Alice in Borderland

Chapter 52 - New and old faces

A few rays of sunlight fall on my face through the window and I let my eyes close for another moment to start the day relaxed. I turn to the other side and bury myself in the blanket once more before opening my eyelids and realizing that Kuina is not lying next to me. I rub the back of my hand over my eyes and stretch carefully.

I sit up and my eyes immediately fall on one of the two armchairs in my room. I'm still too sleepy to be startled and only manage a tired smile.

"Morning," I just say to the man in the white vest and he smiles nodding slightly. He leans forward to rest his elbows on his knees and suddenly grins widely.

"I haven't been here long," he defends himself as I put on a playfully reproachful look, "Put something on. I think there's something you should see."

His wide grin confuses me a bit, but I just nod and stand up. From my closet I dig out my loose linen pants and pull them over my bodysuit. I quickly go to the bathroom to comb my hair, but Chishiya just made me curious.

"So what do you want me to look at?", I call out from the bathroom and he appears in the doorway.

"You'll see in a minute"

"You can tell me right now," I pull a pout and run to him, but his grin only widens.

"Come on" he points in the direction of my room door and I follow him through the halls to the stairs. He stops in front of the banister and looks first at me, then down. I follow his gaze and spot a man in the entryway wearing a wine-colored, elegant hat.

"No way," I laugh, enthusiastically grabbing Chishiya's arm. I smile broadly at him and squeeze his shoulder gratefully before running ahead and heading for the entryway. As soon as I walk down the stairs at a faster pace, the man seems to notice me and his joyful laugh can probably still be heard in the pool area. I can't help but laugh along and he spreads his arms. As I leave the stairs and walk towards him, I turn around again and look at Chishiya, who stops at the landing with his hands in his vest pocket, watching me.

I turn around and stand in front of the man, who takes me in his arms and places a kiss on the side of my forehead.

"Satoru, you're still alive," I laugh and he takes my face in his hands to examine me and like he doesn't believe it's me.

"Of course. And you look beautiful, the violet highlights your eyes".

I just roll my eyes and Chishiya stands with us. Satoru lowers his hands again but his wide smile remains. I look to Chishiya with bright eyes and he tries to put on a neutral expression, but a small smile and a gleam in his eyes remains.

"When they picked me up and I recognized the little boy here, I just had to ask him if he had seen you," Satoru continues to explain and at his designation for Chishiya, I stifle a big grin. Chishiya looks to the side, annoyed, but he leaves it in the room without comment and seems to accept it. "We both came to the same conclusion that it would be weird and rude for you to just see me hanging around the hotel."

"It's good to see you," I say honestly. Satoru explained to me how the Borderland works with all its rules. The first person I've talked to here who approached me with an open mind.

"I could use a drink, could you?" he laughs. I nod and he heads for the pool which shows me he's already been shown around. Chishiya takes a step forward and I turn my head to the side to look at him.

"You're amazing," I smile softly so only he can hear and his grin widens again before he nods and looks at me for another moment, his gaze following Satoru.

"It was worth it," he says honestly and then briefly screws up his face, "even if I was called little Boy"

We follow Satoru, who leans over the bar counter and pulls out both glasses and a bottle of whiskey. We sit down at one of the group tables and from across the pool Kuina, Yuudai and Izumi join us, creating a small cozy gathering. While Satoru introduces himself to the others, I notice that Chishiya keeps looking around unnoticed. But when our eyes meet, he seems to relax a little.

Satoru, meanwhile, is talking about his games and I notice that he often gets into games where there are opponents like the Axe Man or the Masked Men in the Ten of Spades game. As soon as he tells me how the two of us met and how Chishiya brought me to him today, Izumi snorts indignantly and crosses her arms in front of her chest.

"You," she says, turning to Chishiya in a stern tone, "talk to him you've seen maybe twice and still ignore me?"

Everyone else at the table laughs, but Chishiya just looks sideways at the floor, nods slightly, and puts on a thoughtful face.

"Huh.", he says more to himself, as if it just struck him to irritate them a little. His reaction seems to have an effect, as a small ache pulses on Izumi's forehead. At first, her face turns into a mischievous grin, as if she's about to make a biting comment. But suddenly her expression softens and she just smiles, which could be because Yuudai has reached for her hand under the table. It seems to calm her down immensely and somehow I can understand it.

While Satoru and Kuina are engrossed in a heated conversation about some movie, me and Chishiya exchange a glance. We seem to be the only ones who noticed the gesture, and I can't stop my mind from going back to the last game. When Chishiya looked at our hands on the beach I was afraid he found the touch repulsive or just didn't like it. But if he did, he would have kept his hands in his vest pocket in the maze and not touched my pinky. Maybe I really misjudged the situation and shouldn't have pulled my hand away.

Two more faces appear at our table and I recognize Katsu. The other man also looks familiar, but I can't place him on the fly.

"Sorry to interrupt you, but he was asking about you Sayuuri," Katsu says apologetically and I tilt my head slightly. Now I recognize the man next to him, that's the boy from the game I helped with a robber ladder.

"I wanted to say thank you again for yesterday," he beams kindly. To me, he doesn't seem like someone who has been here in Borderland for a long time. I smile at him and nod just to signal that I understand. He seems relieved by this and gives me a quick wave to say goodbye again.

"My Italian tortellini will be ready in a minute," Katsu clears his throat and looks around questioningly, "Anyone feel like eating before the restaurant opens?"

My stomach growls as if on cue, and I exchange a silent glance with Izumi. We both nod and she's already climbing over Kuina while Chishiya gets up to make room for me.

"Don't you want to come too?", I offer but he just shakes his head.

"Not hungry."

I just shrug my shoulders and run after Katsu next to Izumi. The kitchen is busy but we find a quiet spot in a corner and the cook arranges three plates. Izumi and I start eating right away, but the man waits a moment.

"I usually make the noodle dough myself, but we found these at a supermarket on a supply run. They're not as good as my homemade ones, but they're not bad either," he explains, and I have to admit that mixed with the sauce, the whole thing tastes really delicious. I notice an uncomfortable tugging in my ribs and eating suddenly becomes difficult. I put down my cutlery and suddenly the kitchen light blinds me. The pain spreads downward to my ribs and radiates backward. No matter how I sit down, the pressure gets worse and I stand up.

"Sayuuri?", I hear Izumi's voice.

"I just need a drink of water," I say with conviction, and the pain becomes so severe that I double over and prop myself against a kitchen corner. Breathing becomes harder and I stifle a scream. Before everything goes black, I feel two strong arms catch me and look into the frightened face of Katsu.