaborate than the other. To say that there are dresses in every color imaginable here would be an understatement; I recognize twenty-eight different shades of white alone. If I were in Izumi's position, I would be going crazy right now, but with one look at her, I recognize the glow in her eyes even at this distance. She knows exactly which dress she wants.
Feeling two hours, we pick out dresses and hang them on an empty clothes rack in the middle of the store in case Izumi wants to redespatch and slowly I can't see any more wedding and graduation dresses. Fortunately Kuina seems to think the same, because she suggests Izumi to try on the chosen dress. Without waiting for her reaction, I place myself on the velvet-covered couch in front of the dressing room and pour myself a refill. Kuina takes a seat next to me while Ann agrees to help Izumi get dressed.
"Chishiya and I had a discussion about what you thought of dress shopping," Kuina begins as Ann brings the first dress into the dressing room. "He said this one wasn't for you, but I meant every woman's heart softens a little here. And looking at the champagne bottle, I guess I was right."
"Sorry to disappoint you, but Chishiya is right. I mean the music and drinking is enjoyable and we're helping Izumi, but I think I've looked at enough clothes for a lifetime today."
"Mmm, you're not entirely wrong about that. Still, I wish I had been right, I thought if I ever knew anything better than Chishiya it was when it came to women. Especially about you."
"Wrong thinking, I'd say," I reply and take a big drink. If anyone sees through me, it's Chishiya, but I don't understand why he sometimes says things that drive me up the wall. For example, the most obvious example with Katsu. I mean maybe he didn't mean it that way, but his words make me think that he probably sees me as a bet, like in poker. Maybe I'm exaggerating, but the way he phrased his words, it sometimes seems like he's using me like a pawn just to get food sooner.
At the thought, the metal chain around my neck seems to burn and, lost in thought, my left hand wanders to the key. Would he do such a thing after giving me the key to this video room? A side of me seems to doubt, I mean I trusted Chishiya so much that I didn't even go to that video room. Maybe it was a deception. But the other side, the other voice in my head trusts him blindly.
Through the fabric of my top, I feel every millimeter of the key until a jarring sound catches my attention. Izumi has pushed aside the curtain of her cubicle, the red fabric of the velvet curtain swinging back and forth a little, but at the same time it has drawn my attention to her. She's wearing a simple dress, in a faded white, and yet I have to admit that she's never looked more stunning than she does now. Her skin looks almost tanned by the shade and the fabric flatters her curves. But nothing convinces me more than the wide smile that adorns her mouth. She knows exactly that the dress is meant for her and she doesn't even try to hide that for us. One moment my breath really catches, which I would never have thought at the beginning of the day. She looks so happy, her future already in front of her eyes. Without any doubt, she loves Yuudai.
When I first met her, she was a free spirit. But here, once again, a light side of Borderland shows itself. She has met her soul mate and she knows he is the one. This wedding is neither rushed nor spontaneous. She really seems to love him with all her heart and all that, she radiates at this moment.
She is beautiful. It's not the dress that makes her beautiful, but the feeling it triggers in her. With shining eyes she looks back and forth between us women. I can't help but grin broadly and through the habit in Borderland of showing as little emotion as possible, I slap my hand in front of my mouth. Ann looks down at them proudly as she stands next to them and even Kuina manages a soft smile.
I automatically lower my champagne glass and try to hold back tears of pride. I get up from my seat and together with Kuina I walk towards her. I'm aware that one shouldn't form an inner relationship in Borderland, but I've thrown that over the top so many times that I just pull her into my arms. The other two look at us silently for a moment, I can feel their glances at my back. But then the next moment I notice two arms wrapping around my shoulders, including Izumi.
As soon as Kuina makes her move, Ann joins us as well and a group hug is formed. But when we hear noises from outside just a few seconds later, we all move 1/2 m away from the bride-to-be and look toward the entrance. Our male escorts appear in the doorway to the dress show and most of our gazes fix on the women white at first.
My gaze automatically goes to Chishiya, who immediately returns it and with slightly glowing cheeks I avert my gaze and look down to the floor. The Hatter claps his hands joyfully and says that they have gathered everything for the supply run. Izumi tries not to look too frantic and disappears back into the booth, to which Ann follows her to help her out of her dress. Me and Kuina exchange a glance, but stay put. A little tense, we wait for the two to finish and with the perfect dress over her arm, Izumi steps out of the dressing room first, followed by the forensic artist. Without even exchanging a word, we all nod slightly and walk back to our cars.
Once back at the hotel, Hatter tells us affordably about his latest match, but I only notice Izumi steal away stealthily, armed with her dress and climbing the stairs towards her room. With a slight smirk on my lips, I head for the pool area together with Ann.
There seems to be a lot going on there, the lights dance over every recognizable surface and immerse the action in a blue-green shimmer.
Ann immediately heads for the tiki bar, but I remain standing for a moment, letting my gaze roam the grounds. I immediately sense a strong presence standing next to me, but as I inhale the faint scent of mint and aftershave, I know directly that it is Chishiya. I continue to stare straight ahead because I have no idea what to say to him.
"I didn't mean that."
Confused, I furrow my eyebrows, but try hard to keep my gaze straight ahead.
"You need to be a little more specific," I bring out in an almost whisper. I can guess what he wants to express with that, yet I need it to come out of his mouth for confirmation.
"I meant what I said about Katsu. I wasn't serious," he pauses slightly, seeming to want to find the right words, which seems to confuse me just by the fact, "He always looks at you like that."
I just furrow my eyebrows even more and for the first time if I shift my gaze to him. Amused, I notice that like me before, he has his gaze fixed on the pool area.
"I don't know what you mean," I say honestly, yet hoping he'll continue on his own.
"It always looks at you like that," he leaves it just like that for a moment and I have the urge to look at him, but just before I give in he continues, "Like me when no one is looking."
Instantly a tingling sensation arises in my chest and within seconds it has spread to my entire body. Unable to say anything at first I stop and look at the dirty tiles at our feet. Nervously, I play with the hem of my jacket with my right hand and instinctively try to avert my gaze from him as much as possible. He didn't say many words, it wasn't a real explanation either, it probably never will be. But it shows me that I have not thought about it in vain, and even if others would not see it that way, it also tells me that I seem to mean something to him after all. My whole posture seems to relax and I grin just slightly. I could respond with gentle, soulful words, but it wouldn't exactly fit our relationship.
"I know you don't exactly like people, but just as a side note. Next time you say words like that to me, make sure we're alone," I say dryly and almost like a reproach, which is why he seems to fix me with his eyes, " I'd jump all over you in a second if we were alone."
A small smirk stalks his lips and I try not to giggle as I look straight up at the tiki bar again. But his reaction is not long in coming and I can only see a cheeky grin as he speaks the following words. With a surprised look, I notice that he seems to look around and after his muster, the corners of his mouth pull down.
"I don't think anyone will miss us today," he speaks his observation directly and even though I wish to avoid it, the heat immediately rises in my cheeks and I look at him just slightly with my mouth open. Is this a provocation or does he mean ...?
I look at his features more closely, confused, and have to realize that he wasn't joking.
"In my room in 10 minutes?" he grins more sardonically than usual and I instantly feel the heat rising inside me.
"In 5 minutes," I bring out, breathing heavily, doing my best not to show it too obviously.