Chapter Five
It was cold. So cold, like an embrace of sadness, holding him down, weighing in his chest. God, he was so cold.
And yet his heart was fire. Fire that destroyed everything in its path, everything it touched. Every beat sent waves of searing heat through his cold limbs, every agonizing beat of his heart sending white hot pain through his bones.
Until he was a burning flame, the heat breathing life into his body once more.
“Arisu? Are you with us, Arisu?” Eyes fluttering open, the brunette writhed around, all the blurry faces around him making him think he was in another sort of messed up game, he needed to escape, to find-
Who did he need to find? Arisu knew he had been with Chota and Karube, but that was years, decades ago. Just a fleeting memory among an abyss of darkness.
There was grief. He knew something had happened to his friends, but he wasn’t sure what. And someone else… Some imaginary person he’d created had died. He had died.
Arisu was dead. And he had been reborn like a phoenix. Rising from his own ashes, better and worse than before, yet all the same.
“Hey. How are you feeling?” The person smiling down at him was someone he had never met. A female doctor, who must’ve been taking care of him.
“Wha-“ His voice cut out, and Arisu struggled to find words. “Karube… Chota, what happened to them?”
Her smile became sad. “You’re father asked me to tell you. You’re friends didn’t survive the crash.”
He swallowed the lump in his throat, looking around the room. “The crash?”
“A meteorite hit the area you were all in.”
Arisu’s head hurt, and his heart more. “Why… Why did I survive and they didn’t?”
The nurse sighed softly and moved away from him, “Is it alright if I let your brother into the room?“
“I… Yeah.”
A bit later, Arisu was allowed to get up out of bed and walk around. He wandered the hospital which was just overflowing with people, people from the crash, some who were fairly unharmed and others who had lost a leg or an eye.
“Arisu…” He spun, watching as doctors rushed by with a blonde haired male on a stretcher. He could’ve swore that person just said his name. Without thinking, he ran after them, until he was taken into an emergency room and Arisu could follow no longer. The brunette thought that his voice was too clear to have been a mumble that just sounded like his name.
That guy was unconscious and called out his name. Arisu. Maybe he knew someone else with the same name? The brunette didn’t know, he was confused, and because of that, he found himself sitting outside of the emergency room for hours waiting for the blonde to come back out.
“Do you know him?” Arisu nearly fell out of his chair. Beside him sat a woman, her hair pulled back into a ponytail, she was undoubtedly someone from the crash as well.
“N-no… I just thought…” Now he was worried he sounded crazy.
“That he said your name?” The brunette was once again startled. He whipped his head to stare into the girls eyes.
“Did he say yours too?” Arisu was getting excited. He didn’t know why.
“Yeah, earlier. I was with my parents and he was rushed by me. Kept saying my name over and over, but I didn’t want to leave my parents so it took me a while to find him again. He was also saying… Arisu? Usagi? Hissing those names like he was trying to warn them of something,” She sighed. “I’m Kuina, by the way.”
“Arisu,” They shook hands.
“I don’t understand why he would be saying our names?” Kuina frowned, tapping her feet on the floor.
“Should we go look for Usagi too? Maybe they would know,” Arisu suggested.
Kuina looked around, then clicked her tongue, “I just worry that he’ll be moved while we’re gone, and we won’t be able to find him.”
Arisu hummed. “Okay. Do you have a phone?” She nodded, so he put his number in her phone, then ran off to go find Usagi. He didn’t know why he was so desperate to talk to this blonde, to the point where he was mindlessly searching for someone he’d never met. Arisu just felt like he recognized that person, that they had met somewhere.
After asking around for a while, he felt two light taps on his shoulder. “Um.. My name is Usagi,” Arisu turned around, faced with a short haired brunette, her expression curious but guarded.
“Oh…” Now he had no idea how to explain this to her. “Uh… Do you- er- well… Do you know a bleach blonde guy, his hair reaches his shoulders, he’s shorter than me?”
“No, that doesn’t ring a bell,” Her voice was very soft.
“It’s- um… Basically, I don’t know him either but- but he was saying our names, and also someone else’s name. She’s waiting outside the emergency room. I thought maybe you would know,” Arisu shrugged awkwardly, and Usagi looked just as awkward.
“You must’ve got the wrong Usagi then.”
She tried to turn and leave, but Arisu called out to her without thinking. The shorter turned slowly, raising a brow, “Do you just… Wanna come with me? Maybe he’ll give us answers when he wakes up. Maybe he knows why…”
“Why you’ve forgotten something?” How did these people keep guessing his exact thoughts? Usagi recoiled slightly, obviously not having meant to say that out loud. “Sorry… I just feel like-“
“Me too,” Arisu cut her off, then laughed awkwardly. “So…?”
“I guess I don’t have anything better to do,” Usagi began following him, and eventually they returned to the outside of the emergency room, where Kuina still was.
The three of them were talking for hours, going on and on, wondering if the mystery blonde was going to survive, if he’d ever emerge from that room and give them answers.
“No, I’m good at fighting, not swimming! Where did you get that idea?” Kuina laughed, while Arisu looked severely confused.
“I actually have no idea. For some reason, I just see you as someone who’d be a swimmer,” He didn’t want to say that for some reason, he could easily picture Kuina in a bikini, and she always had a marker or cigarette in her mouth when he pictured it. At a party?
“Hey! Calm down!” They heard a shout from the room, then a loud crash which caused all three of them to flinch. It was silent for several beats, then the door swung open and the blonde sauntered on out.
His eyes landed on Arisu, Usagi and Kuina, and he stumbled forwards, clearly out of it. “Arisu, it’s over? Is this the real world?” Somehow, his expression and voice were completely calm, even though his own blood was dripping onto the floor at his feet.
The three were too stunned to speak. Or even move, just staring at the short blonde like he had three heads. He looked them over, then looked around at everyone who was staring at him. “So this is the real world. Guess I shouldn’t have sedated that doctor. Arisu, do you know my name?”
Security was running over now, but the enticing blonde didn’t even glance in their direction. He was staring at Arisu. “Kuina, do you?” Now his attention shifted, and Kuina quickly shook her head. “Usagi? You too?”
Usagi nodded. Arisu was still staring at him, even as he was grabbed by some doctors. He wasn’t struggling, so they were careful with them as they tried to lead him back into the emergency room.
“Chishiya?” Arisu whispered, having no idea where the name came from. The blonde smiled softly and nodded, before disappearing back into the emergency room with the doctors.
The area was closed off for a minute because they had to take care of the doctor the mysterious blonde had sedated, and clean the blood that he got all over the floor.
“How did you know his name?” Usagi was first to break after a long drawn out silence between the three. Her question was directed at Arisu.
“I-I don’t- I don’t know,” The brunette folded his arms over his torso. “That was like I remembered a dream. Or a memory. Just for a moment, and then I forgot it again.”
The silence resumed, all of them were so confused and conflicted. This situation was so absurd, and it made no sense. Just who was Chishiya? “What do you think he meant about this being the “real world”?”
Arisu considered the possibility that this guy was just crazy, but it didn’t make any sense. He knew each of their names and could put them to their faces. And somehow, Arisu knew his name. That had to mean something.
When neither of the other two answered Kuina’s earlier question, she sighed, looking up.
None of this made any sense.
…
Bzzzzzt, bzzzzzt, bzzzzzt, bzzz-
“Hello?” Arisu mumbled into his phone.
“Please come down here, Arisu. He woke up and is refusing to talk until you’re here,” Kuina said softly. Arisu felt felt she’d just dumped ice water on him, by how quickly he was awake and scrambling out of bed, before groaning in when he exercised his wounds.
“I’ll be right there,” The brunette hung up after his words, tossing his phone back onto his bed, then quickly changing into more presentable clothing, not just his pjs.
Arisu reached the room that Chishiya had been placed in, the blonde had been in a coma for two days, and in that time he, Usagi, and Kuina hung out more and got closer.
The two girls were already in the room, both to Arisu’s left, while Chishiya’s bed was centred against the wall opposite of them. He sat with Usagi and Kuina, staring at said male.
Chishiya was pale, so the bruises on his skin stood out, a dark contrast. Despite his beaten up form, which at a glance anyone would know was painful, Chishiya still managed to sit in his bed with good posture and a calm expression. His dark, knowing gaze trailed over each of them.
“Ah, I really wish I had never said your names,” Chishiya murmured, loud enough for them to all hear.
“Why?” Usagi - being as curious as ever - spoke to him first. Chishiya’s eyes locked on her.
“Because now you want answers. Answers that I don’t want to give you, I think you’ll hate me if you all end up remembering,” Chishiya spoke to them in a way that it seemed like he was talking to himself. It was confusing, and Arisu didn’t understand what he meant.
“Just tell us why you were saying our names like that,” Kuina sounded almost desperate for his answer.
“Like what?” Chishiya questioned. His voice made Arisu shiver.
She hesitated for a moment, “You were calling for us as if you’d lost us.“
Chishiya looked down slightly and a small, pained smile formed on his features. It was just like that for a few seconds before he looked back up again. “Tell me what you remember first. Starting with you, Usagi.”
“I was just taking a break during my jog, these three guys were running around with one of them on the others shoulders. They were so close to getting hit by cars, I was afraid. And then I saw a bright light in the sky, I heard the crash, then woke up here,” She looked down as she recited this.
“Arisu?” Chishiya raised an eyebrow.
The tallest in the room hesitated to speak, his chest aching at the thought of mentioning Karube and Chota. But he felt obligated to. “We were talking about the zombie apocalypse, and suddenly my friend said I’d be the only one to survive if it happened. Then he…” Arisu paused, glancing at Chishiya. “Lifted me onto his shoulders, with our other friend following us. We were running around in traffic, and I had to be put down, then we almost got hit by a car. After that we saw the fireworks.”
Everyone in the room stared at Arisu as his expression went completely slack, his eyes suddenly distant. Fireworks? Up until now, Arisu just remembered seeing the bright flash of light from the meteorite. Not fireworks. So why had this memory changed?
He vaguely remembered hiding in a bathroom stall, the lights going out?
Then it was all slipping away, like a dream, and Arisu snapped out of his trance. “I saw the light from the meteorite. And it looked a bit like fireworks.”
“Kuina?” Chishiya continued on with no comment to his words.
“I was just walking through town. I saw everyone else looking up, so I did too, and didn’t really see much before it hit,” She shrugged softly.
Chishiya hummed, now staring out the window. In reality, he was just trying to think of a way to explain this to the three. “I’ll just say some words. Tell me if any of these things mean anything to you.”
Once they agreed, Chishiya began, “The Beach. Seven of Hearts. Niragi. Ann.”
Usagi raised her hand slowly, and Chishiya nodded, letting her speak. “The name Niragi, for some reason it makes me feel kinda tense?”
The blonde didn’t look surprised, “I expected that one. It’s a fear response, after what he did. Nothing about the Seven of Hearts rings a bell, Arisu? Perhaps werewolf?”
Chishiya somehow knew that saying that would make Arisu tremble, a sudden overwhelming grief consuming him. “What’s happening?” The tallest muttered, clutching his chest.
“Hide and Seek? With Chota, Shibuki and Karube?” Now it was overwhelming him. Guilt.
“No…” Arisu shakily reached up to grasp his hair, wishing to forget this guilt and pain again. He didn’t even know why he felt like that.
Chishiya stared into Arisu’s soul, into the very fibres of his being, and he felt so exposed that he was tearing up slightly. “You were the wolf and you ran away from them. You were selfish and you let them die, right, Arisu?”
Before Chishiya could continue, Usagi stood up and blocked his view of Arisu, holding her arms out. His expression didn’t change. “Do you remember how helpless you felt as you were held down and harassed by Niragi? Too weak to resist him?”
Usagi was trembling now along with Arisu, narrowing her eyes at Chishiya. “Do you remember who’s fault it was? Do you remember how much you hated them?”
“Yes,” She hissed, now glaring at him. Chishiya shifted his stare to Kuina.
“Do you remember fighting Last Boss? Working with me to collect the cards?” She frowned at his words. Chishiya had all of them shaken up so easily. “We’re done for now. Too much in one day and I think you guys will break. Think about what I’ve told you.”
Usagi was the first to leave. Then Kuina, leaving Arisu alone with Chishiya. “Who else do you know in this hospital?” His voice was barely above a whisper, the blonde giving him an odd stare.
Before long, the two found themselves wandering the hospital together, and every time Chishiya’s saw somebody he knew, he would tap Arisu then look at them. “I could tell you all about your past, or Usagi’s past, Kuina too. You and Usagi never directly told me about yourselves, but it’s pretty easy to figure out if you know what you’re looking for. You’re a gamer, and your home life sucks, right? Your only escape was spending time with your friends.”
Arisu didn’t bother to respond, staring at these doctors who were discussing the amount of casualties. “Do you know any of the people who didn’t make it?”
Chishiya nodded, then left Arisu’s side to walk over to a vending machine. The brunette hadn’t even noticed, he was too busy thinking of Chishiya’s earlier words and what they meant to him.
Meanwhile, the blonde had gotten himself a drink, then felt a rough shove on his shoulder. “Get out of my way.”
“Sorry, Niragi. You better get that quickly, what if you miss out on baseball target practice?” Chishiya had already made his leave by the time Niragi could even turn to face him, his eyes wide in shock and fear, but somehow the blonde had managed to just slip away.
Chishiya couldn’t help himself, messing with Niragi. Even though it would just be bad for him in the end.
Arisu yelped in surprise when his arm was seized and he was dragged away from that area, to a less popular hallway. “Sorry. There was someone who wouldn’t mind hurting us over there,” Chishiya was putting pressure on the left side of his chest, where he had a wound that Niragi disturbed when he pushed him.
When the brunette saw this, he immediately offered to get a doctor, but Chishiya told him it was just a minor inconvenience and the doctors wouldn’t do anything.
They had been standing in a doorway, well, more of a short hallway that led to a door, leaving little space between them. The blonde didn’t seem fazed by this, rather, he had even chosen this spot.
And suddenly, an absurd idea popped into Arisu’s head, “Were we dating?” The question was asked innocently, and yet the way Chishiya reacted - a confused noise, raised eyebrow - suggested otherwise.
“We were not,” He responded after a short pause. Arisu’s cheeks started heating up in embarrassment, for some reason, he expected Chishiya to say that they were. Or at least that there was something between them.
Neither of them spoke. Arisu looked conflicted, while Chishiya was rather blank, staring off to his left. His hand had fallen, both now limp at his sides.
The taller of the two was trying to avoid staring at Chishiya, but his gaze kept trailing back to him, until Arisu forgot about decency and watched him, examined him.
Chishiya was small, a fair bit shorter than the brunette. He had a mole under his eye, his hair was bleached blonde, brown roots bleeding in. Arisu tried to imagine him with brown hair, and for some reason that put a picture in his mind. Chishiya’s hair, except covered in dirt and blood, his face bleeding, a strong grip on his arm holding him up-
Then it was gone and Arisu had to face his current reality again.
He wished he had someone to hug. Arisu never really got the luxury, growing up, but he felt like he used to have someone who would hug him when he was sad.
In the place he had forgotten. It bothered him, the feeling of having forgotten something, but being unable to remember what no matter how hard you tried. Only the boy in front of him knew.
“Hey, Chishiya?” Arisu spoke, causing the blonde to turn his head and look at him. “Could you… Um- C-could you hug me?”
Chishiya stared intensely at him, his expression unreadable, and for a moment Arisu was sure that his request would be rejected. He was already scrambling to apologize for being too straightforward when Chishiya suddenly pulled him forwards and wrapped his arms securely around him.
Arisu was frozen for a second, then his vision became blurry as his tears welled up in his eyes. He basically whined as he wrapped his arms around Chishiya tightly, burying his face in the crook of his neck and crying quietly.
He’d been hugged by Karube, Chota, his mother when he was little. But none of those hugs were like this. So genuine and comforting. It was as if he associated this hug with being alive.
Then another memory flashed by. Laying on the middle of a street for days, ready to die, until someone just came along and sat silently with him for hours. That same person pulling him into their arms and holding him while he broke down.
That was Chishiya.
All he wanted was to remember. Remember Chishiya, Usagi and Kuina, along with everyone else he forgot. He knew those memories would hurt, but he needed them. They defined who he was.
Arisu didn’t think he could let go. The thought of it made him hold Chishiya tighter as he sobbed harder into his shoulder. In return, Chishiya tightened his hold slightly.
“It’s going to be okay, Arisu. Hang in there,” Chishiya murmured. The brunette could feel Chishiya’s calm breathing, trying to match it, slowly calming himself down until he was just sniffling. When the blonde tried to pull away, Arisu naturally tightened his hold, before realizing what he was doing and letting go. “Don’t worry. I just want to go to the hospital room, you are welcome to join me.”
“Please,” The gamer nodded.
The duo made their way back to Chishiya’s room, both sitting on his bed, and eventually Arisu fell asleep with his head resting on Chishiya’s thighs.
When the intellect was sure that Arisu was out, he sighed, placing a hand on his head. “This will never work. You shouldn’t become attached to me,” His voice held pain, and Chishiya had never heard himself sound like that.
Because maybe, he was falling for Arisu. And that scared him more than anything ever had. That was a weakness he’d never really had to worry about until now.
His parents hadn’t even come to visit him yet. And he was sure he wouldn’t be seeing them until the weekend. Work was a priority.
Chishiya had never even experienced these kinds of emotions. No one had ever truly cared for him, and he cared for no one. That‘s how it works
And yet his chest hurt when he heard Arisu sob. He wanted to comfort him, to hold him. Holding Arisu in his arms made him feel less cold inside, knowing that the brunette was growing attached to him almost felt nice.
…
Usagi and Kuina had been talking for hours, until eventually they felt they were ready to go speak to Chishiya and learn more about what they had remembered.
Only, when they walked into his hospital room, Chishiya was sat up the bed with his phone out, and Arisu was curled up into a ball in his lap, sleeping soundly.
“Welcome back,” He said without looking away from his phone. The blonde had a news article relating to the accident pulled up on his phone, and there was nothing about anyone remembering the borderlands. He didn’t know why he was the only one.
When neither of the two responded, he looked up at them, and the two were both staring at Arisu. Chishiya put his phone down, the movement was enough for him to get their attention.
“Oh…. We wanted to hear more,” Usagi began.
“Have you remembered anything? Arisu is doing well,” The blonde glanced at the mentioned, then returned his focus to the two in front of him.
Usagi narrowed her eyes slightly, “I saw him. The man who harassed me, and I remembered blaming that on you, Chishiya.”
She expected him to defend himself or at least give a reason, but the blonde just nodded, turning his attention to Kuina. “And you?”
“Not much. I can remember… Hatter?”
Another nod. “He was the leader of an organization called “The Beach”. Hatter is dead now.”
“What was the place we forgot?” Usagi asked, her eyebrows furrowed in confusion.
“I’m still not quite sure myself. I should have forgotten about it just as you guys did, the only difference I can think of… Well, I should be dead. That man who harassed you, Niragi, shot me twice and I bled out while you, Arisu and I were stuck in a hallucination,” Chishiya said all of this with a blank expression. “That place… We called it the Borderlands. A place of survival. Everyone had a visa with a certain number of days on it, and if those days ran out, you would be killed.
“In order to survive, players were forced to participate in games, after playing a game you get more days on your visa. You also had to face the risk of dying in a game,” He looked between the two of them, and was aware that Arisu had woken up, by the way his breathing changed.
“They were categorized by the suits in a deck of cards, right?” The brunette murmured, slowly sitting up. Chishiya hummed.
“Heart games were all about trust and betrayal, while diamond ones were logic and intellect. The two I did well in. You three excelled more in club games, teamwork, or spade games which were stamina and athleticism,” Arisu couldn’t help but find it cute the way he listed them off with his fingers.
The three ended up gruelling Chishiya for hours, and by the end of it they just felt like they had more questions than before. But all of them were exhausted and in need of proper sleep.
When Arisu returned to Chishiya’s room the next morning, he found that the door was locked. Concerned, he tried knocking on the door, and hear shuffling. “Go away,” That was not Chishiya’s voice.
Deciding it might be best to just wait, Arisu sat on a chair that was near the door to Chishiya’s room, going on his phone as he waited. He’d give it one hour before he knocked again.
Arisu was rather engrossed in a game when the door to the blondes room opened, a doctor exiting the room. Behind the tall, lean male was a short woman, another doctor. At first, Arisu assumed they were just doctors checking up on Chishiya.
Then he noticed that Chishiya resembled the man, and how his nose was the same as the woman’s. His parents.
The brunette immediately returned to staring at his phone, trying not to tense up as Chishiya followed them out of his room.
He bowed, expression blank, and said goodbye in a work-voice. Formally. His parents only nodded, passing by Arisu, who remained in his position until they had turned the corner. Chishiya was still standing in the same position, his dark gaze on Arisu.
“Come here,” The blonde gestured him over, and the two entered the room, both sitting on his bed. “You’re being discharged today, aren’t you?”
“How do you know that?” Arisu frowned. His brother told him that, and he hadn’t told anyone.
“I can tell,” Chishiya shrugged.
“How?” The brunette emphasizes, both of his eyebrows raised in question.
He got a blank stare. The man in front of him was secretive, clearly. He didn’t mention his parents and now he doesn’t want to explain this. Arisu was about to change the topic when Chishiya spoke up, “I’m a surgical intern. I work here.”
That was a shocker. Arisu, for some reason, didn’t see Chishiya as a doctor. He didn’t know what he saw. But definitely not doctor. “I never would have guessed.”
“No one ever can,” A small, playful smile formed on Chishiya’s lips, causing Arisu to smile back and laugh. Then the blonde arched his back, multiple pops sounding.
“Damn!” Arisu said in astonishment, before giggling and cackling at himself, while Chishiya smiled.
“It’s because of how uncomfortable these beds are,” He shook his head in disappointment while patting the bed they sat across from each other on.
Arisu agreed, then added, “And the food is pretty ass.”
This light conversation continued for a while, even as the two got up to get food, then walked around outside together.
The mood was light and happy, and although Chishiya couldn’t fully go unaware to the world around him, his attention was very centred on Arisu.
Though, he did notice Niragi’s approach, and was able to turn to him before he could push Chishiya to get his attention. “What do you want?”
“You bastard. How did you know my name, and my-“ Niragi cut himself off.
Chishiya raised his eyebrows, “Your trauma? Well, you told me all about it once when we were drunk together.”
Niragi growled in annoyance. He got closer to Chishiya, glaring down at him, while Arisu stood to the side silently, unsure of what was going on.
“I’ve never even met you.”
“Sure you have. You know me very well, actually,” Chishiya was smirking now, knowing that this Niragi wasn’t as unhinged as the one in the borderlands, because even he had to obey the laws. Which is why he was being more forward. There was nothing the taller could do about it.
Arisu flinched when Niragi shouted in frustration, lightly pushing Chishiya’s chest. “You’re delusional.”
The blonde didn’t respond, just stepping away and raising his hands in surrender. Niragi glowered at him for a second longer, then scoffed and walked away.
“What was that?” Arisu asked in a soft voice. Chishiya turned to him, his expression neutral.
“It was nothing. I have to get going, Arisu,” He didn’t wait for the brunette to reply and just walked in the direction Niragi had gone. Arisu turned to stare at him, he had no idea what just happened, flinching when a hand was placed on his shoulder.
It was Usagi, “Are you alright, Arisu? You look troubled.”
He shrugged, “Yeah. I’m just confused with everything. And I’m being discharged today, so I’ll have to face my dad…”
His words seems to hit close to home for Usagi, as she looked down and frowned. Arisu immediately thought to apologize, but didn’t have time to before Kuina had joined them.
The three wandered off together and conversed.
Meanwhile, it had looked like Chishiya had chased after Niragi, but he had actually decided to go to the staff room and check the list of victims. In order to get into the staff room, he had to change into his uniform, which he kept in the hospital, making his life a whole lot easier.
He had remembered Ann’s condition before they went to the Queen of Hearts game. It was likely that she had passed within the duration of them getting there and beating the game, yet he hadn’t seen or heard anything about her death. If she died in the borderlands, but survived in the real world, she could possibly be in the same situation as Chishiya.
Bingo. Ann Rizuna. She had to be rushed into surgery and she technically died, her heart stopped beating, but they managed to save her.
After checking her room number, Chishiya made his way over there, knocking on the door. “Come in,” A muffled voice sounded from inside the room.
The blonde opened the door and stepped into the room, shutting it behind him and turning to Ann. She was one of the few people that he struggled to read, someone who had saved his life once. Well, at least helped.
At that time, it was Arisu who gave him CPR, who put his lips on Chishiya’s… That was something for another time.
His point was, upon seeing Ann, he couldn’t tell if she had her memories or not. “Hello, Ann. I’m Chishiya Shuntaro. I just came to give you a brief report on your condition,” He slipped into his work persona, not going to risk saying something that would make him sound psychotic.
Ann nodded, and remained silent, her expressions and body language still unreadable.
“Your wounds are healing nicely. As such, you won’t have to worry about any permanent damage,” It was easy for Chishiya to say some random bullshit that sounded like the truth, and Ann didn’t seem to question his words. “It’s looking like you’ll be able to be discharged with Kuina.“
“Kuina?” There was the crack he had been expecting. If Ann had lost her memories, the name Kuina would mean nothing to her.
Chishiya dropped his facade, sitting down in the chair, “So you do remember?”
She glared at him, “Why didn’t you just ask?”
“I don’t want to have to deal with a fourth person coming to me for answers. If I said something too obvious that made you remember something, then you’d get curious and keep asking. It’s annoying,” He crossed his legs, relaxing. “No one else remembers, besides you and I. And we both died before the game ended, so we should be dead here too.”
Ann frowned, “You, off all people?”
Chishiya nodded his head, looking out the window, “Mira put us into a hypnosis. Niragi shot me while I was vulnerable, and I bled out.“
It felt weird to talk about how they died, even as they sat here, alive and well. Their discussions about the games, how the others had forgotten and much more carried on far into the day, until the sun was setting. Ann and Chishiya were much alike, but also very different, and their contrasting opinions and such made for a very good debate between the two, which both of them thoroughly enjoyed.
And even needed. It got a lot off of Chishiya’s shoulders, being able to speak to someone who also remembered. Also, he was aware that Ann and Kuina had a thing going.
Although the blonde wouldn’t like to admit it, he did care for Kuina, and he was glad that she was falling for Ann because he knew they’d be good together.
“Thank you for that, Chishiya. I hate to say that to you, but that helped me feel less insane,” Ann smiled to him, the said standing in the doorway. He only nodded, then left, walking to Arisu’s room.
As he expected, the gamer was packing up his stuff, both his father and his brother in the room. Conveniently, he was still dressed as a doctor, and so the two who didn’t know him weren’t phased by his appearance.
“Arisu Ryohei, I just have to do one more checkup before you go,” Arisu hadn’t noticed Chishiya before he spoke, and was about to say something before he realized why the blonde was acting as he was.
“Okay,” He nodded softly, sitting in his bed. The two others in the room watched in silence was Chishiya checked his vitals, the healing wounds in his body, and followed his normal procedure.
Once he was done, he backed away, then turned to his father. This was a good chance to fuck with the brunette. Chishiya couldn’t help himself.
“Hello, sir,” He bowed respectfully to both of them. “I assume you are family?”
“I’m his father, this is his brother,” The man replied.
Chishiya leaned closer. He could feel Arisu’s intense stare on his back, and had to stop himself from smirking. “Take care, then,” The blonde bowed once more, then took his leave.
“He’s… uh- cute?” Arisu felt his face go bright red and he buried it in his hands. His family knew that he swung both ways, and while they didn’t really care, he’d never heard his father say something like that.
“C’mon, Ryohei! He’s trying to be better!” Hajime laughed, the other two were silent for a second before Arisu started laughing into his hands. The two were laughing loudly while his father simply smiled, his cheeks a little red in embarrassment.
Arisu said his farewells to Kuina and Usagi, also getting their numbers in the process, and Chishiya’s number from them. Then he got into his fathers car, the family going out for dinner and being normal.
In a morbid way, Arisu felt happy that the crash happened. Because now his father seemed to realize that if he lost Arisu, he’d be it’s as hurt as he was when he lost his wife, and even though Arisu was lazy, he loved him.
The brunette wanted to do better. He wanted to get a job and maintain this happiness, he actually felt motivated to do something with his life.