Alice in Borderland

Chapter 65 - A basket full of sweets

I take a deep breath, but my throat burns like hell and I wince without fail. I open my eyes and try to sit up carefully, my stomach feeling as if I hadn't eaten in a month. My arms barely have any strength and it's exhausting just sitting down cross-legged. I look around tiredly at my hotel room and spot a woman at the window.

"Kuina?", I state, rubbing my eyes with the back of my hand. I seem to have startled her and she winces slightly, but then she takes the straw out of her mouth and smiles broadly.

"There you are Sleeping Beauty again," she says cheerfully and sits down sideways at the foot of my bed, "Everyone expected you to sleep until tomorrow."

I may feel knackered and drained, but I don't feel bad. My stomach seems to have settled, I no longer feel feverish, and my parched lips signal that I am rightly thirsty. I look at my hands and notice that I am no longer shaking and the only two things that bother me are the metallic taste in my mouth and that I am sweating under the thick sweater. I look out the window and notice it's pitch black.

"What are you still doing here at this hour?", I ask her confused. I mean I think it's nice to have her here but she said everyone expected me to wake up tomorrow.

"I'll hold down the fort until Chishiya gets back from his meeting."

"Is he very angry?", I ask timidly and cautiously. I didn't tell anyone that I felt weird and that's why I caused him a lot of inconvenience. If I had at least mentioned it briefly to him, he would have known immediately what to do.

"Are you kidding?", Kuina asks me with narrowed eyebrows and I feel bad right away. Kuina seems to notice my look and I give her a confused look as she begins to laugh. "Chishiya's been here the whole time, sleeping in that chair. He's only left this room for the last few days for meetings with the leadership rule."

I look at her in surprise and my cheeks begin to glow at the thought. He's really been here all this time even though I've been asleep? Even if he's not mad, I feel bad that he slept in that uncomfortable chair. Why did he do that if he knew I wouldn't wake up yet anyway?

"Sayuuri are you okay, your face is getting kind of red".

"Yeah" I reply quickly "I'm just pretty warm in this sweater".

I stand up and sway a little as my knees feel soft. I hold onto the curtain until I'm sure I won't collapse and walk to the closet with wobbly legs. I dig out my oversized red shirt and run into the bathroom. I brush my teeth to get rid of the taste of blood and apply a few squirts of perfume. I just throw my sweater and pants over the bathtub and put on my black bikini and shirt, which comes halfway up my thigh. I prop myself up against the sink for a moment, because changing clothes has completely drained me. I try to breathe calmly and slowly even though I'm out of breath before running back to my main room. When Kuina sees me she just nods and seems to know how I feel.

"Ann said you need a few days to get back in shape".

"I'm fine. Maybe a little wobbly on my feet and starved, but I'll be fine" I say and walk to the small house bar where two water bottles are standing. I grab one of each and head for the room door.

"Hey, where are you going?" asks Kuina, confused.

"To the restaurant to eat something and get a new book," I tilt my head. If I feel this powerless for the next few days, I'll just stay in bed and read a little. Maybe nothing to do with electronics and electronic mechanics, but a book about poisonous plants might not be bad. "Do you want to come?"

"Maybe it's better if we wait for Chishiya"

"The meeting could take forever though" I pout and she looks at me for a moment while she seems to consider, but then relents and nods with a smile. I put my fist up in the air in a playful cheer and head for the restaurant. I have to pause for breath halfway up the stairs before we can continue, but Kuina waits patiently. Together we walk through the dining room to the back to the passageway for the staff. One of the kitchen helpers is about to stop us, but Katsu joins us and just nods to let us know it's okay.