Chapter Text
♦️
Being in a hospital bed when the last time you closed your eyes you had been bleeding out from two gunshot wounds in the middle of an abandoned street was disorienting to say the least. He would never admit it but the insistent beeping and the noise of a busy hospital that had once blurred in the background was incredibly grounding and comforting
Chishiya had made it home.
He knew he wasn’t the only one. His roommate was Niragi of all people, though he either didn’t remember the Borderlands or was actively choosing to pretend it never happened. Far be it from Chishiya to remind the former militant of their mutual hate of each other if he didn’t remember. That would only cause irritations.
Two days into his treatment he was able to start wandering the halls of the hospital and Chishiya started to look for anyone else that might have made it out. He didn’t know the fates of any of the people he associated with while in the Borderlands, though he could assume that Arisu or Usagi made it. The last time he saw them, they were hobbling their way toward the final blimp.
Kuina was the first person he found. After a short dance, introducing themselves as fellow survivors and small hints dropped, it was clear that she remembered as well. Tears fell and pulled him into a hug. He couldn’t escape and found that he really didn’t want to.
“I couldn’t find you.” She cried.
Chishiya felt choked up. She really had become someone he cared about. A friend, he would admit now that the word didn’t paint a target on either of their backs. “I know, I’m sorry.” He said as he wrapped his arms around her as well, squeezing her tight.
She wasn’t long however, her family had come and she found acceptance with them. Her injuries were much less severe than Chishiya’s and with someone to look after her, she was released quickly. Kuina wrote down her phone number for Chishiya to have when he managed to get a new one and promised to call the hospital as often as she could to keep in contact.
On the day she was discharged, the two shared another long hug. “Don’t you dare disappear on me again.” She whispered.
“I’ll try.” Is all he could promise. He would try his best but even now safe from the games and the King of Spades he still didn’t feel like it was right to promise safety and continued existence. Hopefully over time it would get easier.
He stood at the window watching as she walked to a car with her family, a pull in his chest that he had started getting used to, when he found another of his onetime companions. Or well, they found him.
“Chishiya?” Came an all too familiar voice, and Chishiya froze.
Arisu.
After a brief second to compose himself, he slipped on the smirk that he wore so often. “So, you remember too then.” He said before turning to see him.
His eyes were wide with shock, hair still a mess. Not much looked to have changed, just that he was cleaner.
“You’re alive.” He breathed out and then moved toward Chishiya looking like he’d seen a ghost.
Chishiya just nodded, surprised at how relieved Arisu seemed to look. He hadn’t even spared him a glance when he made his way off to the Queen of Hearts and honestly Chishiya couldn’t blame him after everything he had done.
But here he was, hand reaching out to him hesitating a moment before Arisu got a determined look in his face and pulled him in for a hug. “I was so worried.” He cried, “I didn’t know if the game went too long. I was so scared I had failed you. That you were—”
Chishiya hugged him back tentatively. “I’m alive.” He said trying to comfort him, bring Arisu out of apology spiral he was losing himself in.
It both didn’t make sense that Arisu would care this much about him but also made all the sense in the world. Self-sacrificing idiot that he was, blindly caring for anyone who came into his path no matter what they did to him.
Eventually they pulled away and after an awkward moment of silence, Chishiya spoke up again. “Have you seen anyone else? Kuina just got discharged. How is Usagi?” The light in his eyes dimmed at the question, and the tug in his chest pulled harder. Chishiya wished he could take it back.
Arisu looked to the side, clearly upset. “She’s doesn’t remember.” He said. “She’s alive. But she doesn’t remember anything, doesn’t even recognize me.”
“Oh.” was all Chishiya was able to get out.
“She’s the only reason I made it through the Queen of Hearts. She’s the reason we won and…” Arisu continued before stopping. He shook his head and then looked back up to Chishiya with questioning eyes.
Chishiya coughed, “Let’s find somewhere to sit.” He suggested. He had been standing for a while and was starting to get tired, but after watching Kuina leave, he really didn’t want to let Arisu slip through his fingers quite yet.
“O-okay. Yeah!” Arisu agreed happily.
Chishiya smiled and then turned. “This way,” he called leading Arisu to one of his preferred lounges, and Arisu quickly made his way to his side, animatedly chatting about everything that came to his mind.
Chishiya felt warm, grasping at the small bit of hope that maybe, just maybe, if he continued to try to be a better person he might get to keep Arisu in his life. He was annoyingly positive without a sense of self preservation. But Arisu was the person he had hoped to find as he strolled around Shibuya after the King of Diamonds, the only one he thought could ever truly understand him. If he was willing to give someone like Chishiya a chance for companionship, he wasn’t stupid enough to throw it away again.
The two of them became inseparable, which of course was entirely Arisu’s fault. The second that he was allowed to leave his room for the day Arisu was on a mission to find him. He would follow Chishiya around like a lost puppy, talking about anything and everything.
Chishiya couldn’t bring himself to leave him, either. It turns out almost dying alone makes you well, not want to be on your own. Arisu also seemed to be more injured than he was, would space out far more often. He felt obligated to step in and help when Arisu needed it.
Betraying Arisu at the Beach still plagued his conscious. They had talked about it on day three and as much as Arisu assured him that he wasn’t going to hold anything that he did in the Borderlands against him, the guilt wouldn’t go away. That was why he found himself constantly needing to make Arisu’s life easier.
Chishiya found that he was starting to get irrationally angry at anything that dimmed the light in Arisu’s eyes. He gave so much of himself to everyone he met. How dare anyone, himself included, cause him pain.
Talking to each other for so long every day did lead to Chishiya sharing a bit more about his past with the man. Listening to him talk about how poorly his family treated Arisu infuriated him. Chishiya told Arisu all about his family. That it would most likely never matter what Arisu achieved. his family were idiots and not worth the weight that Arisu clearly held. Arisu listened quietly, eyes downcast.
Arisu was suspiciously absent one morning at the end of the week. Chishiya had waited a few hours after he would usually come to find him before making his way over to his room. On the way, he overheard the nurses talking about him.
Apparently, Arisu had thrown his family out and asked them to take the address out of his record. The nurses had obliged of course, but that left him in a bit of a predicament. The hospital wouldn’t discharge him without somewhere to go due to his condition, and apparently Arisu had yet to provide one. Both of them had been scheduled for discharge that day, but without somewhere else for him to go, Arisu would be stuck here for who knows how long.
That wasn’t something Chishiya could abide. He moved closer to the nurses who recognized him immediately. He briefly explained to them that Arisu was going to be staying with him, but that he had forgotten to provide him with the address the last time they spoke. He asked them to update his chart with the correct information so that the two of them could be on their way that afternoon.
The three of them quickly agreed and got to work correcting Arisu’s file, eager to be on his good side. He gave them a small smile and thanked them before making his way to his room. He needed to convince Arisu that moving in with him would be in his best interest at the moment. He wasn’t concerned; Arisu was intelligent and easy to persuade. He would see reason. So why was his body acting like he was about to enter a new game?
❤️
“I… I don’t understand Chishiya. Why would you let me move in with you?”
Chishiya shrugged. “I did say that I was going to try and be a better person. A… friend?” He paused, looking at Arisu, eyes uncertain. It was strange to see Chishiya of all people not confident in what he was saying.
Arisu realized belatedly that he was waiting for him to respond. “Yeah. I hope we are friends at least.” He said and he could see the tension in Chishiya’s shoulders release a hair.
“Well, as your friend, I don’t see why you need to be stuck in the hospital, I have a perfectly good bed at home you could be using.” He said and then coughed before correcting himself. “A room. I mean I have a spare room.”
“I guess but…”
With a sigh, he moved from the door and sat beside him. "I know what it’s like to have a bad relationship with your family. You need a place to say, I have one.”
Arisu sat quietly considering the offer. He hadn’t considered the consequences when he banned his family from visiting and declared he wouldn’t return home. Now, with the nurses insisting he needed an address to be released, he felt trapped. He was unwilling to crawl back to his father after cutting ties so abruptly.
And now here was Chishiya, Chishiya, offering up part of his private space to get Arisu out of a situation he had put himself in without thinking. It didn’t make any sense.
“You’re sure I wouldn’t be bothering you?” He asked hesitantly.
“I wouldn’t offer if I wasn’t sure Arisu.”
“I… I don’t have a job, and I…” Arisu faltered, stopping mid-sentence when Chishiya placed a hand on his arm.
“Arisu. I know. You have told me your entire life story over the course of the last week.” Chishiya said, looking at him with a level of sincerity, Arisu hadn’t thought possible. “We can figure it out. Let’s solve this problem first. Okay?”
One day Arisu should really look into why it seemed impossible to deny Chishiya when he asked something of him. He wasn’t sure what his true motivations were. What Chishiya could possibly think would be beneficial to him from keeping Arisu around. But Arisu put that aside and simply nodded.
“Perfect.” Chishiya purred and the smirk Arisu was all too familiar with settled back in place. “I already had the nurses put my address down, you’re coming with me in a few hours.”
“You just assumed I would say yes?”
Chishiya just tilted his head, the picture of innocence. “No. You’re intelligent. I trusted that you would come to the same logical conclusion.”
Groaning, Arisu buried his face in his hands. What had he gotten himself into now?
The nurses soon arrived with a change of clothes. Grateful, what he had been wearing was beyond saving, Arisu slipped into the bathroom to get ready.
When he returned, exhausted from even that small amount of effort, he found Chishiya perched on the chair. He was wearing a light gray pair of lounge pants and a loose dark gray shirt under a cardigan. Sunlight filtered through the window, painting stripes of light and shadow across his face.
Chishiya looked up, amusement sparkling in his eyes. “Ready to go? We have quite the list of errands to get through.”
Discharge went smoothly, though everyone seemed to be addressing Chishiya rather than him when it came to instructions on his care. Somehow sharing an address with Chishiya meant that he had surrendered any say in taking care of himself. Chishiya listened attentively, nodding and asking a few practical questions while Arisu hovered uselessly at his side. Eventually a piece of paper slipped in front of him, and he was handed a pen. He looked to Chishiya who nodded, so Arisu signed and they were on their way.
The trek from the hospital was slow. By the time they reached the car waiting at the curb for them with someone holding the door open, Arisu was too exhausted to ask questions. He simply slipped into the backseat and gazed out the window quietly as Chishiya sat next to him, and they took off to their first destination.
Arisu blinked up at the storefront, still trying to catch up. One moment he’d been in the backseat staring numbly out the window, and the next he was standing on the sidewalk with Chishiya at his side, and a bright display of new devices lit up behind the glass.
“You need a new phone?” He asked, confused.
Chishiya raised an eyebrow at him. “We need new phones,” he corrected. “Or did you forget that neither of us have one that is in working order?”
“Oh...” Arisu scratched his scalp, embarrassed. “Right.”
Chishiya hummed and then walked into the store, hands tucked into the pockets of his cardigan. Arisu scrambled to follow him in.
“Hi, looking for a new device today?” The employee asked, fake enthusiasm coloring her voice.
“Yes.” Chishiya said. “Two.”
Arisu almost tripped into him. “Wait... Two?” Chishiya didn’t even glance at him as he and the salesperson started talking about what options were available.
“Chishiya...” He tugged gently at his sleeve. “I can’t afford--”
The look Chishiya gave him was sharp and shut him up instantly. He instinctively curled into himself a little.
“Arisu. You need a phone so people, specifically me, can contact you. Don’t worry about affording it.”Chishiya held his gaze just a moment longer, daring him to argue but there wasn’t much point.
Satisfied that he won the argument, he turned back to the girl. “I’d like something reliable. Something that won’t break if someone drops it.”
Arisu stopped paying attention. By the time everything was paid for, and the phones were set up, he felt vaguely dizzy by the speed at which Chishiya bulldozed through every hesitation.
“Don’t drop it.” Chishiya said with a smirk as he held out one of the phones in a green case.
“I’m not that clumsy.” Arisu grumbled as he took it into his hand carefully.
“Sure.” He hummed, slipping his own into the pocket of his pants. “Let’s go. You look like you’re going to fall over. We can do the rest after you take a nap.”
Arisu followed him out to the car, unease settling in his stomach at how much Chishiya had spent on him. “You didn’t have to do that.” He murmured.
“I know.” Chishiya said with uncharacteristic kindness. “I wanted to.”
Sunlight hit his hair as he turned around after opening the door for him, and Arisu momentarily forgot how to walk. His chest fluttering.
“Arisu?”
Quickly, he shook his head and stepped into the car and Chishiya followed after. “S-sorry. Tired.” He explained. That had to be it.
Chishiya just got in next to him, clicking his seatbelt in place. “You apologize too much” he said and then they were on their way again.
By the time the car pulled to a stop, Arisu was barely aware of it.
“We’re here.” Chishiya said nudging his knee lightly.
Arisu blinked, disoriented, and then followed him out onto a quiet street. Chishiya walked up to a quiet, unassuming building and unlocked the door. He stepped aside and gestured for Arisu to enter.
“Welcome home.”