King of Spades
Arisu was almost into the car when the grenade rolled under his feet, causing him to stumble back in surprise.
“Shit, get going!”
yelled Chishiya to Ann, grabbing Arisu’s wrist and pulling him backwards as the car sped away. They had both been too slow to jump into the car before the grenade was thrown, and now they were separated from their friends, who had just disappeared around a nearby corner.
Gunshots ripped through a car behind them and Chishiya started to run away from the shooter, dragging the dazed boy behind him through the blood spattered streets.
The king of Spades had shown up from nowhere, and started massacring everyone in sight, hardly a game, Chishiya thought with gritted teeth. There hadn't even been an explanation of the rules(if there were any), or any sort of warning to give Chishiya time to formulate a plan to stay alive.
The smoke from the burning cars hurt to breath, but Arisu seemed to have come to his senses and began to run slightly ahead of Chishiya, his dark eyes searching for a path away from the chaos. At some point, their hands had entwined properly, and Chishiya was happy to let the dark haired man lead the way as he tried to think of any sort of building they could take shelter in, or even better, a way to out smart the King of Spades.
Ah, this was defiantly a tough one, face cards were pesky things, and spades were not his strong point.
Chishiya was not the most active person in the real world, with all his time devoted to his medical studies. Even in most games, he preferred to watch from the side if he could, or contribute as little physical skill as possible.
This meant that as he ran , he could already feel a burn in his lungs and pain in his legs, they would have to stop soon.
With absolutely no warning, Chishiya felt Arisu pulling him down behind a parked car, his wild eyes darting around to ensure the King wasn’t close. The king of Spades seemed to be moving further away, and with him went the torrent of screams and gunshots.
Chishiya groaned and slumped against the car next to Arisu, who was crouched tensely on the floor, breathing hard and listening to the fading panic. Everything hurt, and he cursed himself for not making more effort to build up some extra muscle when he had spare time at the beach. He raised a hand to his brow, only to find it wrapped around Arisu's in a vice like grip, he had forgotten that unfortunate detail. He quickly dropped it like it had burned him, and wiped his face with his sleeve. That reaction probably shouldn’t have been so dramatic, but he was sure that Arisu wouldn’t question it, as they had bigger issues at the moment.
“Ok, he seems far enough away, we need to find a place to hide out. Are you alright Chishiya?” said Arisu, who didn't seem to notice the way his hand had been rudely dropped onto the concrete. Chishiya’s face burnt slightly as his eyes met Arisu’s, which were brimming with worry. Another strange reaction, what was wrong with him today? Chishiya brushed it off as the horrible exercise he had to endure, and nodded to answer Arisu’s question, breaking their eye contact.
“We should keep moving.” stated Chishiya in his usual flat tone.
“We need to find a building to lay low in”
Arisu nodded, causing his hair to fall back into his face and Chishiya felt an oddly strong desire to push it back behind his ears, it look surprisingly soft, given the circumstances.
What the hell?
That not exactly a normal thing to think, Chishiya, he told himself as he snapped back to reality, just in time to see Arisu carefully walk out from behind the protection of the car, and onto the street.
Anxiety tugged at his stomach as he too ducked away from the car and made to follow Arisu. They could no longer hear gunshots, which was good as it meant the King wasn’t shooting anyway near them, however it also made it impossible to pinpoint his location. They had made their way into the middle of the street, and Chishiya could see the fallen bodies of other players laying all around them, another reminder of the fate they faced. Plumes of smoke made the far side of the road impossible to see, they could be walking straight into the king and they wouldn’t realize until it was too late.
Exciting.
A series of sudden shots rang out right next to the pair, deafeningly loud in the quiet street. Chishiya cursed and ran, pushing Arisu into an alleyway directly in front of them. The ally was small and dimly lit , with litter squashed into the ground. Chishiya listened for the King, it seemed there had been another group of survivors hiding near them,which the King had spied, and judging by the screams and gun fire, killed. The King hadn’t noticed them, they must have been covered by the smoke when they ran.
Chishiya turned to Arisu, only to find the man crouched on the floor clutching his arm with a pained expression. His hair was plastered to his forehead and he looked as pale as a sheet. His heart froze when Arisu fell forwards onto the floor, and he ran to him. Arisu had fainted, and as Chishiya rolled him over he saw a sickeningly red patch of blood on his lower arm, a stray bullet must have hit him. He knew he needed to get Arisu somewhere sheltered and try his best to treat him. Even though the ally provided better cover than the car, there was only one entrance which was a death sentence if the King found them. Which he would do, eventually.
Chishiya could hear the King moving quite far away,and he knew he needed to make a run for it, before Arisu got any worse.
Heaving Arisu upwards, he stumbled slightly and again cursed his lack of fitness, he could manage but they would not be able to move quickly. He exited the alley as fast as he could whist supporting Arisu. The injured man had managed to gain enough conscience to move his legs along, but he still leaned heavily on Chishiya’s side.
Luckily for the pair, Chishiya spotted a vaguely secure building nearby. It had a worrying amount of windows, but most were unbroken and the building itself was huge, he was quite confident that the king would not bother to follow two players inside. Hopefully. Even if the King discovered where there were, there would be many places to hide and enough time to create a substantial plan.
Arisu gave a weak groan from his side, the bleeding didn't seem to be progressing much which was a relief, the bullet must have just grazed him. That definitely made Chishiya’s job easier, pulling out a bullet would have been most painful for Arisu, and bothersome for himself. Stumbling again, and almost dropping Arisu, Chishiya cursed under his breath and wondered why he was doing this. If it was anyone else he would have abandoned them at the first chance he got. As so were the rules for his survival. Arisu was definitely a good player, he needed him, was the conclusion that Chishiya came up with, ignoring the slight sense of doubt inside his chest.
After what seemed like an eternity, he managed to drag Arisu into the buildings entrance, the dark insides writhing menacingly. It was unlikely there was a threat inside, but Chishiya still tread lightly. He felt protective over Arisu’s weakened form , he had completely passed out again and slumped to the floor by Chishiya's feet.
Chishiya sighed, slightly annoyed at the Arisu for being so useless. He knew Arisu, and he would not have normally had such a big reaction to a non fatal wound like this. He must have been absolutely exhausted, not sleeping for days and using the last to his energy running to create this reaction.
He dragged him further into the building, and rested him against a nice little alcove where he could rest for a bit. While Chishiya had a quick look around to ensure the area was safe.
He stepped forwards with a groan, all of his body ached and he dreaded to think how it would after the last of his adrenaline washed way. He looked around, his keen eyes calculating the area around him. The building was filled with a variety of different plants, and a thin layer of grime minimised the sunlight coming through the windows, only allowing enough light to see the path in front of him. He had been here only once before, in the old world, and he was slightly surprised he could still recognise it in this state.
This must be the Botanical gardens.
What luck.