Chapter Text
You arrived at the manor after spending the day out; you had been invited just merely a couple months ago, compared to the many months and years some of the others had spent here. But you found it wasn’t exactly all that bad. You came under the guise of money, which of course, wasn’t provided. The freedom of being able to leave was the only thing keeping you sane, although you seemed to be confined to a little city in the middle of nowhere. You had only reached what most people called the “border” once, only to find that it was fenced off from the rest of the world. The fence was far too high to climb also, so you were basically stuck here the rest of your life. It’s not like you were getting out of here anytime soon, might as well make the best of what you have.
In your time, you’d made some friends. Especially Demi, who you considered your best friend and spent most of your time with. She enjoyed making you new drinks to test run for her. And as you walked back through the manor doors, there she was on the living room couch, waiting for you.
“Y/N!! There you are!”
You grinned at her. “Well don’t you seem excited. I wasn’t gone for that long!”
“I know. But I got some bad news for ya. You got a match at 7.” Her smile dropped.
“Ugh, God, seriously?” You rubbed your temples. The last thing you wanted today was another match, especially after how the last one today went. A total loss, and only 2 ciphers done. Not your best moment.
She just hummed in response, gesturing to the large screen on the wall beside you two that flickered between the matches that day.
And there you were, scheduled for Arms Factory at 7. With Fiona, Luca, and Andrew. The hunter was Joseph, who you definitely didn’t like, but was manageable. He just made decoding hell, but it would probably be fine with Luca. You checked the watch on your wrist, and it was 6:30. You closed your eyes and let out a sigh, mentally preparing yourself when you felt a pat on your back.
“It’ll be okay, you got this.” Demi said, offering what little moral support she could.
“Thank you. I need to get going.” You said, giving her a quick hug before making your way to the hallway with the maps.
Your ability wasn’t all it was chalked up to be; you could make certain potions under certain conditions that would have different effects, such as stunning the hunter or giving you a speed boost. It wasn’t much, but your ambition to find the ingredients gives you a 10% vaulting and interaction buff, but a 5% decoding debuff. You were mainly an assister, but sometimes were able to contain the hunter for long periods of time.
As you entered the doors to the lobby of the Arms Factory, you were greeted by the familiar brown haired prisoner and the pink haired priestess sitting beside him. You took a seat beside Fiona and made the peeper on the table fetch you a dish. You hadn’t ate since returning to the manor, and you didn’t feel like passing out in the middle of the match. It was now 6:50, and you’d been enjoying your sandwich for a solid 5 minutes.
“That sandwich good?” Luca asked.
“Oh shut up, I was hungry.” You rolled your eyes and playfully swatted at him. As the minutes ticked by, you were beginning to wonder where your fourth teammate was.
“…Where’s Andrew? Won’t they penalize him for being late?” Fiona asked, saying the question in your mind out loud.
“Who knows with that guy. Probably avoiding it as long as he can. I can’t blame him.” Luca answered.
You and Fiona nodded and you gave your plate to the peeper again. As the clock struck 6:58, Andrew finally walked in.
“There you are!” Luca greeted him as he sat down. Andrew just nodded.
And as the countdown to the match ended, you closed your eyes, bracing for the journey to the factory.
This match was already going better than the last, 3 ciphers were done and only you and Fiona were injured. Luca was connected to your cipher, transferring all 48% in an effort to finish it before the camera world ended so you didn’t lose so much progress. But before you could get the cipher to 90%, you felt the sharp pang of Joseph’s sword on your back.
You cried out. Getting terror shocked was horrible, let alone by the man with a sword. Your previous injuries didn’t help either. Your heart never beat, so you just assumed he teleported from the camera world. Falling on the ground, dejected, you just yelled at the others to focus on decoding. You would rather get sent off in the rocket chair and the others escape than risk a loss. However, near your chair, Andrew responded to a portal from Fiona and went to rescue you. It was his obligation, after all. He burrowed underground to avoid taking a hit. He didn’t want to be left on last effort when he rescued you. In the meantime, Luca had finished your cipher with the transmission and Fiona was working on priming a cipher.
And while you were distracted by all this, Andrew quickly unlatched you from the chair. “Thank you!” You called out, running as fast as you could from the photographer. But you received no response as Andrew just simply ran behind you. He didn’t get hit out of his shovel, he just rescued you while he was at ease. He couldn’t burrow now though, it would take too long and you would be left for dead. But as you threw down a pallet, he decided to leave you and run to Fiona’s cipher. Yet again, you were struck by the sword, but nearly as soon as you were, the noise of the final cipher popping rang through your ears and you shot back up. You know you wouldn’t make it out, he was determined to eliminate you since he chaired you once. Stunning Joseph for a few seconds, you could see the outline of everyone as you booked it to the exit gate. As you neared it, you saw the trail of dirt that was Andrew in the ground. He looped behind you and took a hit for you, popping out of the ground. You were almost out. Sadly for him, Joseph’s hit recovery is extremely fast and Andrew got knocked down. He was able to crawl out at the last second, earning you a 4 man win.
Despite your injuries, you found yourself cheering when you all arrived back at the manor. You knew you, Andrew, and Fiona would have to visit Emily to treat your injuries. Luca was fine, but he still stuck around to make sure everyone made it okay, especially you and Andrew since you both sustained the worst injuries. You had a gash on your back that had since stopped bleeding, as well as a few bruises. Nothing you hadn’t experienced before. Andrew was quite the same. Fiona would probably end up just taking pain medication and calling it a day. As you all made it to Emily’s office, Luca left you three be and you made your way inside.
“Rough match?” She asked, ushering you to a table as the other two took a seat in the corner.
“Not so bad, we got a 4 man win.” You said.
“So what’s wrong?” She proceeded to put her gloves on.
You lifted up the back of your shirt to show her the gash. It wasn’t far up your back, so you didn’t really care about having the others leave the room in fear of seeing you borderline shirtless. Yet still, you noticed Andrew look away awkwardly. Understandable, he was a guy. And also a stranger. You were acquainted with Fiona at least, but you never talked to Andrew. Then again, he didn’t talk to anyone really. He tended to keep to himself.
Emily quite literally snapped at you, forcing you out of your thoughts.
“Y/N? Hello? How long ago did this happen?”
“O-oh, sorry.. um, about 10-ish minutes ago I guess..” you muttered, still holding your shirt.
“Okay, I’ll clean it up a little bit and bandage it and you’ll be on your way. Who’s next?” The doctor asked, cleaning your wound with peroxide. It stung, and you hissed in pain.
“Me I guess..” Andrew said, still not taking his eyes off the truly intriguing plain gray cabinets on the wall.
Those were the first words you’d heard him speak since the match.
“Oh! By the way Andrew, thank you for the body block. You saved me.” You said as Emily finished wrapping up the gash.
“Y-you’re welcome.” The pale man responded. You smiled at him, but he only made brief eye contact with you before looking away, startled.
He seemed like a scared dog, but he seemed sweet. But at his reluctance to talk to you, you only walked out of the room with a small wave to the both of them.
This time, Andrew reciprocated.