deadly games
❝red stains❞
FRIENDSHIP WAS PROBABLY THE MOST VALUABLE THING YOU COULD COME UP WITH. Friends are your chosen family, not the one you're born into. That's what you liked most about it and that's the reason it became so important to you. Especially after having to go through such a toxic group of friends at the age of only fifteen. After what happened then, you carefully chose who you should keep around and you were proud of the choice you made.
Those three guys that always lightened you up would never be a regret.
Arisu looked the same as you left him. Quite uncertain, but ready for anything. The way he was now armed also told you that he probably went through the same high difficulties that you faced.
As Arisu noticed the source that got his attention, his eyes landed on the other person, hand in hand with Chishiya. You. An uncontrolable smile broke out on Arisu's face, seeing how his only best friend left, has found the happiness deserved.
"Fancy meeting you here." Chishiya continued while walking closer.
"Y/N, Chishiya." it was all Arisu could say, since he was still a little surprised.
After you gave Chishiya a side glance, you let go of his hand in order to walk faster to your best friend. When you found yourself in front of him, you hugged him with all the force you had inside of you.
"Hey, Arisu." you said drowning your face on his shoulder.
"Hi, I was so worried." he said beginning to move his hand on your back in a comforting way. The emotional moment was suddenly interrupted by Chishiya clearing his throat.
"There are only two games left. I had a pretty good hunch that you were probably still alive."
"Yeah, he was the one that kept reassuring me that you're most probably fine." you said remembering everytime you brought it up.
Then, a silence acaparated your surroundings. You could feel some tension in the air, which was probably the unresolved stuff that happened between them a while ago. Even though Arisu was rooting for your happiness with him, he was still quite skeptical. He had every reason to.
"What?" Arisu asked Chishiya. "Is that the only thing you've gotta say?" you decided it would be best to keep quiet from now on, since it was starting to become something that could only be resolved between them.
Deciding to go a little further away from them was also a good idea that you've made. You could settle to watch them interact from the distance, just making sure they won't be at each other's throats was enough.
"So?" was all Chishiya could muster up to say after you distanced yourself.
"Nothing. It's just... You're a lot less grumpy now. I assume it's thanks to Y/N." Arisu pointed out at you with his eyes and Chishiya laughed in a non-mean way.
"Oh, less grumpy, huh? Well, I've been through a hell of a lot. Also, a lot of people have told me that recently..." he stated as he took some steps closer to your best friend. "Hey, Arisu, can I share something with you that I've only told Y/N so far?" the blonde requested and Arisu chuckled.
Once you saw them closer to each other, you felt a little worried. They seemed to get along well, however something wasn't right. That gut feeling was what made up your mind to get back to them.
"Yeah." you heard Arisu saying as you walked closer.
"Well, I-" then, it all happened too sudden. A gunshot, resulting into a white hoodie's red stain.
Your eyes got bigger in shock and your hand went up to your mouth as you were now running to him with your entire body shaking. He was on the ground, visibly in pain as he touched his fresh wound. And once you were next to him you dropped on your knees to be closer to him. His eyes were lazily staring at you while you were obviously panicking.
"This can't be happening..." you mumbled while trying to put pressure on his wound to slow down the bleeding.
"Yo!" that familiar voice of the person that was the shooter, shouted.
"Fuck, no." you said out loud once you realized and turned your head to be welcomed by Niragi's burned face.
"I thought I'd never see you again!" Niragi shouted while Arisu was almost ready to shoot him. "I am so fuckin' happy!"
"Should've pushed him harder..." Chishiya said and then groaned in pain.
"Hey, don't talk and stay still!" you warned Chishiya, still in shock because of everything that was happening. Chishiya, having the same stubborness as when you first met him, put his force into one of his arms to have a better look at Niragi.
"Did you mean to miss a vital organ?" he asked Niragi and you shook your head in disproval.
"I didn't want to end things with a surprise attack! So let's begin. It's a new murder game. Not like there's anything else for the three of us to do here." Niragi said and you frowned. Both Chishiya and Arisu were confused as well to why he chose to take you out of the equation.
"You want to start a game between players?" Chishiya asked him.
"The three of us are the same. I had to eliminate Y/N because of some past events that you two probably also know of. She just doesn't fit the description. Social outcasts. Losers. Yet we still want to know how it feels to be alive, more than anyone." after he finished saying, Niragi started to cough out blood earning all the attention. "I don't have very much time left. Do me one last favor. One more game, come on! I thought you guys were my bros!" he shouted and then threw a gun close to Chishiya.
You looked at the blonde with some terror in your eyes and he knew you were silently pleading him not to. But if he didn't do it, you'd probably have to take his place. He was content with the fact that Niragi wasn't taking you into consideration. Yet.
So he got up from the ground to walk closer to where the gun was laying, slowly picking it up.
"Sounds fun." Chishiya said while still touching his would. "Arisu, what do you think?" he asked while trying to get him on the same page for the same reason. Your safety.
"What do you mean?" since he said it quite aggressively, Chishiya figured that he won't catch on.
"Come on, don't play dumb. I know you've got a bone to pick with me. We might as well deal with it right now. We can settle things once and for all."
"What the hell are you talking about?" Arisu couldn't believe the situation he found himself in.
They wanted to keep you out of it, it was clear to you. But not enough to make you stop acting however you wanted. The people you cared most for right now were put in danger by a maniac that was nothing like how he used to be when you first met him. He was hopeless.
"If you really think that I'm going to stay out of this and watch from afar how you will shoot at each other, you're very wrong, Niragi." you said walking closer to him. You weren't afraid of him, even though you stopped trying to predict his moves. They were always unpredictable and impulsive.
"Are you sure, Y/N?" Niragi laughed in amusement. "I could've settled with just them two." even if he said that, you knew he wanted to hurt them not just because of what happened between each one of them, but also because hurting them would hurt you ten times worse.
You turned your gaze to Chishiya, who was visibly not just worried, but also definitely not on the same page as you.
"Yes. To be fair, I'm the one that wronged you the most, right? So don't try to hurt me through them and do it like a man." you dared him and he gladly accepted.
"Unfortunately, I don't have any guns left for you, but I can think of other ways to include you." he said and then continued while looking at Arisu. "Come on, where's your gun? I know you got one!" Niragi said.
"There's gotta be another way to do this." Arisu tried to come up with solutions in his head.
But instead of an answer he received a gunshot released in his direction. Which he successfully dodged. Then, Chishiya released a bullet at Niragi, who then fired the gun at you. He missed hitting any spot on your body, but he kept trying, until you hid behind a car. The cycle kept going while you found yourself useless. Not holding any power to stop what was happening. You weren't armed and you didn't know how to act, while Chishiya and Arisu were also hiding behind cars.
"Niragi! Stop this!" Arisu shouted from behind a car.
"I'm just acting like you guys. Doing whatever I feel like. Every time you open your mouths, it's just to talk about yourselves. I've had to listen to your bullshit the whole time. Stop acting like you're better than everyone because you've seen people die. And don't say you're trying to survive for someone else, because I know that deep down, you're just as selfish! The only thing that matters is that we come out on top!" Niragi's words made draining memories replay to Arisu.
"Yeah. You might have a good point. Maybe we're all supposed to kill each other in this place." Arisu said done with everything happening.
"Now you're starting to make sense." Niragi said contently.
"Niragi... I know what you're trying to do, but it won't work! You're trying to wear me down! Except... now it won't work. I'm not gonna act weak and selfish ever again." Arisu said standing up from behind that car. "I'm out. I'm not gonna pull this trigger just so I can survive." he surrended.
As you watched him have a gun pointed at him and him not doing anything to stop the upcoming result, you decided it was time you stopped cowardly hiding behind a car. You didn't go through so much just so you could bench this while your best friend and lover were risking they're lives. It was pathetic.
"Don't even think about it, Niragi." you spit it out with venom.
"You ruined it." Niragi scoffed while putting his gun down once you were the target. "Thanks a lot, asshole."
"Arisu?" a new familiar voice called the name of your friend. And as both you and him turned your heads to the source, you knew it could only end up worse. Not just you. Chishiya also found himself aware and concerned of what could happen. "What's going on here?" Usagi asked watching the four of you scattered in front of her.
"Oh, yeah. I almost forgot about you." Niragi said and then fired his gun in her direction.
"Usagi!" Arisu screamed completely panicked and pointing his arm once again at Niragi in a threatening way. "Stop shooting! She's got nothing to do with this!"
"Games need a heroine to rescue and now we have two. Yours and Chishiya's. But these ones should die." he then fired countless of bullets in your direction.
"Psycho..." you said to yourself once you were on the ground and caught a break from the continuous gunshots.
"What are you saying?" Arisu screamed.
Your eyes watched Niragi carefully as he said things to himself that made something click. And you knew exactly what it was bound to happen. Before you did anything rashly, you looked at Chishiya. But he had the same worried expression and you knew he had the same thing in mind. However, you just couldn't let him do it. Not again.
In the blink of an eye, Chishiya put himself in front of Usagi who was clearly Niragi's main target. But what the blonde failed to notice in time was that you put yourself in front of both him and her. Receiving that one sting in your chest that you remembered getting after the first game you played with Keiju. It feels like forever ago. Three gunshots were heard and two of them got instantly two bodies on the ground and another one seriously injured.
Usagi gasped loudly as she watched Chishiya in front of her, who just took a bullet and saved her life, but then her eyes looked beyond him. At you who immediately fell on the ground.
Chishiya grew so much as a person and in such pain, all you could feel was how proud he made you. He was ready to take a bullet for one of the people he couldn't care less back at the Beach. Meanwhile, you took the bullet for him, but back at the Beach you would've preferred to take it for Usagi instead. How ironic.
Watching him also fall on the ground next to you wasn't what you had in plan.
"Chishiya! Y/N!" Usagi screamed your name hurrying to get to the both of you. That's how Arisu's attention was caught as well and he ran to you screaming.
Arisu immediately fell down next to you and took your hand. He had tears in his eyes, terrified of losing his last best friend.
"You just had to act impulsively, didn't you...?" Chishiya asked you feeling his head spin. He had his own wound and loss of blood, but he tried to keep himself concentrated for you.
"Maybe if you weren't about to act impulsively too..." you managed to say.
"You guys saved me!" Usagi said not believing what just happened. "Why did you do it?"
"If I would've let him take the bullet and die, then all that work on himself would've been in vain... I don't want that." you slowly said as a whisper, then focused your eyes on him. You felt as if you failed miserabily to do so.
"Why did you want to take the bullet for me...?" Usagi now asked Chishiya and even though all he could look at was you, he replied to her.
"I wanted to do something that was a bit out of character. I know it's thanks to the people I met here. Like Y/N. Kuzuryu. Arisu, too." Chishiya explained breathing heavily.
"Before, what were you gonna say?" Arisu asked him and you tried to keep yourseld focused by waiting his answer.
"Oh, yeah." he began breathing shakily, but managing to let out a small chuckle. "Honest people... always seemed pretty stupid to me. I've always loved messing with people who try too hard at life. I hated selflessness. It's probably because I was jealous. They all had something I was missing. It was like they could always see what a pathetic and small-minded person I really was. I was always afraid." he admitted.
"I get you." Arisu said.
"Yeah, I thought you'd be the one to understand."
"I guess hunting rifles aren't as deadly as you thought." that aggravating voice just kept reappearing.
"Is he immortal? Genuinely asking." you said slowly still having that undescribeable pain.
"Whatever you do, just don't make me out to be the villain. If there were seven billion of me, you guys would all be villains too. You're pretty lucky, you know. You guys are the majority." Niragi said and if your entire body wasn't hurting you'd probably throw a fist in his face.
"Fucking psycho." was all you said before something on the sky appeared and blocked the sun's light. It created a shadow that reflected where you were laying.
Since you faced the sky, you looked in that direction to see a blimp moving forward. You chuckled shortly since the situation got even more depressing. It was no one else than the King of Spades, who already began shooting and people were running close to where you were scattered on the hard ground.
"Hide them under the cars." Arisu told Usagi.
"Okay." Usagi immediately agreed.
"Pardon me...?" you said as if you heard the stupidest thing. It was stupid, but there was no other choice.
You were the first one that Arisu picked up to hide under one of the cars and you felt completely numb as he carried you in his arms. He was truly scared of losing you, but if he let himself be affected now, then it would be as if he never tried to save you. He'll save you by clearing the only games left.
"If... I die... don't blame yourself. And if you're given a choice... Choose to save Chishiya, okay?"
"How could you ask me that?" Arisu shook his head as he let you down.
"Promise me. He barely managed to finally find happiness..."
"And you think he'll still be happy if you're gone? Will I be happy if you're gone? I'll be destroyed, Y/N. You're the only one I have left, so don't make me promise something I can't keep."
"If you save me at the end instead of him... I don't think I could forgive you... and it pains me to say this. I truly love that man, more than I expected to..." you revealed in a difficult way while breathing shakily.
"I'll go take him." was all that Arisu said before going back in the direction he came from.
You didn't blame Arisu for not wanting to act by your request, because if you were in his shoes you wouldn't have done it either. He just wanted to protect you in the way he couldn't protect Karube and Chota. While you replayed the conversation in your mind, you had no idea what you were thinking to ask him that. Chishiya was nothing to him, but to you he was everything. In this situation there was not a single good choice.
If Arisu saves you, you'll live only with Chishiya's face on your mind. Which would also fade out eventually, leaving you with nothing. If Chishiya will be saved, Arisu will live the rest of his life in guilt. None of these scenarios were something you wanted, so you wanted to exclude them both.
Both of you had to survive.
Soon, Arisu came back with Chishiya, who's left arm was behind your friend's neck for support. They looked like they also had a talk, which probably turned out more pleasantly than yours since they had the same objective. Chishiya probably asked him the same as you did, he just switched himself with you and Arisu definitely agreed after how your conversation played out.
He put him down next to you, while giving you a short smile.
"I'll go help Usagi with Niragi." he stated.
"Just don't put him next to me." you said it with a scary seriosity. As much as your pain allowed you, at least.
Arisu nodded as a response, leaving immediately to help his girlfriend with that psychopath.
You turned your head to your left to have the image of Chishiya. You were probably just as pale as he was. After looking at him for a few seconds, you put your head on his shoulder.
"Everything just went to shit." you said to him.
"It really did..." he put his head on top of yours.
A/N : we're approaching the end..💔 also i hurried with this chapter because i'm very excited to write what's next