Chapter 3
After completing the King of Diamonds, Chishiya thought he might be understanding why Arisu and Usagi fought for him, and he wanted to talk to Arisu. At least to tell him why he acted the way he did. After everything he’s done to the gamer, he deserved that much.
As Chishiya was walking, he heard quiet shuffles behind him, continuing on as if nothing was wrong. His eyes scanned everything around him, anything to help him, then finally he spotted a man on the ground, long since dead, with a pistol slightly peeking out of his jacket.
Something most people wouldn’t notice. As naturally as he could manage, Chishiya began approaching the body, but tried to make it unobvious.
When he reached it, he sunk down to a crouch, grabbed the gun and pointed it behind him in one swift motion.
Silence. Dead silence, all around him. Chishiya remained in his position for a few seconds, just listening, watching. Then he raised slowly from his crouch, still aiming his gun, he began backing up.
Chishiya ducked into an alleyway, running down it and onto the next street over, where he quietly slipped into a building to hide in. He peeked out the window, watching as Banda and Yaba emerged from the same alleyway he had just left.
Now he was either going to have to kill them, or hope that they didn’t find him and kill him first.
The store he had entered was a records place, a whole load of CD’s would do him no good. Quietly, Chishiya began moving backwards, towards the door that would lead him into another alleyway. His back touched the wall, so he reached up, still watching Banda and Yaba - they were now bickering or something.
As soon as he turned the doorknob, Chishiya decided he hated his life, as a bunch of debris that must’ve been pressed against the door tumbled inside, a large chunk falling right onto his leg and pinning him down.
Undoubtedly, the two idiots heard that. Chishiya pointed his gun at the door, the two walking inside and spotting him on the floor. “I would have escaped, if not for this,” Chishiya spoke, aiming his gun at Banda’s head.
“You know you can’t win, Chishiya, so just give up,” Banda said with an evil smirk.
“And let you two have your way with me? I’d rather fight a meaningless battle,” He replied, ignoring the pain in his leg. Not broken, but definitely badly bruised and probably bleeding. He didn’t have time to check.
Yaba aimed for his arms, while Banda wasn’t holding a gun. The sound of a bullet flying ringed in Chishiya’s ears, though it wasn’t his or Yaba’s. Screams sounded around them. The King of Spades.
Banda dashed forwards, Chishiya shooting but narrowly missing him. He was seized once again, Yaba helping Banda to rip the gun out of his hand, then they climbed over the debris, dragging him along. Chishiya stared at his leg. Badly bruised, bleeding, but not broken. Just as he thought.
“He is already pretty far away. Another street or two over. We should be alright,” Yaba was saying, Chishiya struggling in their hold until he was walking on his own, just being dragged along.
The two overpowered him easily, and both of them were quite clever. This might be it. Chishiya really couldn’t think of what to do. He was well on his way to being tortured to death.
“Chishiya!” The blonde looked over his shoulder, spotting Kuina, who was chasing after him. This was something he could work with. Kuina was a good fighter. These two had guns and strength, but she had speed, and overall a better fighting sense. If Chishiya somehow distracted Yaba long enough for her to take out Banda, they’d be fine.
“Knock him out. Knock him out, quickly!” Banda hissed. Chishiya writhed in their hold, lifting his feet off the ground which made them stumble from suddenly holding all of his weight. He managed to free one arm, punching Yaba in the face. He’d never really punched someone before, wincing at the pain in his hand.
It was enough. Kuina reached them, attacking Banda, which freed Chishiya. The blonde kneed Yaba in the balls, then elbowed his neck, before Yaba finally got his shit together and punched Chishiya across the face, then held his gun up to his head. “Stop or I’ll shoot!” Kuina stilled. Banda was laying on the ground already, and she had been about to advance on Yaba.
“Kuina! Chishiya!” Chishiya continued to stare at Kuina, while she looked over at Arisu and Usagi.
“None if you move or he’s dead!” Yaba shouted. “Banda, get up.”
Banda rose to his feet, glaring at Kuina, then he joined Yaba. Chishiya cried out in pain when Banda kicked his leg, pretty hard right where it was wounded.
He did it again, but this time Chishiya was expecting it and stayed silent. The barrel of the gun was pressed harder against his head as Yaba shifted, allowing Banda to beat Chishiya in front of his friends, who could do nothing but watch, in fear of his life.
Chishiya worried that he would lose his leg, then realized it didn’t matter, he was going to die. Banda kicked it again, then punched him, the same spot where Lisa punched him. “Stop!” Arisu shouted. “Why are you doing this?”
“Because he’s a psychopath murderer,” Chishiya managed to say, only to be punched in the stomach, causing him to double over in pain.
Banda pulled him back to his full height by his hair, staring into his eyes. “You deserve to die, anyways.” A little bit of the fight left Chishiya’s eyes when Banda said this.
“Apparently everyone who meets me knows that,” He replied. To mostly everyone there, he looked blank, but to Arisu… Chishiya had definitely changed. He looked so tired.
Banda cupped Chishiya’s face in his hands, then he slid them down to his throat, wrapping them around it. Chishiya tried to struggle away, but was unable to, he couldn’t hear the others shouting, begging Banda to stop. He couldn’t hear the distant screams and gunshots.
All he saw was Banda, the pleasure in his sickeningly sweet gaze, as he choked Chishiya out. He didn’t even know that he was struggling, his body felt so heavy, all of his pain increasing to a maddening point, before it just… Stopped.
It was over.
…
Arisu watched as the light left Chishiya’s eyes, a light that had only been there for such little time. He dropped like a bag of rocks when Banda released him.
Kuina had been shot in the leg, as she had tried to save Chishiya. The gun was aimed at Usagi, who had begun running forwards, but stopped when Yaba aimed at her.
Banda and Yaba slowly retreated away, still aiming the gun, and when they were gone Arisu basically sprinted to Chishiya’s side, falling aggressively to his knees beside him. “Oh god, Chishiya. Chishiya? Wake up. Breathe,” He wasn’t breathing. Arisu’s heart slammed against his chest, he didn’t know much about first aid, should he do CPR? Was it safe to move him? Was his neck broken?
“Get out of my way,” Arisu flinched, looking up, and felt a flash of relief when the person who met his gaze was Ann. He scrambled to move, allowing her to take his place, where she felt his throat. “His neck isn’t broken, so it’s safe to do CPR. Do you know how?”
It took Arisu a second to realize she was talking to him. “Uh, yeah b-but uh… Then… I’d have t-to-“
“We don’t have all day. He’s going to be dead within 3-5 minutes, if you don’t move,” Ann said. That was enough for Arisu to sit in her place, he started by placing his hands on Chishiya’s chest, his shoulders positioned over his hands, elbows locked. He did one compression, allowing Chishiya’s chest to go back into place, then repeated this until he had done thirty.
His head tingled as he leaned down, plugging Chishiya’s nose and tilting his head up a little. Then he pressed his lips against the blondes, breathing air into his lungs. After confirming that his chest rose, he pulled away, letting the air escape before doing another breath.
Then he returned to doing chest compressions, everyone staring in silence. “27… 28… 29… 30…” Arisu leaned down again, pressing his lips against Chishiya’s and blowing air. He pulled away, about to do this again when Chishiya gasped, then immediately began coughing.
“Help him sit up,” Ann suggested, so Arisu did that, Chishiya didn’t seem like he was able to really hold himself up, and so Arisu somehow found himself sitting behind Chishiya, letting him lean back against him.
It reminded him of when Chishiya found him on the street. Now the roles were reversed.
Eventually, Chishiya began breathing normally, his head lolled back on Arisu’s shoulder. His eyes were bleary and unfocused, so clearly he was out of it, probably just brimming on the line of unconsciousness.
“We should carry him to a hospital,” Ann stated, her hard gaze boring into Arisu.
“Okay…” He carefully gathered Chishiya up in his arms, until he was holding him bridal style. Chishiya was lighter than he expected him to be, but that also didn’t shock Arisu, as the blonde was rather petite.
Arisu followed after Ann, Kuina and Usagi on either side of him, the long haired girl was holding on of Chishiya’shands and whispering nothing to him, it was clear that the small male was in lots of pain. His eyebrows were furrowed, and he seemed to be using all of his strength to grip Kuina’s hand tightly, knuckles white.
The walk was silent and tense, nobody spoke, so the only sounds were their feet shuffling on the ground and Arisu’s tired pants, even if Chishiya was pretty light, carrying a whole second body alongside his own was not a simple feat.
But unfortunately, none of the three others he was with would be able to bare Chishiya’s weight, and stopping for a break wasn’t an option when the blondes life was on the line.
After a painful half-hour, they reached a hospital, Arisu placed Chishiya on a bed, while the others looked for anything Ann ordered them to get. Chishiya was still half-conscious during this, his tired eyes set on Arisu.
He was trying to say something. “Don’t speak, Chishiya,” Arisu shushed him. “Whatever you have to say can wait. You can’t afford to do any more damage to yourself.”
For once, Chishiya listened to him, staying silent but still watching the brunette.
Ann kicked him out of the room while she worked on his wounds, so during that time, Arisu wallowed in a corner and tried not to think too much.
Despite that, he couldn’t get the image of Chishiya struggling out of his head. The very same person who had no regard for his life, fighting for it. His cry of pain played over and over in Arisu’s head, changing every time he heard it, the way his struggles had ceased, how he gave up, the way he fell.
Then he was seeing Karube, the collar around his neck exploding, his body falling to the ground. He saw Chishiya, beside Karube, never breathing again just like his last friend. Chishiya, gone forever.
Tatta, laying in a pool of his own blood after giving his life to save everyone else. Chishiya never breathing again. He couldn’t lose another friend. Not again, not after Chota and Karube, not after Tatta and all those he’s had to fight against to progress.
Arisu was probably having a panic attack, because next thing he knew, someone was embracing him. Usagi. He hadn’t lost Usagi, through all of this. She helped save his life. If he had Usagi, he could keep fighting, at least. “D-don’t go, Usagi.”
“I won’t. We’ll win this together, Arisu,” She promised, a promise they had already made together and lived by.
He sobbed into her shoulder, breaking down, which had happened before. Usagi was usually there to console him. Arisu would thank her endlessly.
…
“He’s stable, for now,” Ann said as she left the room Chishiya was in. “And the stubborn bastard keeps asking for you, Arisu, he’s refusing to rest.”
“Sh-should I go see him?” Arisu was already standing up, Ann nodding.
“All yours. I have to tend to Kuina now,” She gestured to the room, Arisu walking in and carefully closing the door behind himself.
Chishiya was only in his boxers, which was the first thing Arisu noticed. He couldn’t help but look him over. His leg was tightly bandaged and wrapped up, along with his torso, and he was holding some wrapped up ice again his face. Arisu had no idea where Ann got ice, and thought to ask her later.
The blonde had fairly pale skin, he wasn’t very muscular, but also not plump. Lean and smooth. Pretty. Arisu shook his head, looking at Chishiya’s face, and the bastard was smirking.
“Nice to see you too, Arisu,” He said, his voice hoarse.
“Ann said that you were asking for me,” Arisu chose to ignore his words, hoping that the burning in his cheeks didn’t mean they were noticeably red.
“I just wanted to tell you something about myself,” Chishiya began. When Arisu nodded, he continued. “Well… To me, people who lived life so seriously seemed like idiots. Those people who strive so hard, I just want to curse them. All their goodwill was repugnant to me. But I must have been jealous. They had what I didn’t. It seemed like they were criticizing me for being such a vein and vulgar person. I was afraid of them.”
“I know what you mean.”
“I figured you would say that, Arisu,” Arisu saw Chishiya’s emotions wavering, he looked conflicted, disgusted even. At himself? Then his expression went blank. Only for a moment, then…
He was smiling. Chishiya Shuntaro was smiling, not a smirk or a cocky smile, but just a genuine, warm smile. And it was directed at Arisu.
The brunette had no idea what to say. So he just didn’t say anything, staring wide eyed at Chishiya. “Thank you, Arisu.”
His heart was pounding against his chest, his face, neck and ears felt hot, and he had an odd feeling in his chest. Giddiness?
Everything suddenly became clear to Arisu.
He liked Chishiya. Like, he had a crush on him. “I… I don’t really know what I did, but you’re welcome, Chishiya,” Arisu smiled back, then Chishiya winced and the he remembered that the bleach blonde was wounded. “O-oh… Here, let me help you lay down.”
Before Arisu had really thought anything through, he was carefully helping Chishiya lay down, avoiding his wounds. He was touching his bare skin, and watched the way Chishiya shivered at his cold touch, but didn’t push him away or even complain.
Now the normal Chishiya was back, his unreadable expression, and Arisu could finally relax. He felt like he was about to burst.
“Um… Do you want me to leave?” Arisu asked. Chishiya shrugged weakly, struggling to keep his eyes open. Opting to stay, at least until he fell asleep, Arisu sat on the chair beside the bed.
He’d never actually seen Chishiya sleep, no matter how weird that sounded. The smaller look so peaceful, so… Fragile. Arisu knew he was anything but fragile, but at that moment, he felt a strong urge to protect him. Reaching forwards, Arisu carefully took Chishiya’s hand in his, and yawned.
Before he knew it, he’d fallen asleep with his head resting on the bed.