Alice in Borderland

Chapter 69 - Ink

I slowly wake up and stretch my arms and legs so as not to feel too sleepy. I sit up and look beside me, but the side of the bed is empty. I rub the sleep out of my eyes and look around the hotel room, but I can't spot Chishiya anywhere. When I hear the bathroom faucet turn on, a small grin creeps onto my face and I brush a strand of hair behind my ear. I stand down on my arm and as I recognize the white fabric a warm feeling spreads through me.

I hear the faucet turn off and look to the door just as Chishiya emerges from the bathroom. When he sees me, he nods with a grin and sits down across from me.

"It's almost impossible to get you awake," he says, and I just smile wryly. He suddenly reaches behind me and pulls the hood of his vest deep into my face. Laughing, I swat his hand away and while the hood covers half my face, I put my head back to look at him, playfully offended. I try to blow a strand out of my face, but when I hear Chishiya laughing, I adjust the hood to look at him. It's not a cheeky grin or a light laugh, but hearty and loud. It's not the first time I've seen him like this, but it happens far too rarely.

"How's your injury?", I ask after his laugh subsides and I've savored every moment. Glancing toward the bathroom, I see that he has just tended to his wound himself. The disinfectant is by the sink and the end of a bandage hangs over the trash can.

"I'm fine. The cut is not deep, there will be a scar at most," he says and I nod slightly. By the look on his face, I can tell he's thinking about something and he looks down at his hands for a moment as his features become stern. "You're playing again today. I was going to sign up for the same group, but Ann made me stay here in front of the entire leadership rule."

"She was right about that too" I say and he wants to retort something but I just keep talking, "Maybe not that she did it before the whole leadership rule, but you shouldn't play again right after you got hurt"

"But I told you I'll make sure we go to the games together" he reminds me and I take a deep breath.

"I'll be fine"

"Your record so far isn't very convincing" he reprimands me lightly.

"My record is that I'm still alive" I make the weak argument and he just looks at me with raised eyebrows. I meet him with a challenging look and he seems to understand exactly what I'm thinking. I can go on arguing forever, even if I have to pull the most pointless answers out of a hat. He apparently decides he doesn't want to risk it and just nods in affirmation.

"Just be careful," he says simply, and his features soften. I just smile at him contentedly and he puts his hand on the back of my neck to pull me to him. As soon as our lips touch, my cheeks start to glow as usual and I place my hand on his cheek to pull him closer to me.

"Finally," Kuina's voice rings out, "About time."

I cringe and just barely manage to suppress a yelp. Even Chishiya flinches slightly and we look to the door of the room. Kuina has leaned comfortably against the wall and is wiggling her eyebrows as she turns the straw around in her mouth, grinning broadly. After I snap out of my shock stupor, I look to Chishiya and think I see that his cheeks have turned a slight shade of red.

"Kuina," the man next to me seems to regain his composure, "Does the word knock mean anything to you?"

"I thought with Ann's pills you'd be asleep or drugged up in your bed. But if we're being honest this moment could have been a lot more embarrassing, well if you two were in the middle of it..."

"I didn't take Ann's pills," Chishiya interrupts the woman and after her words, my ears start to mute and my face turns bright red. I want to press my face into one of the pillows or sink into the ground.