"I didn't expect the reckless little teenager we knew all those years ago to become the CEO of a pretty successful company," Yami said to announce his presence as he pushed through the doors to Miyu's office. He walked over, a gun carelessly in his hand, a multitude of men in dark clothes and armed with bats, guns and knives flanking him. Miyu kept her composure, leaning back in her seat and crossed her legs.
"Hello to you too, Yami," Miyu greeted calmly, glancing in the mirror on her desk and adjusted her tie. "What brings you here? I don't have to pay you until Sunday."
"Well, MiMi, I've come here to make a deal with you." Miyu looked up at him boredly as he stood in front of her desk, knowing that he used the nickname to purposely annoy her. She hated nicknames. Yami tapped his fingers on her desk, leaning on the wood, the CEO noticing the dirt under his nails. "You give me your company, and I won't shoot you and shut your parent's bakery down and all your debts will be settled."
Miyu scoffed, hiding her rising panic as she looked out the window. "That's a ridiculous offer. The way I'm going, I could pay you back everything within a month, with interest." She looked back at him as he pressed the barrel of his gun to her forehead.
"I'm not gonna say it again," He told her, voice low and dangerous. He slid her a stack of papers that were barely held together by a singular paperclip. "Unless the death wish you seemed to have when you were younger has showed back up, I think you're going to want to sign this."
Her fists clenched under her desk as she glared at him. He smirked, digging the barrel further into her forehead. She couldn't press the emergency button under her desk, knowing that Yami would likely have his men crawling the halls and streets that surrounded her building. She bit the inside of her cheek, her pride yelling at her to say no and stare into his eyes angrily as he put a bullet through her head, but her survival instincts yelled at her to just sign the paper and get out.
"I chose this to match your hair." Yami slid a purple, glittery pen towards Miyu and set the gun to rest on the desk, still within his reach. Miyu didn't fail to notice that the safety was off, and the barrel was still pointed towards her. She glared at him one last time, the cocky glint in his eyes making her want to slap him. She dug her nails into her palm before lifting her left hand and picked the pen up and pulled the papers towards her.
The room was painfully silent as Miyu read through the stack of papers, the paperclip long lost between sheets. She didn't miss a singular sentence, her anger growing as she went through the pile. As she reached the last page, she paused, staring at the line that she would have to sign on.
She was basically signing her life. Miyu had gotten lucky with Hayashi Marketing, she knew that. It was supposed to just be a side hustle to earn some extra cash while she was in school. It wasn't supposed to be estimated to earn over ¥5,000,000 in the first year of business, but it had. This was the reason Miyu cleaned her life up, to pay the debts off and become successful. And now she had to decide whether to sign it all away and start from the bottom again, or to tell Yami no and end up dead and her parents without their only source of income.
Miyu picked up the glittery pen and signed on the line.
. . .
Miyu walked around Shibuya Crossing, hands in her pockets. The process of giving Yami Hayashi Marketing hadn't started yet, so she was still getting the money into her bank account. She leaned against a wall, looking at the three men that looked similar to her in age, maybe a bit older, talking about who would win if zombies showed up. She eavesdropped for a minute before getting bored, walking around to find a bar to drown her sorrows. In the process, she flipped a man with facial piercings and his hair pulled into a half ponytail off for cat calling her and muttered an apology for bumping into a tall woman with thick locs.
She looked through the windows of the bars in the area, most of them being closed due to it being the middle of the day and the sun was still shining brightly. Miyu saw someone behind the counter at one of the bars, opening the door.
"Oh, we're closed," The young man told Miyu when he looked up. Miyu immediately took note of his accent and that his Japanese wasn't fluent. Regardless of his words, she took her suit jacket off and hung it on the back of a chair before sitting down at the counter.
"I'll give you ¥5,000 per glass of wine," She told him, opening her wallet and putting a variety of notes onto the counter. She saw his jaw drop before he quickly closed it and got busy finding a good bottle of wine to pour for her.
"I'll have to see your ID, sorry," He suddenly remembered before he gave her the glass of red wine. She sighed before sliding him her ID. He picked it up, looking at it closely before nodding and sliding the glass and card back to her. She slid her ID back in her wallet and gave him the ¥5,000 she had promised before lifting the glass to her lips with one hand, the other loosening her tie.
She downed almost half of it in one go, closing her eyes as she sighed after swallowing the liquid. Miyu didn't like alcohol, more often than not choosing a coke over martinis whenever she had to go out with friends or colleagues, having grown bored of alcohol from when she had consumed so much when she was younger. Her opinion quickly changed once basically all stability of her life was ripped out from under her, planning on getting drunk to forget her problems.
"What's your name?" Miyu broke the silence, looking up from her drink to look at the bartender that seemed to be around her age.
He looked up from where he was cleaning a glass. "Yoon Tae-min."
She nodded slightly, leaning back in her seat. "Korean, right? How long have you been in Japan?"
He nodded. "About a year now."
She nodded to acknowledge his answer and didn't pry further. She swirled the dark liquid around her cup, watching it. Her thoughts wandered, straying as she sipped but they always went back to the same question - what the fuck was she going to do with her life?
Miyu and Tae-min looked up as loud whistles through the air, before erupting into a series of crackles and pops of colour. Her eyebrows furrowed, wondering why and who someone would let fireworks off in the middle of the day. After watching the fireworks for a few moments, glance dipping to the crossing for a moment before she looked back at her drink, frowning when she realized she had drank it all.
The world fell silent. Miyu tensed at the sudden silence, looking up as she heard a faint squeak. Tae-min was gone, the bottle of wine he was holding to refill her glass on the counter in front of Miyu. She hadn't heard him set the bottle down, nor walk away.
She hesitantly got up, looking behind the counter. "Hello..? Tae-min?" She walked to the window, feeling uneasy at the sight of Shibuya Crossing being empty. Miyu grabbed her phone out, eyebrows furrowing in confusion when it wouldn't turn on. It had been fully charged just ten minutes ago, she knew it couldn't just die in that time span.
"Is anyone here?" Miyu yelled as she exited the bar. She was suddenly glad that she wasn't a lightweight and didn't feel the effects of the glass of wine she had, not wanting anything to cloud her thoughts a she searched the streets for any signs of life. "Hello?!"
Miyu let out a worried breath, putting a hand to her forehead as she looked around. She stopped walking momentarily as she looked around a neighborhood. She quickly turned around when she heard footsteps, eyes widening when she saw a teenager walking towards her.
The girl stopped a few meters in front of Miyu, and Miyu assumed that she was around 15 or 16. The girl had her long, dark hair tied back in a braid and wore a school uniform. Her uniform was dirty, and there was a rip in her skirt.
"Who are you?" The girl asked, tone mixed with caution and hope.
"Hayashi Miyu," Miyu answered, taking a step closer. The girl took a step back. "Hey, I'm not going to hurt you. What's your name? Where are your parents?"
She hesitated. "I'm Sakura. My parents... I don't know where they are. I was in the bathroom with my friend when we were walking home from school, but when I came out of the bathroom, everyone was gone." Her eyes watered at the memory. "I was all alone. I went home, and my parents and sisters aren't there. You're the first person I've seen."
"How did your uniform get so dirty?" She asked, attempting to keep her tone soft and gentle as she glanced down at Sakura's uniform. She had never been good at comforting people.
Sakura looked down at herself. "I... I fell at school." Miyu wondered why the girl felt the need to lie over something so trivial, but brushed it off.
"We should stick together until we figure out what's going on," Miyu suggested, putting her hands in the pockets of her dress pants. Sakura was hesitant but gave her a nod. Miyu offered a strained smile before looking around.
"Do you live around here?" Miyu asked, turning to the girl. Sakura nodded. "We should probably stay there until I think of something." Sakura nodded and lead Miyu to through streets the older wasn't familiar with. The businesswoman didn't fail to notice Sakura's tense shoulders and her constant nervous glances back at Miyu.
Miyu tried to ignore it as they walked. Sakura looked back at Miyu before walking up the steps to a house and unlocked the front door. Miyu walked in behind Sakura, looking around what was visible of Sakura's small, one story flat. It wasn't anything much and obviously belonged to a lower middle class family, but Miyu could appreciate it, noticing all the family portraits and awards decorating the surfaces of every available surfaces. Sakura sat down on one of the sofas, and Miyu sat next to her, a large gap between them. They fell into an awkward silence.
"So." Miyu cleared her throat. "Do you have any idea... where everyone went?"
She sniffled and shook her head. "I don't know. They were just... they were just gone."
. . .
The two sat in an awkward silence for a few hours. Sakura kept nervously walking around and glancing at her phone that refused to turn on, just like the rest of the electronics Sakura seemed to own, anxiously glancing at Miyu every so often. It was clear that she still didn't trust Miyu, which the woman understood. Miyu stood near the front window, watching to see if she could see anyone.
Once the sun set, the television in the living room lit up. Miyu walked over as Sakura's eyes widened, sitting on the couch.
"WELCOME PLAYERS. THE GAME WILL COMMENCE IN A MOMENT," the writing on the screen greeted them. Sakura and Miyu looked at each other in confusion.
"Game?" Sakura repeated under her breath, turning back to the screen.
The text on the screen changed, showing an arrow that apparently pointed to a game arena. Miyu glanced at Sakura before walking over to the window that the arrow was pointing out of. She opened the door, looking around for any possible places a game could be held. Her eyes widened, noticing red lights in the distance.
"Sakura..." She looked at the schoolgirl. Sakura hesitantly walked over, gasping when she saw the lights. "I'm going to check them out. Maybe we'll find some answers there. Are you going to come with me, or are you going to stay here?"
Sakura glanced at the couch before looking at Miyu again. "I'll go with you. I don't want to be here alone. It's... eerie." Miyu nodded in agreement and the two started the walk towards the lights.
It wasn't too long of a walk. The lights lead to what seemed to be an abandoned factory that caused the hairs on the back of Miyu's neck to stand on end. She glanced at Sakura before walking through the doors, looking around, the girl close behind her. Soft chimes were heard as they walked inside.
Inside, there were already a few people there that looked at the two as they entered. Miyu instinctively straightened her back and met their gazes coldly, walking towards the table in the middle with a sign that read '1 PER PERSON' with phones and what looked to be some form of choker. Miyu grabbed a phone for herself and picked up the thick, collar looking thing and inspected it. She briefly glanced at the others, seeing that they all had the chokers around their necks. She lifted her hair and placed the choker to her neck, the device getting securing itself in place. Miyu felt her throat tighten momentarily before she managed to relax and grabbed a phone, glancing beside her to see Sakura follow her lead.
Miyu turned the phone on. 'FACE RECOGNITION IN PROCESS. PLEASE WAIT FOR A MOMENT'. She glanced at Sakura. "It has face recognition..?" Once the face recognition was complete, she looked at the home screen in confusion. She noticed that there was no signal, and the option to make phone calls had been disabled.
"Please wait for the game to commence. Currently, there are eight participants. Two minutes remaining until registration closes." An electronic woman's voice sounded over the speakers of the factory, showing a 2 minute timer on the screen above the table that had the phones on it. Miyu looked up, finding the speakers before deciding to look at who else was in the place with them.
She saw two other school girls that were in different uniforms to Sakura. An older man that looked like someone's grandfather. A middle aged woman with a perm. A white haired guy with his hood on with a taller woman in a bikini top and jeans that Miyu thought looked awfully familiar. Miyu suddenly felt a bit overdressed in her dress pants, dress shirt and loose tie, but felt relieved that she had forgotten her jacket at the bar, otherwise she might've been embarrassed at her formal appearance compared to the others. At the reminder of her jacket, she also suddenly remember that she had left her inhaler in the pocket of her jacket.
"What is going on?" Sakura whispered. Miyu shrugged.
"We'll figure it out."
"It's a game." Sakura jumped at the deep voice. Miyu looked at her side, seeing the white haired man and woman with locs walking towards them. "Win the game, and you survive."
Sakura's eyes widened. "If I don't win..?"
"You die," The white haired man told her. He nodded towards the doors they had entered through. "There's no going back now. Welcome to the borderlands."
"Thanks for the warm welcome," Miyu mumbled, looking up at the screen as the timer ran down.
There was a chime on their phones as the timer reached 0. Everyone looked at their phones. "Registration is now closed. The game will now commence. Game, Game of Shadows. Difficulty, six of clubs."
"Six of clubs?" Miyu repeated under her breath. "What does that mean?"
"Clubs are team games," The woman chewing on some sort of stick told her. "Diamonds are games where you have to use your logic. Spades are strength games. Heart games are games that play with people's hearts." Miyu looked at her before back at her phone with a small nod.
"Rule 1," The speakers continued, showing the text on the big screen. "Find your team's allocated item within the time limit. Rule 2, avoid the Shadows. Clear condition, be the first team to find your allocated item within the time limit."
The screen showed pictures of them entering the arena. The two school girls, Sakura, and the middle aged woman were all on one team, and the collars around their necks glowed blue. The old man, the white haired man, the tall woman and Miyu were on the other team, their collars glowing red. Sakura's eyes widened as she looked at Miyu.
"No... no, no, Miyu." Her eyes watered as she tried to take the collar off. "No! Put me on the same team as Miyu! I'm going to die!" Miyu put her hands on her shoulders.
"Hey, hey, you're not going to die," She told her softly, knowing full well she was lying through her teeth. "Go over to your teammates and figure out a plan, okay? Just try to find your team's item within the time limit and I'll figure out a way to get us both out of here alive." She gave her a soft smile and Sakura took a deep breath. She nodded before walking over to her teammates and Miyu turned to her own.
"You know there's no way for you both to survive this game, right?" The other woman on the team asked.
Miyu hummed and nodded, looking at her phone. "I figured, but she'll feel better if she thinks that there's a chance than panicking from the start." She looked up at her teammates. "Should we tell each other our names? I'm Miyu."
The old man cleared his throat. "I'm Adachi Riamu."
"Kuina," The woman introduced herself, raising her hand slightly. "He's Chishiya." The man with white hair nodded.
Their phones all chimed, causing their point of focus to change to the screens in their hands.
"Contestants will have thirty minutes to clear the game," The voice that was starting to annoy Miyu announced. "Red team, you will have to find a red key within the hour in complete darkness and must used the flashlights provided to find their way. The Shadows will be attempting to hunt you down."
Miyu cursed under her breath. "Does anyone have a hair tie?"
Kuina and Riamu looked at her and shook their heads. Chishiya took a hair tie off his wrist and offered it to Miyu, the woman thanking him under her breath as she tied her hair back, trying to think of a strategy. "Any ideas?" The old man went to collect the flashlights for the group.
Chishiya hummed. "We should split up. We'll cover more ground."
Riamu returned, holding two flashlights. "There was a sign that said two per group."
"Game, start."
All lights from screens or lightbulbs were flicked off. A few high pitched screams of fear were heard and Miyu felt her chest tighten, but quickly cleared her throat, forcing herself to think of how they could win. "Okay, so we'll split into groups of two. One flashlight each."
"Kuina, you can go with me, and Raimu, you can go with Chishiya," Miyu instructed, grabbing a flashlight from Riamu. "Our collars are still glowing faintly, so use them to identify each other if needed. Also, I suggest we limit the use of the flashlights, it's very sketchy that they're giving us flashlights when people are meant to be hunting us when everything else is completely dark."
The guys nodded, walking off in the darkness. Miyu had to look up at Kuina to make sure she was paying attention to her as she fiddled with the flashlight.
"Alright, let's go," Miyu mumbled, quietly taking a deep breath as she walked. She heard Kuina's sandals from next to her, using the sound to tell where the taller was.
There was a tense silence as they tried to think of where a key could possibly be. Kuina grabbed Miyu's arm and she immediately stopped, turning to her. Miyu's eyes widened as she saw someone dressed from head to toe in all black sneaking up behind the two school girls that weren't Sakura that had their flashlight on with a knife in one hand, gun in the other.
"Hey! Over here!" Miyu yelled, turning her flashlight on and pointing it at what she assumed was a Shadow that was supposed to be hunting them. The girls screamed when they saw the Shadow and ran off, the Shadow turning to Miyu and Kuina and shooting.
"Miyu!" Kuina grabbed Miyu and pulled her away from the Shadow, running behind a wall as Miyu flicked the light off.
Footsteps followed them. Miyu stopped Kuina from running further, standing against a wall. Kuina hesitantly followed and pressed her back against the wall. Miyu pressed her hand and forearm against her neck, covering most of her collar. She reached over and covered Kuina's collar with her arm. Miyu could feel her throat closing up but she forced herself not to cough, nearly choking from the lack of air.
The Shadow turned the corner, and the women froze as they heard the sounds of it's labored breathing. Miyu held her breath until the Shadow walked away, not moving until the footsteps faded away.
Kuina sighed heavily in relief, leaning forward to lean her hands on her knees as Miyu fell into a fit of coughs. "How did that work?"
"I think they're attracted to light," She answered as she wheezed slightly, the coughing fit fading away, fiddling with the flashlight in her grip before pocketing it. "The collars are still glowing faintly, which is how they're probably able to know where we are, even if it's faintly. But when we use the flashlight, they can see more clearly. I'm guessing, it's just a theory."
Kuina nodded. "Gosh, you're smart. What do you do for work?" Miyu didn't reply, walking off and feeling around for the key. She didn't walk too fast or far until she heard Kuina behind her again. Kuina tapped her arm, Miyu turning to her.
"Give me the flashlight," She whispered and Miyu handed it to her, their fingers momentarily brushing.
A loud gunshot followed by a scream echoed through the arena. Miyu froze, eyes widening as she listened to the scream and sobs as footsteps pounded against the concrete.
"Give me that key!" A woman's voice yelled, pointing her flashlight at Miyu and Kuina. Miyu blinked and squinted to look at her as Kuina spotted the black key with small, glowing blue dots in the same shade as the other team's collars scattered around the key hanging on the wall behind them. The woman that had a collar that flowed blue launched towards them with a scream that chilled Miyu. Kuina quickly grabbed the key and threw it to Miyu.
The businesswoman cursed and managed to somehow catch it despite being uncoordinated. The woman turned to her and screamed again, running at her faster than Miyu swore she had seen athletes run. Adrenaline was always interesting to Miyu. She ran off, navigating through the twisting corridors of the factory, taking note of the sound of flats and sandals both slapping against the tiles, meaning that Kuina and the blue woman were both close behind.
Miyu pressed a hand against her mouth as she slipped behind a wall, forcing her pants and wheezes to quiet down. The woman with the blue collar stopped in the main hallway not far from Miyu. Her eyes widened, breath hitching as she tightened her grip around the key until she felt the ridges dig into her skin.
"Fifteen minutes remaining," The speakers announced, Miyu jumping at the sudden sound. "Three players remain on the blue team. Four players remain on the red team."
Miyu slipped out from the wall, finally coughing and catching her breath freely as the woman walked away. She felt her mind wonder to Sakura, wondering if she had been the blue player to get killed. Kuina stepped out from behind a wall as well, arms crossed over her chest as she stood with Miyu.
Miyu looked at the key in her hand, noticing that her hand was unable to stay still. "This feels like cheating."
Kuina took the little stick that she was chewing on out of her mouth with a scoff. "Would you have preferred that she got the key, won the game, and we all died? Just because you feel bad?" Miyu pursed her lips.
She jumped as she heard a series of gunshots, followed by screams once again. Miyu stepped back behind a wall, Kuina close behind as the two immediately stopped talking.
"I'm hoping Chishiya and Raimu are close to the key," Kuina muttered. Miyu nodded in agreement, pulling Kuina behind the wall completely as she heard the slow, steady and heavy footsteps that Miyu recognised belonged to someone wearing boots. Based on the calmness of the person's steps, Miyu also assumed the person was a Shadow. Miyu pressed a hand against her mouth in fear as the footsteps momentarily paused on the other side of the wall. She didn't relax or breathe deeply until she heard the footsteps fade out into the distance.
"Fucking hell," Kuina sighed as she leaned forward, her hands against her thighs. Miyu nodded, leaning her head back.
"Ten minutes remaining."
Miyu glanced around the corner, feeling slight relief when the coast was clear. "Come on. We should keep moving. Also, pay attention to the walls. The blue key was hung on a nail on the wall." She glanced at the key in her hand before shoving it into her pant pocket and the two continued to walk.
A bullet whistled through the air and landed in Miyu's stomach. She cursed loudly, pressing her hand against her stomach in pain as her knees buckled. Kuina yelled her name and managed to catch her before she hit the floor, pulling Miyu away and put an arm over her shoulders as she dodged a series of rapid fire bullets.
"Why didn't we hear them?" Miyu grunted in pain, eyes squeezing shut in pain as she tried to remember what had happened before she blacked out in pain. They were walking without talking, Miyu was thinking about the key in her pocket and the sound that Kuina's sandals made on the concrete floor.
"It doesn't matter!" Kuina glanced around the corner. "It's a Shadow. We have to run or fight them."
"Yeah, because I'm in a great position to fight." Miyu coughed, wiping her mouth as blood dribbled down her chin.
Kuina let out a sharp sigh. "When I said we, I meant me, dumbass."
Miyu didn't reply, instead opting to struggle to get up with weak legs and a hand pressed against her stomach. "Let's just try to make a run for it. Play hide and seek. We don't have enough time to fight."
Kuina hesitated but sighed before grabbing Miyu's arm and put it over her shoulder, helping her walk in the darkest parts of the halls as the sounds of heavy steps and gunshots followed them.
"Miyu!" A familiar voice yelled and a flashlight was suddenly pointed at them. Sakura ran over to the two and Miyu moved her arm from around Kuina to snatch Sakura's flashlight and turn it off.
"Shh, there's one following us. They're attracted to light and probably sound as well," Miyu whispered, grabbing Sakura's arm and pulled her behind them. She struggled to walk without assistance, the blood loss starting to kick in. Kuina kept a hand ghosting her arm in silent support as Miyu lead them.
Sakura gasped quietly. "Miyu, are you okay? You're bleeding a lot. Your shirt was white, I remember, a really fancy dress white dress shirt and you had suit pants on. But- but now there's a big red stain. Are you hurt?"
Miyu didn't reply, focusing on trying to navigate and see any Shadows that might creep up on them. The Shadow that had been following them had seemingly found a new target and forgotten about them as they heard screams and gunshots coming from that area. Kuina answered for Miyu. "A Shadow came out of nowhere and Miyu got shot. She'll be okay, though, I swear."
Sakura scrunched her nose and played with the hem of her skirt as she glanced worriedly at Miyu's stomach. "I hope so... I don't know what I'd do without Miyu. She's all I have now, even if we just met. I'd be all by myself without her."
"No need to talk about me like I'm not here," Miyu muttered over her shoulder, glancing at her pocket. She didn't dare look back at Sakura, knowing that the pain from guilt after seeing Sakura's face dimly lit with only the blue light from the collar would pain her more than the bullet wound would.
"Five minutes remaining. Three players remaining on the red team. Three players remaining on the blue team." Kuina let out a sharp, worried breath.
Out of nowhere, Miyu collapsed to her knees, clutching her stomach with a groan. Sakura gasped her name, rushing to her side as Kuina kneeled next to her, carefully watching their surroundings.
"Miyu, what's wrong, are you okay?" Sakura worried.
"I'm fine," She grunted, taking deep breaths. "Just hurts a bit, I'll be fine in a minute." Kuina scoffed.
True to her word, less than a minute later, Miyu struggled to get back up. Her legs shook and her knees nearly gave out, finding herself heavily reliant to use Kuina as a makeshift walking staff. In the process, the key fell from her pocket. Kuina noticed before Miyu did, putting her foot over it as Sakura saw the blue glint. The schoolgirl gasped.
"Is that..." Her eyes widened as she looked at Miyu. Miyu avoided her gaze.
The lights flicked on.
"Game cleared. Congratulation, Red Team. The remaining Blue Team and Shadows will be eliminated."
Miyu covered her sniffle with a cough as she straightened, Kuina moving her foot away to let Sakura see the blue key. The school girl's teary eyes filled with betrayal.
"That- that's cheating!" She screamed, her voice breaking as the tears flowed over. "They cheated! They had the key. Eliminate them!" She wiped her running nose messily with the back of her hand, glaring at Miyu. "How could you?! I-I trusted you! You promised that you would find a way out of this together!"
"I didn't promise, my words that are not promises are just empty, Sakura," Miyu corrected her, looking at the high ceiling of the factory. "We will both leave the factory... but only one of us will be alive. I'm sorry, Sakura."
"I hate you!" Sakura cried. She screamed as she heard an explosion, everyone turning to see a Shadow not far from them with blood sprayed on the area around them, the collar that had a faint white glow around their neck remaining untouched. Her eyes widened as she realized her fate, clawing at her neck around the collar. She started pleading and begging to be saved.
Miyu felt her eyes watered and she forced herself to step away. More explosions in the distance followed, causing Sakura's panic to increase. She ran to Miyu and Kuina desperately, and the taller woman immediately pulled them away and kept Sakura at a distance.
"I'm sorry, Sakura," Miyu whispered, blinking quickly and lowered her head.
Sakura couldn't even respond before another explosion echoed through the area. Miyu froze as blood splattered against her suit and skin, her breath choking in her throat. Slowly, Kuina lifted her hand to wipe her cheek and flicked the blood away.
. . .
"So I don't have to compete in any games for six days?" Miyu looked the card that she had received after the game over, twisting it between her fingers. "I... I have to survive games to get a visa to live in my own country?"
Kuina cracked a slight smile as Chishiya searched for the bullet in Miyu's stomach with a pair of tweezers.
Kuina nodded in response. "Who knows, we might see you at the next game. You're pretty smart from what I saw, so I'll want to work with you if there's ever a diamonds game."
Miyu winced and groaned as Chishiya pulled the bullet out. She bit down on her hand, eyes screwing in pain. She had always had a high pain tolerance, which was how she was able to continue the game with a bullet in her stomach and internal bleeding without passing out or much of a reaction, and how she was able to let Chishiya cut her open and retrieve the bullet while laying on a random sofa with no painkillers. Despite the process not being too painful in itself, the removal was a pain in the ass.
"She should come to the Beach," Kuina commented as she watched Chishiya drop the bullet in a bowl they had found in the house. Chishiya looked at her and the two paused what they were doing as they seemed to have a silent conversation with their eyes.
Miyu cleared her throat. "Not to interrupt, but my insides are still exposed to the outside if mister doctor over here would like to change that, thank you." Chishiya turned his attention back to Miyu and glanced at Kuina one last time before grabbing a strip of duct tape. Kuina held the skin together and Chishishiya taped the skin close.
Kuina insisted on staying with Miyu for a bit longer, saying that she didn't want Miyu to die alone if anything went wrong after Chishiya's makeshift surgery. However, not long after, the two excused themselves to a room to have a conversation. Despite their efforts to be quiet and not disturb Miyu's rest, the businesswoman could still hear everything.
"We're leaving the Beach. Do you really want to drag her into it? She's young and smart with good observation and stealth skills. The Beach will take advantage of that, and there's no guarantee that we'll be able to save her when we leave."
"She needs proper care and treatment. You were right about what you said about her and the Beach, but our plans also have holes in them. She could patch those, Chishiya."
"So you want to use an innocent person for our own benefit." There was a small silence before a slight chuckle. "I didn't know you were like that, Kuina."
"I'm not! I'm just saying, if we help her, she could help us."
Miyu looked at the ceiling before back at her stomach. Her bottom buttons were still undone, so she could see the duct tape holding her skin together. She stood up, deciding to look for food as she heard her stomach rumble.
"You shouldn't be walking around yet." A deep voice interrupted her as she looked through the pantry. Miyu jumped and turned, glancing at Chishiya to acknowledge that she had heard him before turn in back to resume her search.
"You two need to get better at talking quietly," Miyu told him over her shoulder. "I could hear you loud and clear."
Chishiya laughed humorlessly, arms crossed over his chest. "Ah, you did? So?"
"So, I'm not going with you two." She grabbed a packet of chips and turned to face him, leaning against the counter. "I'll do just fine on my own, thank you."
Chishiya nodded. "In that case, Kuina and I will be leaving. See you eventually, Miyu." Miyu ate her chips silently as she watched the two gather their things and leave the house. Once they left, it was silent once again. Miyu heard a faint mouse squeaking in the distance.