"I shouldn't feel this way." Izumi said. "I shouldn't feel these things..."
I took a step towards her without even realizing it.
"For the records, neither should I." I looked into her eyes.
"No, you don't understand..." Izumi sighed. "I couldn't, it wasn't planned..."She then turned around and put her hands on her face, as if to hide.
I swung around around her so I was facing her again and gently pulled her hands away from her face.
Having her hands in mine, even if only for a few seconds, made my heart beat faster and again, I felt that rush of electricity.
"You know, I don't think it's something you can plan." I half laughed and saw her smile.
"Well...no. But it wasn't supposed to happen. This messes everything up." Izumi put a hand over her mouth, as if she'd said something she shouldn't have said.
"Everything what?"
"Nothing, forget it." Izumi started to walk again but I stopped her.
"Izumi..." I looked into her eyes again. "What are you not telling me?"
She didn't answer and sighed.
"I know you are hiding something from me, actually from us."
"Chishiya..." Izumi looked conflicted. "I told you even when we met...not saying something doesn't always mean hiding it."
And here's that enigmatic phrase again.
"What is that supposed to mean?"
"That I can't tell you." Izumi looked at me sadly. "But I can promise you this: soon everything will make sense. For you, but also for me."
"Huh? When you talk like that I really don't get you." I half laughed.
"I'm sorry."
Her sad look made my heart ache. I terribly wanted to take her hand, but at the same time I was paralyzed.
The moonlight illuminated her face and gave her black hair an odd tinge. Who knows what they were like when she had it loose; for as long as I'd known her, she'd always worn it gathered in a pony tail.
We looked at each other, enchanted, and that sparkle I'd seen last evening, when we were on the terrace, came back to life in her eyes.
"Do you trust me?" She asked me, breaking the spell.
"Um...you just told me you're not telling me something..." I reminded her, giving her a half smile.
"Yes, I know." She smiled too. "But, despite this, do you think you can manage to trust me?"And in that moment, the rational part of me suddenly resurfaced. I had feelings for her, but I still couldn't trust her completely.
Noticing my silence Izumi added, "Okay, I get it."
She was about to walk again, but I took her wrist.
"I'd like to, but I still can't." I told her.
"It's okay, don't worry." She smiled at me. "Shall we go back to the apartment?"
"Okay."
We walked and again silence enveloped us.
Without realizing it, I'd approached her and our hands touched.
"Sorry." We said in chorus, then we laughed.
A special understanding had formed between us, but we both knew it wasn't the time to investigate further, so we limited ourselves to exchanging meaningful glances and smiles.
We were soon back at the apartment.
"Do you think the others are already asleep?" She asked as we walked up the stairs.
"Likely."
"Then let's try to be quiet." She whispered, as soon as we were at the door.Izumi slowly opened it, then went in and took a few steps in the dark corridor, the only light was the one that came in from the hall, but it was very weak.
I followed her and after a few minutes, Izumi tripped and was about to fall backwards, but I caught her just in time.
"What the hell!" She complained, making me laugh.
We'd never been this close and I could clearly smell her scent from that distance.
I felt my cheeks burn and I was immensely grateful that we were in the dark and that she hadn't noticed it.
"Thank you." She told me, regaining her balance.
"No-no worries." I stammered, as my heart started pounding so hard I was afraid it might come out of my chest.
Then, Izumi took my hand and led me into the corridor.
"I don't want to risk falling again." She said.
"Do you want to kill me by any chance?" I wanted to tell her, but what came out was a completely different sentence. "Are you afraid of the dark?" I found myself asking her.
"Um...okay, fine, you caught me." She said, squeezing my hand as we passed one of the rooms.
"I thought you weren't afraid of anything." I teased her.
"There are so many things you don't know about me." She giggled, then once we got into the living room, where everything was brighter, she let go of my hand. "Okay, I'm gonna sleep here on the couch since nobody's around."
Izumi walked over to it, then lay down, clutching a pillow to her chest.
I couldn't help but think how pretty and vulnerable she looked in that position and started grinning like an idiot.
Then, I remembered that it was brighter now, so I cleared my throat and tried to compose myself.
"Okay...goodnight." I said softly, then turned to go into one of the other rooms.
"Chishiya?"
"Yeah?"
"Why don't you stay here?" Izumi was looking at me. "I mean...you can stay here and sleep on the carpet if you want." And there was a certain hesitation in her voice.
Was she really asking me to stay with her?
"Um..."
She had caught me off guard and I really didn't know what to do.
"No, okay sorry." She said, hugging the pillow tighter to her chest and giggled. "Pretend I didn't ask you."
"If you lend me that pillow, I might stay." I said approaching her. "You know how it is...the carpet isn't that comfortable."
Where did all this courage come from? And what was I doing? It wasn't like me to act like that.
Izumi laughed. "Deal." And I saw her handing me the pillow.
I took it and lay down on the carpet, facing her.
"Thank you." She smiled at me. "Goodnight Chishiya."
She then closed her eyes and fell asleep shortly after.
I was enchanted looking at her for quite a while, then sleep got the better of me and I fell asleep too.
The following morning we were woken up by Arisu tripping over the same thing Izumi had tripped over the previous evening, which we discovered to be a pair of shoes.
"Sorry guys, I didn't mean to wake you." Arisu said, heading to the kitchen and taking a packet of biscuits, among the supplies we had accumulated on the counter.
"Don't worry." I said, sitting up.
Izumi was still lying down and her hair was all messed up. "I expect a long day today." She said, stretching and then sitting up.
Meanwhile, Usagi, Kuina and Niragi also arrived.
We didn't talk much, but decided to go find the last Game Arena as soon as we finished breakfast.
Once at the Shibuya crossing, we again followed the usual directions, and walked for about half an hour, until we arrived in front of the National Art Center of Tokyo.
The completely glass facade reflected the daylight and for a moment I was blinded by it.
"Well, I have to say we've come across a nice place this time." Kuina said.
"Too bad it's a Game of Hearts." Arisu pointed out to her.
"Do you think I don't know?" Kuina turned to look at him. "I was just trying to ease the tension."
Anxiety and worry were in the air.
"Okay, are you ready?" Izumi asked.
"We have no other choice." Usagi answered, approaching Arisu.
"Let's move!" Niragi said, huffing and heading towards the entrance.
Kuina shook her head, then followed him, along with Arisu and Usagi.
Izumi and I exchanged a look, then we too followed.
We entered the museum, getting through the usual red lasers, and the last card with the Joker was placed on a round wooden table; the frame was instead on the white wall behind it.
This time it was Arisu who took the card and as he did, the metallic voice spoke.
ATTENTION PLAYERS, only two Players can participate to this last Game. Please choose who among you will participate and thus determine your future.
"So we have to decide who to trust with our lives?" Niragi laughed.
"Shh." Kuina silenced him.
The metallic voice went on.
The two selected Players are requested to pass under the metal detector and follow the instructions they will receive in the next room of the Game Arena. Entry to that area is not permitted to other players. Anyone who tries to pass the metal detectors, will be eliminated.
"How nice!" Niragi said, ironic.
"It's a Game of Hearts, so it makes sense that we're being asked to use trust." Arisu said.
"And now what do we do?" Usagi asked.
"What do you say?" Niragi seemed to find the situation amusing. "We have to choose who will participate to the Gane and the choice seems pretty obvious to me."Niragi walked towards the metal detector.
"Stop!" Kuina grabbed him by the shoulders.
Niragi freed herself from her grip. "I won't leave my life in the hands of either of you. I'm going, and I don't care which of you is the other participant."
Meanwhile, Usagi and Arisu approached him and together with Kuina, blocked him.
"Stop!" Arisu yelled at him. "We have to decide all together!"
"Exactly." Kuina said. "And I think no one here trusts you. So you won't be the one to go."
Player one passed.
I was so intent on watching the others that I didn't realize Izumi had passed the metal detector.
"I knew it!" Niragi yelled as soon as he saw her.
🎶SOUNDTRACK : I'm in love, by Ola (min 1.17-end) 🎶
Kuina, Arisu and Usagi were surprised, while I was worried and soon my heart was pounding in my chest.
I didn't want to let her fight alone. I didn't want to let her go because...what I felt for her kept me from doing it.
In that moment, for the first time, I allowed myself to really feel those feelings that until now I'd kept under lock and key, and they were the ones that guided me.
I was going to follow my heart this time.
I didn't care if she was hiding something from us, I wanted to protect her.
I had already left her behind once and wouldn't do it again.
I didn't want to be selfish anymore...not with her, I couldn't. Somehow, I felt that with Izumi I could be myself and that together, we could be a great team.
Sure, we had our differences and I still didn't know her well, but I just couldn't ignore that pull anymore.
I could no longer ignore that kind of "magic" that seemed to draw me to her, more and more every day.
With her, I was different and I was starting to see the world under a different lens; life itself seemed to have acquired meaning...
Izumi had come like a wave into the calm sea of my mind and if at first I thought she had sunk me, I later realized that she was teaching me how to navigate those unfamiliar waters; that the unknown wasn't always a bad thing and that if I had opened my heart and left "pride" aside, I could have discovered many things.
There was no way to prepare for it in advance, things like this happened out of the blue, whether you're ready or not. And I wasn't ready at all, but I let myself go anyway.
My feet started moving before I could stop them and that's when I realized something. One thing I didn't want to admit because it seemed absurd to me. One thing, that scared the shit out of me, but at the same time that I couldn't stop myself from feeling.
I followed Izumi because I realized that I had fallen in love with her.
🎶 STOP SOUNDTRACK🎶
I also walked towards the metal detector and passed through it.
Player two passed. Please continue into the next room.
"Chishiya!" Kuina called me."What a bastard." Niragi was angry, but at the same time well aware that he couldn't do anything.
"Chishiya..." Arisu said.
"You and Usagi took on the Queen of Hearts, now let us deal with the Joker." I told them.
Arisu nodded, while Usagi wished us good luck.
"Make sure you don't us all get killed, okay?" Kuina smiled at us.
"We'll do our best." Izumi replied, returning her smile.
Then, she turned to look at me. "Shall we go?" She asked me.
I nodded, then we walked into the next room and followed the signs, until we found ourselves in another room of the museum.
Where the works were normally exhibited, there were now only bare, white walls.
"I had no doubts that you'd follow me." Izumi smirked.
"Am I really that predictable?" I joked.
"A little." Izumi looked around "But I'm glad you're here with me."
Was Izumi happy that I was there with her? Then, did she feel the same things that I felt too?
"Huh? Really?" I asked her.
"Of course." She turned to look at me. "And I have to say, we couldn't have picked a worse time to have this conversation."
She giggled and I noticed that she blushed slightly.
Oh God, so then she too...
The metallic voice interrupted my thoughts.
GAME: Truth or Lie
DIFFICULTY: Joker of Hearts
RULES: The Game Master has been in charge all this time and now we have come to the showdown. He's already inside the Game Arena, find him and find out which is the truth and which is the lie. Clear conditions: kill the Game Master and you will have won all the Games.
TIME LIMIT: 1 hour and 30 minutes
So eventually, I'd have seen who this Game Master was. Interesting.
Izumi laughed.
I looked at her. "Do you find that funny?"
"Yes, a little." Then she started walking.
Her answer made no sense. As much as the Last Game might be...well, challenging, in that we'd finally get some answers, I wouldn't have called it "funny".
"What if the Game Master kills us before we find him?" I asked her with a half smile. "I don't think it'd be much funny in that case."
"Relax Chishiya, the museum is big." Izumi didn't look worried at all. "We'll find him first..."
Then, suddenly, she seemed upset.
"Hey." I moved a little closer to her. "I won't abandon you this time, okay?"
"Yes, I know. And that's exactly what worries me." Izumi smiled, but her gaze was sad.
Again, one of her mysterious sentences that I couldn't decipher.
"Why do you say that?" I asked, looking into her eyes.
I thought she was happy that I was there with her...that she felt the same way as me, but at that moment I wasn't so convinced about that anymore.
My gaze turned dark and Izumi noticed it right away.
"Don't get me wrong, I'm glad you're here with me only..."
"Only what?"
"I wish it wasn't a Game of Hearts." Izumi stared at her feet.
"Yes, well, but the goal is to find the Game Master so we have nothing to worry about."
"Yes...and also find out which is the lie and which is the truth." Izumi looked at me. "That's what scares me."
"Izumi." I took her hand. "We'll go through it together okay?"
"I hope you're ready, because I'm not." Izumi gave me a weak smile.
After that, we resumed walking and passed some rooms of the museum, without meeting anyone; but the incredible thing for me, at that moment, was something else.
That is, our hands were still intertwined with each other.
Wow, Chishiya finally got to admit how he feels! (Although only to himself at the moment hahaha); but it looks like Izumi reciprocates BUT....yes, there's a big BUT because it wouldn't be an interesting love story if there weren't complications, right? XD
And soon, it will finally be revealed who this Game Master who's been talked about since the first season is, even if Arisu won't be the one to find out...
Get ready Players, because the next chapter will leave you breathless ;)
See you on Sunday x