Chapter 1
Chishiya Shuntaro did not have a will to live.
His lack of emotions in his daily life led to Chishiya realizing that something was wrong with him, as other kids his age were emotional, needy and wreckless. The blonde, on the other hand, spent his days trying to find something that interested him. His parents were similar to him, both disregarding their emotions and taking a logical approach to everything.
They saw nothing wrong with Chishiya. He was an obedient child who excelled in school, that’s all they cared about.
Although Chishiya had “friends”, he was usually alone, as the people that hung around him didn’t matter to him. Even when one of his closer friends got into a car crash and died, he was unbothered.
Which got him a call home from his teacher, who was concerned that Chishiya might be trying to hide things. When his mother came to his room to talk to him that day, Chishiya told her that he didn’t care that his friend died, and his mother was okay with that.
His whole life he lived like a robot, incredibly smart but so blank and void to anything. Chishiya followed in his fathers foootsteps and easily took the steps to become a doctor.
The blonde thought that maybe saving lives would make him feel something, but alas, he ended up not caring about that either.
Chishiya found no enjoyment in life, and ultimately wouldn’t care if it was taken from him.
Until he ended up in the borderlands.
His first game, he had to teach himself the game and develop his own tactic, even after having never played. And despite that, he ended up winning by one point.
It was entertaining, so Chishiya began joining more games to get his visa time higher. Then, he saw that boy for the first time. Arisu was his name. Someone who would play a major role in his story.
Chishiya had been recruited by the beach pretty quickly after he got in the borderlands, because Hatter found out about him and how he was a doctor, which led to Chishiya getting placed among the executives.
During that time, a while after the hide and seek game, Chishiya had found Arisu in the middle of the street. He looked like a corpse, and some people would probably mistake him for one, but Chishiya could tell he was alive at a glance.
Chishiya had no reason to help Arisu, no reason to save someone who wanted to die. He didn’t even care.
But it was his logic, and the slight compassion he had for others, than made him stop after having passed the brunette.
Thinking back on the tag game, he could recall that Arisu figured out the safe zone just as he had. He was smart. He’d be good at winning games, for the beach. And while Chishiya wouldn’t bring him to that hell, if Arisu survived, he’d eventually end up there.
So Chishiya turned around. His dark gaze found Arisu, and he slowly returned to the limp male. Crouching by his side, Chishiya thought of how he would approach this situation.
And he thought for a long time. Eventually just sitting on his ass beside Arisu while trying to think of how he could be compassionate. He’d never been good at that, emotions were a weakness in life, that’s what his father always told him. And eventually Chishiya became blind to them. He couldn’t even remember the last time he cried. Probably when he was a child.
The sun had moved, it had been an hour, and Chishiya still didn’t quite know what to stay. He’d only gotten an intellectual understanding of the situation. That brute from before wasn’t with Arisu, meaning he was dead. They spoke of a friend who needed a doctor. He was dead too.
Arisu had lost everyone he cared about in a game, and now wanted to join them. At least, that was Chishiya’s guess, and he didn’t doubt that he was right. He just thought that if he opened his mouth now, he’d make it worse.
So perhaps he should use physical comfort instead? The blonde had only ever hugged his mother, and that was only a few times, when he was a kid or after his father hit her.
That was another thing. His mother couldn’t handle the occasional abuse from her husband, so at some point Chishiya just took it for her, because he could handle it. Maybe that’s why he had a high pain tolerance.
Now he was getting sidetracked. In any situation, your brain reacts by using past experiences. That’s why your life flashes before your eyes when you’re about to die. Because your brain has never experienced dying and is desperately trying to find something to save itself.
That’s what was happening now. Chishiya was going through his own experiences to try and figure out how to handle this situation. But he had none.
Arisu flinched when the blonde moved to a more comfortable position, probably having forgotten that he was here. Chishiya stared intently at him, then slowly reached forwards to lightly touch his shoulder.
The taller recoiled slightly, then relaxed again. Awkwardly, Chishiya rubbed his arm.
This approach wasn’t working.
A sigh escaped the smaller, then he just pulled Arisu into his lap, wrapping his arms around him and resting Arisu’s head on his chest. “Hang in there,” Chishiya hummed, petting his hair. Anxiety from being in this position welled in his chest, but he ignored it for the sake of the brunette.
Suddenly, Arisu burst out sobbing and pulled himself closer to Chishiya, wrapping his arms around his torso and bunching his sweater up in his hands, while he buried his face in the crook of his neck.
Chishiya hushed him, gently stroking his hair, while the other hand rubbed his back. He let Arisu cry, and eventually the brunette cried so hard that he fell asleep.
Not wanting to be in the middle of the street, Chishiya hoisted Arisu into his arms, carrying him to a hotel just down the road. He found an untouched room and laid Arisu on the bed, but when he tried to pull away, Arisu keened and held on to him tighter.
The blonde basically had to wrestle away from Arisu, replacing himself with a pillow. Then he left the brunette to go find some food.
Most places had been raided, but Chishiya was able to scavenge some canned food and bottled water. Then, he returned to the hotel, preparing a proper meal for the sleeping boy.
When Arisu awoke, he would not speak, and Chishiya gave up trying after the third attempt. He placed the food and water beside Arisu, then said, “Eat that or don’t. But it took me twenty minutes to make, so consider eating it more than not eating it, otherwise I’ve just lost twenty minutes of my life that I’ll never get back.”
He was attempting to joke lightly, and although Arisu didn’t react, he knew he got his point across.
After that, Chishiya left again to give him privacy, and while he was wandering, he found where Usagi was staying.
That would do.
The blonde returned to the hotel room, pleased to see that Arisu had eaten and drank the entire bottle of water. “Get up. Come with me,” Chishiya didn’t wait for his reply and left the room, walking down the hallway, so that by the time Arisu peeked his head out, the smaller was already turning the corner.
He ran after Chishiya, following him like a lost puppy, until they stopped outside of a warehouse. “Go in there. The girl from the hide and seek game is there, she’ll probably reject you at first but if you’re persistent she’ll let you stay with her. You don’t want to end up where I am. Even though it’s inevitable, someone like you… Anyways, goodbye.”
“Wait!“ Chishiya paused, having turned to walk away. “What’s your name?”
Without turning, the blonde responded, “Chishiya Shuntaro. Yours?”
“Arisu Ryohei… Thank you, Chishiya.”
Not too soon after that, Arisu and Usagi were recruited by the beach.
“You played in that game with us,” Usagi muttered, Arisu at her side, both staring at Chishiya. And while Usagi looked at Chishiya with distrust and even a little bit of disgust, Arisu almost looked relived to see him.
Of course, just like them, Chishiya was threatened and forced to join. Usagi didn’t seem to get that, but the brunette did, after all, Chishiya told him that he wouldn’t want to be at the Beach.
“Yes. You both impressed me then,” Chishiya responded with a soft smile and a head nod, trying to turn and exit the conversation.
“Wait!” Arisu called, and when Chishiya tilted his head to gaze at him, the boy seemed to have no idea what he wanted to say.
“Be careful, Arisu. The beach is not what it seems to be,” Chishiya then turned and began walking away, not looking back once. Arisu intrigued him, but Chishiya had a feeling that he and Arisu would never be able to get along.
…
Early on during his stay at the beach, Chishiya realized that Hatter and Aguni wouldn’t be able to control the militants forever. Soon they would take over, and the beach would go from a utopia to living hell. He knew he had to get the cards and escape before then.
At first, Chishiya planned to use Kuina, that was until Arisu and Usagi showed up. They were both compassionate and easily manipulated, it was a breeze to get into Arisu’s head, convince him that what he was doing was the only way to survive.
He liked Kuina. She could fight, and Chishiya couldn’t, so he could use her in the long run. It was unfortunate that he had to sacrifice Arisu and Usagi, but sacrifices had to be made and he accepted that as a fact.
It was when Niragi began beating Arisu that he felt just a small twinge of guilt. Just a flash, before he slipped back into his emotionless mindset, ignoring his human weakness. Now he knew where the real safe was, as Aguni had glanced at it uncertainly. He wavered. And Chishiya preyed upon that.
Everything was easy after that. Even the Ten of Hearts game. He would have stepped in, but there was no need, so he watched everything from the sidelines, observed, and was fairly impressed when Arisu figured out who the killer was.
After that, they met up to wait for the next stage, and at that time the King of Spades showed up, separating Chishiya from the others.
“It seems he has taken out half of the remaining players,” Chishiya murmured, talking to himself.
He knew that he was best at diamond or heart games, the closest one to his current location was the Jack of Hearts, so be began making his way over there.
“You! You there!” Chishiya had been walking for about ten minutes when the man called out to him, walking over. “Hm… Yes, I think you’ll do.”
Chishiya stared at him, but didn’t turn to face him fully. “What do you mean?” He asked, shifting his hands in his pockets.
“We’re looking for people who are our bosses type,” This voice was directly behind him.
“There’s no point in resisting, we outnumber you,” And the third voice was in front of him. Surrounding all possible exists.
Chishiya remained blank, looking at the ground, and opted to stay still even as the three sets of footsteps got closer to him, until he was seized and dragged away.
…
Arisu and Usagi had reunited at the Queen of Spades game, now waiting for something to happen after the intermission ended.
“I am the Queen of Spades,” A voice broke through the speakers, and on the screen appeared a woman softly illuminated in red light from the equipment she wore. “There are five members of the queen’s team, including me.”
She continued speaking, but Arisu couldn’t hear her words anymore. Because the camera had changed to show her team, and standing among them, staring directly at the camera with a blank expression, was Chishiya.
Arisu’s mind reeled, trying to figure out how Chishiya ended up on that team, if that meant Chishiya was a “citizen” of the borderlands, and if he knew what was going on. That also meant that Chishiya was currently his enemy, something Arisu never wished for, and if anything, was afraid of.
Usagi shook Arisu’s shoulder, also looking very troubled. “What should we do?” She asked in a soft voice. Everyone else was putting the buttons on.
“For now, let’s get into the equipment. We outnumber the queens team. If any of us are caught, we’ll just switch back the next round,” Arisu decided, walking over to the buttons and putting one on.
He was nervous, his throat felt tight and he couldn’t stop his shaking hands. Arisu was afraid, afraid of Chishiya and what he was capable of. He’d already experienced that once. And it didn’t end well.
“Game start. Round one, the queen teams turn will now commence.”
It didn’t take long for everyone to start running, while Usagi consoled the kid, who had been assigned the role of “king”.
Arisu turned away from them to stare at the screen, frowning as their team went from sixteen to fifteen, and the queens went from five to six.
“Let’s go, Usagi,” Arisu said, she nodded and the two ran off, avoiding red lights at all costs.
“Round two, the challenger teams turn will now commence.”
They ran around trying to find people who had been caught, then we’re shocked when the Queen began using force to keep people on her team. “She’s using force? Usagi, let’s split up to get them back one-by-one.”
“How will we know where each other are? And that we’re okay?” She asked, worry in her eyes. Arisu looked around, then ran over to the ocean side of the building, looking up.
“After each round ends, let’s look out the ocean side to spot each other,” He said, Usagi ended up agreeing so the two split up and ran around trying to return people to their team.
This continued for a bit, and surprisingly to Arisu and Usagi, the people being changed to the red team began running away from them, and hunting them.
Arisu had been running for a while when he saw finally a red light - the first of this current round - and ran over, only to see Chishiya leaned against a railing, his eyes focused on Arisu. “Chishiya, why are you on the queens team?”
The blonde smirked softly, righting himself as he approached Arisu slowly. “I was kidnapped by her lackeys, because apparently, I’m her type.”
“Let me tag you. Join our team and help us win.”
Chishiya stopped in front of Arisu, “I have no reason to help her. And a game like this is tedious. So usually, I’d just go with it…”
The taller waited, because he knew there was a catch. “Well, you’re team is likely to end up losing, so what’s the point in switching?”
“What do you mean?” Arisu frowned heavily, while Chishiya’s eyes focused on something behind him.
“Round eleven, the queen teams turn will now commence.”
“Everyone wants to be on my team,” Arisu spun around, the Queen of Spades standing behind him, her lips pulled into a smirk. “Because it’s the easiest way to survive.”
Arisu turned and started sprinting away, but surprisingly, neither of them followed. He stumbled to a stop and turned, watching as she and Chishiya spoke, although he couldn’t hear their words.
Chishiya remained in his place while the queen, after glancing at Arisu, turned and began running. The opposite direction.
Right when Arisu was about to return to speak to Chishiya, he hesitated, thinking this was weird. “He told her to hide… So I’d come back and she could tag me…”
He stepped backwards, once, twice, then Chishiya raised his voice, “You think she’s hidden nearby?”
The taller stiffened, staring at Chishiya, who was just looking straight ahead.
“I told her to go find Usagi.“
At that moment, Arisu thought he felt his world crashing down, then he mindlessly began to run in the same direction the queen had gone. Only for Chishiya to sink into a smooth crouch with his leg sticking out, tripping Arisu.
The brunettes body seized and twitched as Chishiya laid his hand down onto his button, the light turning red. “You thought, because I am someone who’s unlikely to want to put any effort into this game, that I was not a threat. Safe to run by.”
Finally, the seizing stopped, the burning pain in his back fading.
Chishiya planned that all out. He knew every single one of Arisu’s thoughts, as if he was a mind reader. The trembling coming from the taller was not because of the pain he was in, but rather, from fear. Chishiya was an opponent that he was not capable of defeating.
That little kid was going to die. They were going to lose. All because of Chishiya.
He felt the blonde lean closer to him, his breath hitting his ear. His voice was low, deep, “The queen thinks I’ll do whatever she wants. She thinks the life she has laid out before me is appealing, so I will not betray her. I told her that you and I were going to catch more people together, she’ll trust me when she sees that I’ve changed your team.
“Usagi won’t get caught. I assume you two have some sort of meeting system in place, next round we will find her and both switch teams. Then I will go back crawling to the queen like a desperate puppy, saying I want to return to her team, but I’ll just distract her and the other members of her team to allow you guys to capture the other members. If we can manage to get all of them in one round, we will win.”
Arisu was too stunned to respond, having thought that Chishiya had completely betrayed him. The blonde pulled away before he could respond and resumed smirking. “You look good like that.”
The brunette felt his cheeks burning, adverting his gaze and remaining silent. Chishiya also didn’t speak, but in a way that was worse, because he stared at Arisu. This continued until they heard, “Round twelve, the challenger teams turn will now commence.”
Chishiya helped Arisu to his feet, then the taller ran to the ocean side. He looked up, spotting Usagi two levels above him.
“Don’t shout to her. We can explain everything when we find her,” The shorter ordered from behind Arisu. He just simply nodded to Usagi, and she seemed to understand.
“She’ll wait for us,” Arisu said, the two beginning their walk up. During the time, the Queen saw them and smirked in satisfaction. They made it up the two levels, and then to the ocean front, where Usagi watched Chishiya with an incredulous look on her features.
“He’s helping us. Usagi, tag us, alright? Next round Chishiya is going to distract the Queen and her team so we can sneak up on them and tag them,” Arisu’s brief explanation had a lot to question, so Chishiya was surprised when Usagi just nodded, trusting Arisu completely. He nodded back, and both of them turned to Chishiya, as they had been facing each other.
Arisu knew that when Chishiya suggested ‘distracting’ the queen, that meant that he’d probably have to let her press his button, otherwise it would be too suspicious. Therefore, Chishiya would have to have his button pressed a total of three times. Once now, then with the queen, and when they switch him back.
And from Arisu’s experience, it hurt quite a lot when your button was pressed.
He hesitated for a few seconds, staring at Chishiya, then said, “Let’s do this.”
Usagi tagged Arisu first, and he collapsed to the ground, seizing and groaning in pain. After hovering over him for a second like a worried mother, then confirming he was alright, she turned to Chishiya.
He was amused when she almost gladly hit his button, so he happened to be smirking when the pain shot through him and he fell to his knees, twitching.
Arisu had been watching him, the way Chishiya’s body reacted to the pain, but his expression remained amused even as he fell to his knees. It bugged him, because the pain was bad enough for Arisu that he was writhing, and yet Chishiya just silently endured it.
Usagi left them for the rest of the round to try and catch some more players and convince them to stay on the challengers team.
“Round thirteen, the queen teams turn will now commence.”
Usagi returned with four people, six of them hiding, while Chishiya walked to where the queens team was gathered, approaching her slowly. “Press my button for me,” Chishiya said to Lisa, the king of the queens team.
Because Chishiya was silent when he walked, only Lisa and maybe a few others on her team had noticed his approach, and therefore most were startled, turning to him. He had to hold back from smirking in satisfaction.
Lisa left the group of them to walk up to Chishiya, wrapping an arm around him and hitting the button. She used the arm she had wrapped around him to catch him when he fell, and this time, he just pursed his lips slightly as he was lowered to a sitting position.
“Round fourteen, the challenger teams turn will now commence.”
Chishiya lunged forwards and knocked the queen down, while more than half of the red lights in front of him turned blue. Because there were thirteen on the queens team - twelve in the group over there - and six on the group Usagi made. Someone hit two buttons.
The last five scattered, although it was in vein. He wanted to examine everything further, but the queen flipped them over, slamming his head on the ground. Everyone who could help him was busy chasing people, and Lisa looked angry.
Pulling him to his feet by his forearm, Lisa dragged Chishiya up a flight of stairs and to the top floor, then over to where the kid was. He backed away in fear, while the queen slammed Chishiya’s back against the railing, the only thing between him and certain death.
Chishiya stared her dead in the eye with a neutral expression, “What’s stopping me from pushing you off?” She muttered.
“Do it,” Chishiya encouraged, uncaring. He had never been afraid of death. Despite his words, he knew she wouldn’t.
“You’ve lost your mind,” She commented.
“Maybe I have,” He replied, then his vision went black for a moment as pain shot through his face from his cheekbone. She had punched him.
“That’s for betraying me, bastard,” Lisa didn’t let go of Chishiya, holding him by his collar as she turned and saw that they were the only two players left on her team.
“Could be enough time for me to catch ten people…” She murmured to herself, only to feel a knee collide with her stomach. Chishiya pushed her away with his body, as his hands were still in his pockets.
The queen growled in annoyance, grabbed Chishiya by his hair and bashed his head off the railing, then threw him to the ground in front of her. “This round is about over. You and I are going to die together.”
At that moment, Usagi and Arisu ran to the area they were in, there were only twenty seconds left of this round before the fifteenth one, which would be the final. Chishiya wouldn’t be able to be saved.
Arisu and Usagi forwards, Usagi slamming into Lisa while Arisu tried to hit Chishiya’s button. Lisa kicked Arisu in the face, throwing Usagi backwards, and watched as Chishiya sat up, not bothering to help the two who were desperately fighting for his life.
Ten seconds left. Lisa kicked Arisu again, this time in the neck, causing him to hold his throat and choke. Usagi lunged for her again, trying to get past, but Lisa punched her in the stomach twice. Three seconds, and Chishiya knew this was it.
Neither Arisu of Usagi would physically be able to reach him now. He was finally going to die.
Shocks ripped through his body from the equipment he had on, and since Chishiya was completely not expecting it, a small, surprised sound escaped him, his body seizing.
“Challenger team has cleared the game.”
Chishiya glanced over his shoulder to look at the boy who had touched his back, and saved his life. “Aw, damn. That’s unfortunate. You’re the kind of person that deserves to die like me,” Lisa didn’t sound upset, even though her words suggested she was. Rather, she was smiling.
“Yeah,” Chishiya agreed as he stood to face her. “It would’ve been right for this to be my end.“
“Now you have people who are fighting to keep you alive. What will you do, Chishiya?” She chuckled. More people were showing up, gathering, some still upset that they didn’t get to remain on the queens team, others were glad.
Lisa didn’t let Chishiya respond, hopping right over the edge, Arisu shouting out in surprise. The laser shot through her head mid-air, and that’s when Chishiya looked away, sighing.
He stared down at the child, who looked scared of him, and said, “Thank you.” Then he began walking away.
“Chishiya! Where will you go?” Arisu called out to him, causing him to pause in his steps.
“The Jack of Hearts game,” The blonde answered, then began walking again, not looking back once.