Chapter Text
It had taken him some time to remember.
For the first three weeks after waking in the hospital he had no idea why he kept having the recurrent nightmares that would send him hurtling over the edge of his bed in the wee hours of the morning, vomiting the entirety of his stomach out into the nearest receptacle. Even seeing the short-haired girl- Usagi- by the vending machines hadn’t made him remember. He had only thought of her as perhaps a kindred spirit.
Even though it took him a while to remember, eventually he did remember. Bits and pieces had flown back into his mind through dreams, flashes of deja vu seeing that woman with locs in the hospital, the girl in a wheelchair missing half a leg, the man with the stern expression and a shaved head in the canteen.
He’d remembered fully the day he was discharged- he’d been sitting outdoors by the hospital cafe with his brother and Usagi, chatting over cups of coffee. A group of friends nearby had been playing cards- he’d caught sight of one of the cards, blown into the air by the breeze as the friends playfully discussed who’d go get it.
A seven of hearts.
All at once then it came to him- the blood, the look on Karube’s face as he’d refused to meet his eyes- the sounds of the explosion, the Beach, Mira’s laughing face on the screens, Kyuma, Tatta bleeding out beside the storage containers, the King of Spades, holding Usagi’s hand as fireworks erupted in the air around them.
Hajime told him he’d frozen up, his gaze fixed on the fluttering seven of hearts as it flew away, carried by the wind. His eyes had rolled back in his head and he’d slumped into his chair, unconscious, even as Hajime and Usagi had panickedly called for a nurse.
That was a month ago. Shortly after he’d woken he’d gotten Usagi to remember, poking and prodding her where it hurt and asking her insistent, painful questions that had left her in tears. He hated to do that to her, but it would have been cruel not to tell her- he was done holding the fate of others in his hand. Even if it was agony for her to remember, withholding such information from her wasn’t a decision he was qualified to make.
They’d found the others one by one. Kuina, who hardly took any convincing at all before the memories flooded back into her as well. Ann, still weak from her operation but bright-eyed with the same razor-sharp clarity he remembered, was fairly quick to the uptake as well. Aguni still hadn’t woken, but they’d found Heiya who had seemingly managed to remember on her own.
All that was left was Chishiya. The nurses told them he’d been discharged two months ago- he could be anywhere by now.
If I know anything about Chishiya , Ryouhei thought sarcastically, he probably remembered all on his own from sheer brain power .
Ryouhei didn’t expect Chishiya to ever return to the hospital- if he remembered them he might contact Kuina once she was discharged and only Kuina. Stepping into the place swarming with Borderlands survivors was not a smart move if he wanted to stay incognito, and he was clearly trying to stay under the radar by disappearing for two months.
He’d resigned himself to never seeing Chishiya again. He was a little disappointed- part of him wanted closure, wanted to give Chishiya a good whack for taking the bullet for Usagi even as he was desperately grateful, wanted to shake him by the collar of his stupid white jacket. Kuina had promised she’d track him down once she was out and give him a hard smack on the head, but Ryouhei had been quietly disappointed anyway.
Which was why it was such a surprise when two days before Ann was set to be discharged, when he, Kuina, Usagi and Heiya were clustered in her room and joking lightly about the face card games they’d been in, the door opened and a nervous-looking nurse stepped in.
“Um,’ she began, clutching onto her clipboard. ‘One of the other victims of the incident in Shibuya is here, and he has stated that he knows all of you.” She stepped aside and opened the door wider.
Kuina was the first to react. “You bastard,’ she practically screeched as she leapt out of her chair. ‘You had us all thinking you were either dead or had forgotten!” She launched herself at the smirking figure in the doorway. He neatly sidestepped her, but allowed her to sling her arm around his neck and pull him into an aggressive noogie that bordered on a chokehold. Usagi had one hand over her mouth, but the corners of her eyes revealed her small smile.
Ryouhei was stuck frozen staring at him. Heiya leaned over and tapped his arm. “Who’s that?” she hissed. “Another survivor?”
He swallowed with some difficulty. “That’s Chishiya,” he whispered back. “He was with us for a while. Diamonds player.”
Chishiya’s eyes met his and his smirk widened, lifting one hand lazily to wave. “Yo, Arisu,” he said, swatting Kuina’s flailing arm away gently. “Been a while.”
Ryouhei nodded slowly. “Chishiya,” he said, letting a smile slip its way onto his face. “We were wondering where you went.”
Behind them on the bed, Ann coughed lightly. “Took you long enough,” she said as she sipped her water. “We all thought you didn’t remember.”
Chishiya shrugged. “It took a while for everything to come back to me. I remembered the first day I got back to school. You can imagine how that went.”
Kuina snorted. “What school did you even go to? I can’t imagine you in a classroom.”
“I’m a medical student,” he said, wiggling a little as she reluctantly let him go and returned to her seat. “Specialising in cardiothoracic surgery.”
Usagi wrinkled her nose. “Cardiothora-what?”
“General heart treatment, basically. We were in the middle of a lab, too. Accidentally splashed some blood on my scrubs, had a whole bunch of flashbacks holding a scalpel, not fun.”
Ann smiled. “That makes sense. I can imagine you made a bit of a scary sight.”
“Convulsing on the ground, crying, screaming, the whole deal.”
“The day I see a single tear come out of your eyes is the day hell freezes over,” Usagi said dryly. “Never mind the screaming or convulsing.”
With that the atmosphere lightened- Ryouhei found himself laughing genuinely as Chishiya rolled his eyes and muttered something about it not being that bad and I even took a bullet for you, how heartless . He and Heiya introduced themselves quickly.
“By the way,” he said, frowning at the cup of water Ann had given him. “Bit of bad news, our favourite cockroach Niragi survived.”
Ryouhei’s heart sank. He’d tried, near the end, to not serve Niragi up as personal bait for the King of Spades, moving him behind a car even despite the hatred bubbling up in his throat at the sight of that burned face. He still hated him, but he’d assumed he’d died in the time between their three-person Mexican standoff and clearing the Queen of Hearts.
“How?” Usagi asked. “He was in terrible shape. He was running on fumes by the time he shot you, never mind Arisu nailing him in the chest with that shotgun.”
Chishiya shrugged. “Beats me. I woke up in the same room as him- didn’t know why he looked so vaguely familiar until I remembered.”
Kuina mock-gagged. “That fucker was your roommate?”
“Niragi was one of the militants at the beach,” Ryouhei explained at Heiya’s curious look. “He was a real piece of shit.” Her expression cleared. “Oh, the place Aguni came from.”
“Speaking of which, how is Aguni?” Chishiya inquired. “I’m assuming he’s alive considering you guys can still speak of him.”
“Yeah, he’s doing okay,” Heiya said, picking at a loose thread on her skirt. “He woke up yesterday remembering everything and he’s mostly mobile but he didn’t want to come.”
“Come to girls’ night in Ann’s room? No way,” Kuina said. “He’s not exactly an Arisu.”
Ryouhei frowned. “Hey, what’s that supposed to mean?” The four women all laughed. “You’re just… kind of the opposite of someone like Aguni,” Usagi giggled. “I mean… look at you.”
“Hey!” Ryouhei protested, offended. “I shot Niragi! That counts for something, right?”
Chishiya snorted. “Neither of us have ever been spades players, let’s just admit it.”
Ryouhei sighed. “That’s fair, I guess. I’m glad to be part of the girls.”
“Speaking of being part of the girls, you desperately need a haircut,” Kuina muttered. “Your bird’s nest gives me anger issues.”
Self-conscious, Ryouhei rubbed at his admittedly messy hair. “Haven’t exactly had the time.”
“You were discharged a month ago, Arisu.” Usagi pinched him. “That’s plenty of time. Do you have separation anxiety from your knots, is that it?”
“Don’t make fun of me, Usagi, it wasn’t exactly on my list of priorities!” He protested. “Make fun of Chishiya, he had a Nile River’s worth of roots growing out!” He got a smack from Chishiya at that, who endured Kuina’s merciless laughing with more grace than Ryouhei thought he was capable of. Their bodies had remained like they were before the meteor, so Chishiya’s root growth from the Borderlands was gone, replaced by a full head of stark-white bleached hair.
“I thought I pulled off the pudding-head look quite well.”
Usagi hummed. “I think we all looked surprisingly good after the Beach burnt down, considering we never got a real shower. I’m so glad I never have to bathe in a river again.”
Ryouhei shuddered at the memory of enduring the icy shock of river water. “Towels are a luxury I definitely took for granted.”
“Privilege check,” Heiya said, twirling a lock of her once-again perfect hair around her finger. “My nails looked horrible there, it was all I could think about for a little while.”
“Speaking of the Beach, Hatter said we could take drugs if we wanted, did anyone ever actually do it? I don’t think I ever saw anyone high.” Ryouhei asked.
Ann sighed. “No, he was just being dramatic. There were no drugs, we couldn’t find any. He regularly sent teams to look for more alcohol though.”
That sent most of them into giggles once again. Kuina was able to wrestle Chishiya into staying for lunch while Ryouhei tapped away on his phone, taking everyone’s udon orders. Picking up food delivery at one of the busiest hospitals in Tokyo was a proper nightmare, especially after a huge disaster like the Shibuya meteor, so it took Ryouhei the better part of fifteen minutes to navigate his way back to Ann’s room after picking up the bags of udon. As he neared the door of her room he paused- he could hear hushed voices.
“-sure he’s over it?”
“I don’t think so- he’s been a lot more withdrawn lately.” That was Usagi.
“Who can blame him? We’re all quieter.” Heiya.
“No, I mean he hardly talks to anyone but his brother, you guys and I. Even the nurses can scarcely get a word out of him.”
“That makes sense. Arisu’s always been quiet.” He was surprised to hear Chishiya’s voice weigh in.
“Doesn’t mean I’m not worried. Surprisingly I feel fine after leaving. I’m just so relieved to be out that I’m not thinking about it much.”
“Yeah, me too. The real world feels so much brighter. I mean, even the hospital food was gourmet compared to the canned shit we lived off of.”
“Speaking of which- Arisu should be back with that udon soon.” Chishiya said, clearing his throat.
Figuring that was his cue, Ryouhei pushed open the door with his shoulder. “Order up, guys! Be grateful, took me forever to get it.”
Usagi clapped her hands together excitedly. “Ooh! I want my nikujaga!”
Laughing, Ryouhei set the bags down and started sorting through the various bowls of udon, soup and toppings. “Okay… the nikujaga for Usagi, pork curry for Kuina, spicy hiyashi ham for Ann, sesame satay for Heiya, miso karaage for Chishiya, and shrimp tempura for me! Speaking of which, who’s going to deliver Aguni the tomato beef Heiya ordered for him, it’s sure not going to be me.” After a short while of bickering they flagged down a nurse who didn’t seem to be busy and asked her to deliver the food, to which she readily agreed. Heiya went with her and was back within minutes, smugly announcing that Aguni had taken the food and had even thanked her, to which they all applauded.
Ryouhei was already halfway through his noodles by the time she returned, famished from skipping breakfast. He never had much of an appetite nowadays, but whenever he was with the other survivors it seemed his body remembered how scarce food had been in the Borderlands and his stomach roared back to life. Hajime had remarked he’d lost enough weight that he now appeared much skinnier than before- this was in fact the weight Ryouhei remembered for himself, the way he’d been in the Borderlands. Upon waking he’d been almost scared by his rounder cheeks and the small line of fat around his stomach. It seemed indulgent, somehow, to even look at the remnants of his previous life.
“Arisu, I booked you an appointment with a hairdresser while you were gone, you’re going tomorrow.” Kuina said, waving her phone between bites. “I can’t look at you if you’re going to keep cosplaying a pom-pom.”
“Ehhhh?! Kuina, have mercy on me!” He quickly stole his bowl away as she made a grab for his last piece of shrimp. “What, you’re gonna torture my hair and steal my food? Seriously?”
She smirked. “Tax for making sure you look your best! Now that you’ve washed your face for the first time in months, I can actually tell you have a jawline instead of a line of dirt.”
He tried to smack her but she nailed him with a light slap on the head and he gave up. Can’t compete with a karate black belt.
The rest of lunch was easy. They dispersed from Ann’s room one by one- Chishiya first, who claimed he had an assignment he needed to finish for school, then Kuina to go take care of her mother, then Heiya who went to check in on Aguni, then Ryouhei. Usagi stayed to keep Ann company for a little while longer.
Ryouhei went home feeling happy but somewhat uneasy, knowing his friends were secretly worried about him enough to talk behind his back about it.
.
The party for Ann’s discharge from the hospital was elegant and subtle, just like Ann herself. Usagi booked a table at a fancy Western brunch spot, Ryouhei and his terrible English struggled through ordering, and Chishiya ordered a pudding and tea and was done before the rest of them had even received their coffees.
He was surprised Chishiya had shown up, and he said as much. The man shrugged and said he was off class today since his school had forcibly made him take only a part-time student’s schedule since the meteor crash.
Aguni hadn’t come, but he hadn’t been discharged yet, and he seemed content to be alone most days. Heiya visited him five times a week, but he never let her stay for more than an hour each time. Ryouhei made it a habit to start buying cheap silly-looking hats from tourist stores and leaving them in Aguni’s room every week, which Heiya had informed him Aguni appreciated in his gruff way.
They hadn’t heard a word about Niragi. Chishiya had moved out as soon as he was able to, citing he had disliked Niragi on sight despite not remembering him at the time, and none of them were willing to go looking for his room. Ryouhei was content to pretend he no longer existed.
It was when he was halfway through his smoked salmon and avocado waffle (what a weird creation- it tasted pretty good though) that all their phones pinged at the same time. Frowning, Ann checked her screen.
“It’s an invitation from the hospital,’ she said, tapping through the email. ‘Mandatory group counseling session. It seems some of the other survivors started talking and they’re trying to figure out if they should send us all for psychiatric help.”
Usagi sighed. “I guess it does sound pretty crazy. Playing death games for our lives in a deserted apocalyptic Tokyo? I wouldn’t believe it either.”
“What do you mean by mandatory?” Kuina inquired. “How mandatory? Frankly I’d like to skip.”
Chishiya pointed at a specific line in the email. “If we don’t show up, they’re allowed to ask our families for permission to put us in actual therapy. I don’t know about the rest of you, but I sure don’t want my parents thinking I’m insane.”
Ryouhei groaned. “My dad would freak . Not to mention Hajime.”
Usagi wrinkled her brow. “Well, if all of you have to go, I might as well go with you.”
So it was then that they went.
The group counseling was being held at the same hospital they’d been treated at, in a large, luxurious-looking meeting room. They’d picked up Aguni, who seemed reluctant to be seen with them, but didn’t have room to oppose as Heiya insistently tied her jacket on the back of his wheelchair where he couldn’t reach and wouldn’t take it off no matter how much he squirmed. So, with Kuina pushing Aguni’s wheelchair (he’d put his foot down and refused Chishiya as a helper) and Ryouhei pushing Heiya’s wheelchair, they made their way to the meeting room.
Several other people were already there, sitting in padded leather chairs and looking quite uncomfortable. A nurse was sitting at a small table by the door, checking in each person. They approached her, and she looked surprised to see so many of them in a group.
“Names and ages please?” she asked pleasantly. “One by one, if you would.”
Glancing around, Ryouhei stepped forward first. “Arisu Ryouhei. Nine- sorry, eighteen.” He’d celebrated his “birthday” in the Borderlands by getting first pick of the sweeter granola bars at the Beach- it had honestly been pretty great, but he was still eighteen in the real world.
Kuina snickered. “Baby of the group.” Heiya nudged her. “I’m younger!”
“Sorry, I forgot you’re still in high school.”
The nurse marked down his name on the sheet and smiled. “Usagi Yuzuha, nineteen.” Usagi pointed at her name on the check-in sheet. “That’s me right there.”
“I’m Kuina Hikari, twenty-one.”
“Heiya Akane, seventeen.”
“Ann Rizuna, twenty-six.”
“Chishiya Shuntarou, twenty-five.”
“Aguni Morizono, twenty-eight.”
“So Ann’s the big sister of the group, hmm?” Ryouhei mused. “It’s weird we never got to know each other’s ages. I just knew Aguni was older than the rest of us.”
Ann sighed and adjusted the medical alert bracelet around her wrist. “I’m surprised I’m older than Chishiya.”
The man in question shrugged. “I got into med school early.”
“It makes sense Ann’s the oldest lady, she’s the one with the legit job.” Kuina said. “Being a forensic scientist or whatever sounds so cool.”
Chishiya frowned. “Doctors aren’t cool?”
“You’re not certified,” Usagi said primly, biting back a laugh. “You don’t count.”
He sighed mockingly. “I try my best in school and this is what I get.”
The nurse giggled. “You all seem like close friends! Please take a seat inside.”
There were a few seats empty near the back of the room, so they shuffled aside a few spots to settle Heiya and Aguni’s wheelchairs. They only had to wait a few more minutes before most of the seats were filling up.
Suddenly Usagi tensed, her hand coming to grip Ryouhei’s arm tightly. Startled, he followed her gaze to see the last person he ever wanted to encounter again.
Niragi Suguru looked even worse than he had in the Borderlands, and that was quite something to say. At least three-quarters of his head was wrapped tightly in bandages, giving him the appearance of something out of a horror movie- only his eyes and his lower chin were uncovered. He was also in a wheelchair, being pushed by a nervous-looking nurse. His legs were wrapped in casts, and his torso was covered in padding. He looked like a mummy from that American film.
Despite that, he was still instantly recognisable from his dark eyes to his curled lip and the same piercings on his ears that Ryouhei remembered. Ryouhei placed his hand over Usagi’s to try to offer her some comfort- she was meeting Niragi’s challenging gaze head-on, as strong as she always was. Ryouhei’s chest swelled with pride- Usagi was really amazing.
“Yo, you idiots,” Niragi sneered. “You’re all here.” His voice was shot- croaky and almost unrecognisable.
Kuina let out a sharp, mocking laugh. “Wow, you’re still kicking. You really are like a cockroach- stinking and hard to kill.”
The nurse looked terrified at the hostility now actively permeating the room. The others in the room, some of whom surely recognised a few of them, were sizing them up with calculating gazes- the Borderlands made survivors instead of people.
Niragi snorted. “You always manage to piss me off.”
Chishiya smirked. “How are your burns healing up? Any scarring?”
“Shut the fuck up, you smug bastard,” Niragi spat. “You did this to me.”
Chishiya shrugged. “No I didn’t, it was the meteor. Don’t blame me for that.”
“You were the one who set me on fire!”
The nurse squeaked and ran out of the room, though Ryouhei scarcely noticed.
“How could I set you on fire? I was trapped under some rubble, the doctors tell me. If I was close enough to you to set you on fire, then I would’ve been burned as well. Alas,” he spread his arms mockingly. “I’m perfectly well.”
“Fuck you!” Niragi yelled, leaning forward in his wheelchair and bursting out into a spray of coughs. A different nurse, older and expressionless, entered the room and pushed Niragi’s wheelchair far away from them despite his hacking protests. Chishiya sighed. “I hate that guy.”
Ryouhei raised an eyebrow. “He did shoot you.”
Before Chishiya could respond, a doctor stepped into the room. He was middle-aged, his hair sprinkled with grey, and tall, with a stern expression on his face. He didn’t wear a doctor’s white coat but it was clear he was a medical professional from the authority with which he carried himself and the clipboard and work ID he carried tucked to his chest. He was dressed in sharp grey trousers, a white linen blazer and a pair of square glasses, taking the seat at the very front of the room. Next to him was a younger doctor wearing a white coat carrying a laptop.
“My name is Dr. Nakayama,” he said, with a voice even more serious than his face. He looked like someone who had never learnt to spell the word fun. “I will be the one leading this counseling session today. The purpose of our meeting is to discuss these visions you have all had about participating in deadly games within a desolate Tokyo” His tone was lightly derisive, as if he was writing off their experiences as psychosis without a second thought. Ryouhei disliked him immediately.
“We will begin with self-introductions. I will ask you all to describe these games you participated in.” He nodded at a twitchy woman sitting next to him. “We will begin with you. State your name, age and occupation.”
She looked startled to be put on the spot, but cleared her throat. “Amano Isuzu. I’m thirty-four, I’m an elementary school teacher. Umm, the first game I was in was the five of clubs. We had to work together to piece together a working radio transmitter from random things in the junkyard. Luckily we had a technician with us.” She glanced nervously at the others in the room. “Afterwards, I ended up at a place called… the Beach.”
Ryouhei exhaled sharply. Several of the others had noticeable reactions as well. She hadn’t seemed to recognise Aguni yet, who also had many bandages around his face and was keeping his head slightly bowed, an unreadable look on his features.
“Um, I also played the six of spades and three of diamonds. The six of spades was a relay race between six teams, and the three of diamonds was to make our way out of a maze that was flooding with water. After the…ten of hearts, I played the Jack of Clubs. The Jack of Clubs was a climbing obstacle course while you had to be tied to your partner. Then I hunkered down and waited for the second stage to be over.” She spoke quickly, getting all her words out in a jumble. Dr. Nakayama narrowed his eyes, making a note on his clipboard. The other doctor had been steadily typing, recording her response.
“What was this ten of hearts?” Dr. Nakayama asked. “You didn’t describe it. Was this Beach a camp of sorts?”
Amano flinched. “I… don’t want to talk about it,” she whispered. Her eyes flitted frantically around the room. “There are others here who were there… they can say it.”
Dr. Nakayama sighed. “Very well. Next.”
There were about thirty people in the room in total. Ryouhei’s chest was tight, knowing only a few of them had survived out of the hundreds within the Borderlands. About half of the people making introductions were from the Beach- most of them were unwilling to explain the Beach or the ten of hearts in detail. A blank-faced older man had described it as a hotel filled with survivors, and the ten of hearts game as a massive witch hunt, then staunchly refused to elaborate.
Then it was Heiya’s turn. “I’m Heiya Akane, I’m seventeen, still a high school student. My first game was the seven of spades. We had to run out of a stadium where the ground was exploding with boiling water,” she said, her voice neutral. “I played a few lower level games after that. Four of hearts was a game of red rover, three of spades was fighting off a bunch of wrestler dudes, five of spades was a gladiator-style group battle in a Colosseum museum.” She pursed her lips. “Afterwards I devoted myself to trying to kill the King of Spades, but we got our asses beat. Luckily all the games were cleared before we bled out.”
Dr. Nakayama adjusted his glasses. “We? Who else did you try to fight this King of Spades with? What did that entail?”
She sneered at him, clearly not liking him either. “King of Spades was some crazy guy with a bunch of guns shooting everyone in sight. His game was just an all-out massacre. I fought him… with these people beside me.” She nodded at the rest of them. “I think we managed to kill him in the end, though he took me out of commission before that.”
“Interesting.” Nakayama wrote something with extra emphasis and peered at them. “Next.”
Ryouhei braced himself. Aguni would be a sore topic for many of the people from the Beach. He lifted his head- several gasps rang out in the room. Now more than a few people were glaring at them.
“Aguni Morizono, I’m twenty-eight. I was in the Self-Defense forces, I’m retired now. Played a lot of games in the beginning, I’ve forgotten most of them.” His voice was flat and emotionless. “I led the armed faction of the Beach, the militants.” He described a series of spades games for so long that Ryouhei was almost starting to get bored. He didn’t mention the ten of hearts.
“I went to try to kill the King of Spades. It took six of us to finally take him down.” After that, he fell silent and didn’t say anything else. Dr. Nakayama was nodding, ready to move on to Usagi, when one of the women who had said she was from the Beach scoffed.
“Really?” She demanded. “That’s all you’re going to say?”
Ryouhei felt his heart skip a beat. Her face was twisted with derision and anger. “You’re not going to mention all the innocent people you massacred for nothing?”
Dr. Nakayama peered at her. “What are you speaking of?”
“During the ten of hearts game, we had to find a witch hiding among us who had killed this random girl. Instead of cooperating, Aguni decided to kill everyone in sight on the off chance he would get the witch!” She yelled, her cheeks flushed. “In the end, none of the people you killed were the witch, and you knew it! You just wanted to murder people!”
Aguni kept quiet, his expression blank. In his eyes Ryouhei could see the characteristic emptiness of someone who had killed their friend, who had killed the innocent- he was once again becoming the Aguni going mad from grief. He couldn’t say anything to stop the angry woman though- her tears were genuine, and the ten of hearts haunted Ryouhei’s nightmares still.
The woman broke into anguished sobs, hiding her face in her hands. Several others around the room had teared up as well, glaring at Aguni hatefully. None seemed to have recognised Niragi, bandaged as he was- Ryouhei recalled that in their earlier interaction none of them had mentioned him by name.
Heiya laid a hand on Aguni’s arm and he flinched a little. She pulled back hesitantly, then grabbed his arm with confidence and held on.
The room was quiet for a while aside from the sounds of crying. Dr. Nakayama’s assistant was typing furiously. After a while, he nodded at the senior doctor, who sighed.
“Next.”
Usagi took a deep breath, glancing worriedly at Aguni before steeling herself. Ryouhei gripped her hand tighter under the table and she gave him a grateful smile.
“My name is Usagi Yuzuha,” she said, her voice stable and clear. “I’m a personal trainer, I’m nineteen. I was in the five of spades, four of clubs, ten of clubs, ten of hearts, King of Clubs, Queen of Spades, and… I was there during the Queen of Hearts.” Many of the other survivors were staring suspiciously at her- Usagi had cleared many, many games.
“That’s a lot,” Dr. Nakayama said. “From what I’ve learned the face card games are the hardest. Since the other two have stated you helped kill the King of Spades, that makes four face card games you’ve cleared.” His tone was suspicious and Usagi gritted her teeth.
“The face card games only emerged when the best of the best players were left,” she said. “I couldn’t have cleared any of them without help. I didn’t do much for most of them- I just happened to be there.”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Ryouhei whispered to her. “None of those games could have been cleared without you.” She pinched him, likely trying to make him be quiet, and he obliged, pursing his lips.
“The five of spades was a game of tag. We had to avoid masked taggers with machine guns and find a safe room and press the buttons inside. The four of clubs was a trick game- we thought we had to run away from a bus, but we were supposed to stay inside it. The ten of clubs was based around finding numbers hidden on the walls of a huge mansion with matchsticks in the total dark. The King of Clubs was called Osmosis… we had to fight for points with the other team.” Ryouhei exhaled at the simplification of the King of Clubs, but it was such a complicated game that he doubted they would be able to explain it concisely without a demonstration like Kyuma had done. She explained the Queen of Spades quickly, then trailed off when it came to the Queen of Hearts, glancing over at Ryouhei.
“I… I don’t think I should be the one to describe the Queen of Hearts,” she said weakly. “I helped, but the main player wasn’t me.”
Nakayama turned his skeptical gaze on Ryouhei, who squirmed uncomfortably. Even with his new haircut (it actually looked pretty good, turns out Kuina had better taste in hairdressers than he thought) and the new mindset the Borderlands had given him, he didn’t like scrutiny- and he was getting plenty of it now.
“So,” Nakayama said slowly, clearly disbelieving that scrawny Ryouhei could be any sort of key player, “let’s continue. Next person.”
Ryouhei cleared his throat and looked down at his hands. “Arisu Ryouhei, eighteen.” He said softly. “I… got into college but I never went. I played…” He squinted down, suddenly struggling to recall the exact games he’d gone through. It seemed his brain had blocked out specific parts of the Borderlands in an attempt to mask off some of the trauma.
“Three of clubs,” he began slowly. “Five of spades, seven of hearts-” here he stumbled over his words a little but coughed a little and moved on “-four of clubs, four of diamonds, t-ten of hearts, King of Clubs, Queen of Spades, and… the Queen of Hearts. Oh, and I guess the King of Spades but that’s everyone.” He added lamely at the end.
Nakayama’s eyebrows flew up. “That’s ten games,” he said. “Impressive track record. Many high-level games and face cards as well.”
He shifted in his seat. “Yeah, I guess,” he mumbled. “Not really my decision.”
Nakayama clicked his pen. “Aguni-san mentioned you helped kill the King of Spades. How was that so?”
“Everyone else distracted him,” Ryouhei said weakly. “There weren’t many players left so they managed to weaken him. I… lured him into a drugstore I filled with gas from hairspray and stuff like that. Aguni tackled him to get him down, then we jumped out the window and I threw a bomb at him. After that I think Aguni shot him to finish him off.”
Nakayama paused, clearly startled. “Where did you get a bomb?” He asked, his voice high with incredulity.
Ryouhei could practically hear Chishiya’s smirk. “Um. Chishiya made some, from kerosene and cables.” He gestured at Chishiya limply. “That’s him.”
The guy had the nerve to wave. Annoying.
The assistant’s typing was reaching Mach 10. Nakayama sighed. “Please describe the other games you were in.”
Ryouhei went through all the games slowly except for the seven of hearts, ten of hearts and Queen of Hearts. When Nakayama prodded him about the three hearts games he’d been in, he swallowed heavily.
“I don’t think I want to talk about the seven of hearts,” he said, his voice low and weak. “The ten of hearts… was the witch hunt. I figured out the girl had probably killed herself. The Queen of the Hearts… was designed by the mastermind behind most of the hearts games. Her name was Kano Mira. Her game was just to play three rounds of croquet without giving up.”
Nakayama frowned. “Croquet? That’s it?”
Ryouhei shrugged. “She made us sit down with her and chat after the second round, and convinced Usagi and I we were in some sort of simulation or mental hospital to make us give up. It… nearly worked. I couldn’t have cleared it without Usagi- she snapped me out of it, I was so close to giving up.”
“But you cleared it.” Nakayama said pointedly.
“Yeah.”
Perhaps sensing Ryouhei would rather die than say anything further, especially about the seven of hearts, Nakayama sighed. “Next.”
Chishiya sighed. “I suppose it’s my turn. My name is Chishiya Shuntarou, I’m twenty-five. I’m a medical student.”
“You’re the one who made the kerosene bomb?” Nakayam asked, looking faintly worried.
“Bomb sss . I made two as lucky charms.” He enunciated the plural. “I was in the six of diamonds, eight of diamonds, nine of diamonds, ten of diamonds, five of spades, six of clubs, ten of hearts, Jack of Hearts, and King of Diamonds. I only ever saw the King of Spades like, twice, and both times I just ran away so I don’t think that counts as playing that game.”
“It sounds like you played a lot of diamonds games,” Nakayama said. “If I’m correct, those are games of intelligence and logic?”
“Bingo. I’m good at diamonds games.”
He started listing off all the games he’d been in- each sounded more complicated than the last. When he got to the five of spades, he smirked at Ryouhei and Usagi, then moved on. His description of the rules of the King of Diamonds made Ryouhei’s head hurt, and he suspected Chishiya was doing it on purpose.
Nakayama seemed wary enough of Chishiya “Oppenheimer” Shuntaro to not ask him more questions, so they moved on to Kuina, who gave short, clipped answers, staring Nakayama dead in his eyes the entire time like she was trying to win a dominance contest. By the end of her turn, Ryouhei could swear Nakayama was sweating. Kuina was probably one of his favourite people in the entire world- that woman could probably be a face card game all by herself. Queen of Spades- Kuina’s Death Glare, success rate 0%.
He had to stop himself from snickering like an idiot as Ann began her turn. By the time she finished, there were only about twelve people left in the room, including Niragi, who hadn’t gone.
“Hey,” Usagi whispered to him, tugging lightly on one of his fingers so as not to draw attention. “Arisu. I don’t think I want to stay here for Niragi’s blabbering. Do you think we’re allowed to leave early?”
Ryouhei frowned. “I don’t think there was anything in the email that said we couldn’t leave early. I could probably make up some medical emergency for my grandma.”
“Wait,” Heiya hissed, having leaned across a long-suffering Aguni’s torso to tap Ryouhei’s shoulder aggressively. “If you two are leaving, we’re leaving too! I’m not going to deal with these people without sufficient backup!” Aguni didn’t say anything, just raised his elbow to hold Heiya up so she wouldn’t fall over into Usagi.
Kuina snorted. “I’m in. Ann?” Ann nodded. “I can’t say I’m particularly pleased at the idea of entertaining Niragi.”
Then simultaneously all six of them turned to stare at Chishiya, who widened his eyes in mock surprise and innocence. “Don’t look at me. Do you think I want to be Japan’s last line of defense against that guy? He shot me, I’d hope you would all recall that tidbit of information.”
Kuina sighed and made to smack him again, which he dodged neatly while elegantly huffing a strand of hair out of his face. “Okay, one of you make something up.”
“What, do we all have the same grandma?” Usagi quipped. “No way we can all leave due to the same thing.”
Chishiya raised his hand a little like an elementary schooler, keeping his arm out of sight of Nakayama. “We don’t need an excuse. It’s not like we’re schoolboys asking to go to the washroom. We’ll just leave. If they pry, we don’t have to answer.”
There was a moment of complete silence. Ryouhei sighed and smacked his forehead. “We’re all idiots. He’s right, let’s just go. If Nakayama tries to stop us we’ll beat him up or something. I’m sure even I could take him.”
“We don’t need to beat him up, Arisu,” Heiya said, rolling her eyes. “This isn’t the Borderlands. Also, you definitely could not take him, he’s like 10 centimetres taller than you.”
Usagi laughed lightly even as Ryouhei sputtered in outrage. “Excuse me, I’m 173! Plenty tall! There’s no way he’s over 180! Heiya, your eyes are broken. Besides, if I couldn’t take him, Kuina could.” He exchanged a sly high-five with her.
Ann nodded seriously, even though her lips were quirked slightly in a telltale sign of amusement. “Alright, on three we just stand up and go. If anyone tries to stop us, ignore them. You can act as bitchy as you want’- here she cast a look at Chishiya, who fake-gasped- ‘or just keep a blank face. Same as when we came- Arisu pushes Heiya, Kuina will push Aguni, we get the fuck out of here and regroup in Aguni’s room. Got it?”
“Yes, ma’am!” Ryouhei said quietly. Ann held up three fingers, counting down. Three, two, one-
On cue, Ryouhei stood abruptly, as did Usagi, Chishiya, Kuina and Ann. The woman who was describing the five of diamonds, glanced up, cut off by the screeching of their chairs. The rest of the room fell silent, looking at them as well. Ryouhei strode over to Heiya’s wheelchair, biting back a smile and keeping his face artfully blank as he grasped the handles and began to pull her out of her position. Heiya’s back was ramrod-straight, her posture absolutely perfect- her hands were resting on the sides of the wheelchair, and she looked like a statue. Next to her, Aguni was doing the same as Kuina wheeled him, but that was just the way Aguni was.
“What are you doing?” Nakayama asked, standing as well. “The session isn’t over yet.”
Ryouhei didn’t speak, but Chishiya, slouched slightly and with his hands in the pockets of his white cardigan as always, glanced at him lazily. “Taking a walk,” he said in a lackadaisical tone. “It's stuffy in here.”
“You cannot just leave whenever you would like,” Nakayama said, frowning. “That would not be conducive to the integrity of our counseling.”
Fighting to keep his laughter off his face, Ryouhei shrugged. “That would imply we give a damn about the integrity of your counseling . Sorry, Doctor, but I’ll take my counseling from someone who has better taste in suit jackets.”
At that Kuina let out a choked laugh before restraining herself and pushing open the door. She bowed mockingly to each of them as they passed and Usagi even tipped an imaginary hat to her. As soon as Ryouhei had passed Heiya’s wheelchair to Usagi and turned back to wheel Aguni out of the room, Kuina shut the door with a bang and took Aguni’s wheelchair back, whistling cheerfully. They walked in a line down the hallway, most of the nurses and doctors not giving them any attention.
Silently, Chishiya opened the door to Aguni’s room and they all filed inside. As soon as the door closed it was surprisingly Ann who let out a bright peal of laughter. Suddenly the mock severity of the atmosphere burst like a bubble- all of them were doubling over and erupting in laughter. Even Aguni had a small smile on his face, and Chishiya had to muffle his giggles behind his hand. Ryouhei himself was laughing so hard he was beginning to develop a stitch in his side.
He couldn’t remember the last time he’d laughed like this- probably with Karube and Chota, before the Borderlands. While he thought of these people as allies and friends, this was probably the first time he had felt such yawning affection for any of them besides Usagi.
I love them , he thought with a ferocity that almost brought tears to his eyes. I’d do anything for them .
He knew it was dangerous, caring for others this much- it had nearly destroyed him after the seven of hearts, and he felt with a slight twinge of grief that it was unfair to Karube and Chota’s memories, but he couldn’t help it. He had always loved too deeply, and there was no backing out from it now.