Alice in Borderland

Chapter 90

Deeply relaxed, I exhale and enjoy the feel of the soft fabric of the blanket against my skin. A familiar sound enters my ears and as the metal pipes in the walls reveal that running water is running through them, I sigh into my pillow, rested. Still half asleep, I turn my head toward the bathroom with my eyes closed and snuggle further into the lightly mint-scented bedcovers. I doze lightly until I hear the shower water being turned off and a mischievous smile steals onto my lips.

He should be coming out of the bathroom any moment now, and just the thought of it sends a pleasant tingle through my stomach. Not a second later, the bathroom door opens and I open my eyes for the first time to look at Chishiya. Unfortunately, he is not wearing a towel around his waist as I expected, but his everyday clothes. The only difference from his normal appearance in the hotel is that water is dripping down sporadically from some of the strands of his hair at the back and he has only half-heartedly zipped up his vest, causing the metal handle to jingle repeatedly at the level of his midriff.

With my right foot, with an admittedly provocative ulterior motive, I pull the white bed sheet around my body further down until it reaches my tailbone and exposes my bare skin. I have to bite my lower lip slightly to keep from laughing at myself and try to acknowledge it with a smirk.

I don't have to wait patiently for long before I catch his attention and his gaze drifts to me. Suppressing a cheeky grin, I close my eyes, but can feel his gaze gliding over my body. A furtive smile stalks my lips and though he seems distracted right now, eyeing my bare back, I try to hide it and press my face sleepily into the pillow. I hear a puffing grin, yet his elevation tells me he's got something planned, so he's already dressed.

"Really, already?", I just mumble and instantly relax as the mattress to my right presses in a bit. Without opening my eyes again, I know he's joined me at the edge of the bed and I'm already expecting a dismissive comment. But when I suddenly feel his warm breath on my skin, I sigh out with pleasure and enjoy how the air that leaves his lungs brushes my shoulder. A pleasant shiver spreads through me and when he pushes the hair on the back of my neck slightly to the side, a pleasant sound escapes me.

I lay my head in his direction and when he lightly brushes his index finger silently across my chin area, I turn to him and gently pull him to me.

"Sure you have to go already?", I whisper, not avoiding a slightly disappointed undertone. Instinctively, my gaze wanders back and forth between his eyes as a strand of his front hair lightly tickles my cheek. Carefully, I trace his cheekbone with the tip of my index finger and wander downward and backward to his neck with a dreamy look at this touch. When I look back into his eyes, our gazes meet and I realize how he's been watching my features with fascination the entire time.

"I've been meaning to look at the new guy, Arisu. Kuina and I were going to have a talk with him sometime," he replies. I furrow my eyebrows slightly, Chishiya doesn't exactly talk to people in the Beach willingly unless he has some sort of plan. Oh man, should I stay out of this? If anyone knows what they're doing, it's Chishiya. Automatically, the corner of my mouth twitches upward, and even if it's only for a millisecond, the man next to me seems to notice. I don't think I've ever really realized how relieving it is to know that pretty much no game could beat him. Take Yuudai and Izumi, for example. I don't want to imagine what it's like to leave for a match and while trying to survive, have to worry about the other person.

"Sure you can't postpone it?", I ask with an honest smile at the thought, elegantly grazing the side of his leg with my foot. I notice him draw in a heavier breath than necessary, but the look on his face tells me he can't rearrange his plans.

"Yes," he says, his eyebrows drawing together imperceptibly before he pulls away from me slightly again and leans back against the back of the bed. Despite his statement, a winning smile creeps onto my lips and my cheeks begin to glow as he obviously has at least a little trouble with it.