Chapter Text
Chishiya was not a fan of spades games. With diamonds, clubs, or even hearts, he could capitalize on his ability to outsmart and outthink anyone around him. Spades though? That was definitely his weak spot. But he'd come too far in his efforts to kiss up to the Beach and arguing now would only throw another wrench in his plans. He'd had to rework things at least three times so far, and it was growing tedious.
No one had come back from the five of spades game yet. Chishiya only knew it was the five of spades because a member of the Beach had yelled that out before a laser shot through his skull. The same thing would happen if someone tried to watch the games from the outside instead of playing. It seemed that whoever ran the games didn't like people spoiling the surprise.
Aguni and several other militants had gone this time and of course, Chishiya had ended up in their group out of bad luck. Oh well, he'd use his strategy for spades games. Get somewhere high with a good vantage point, watch, wait, then have someone else do the work for him.
Chishiya watched as another girl registered for the game. He watched as she was approached by a nervous first-time player. Poor bastard would probably wind up dead, not that it mattered to Chishiya. It was just sad, not in an emotional way but more of a mental way. It was sad that so many people failed to ever get their feet under them.
"There are so many people."
"I wonder if there's a doctor here."
Even though Chishiya had decided to ignore his past the moment he realized what this world was, he still looked up at the mention of his former occupation. The two men that were talking about a doctor didn't seem injured. They must have another group member who wasn't with them. Getting a severe injury was basically a death sentence here. Their injured friend wouldn't make it long.
For a split second, Chishiya thought about stepping forward, volunteering to help should they all survive the game. He crushed those thoughts quickly. Charity and goodwill hadn't gotten him anywhere in the old world, and they wouldn't get him anywhere in this new one. No, here he was playing by the rules used by those who made the original world hell in the first place. Babies could die in front of him, and Chishiya wouldn't care.
Ok, maybe that was a little extreme. It was time to stop thinking about the past.
For a moment, he met the eyes of one of the men who had been discussing a doctor. He had the look of someone who didn't spend much time in society, much less outside. Chishiya had learned how to spot relatively new players. These two hadn't been here long, he could tell.
The automated chimes played overhead. "Registration has closed." the synthetic female voice reported. There are a total of thirteen participants. The game will now commence."
Chishiya did a quick headcount. He did another. There were only eleven players in this lobby, counting himself. Where were the other two? He had a feeling that he knew where this was going to go.
The first-time player turned to speak to the pair of men now. Chishiya almost felt sorry for him. Again, the strange urge to help arose, to take this guy under his wing and try to keep him alive for his first game. Maybe he should point out that there were only eleven players here, despite the report of thirteen.
He stayed silent.
Chishiya smirked as one of the men chastised his companion for talking to a beginner. They were still beginners themselves. Ah, hypocrisy.
"Difficulty, five of spades." the voice continued.
"Five of spades?" the same man asked, confirming his status as a beginner. Maybe it was out of boredom, maybe it was out of pity, maybe Chishiya was finally losing his mind. But in the end, the reason didn't matter. He stepped over to the three beginners, aware of Aguni's gaze on him.
"It's a physical game." Chishiya said as a way of greeting. Strength is everything here." The man who suggested ignoring the first-time player eyed Chishiya wearily. His partner didn't seem concerned.
"Each mark has a different meaning?" he asked.
"No, they're just for decoration and aesthetics." Chishiya thought. He decided not to voice that thought and speak a different one. "Exactly. The mark on a card signifies the game's type. Clubs are for team games, meaning that it requires teamwork. Diamonds are games of intelligence. Heart games...Just watch out for them. They're...troublesome."
"Troublesome?"
"It's a game of betrayal where you play with people's hearts." Chishiya said casually as if they were discussing the weather.
"What about the numbers?"
"Those are the difficulty level. I'm sure you know how to count. The larger the number, the harder the game." He turned to walk away. Why was he talking to these people? Why was he helping them? A glance at Aguni confirmed that he too was aware of how out of character this was for Chishiya.
"Wait!" the man who was less weary of Chishiya reached out and grabbed his shoulder. Chishiya fought the urge to flinch and pull away. Unwarranted physical contact was high on his list of things the world did not need. "Thank you."
"Don't thank me. The game hasn't even started yet." Chishiya said, sliding out from under the man's grasp.
"I'm Arisu." Chishiya raised an eyebrow. Was he trying to form an alliance? How naive. How risky. How interesting.
"Chishiya." Chishiya said, opting to not shake Arisu's hand.
"Are you any good at spades games? Maybe we can work together-"
"Arisu!" his companion said sharply. He yanked Arisu to the side. "I don't like the look of him." Chishiya heard him say in a hushed tone. Chishiya gave him his best innocent smile. Arisu's friend had good instincts.
"Game, a game of tag." the voice said as the phone screens lit up. "Rule. Run away from the tagger."
That caused the group to stir. Chishiya smiled as he returned to leaning on the wall. Well, that answered his question. The other two players must be taggers. He'd been nursing a theory that some players were used to support the games, maybe even set them up. Now the main question was if the taggers were people of significance, or just more pawns.
"Clear condition. Discover the safe zone hidden in one of the building rooms within the time limit. You clear the game when this objective is fulfilled. Time limit, twenty minutes. After twenty minutes has passed, the time bomb hidden in the building will explode."
Well, that was inconvenient. Chishiya didn't feel like getting blown up today. It looked like he might have to get his hands dirty.
"Players have five minutes to spread out before the tagger joins the game." the voice said. "Five minutes before the game starts."
Sure enough, Arisu was looking in Chishiya's direction. Unfortunately for him, Chishiya was all out of goodwill. He ignored Arisu and went in search of a vantage point. It would have to be one of the higher floors, a spot with a view of the building. The apartment building had an L shape, so a spot at the short part of the L would allow him to see the longer part. Yes, he would go there.
Sure enough, he was able to see most of the building from a railing at the short part of the L. The voice counted down the minutes as people panicked and ran. Chishiya saw a few people trying to hide. Had they not heard the clear condition? People could become so short-sighted in games like this.
"Two minutes until the game starts." Chishiya decided to use these two minutes to try and predict where the saferoom might be. This wasn't a diamond game so there most likely wasn't a trick to figuring it out, but he could try to calculate the probability of the position of the saferoom. Before he could get too far into his thoughts, he spotted Aguni and his assistant of the day arriving on the seventh floor with him. He waved, secretly hoping to get on the other man's nerves just a little. As expected, Aguni only sighed before walking straight past Chishiya without another glance.
"What? That's nasty." Chishiya called after him. Aguni's companion flipped him off, and the man himself ignored him. Chishiya smirked before looking back to the building.
Putting the saferoom on the first, seventh or fourth floor would be too obvious. The first, last or middle of something was always what people's minds went to first. That left the second, third, fifth and sixth floors. Prime numbers could potentially be eliminated, but it would be a coin toss. Chishiya sighed. He hated spades games. He really hated spades games.
He decided to turn his attention to the players who were frantically darting about like rats in a maze. Everyone looked like they were going to die as per usual. How boring.
"The game will now commence." the voice reported. "The time limit is twenty minutes." Chishiya snorted. As if anyone had forgotten. "Game, start. The tagger is on the move."
Chishiya shifted himself closer to the stairwell, just in case. Figuring out the tagger would be crucial. Would the tagger reveal some deeper meaning about this world? A trumpet solo played briefly and Chishiya placed the phone in his pocket. Time to watch the show.
The elevator dinged. Chishiya leaned forward, wondering if the tagger would reveal an answer. While doing so, he memorized the doors he could see players trying. Fourth floor, apartment eight. Third floor, apartment fourteen. Fifth floor, apartment twelve, and on and on it went. With apartments being eliminated, Chishiya could take that into consideration and re-run the probability of the floor of the saferoom...
He almost laughed. Here he was, trying to win a spades game with diamond tactics. Kuina would be laughing at him right now.
"Three minutes have passed." the voice said. Chishiya watched and waited. Floor two, apartment seven. Floor one, apartment twenty. Floor four, apartment seven...
A spray of gunfire. Chishiya tilted his head. Screams and more gunfire. Now things were heating up. Chishiya continued to watch and wait until...
He sighed heavily. Of course, there were no answers. It was just a guy in a horse mask with a big fucking gun. How disappointing. Guns were so boring and overused, plus there was the part where they could fill you with bullets. Chishiya would prefer to stay away from the tagger, that much was clear.
A man was shot by a laser as he tried to flee. Idiot. Had he chosen suicide, or had he tried to preserve his life with that life-ending act? It didn't matter. People had stopped trying to open doors. Chishiya wished they would start again. More elimination would be helpful.
"Hmm, this isn't looking good." Chishiya murmured to himself five minutes later. People were being mowed down one by one. And they had stopped trying to open doors. "Fine." Chishiya sighed. "I'll do it myself."
"Everyone!" the sudden voice almost made Chishiya jump. "The tagger is currently at the second level of the central area! The tagger has bad vision because of his mask! Let's inform each other of the tagger's location and search for the safe zone together!"
"It's a good idea." Chishiya said. "But no one will respond." Sure enough, no one was answering. "Of course, it was you." Chishiya said as he watched Arisu call out again. He'd written Arisu off as another future casualty of the games, but now Chishiya was beginning to get a feeling. A feeling he only got when he was about to solve some kind of puzzle or stumble upon a good resource.
God dammit. He was going to have to do something.
"The tagger is moving from the fourth level of the central area!" The words escaped him before he could really think about what he was doing. There were two women in the area. The older one was mowed down, but the other one jumped over the side of the rail and climbed up a level. "Oh? A climber? She's pretty good." Chishiya murmured.
"Eight minutes until the game ends. There are currently seven survivors." Chishiya considered the statement. He was one, Aguni and his friend made two and three, four and five were Arisu and his friend, six was the climbing girl, and seven was the new player. It seemed that the announcement was for the tagger's benefit.
"Chishiya!" Oh, for fuck's sake. Arisu was waving at him. "You can see everything from where you are! We'll search for the safe room; you keep an eye on the tagger!"
Seriously? The tagger would be heading straight for Chishiya now, Arisu had made him a priority target. But if he could keep an eye on the tagger and the doors, he might have a better shot at winning.
God, he hated spades games. But he'd accept this role.
"Plaid shirt, second floor! Get down!" he yelled. Thankfully the new player managed to duck down in time as bullets flew overhead. Chishiya continued to call out warnings, offering a running commentary of the tagger's actions.
"Five minutes remaining."
Time to move. Chishiya shoved his hands in his pockets and turned toward the stairwell. Before he could reach it, Arisu burst through it, breathing heavily. "Have you checked up here?!"
"No, but I don't need to." Chishiya said. "I know where the saferoom is."
"What?! Why haven't you gotten to it?!"
"I just figured it out. Man." Chishiya sighed. "I spent so much time trying to think my way through this that I almost missed it. I hate spades games."
"Where is it?!" Arisu demanded.
"We have a few minutes. You tell me."
"What?!"
"You've had some good thoughts so far. I want to see if you can do it again." Chishiya said. Instead of yelling or lashing out, Arisu stared out across the building.
"It has to be somewhere you can see since you haven't moved." Arisu said. His eyes widened. "Down there. Why was the tagger shooting at long range?"
Chishiya smirked. "Guess you can do it again."
"He was trying to protect the safe zone." Arisu said as he took off down the stairs. "Come on!" Before he could open the door, Chishiya grabbed the back of his hood (it wasn't his best idea. Arisu, like most people, was taller than him, meaning that he almost yanked Chishiya forward with him). "What?!"
"At the beginning of the game, there were thirteen participants." Chishiya said. "Did you count them?"
"No, why would I?!"
"I guess I'm setting the bar a little high for you." Chishiya said. "There were only eleven of us in the lobby."
"But the game said there were thirteen."
"The games don't lie. They trick you, but they don't lie. I think there definitely are thirteen people in this game. We've been on the run from player number twelve."
Arisu's eyes widened. "You think there's a second tagger."
"And what better place for a tagger to hide to make sure that we don't win? These games always have a final punch like this."
"I think you're right. The tagger didn't chase us here. He doesn't have to if there's a second tagger."
"Hm? I didn't think of that angle. Interesting."
"Three minutes until the game concludes." the voice said.
"Well, let's get this over with." Chishiya said. He pulled his jacket off and tied one sleeve around the doorknob. "You twist the knob. I'll open it." Arisu nodded instead of questioning Chishiya like most people would. This was just getting more and more fun.
Arisu twisted the knob of the door and quickly ducked out of the way. Chishiya pulled on the other sleeve of the jacket, slowly opening the door from a distance. When nothing happened, he stood up and untied the jacket to put it back on. It was a good jacket. He wasn't interested in losing it.
Slowly the two stepped inside of the dark apartment. It was completely silent as they carefully surveyed the small space. There was a rectangular back room that looked out of place. Was that what they were looking fo-
"Look out!" Arisu shoved Chishiya hard to the ground just as a wave of bullets pierced the area where they had been standing. Fuck, Chishiya hadn't seen that coming at all. If Arisu hadn't pushed him, he probably would have died here.
Moving quickly, Chishiya reached inside his jacket pocket. Not only was the jacket itself important, but the things it also held were important as well. Chishiya did get some enjoyment from the look on Arisu's face as he struck the second tagger with the taser he had thrown together a few nights ago.
"It never hurts to be prepare-" Chishiya was cut off as the tagger fired again. Crap, he needed to find a way to make the taser stronger. He dodged one way and Arisu dodged the other, separating them. Chishiya was forced back outside of the apartment as the tagger chose to target him. He slammed the door, breathing heavily as bullets left dents in the door.
He really hated spades games.
"Someone please come over!" Arisu yelled. So, he had managed to survive. "The safe zone is in apartment 406! It's impossible to clear the game alone! We need two people to do this!"
"Seriously?" Chishiya muttered. Well, he was already here. He might as well. He looked at the door, trying to think of what to do.
The bulletproof door.
When throwing items into his pockets before leaving for the game, Chishiya generally planned ahead as best he could, but he always tossed in one extra somewhat nonsensical item just to mess with Kuina. Today, that item happened to be a screwdriver. So, now he had a screwdriver, a bulletproof door, and shitty unscrewable hinges attaching said bulletproof door to the wall.
"Time remaining, one minute."
Chishiya grunted as the full weight of the unscrewed door fell on him. This thing was fucking heavy! He only had one shot at this, so he had to make it count. He threw the screwdriver into the room first, hoping to draw the attention of the tagger. Sure enough, the tagger grew conflicted over its target and chose to stop a second person from entering the safe room. The tagger open fired on Chishiya, but the door absorbed the bullets as expected. The tagger ran forward. Closer, closer, god he really hoped this door would hold, closer...
Now.
Chishiya shoved the door with his full weight, sending it toppling down onto the tagger, flattening them against the ground. Their gun arm was still free though. Chishiya was forced to dodge as the tagger fired wildly.
"Twenty seconds."
Arisu grabbed the arm of the tagger, trying to wrench the gun away. Arisu forced their arm up, the gun firing into the ceiling. Chishiya took his chance, jamming the taser against the exposed arm.
"Five, four..."
"The buttons!" Arisu yelled. It couldn't be helped; they'd have to hope that the tagger would stay down. Chishiya ran into the white room after Arisu, noticing the two buttons. So that's how it was.
"Three..."
Dammit, being on the shorter end in this world sucked more than in the real world.
"Two..."
By some miracle they managed to jump at the same time.
"One..."
The buttons were pressed in tandem as the pair crashed to the ground. Ouch, that hadn't been a good idea. Honestly, Chishiya was just glad that he'd managed to hit the damn button.
He hated spades games.
The victory noise played from the cell phones. "Game clear. Congratulations." Chishiya sighed and laid back on the floor. That had been a little too close for his liking. The sound of movement caught his attention as the tagger dragged himself out from underneath the door and into the room. His mask had fallen off.
No, it wasn't a him, it was a her. The tagger was a terrified middle-aged woman with a collar around her neck. Without warning, the collar began to blink and beep. Chishiya put his arm over his face to prepare for the blood splatter. Arisu wasn't so lucky.
Arisu stared at the ruined corpse with horror in his eyes. Chishiya almost felt bad for him again. But this confirmed his theory once and for all. The taggers were players, meaning that players could indeed take on different roles in this world.
"What are you doing?" Arisu asked shakily as Chishiya began to search the corpse, digging into her pockets. He decided not to answer Arisu, instead opting to scoop up bullets to bring back to the beach like a good little dog. But he was hoping for something more...
Jackpot.
His fingers brushed a piece of paper that had a strange drawing of a circle with several different squiggles on it. It looked like nothing, but he doubted someone would carry around something useless in a pocket that had been buttoned closed. It looked like there might be a few spots marked with small dots. Chishiya would have to study it further-
The lights in the room shut off. It was definitely time to go. Arisu wasn't in the room as Chishiya left. He was crouched against the wall outside the apartment looking like a lost child. "That person...I killed her." Arisu sounded like he was about to cry.
"No, the game killed her." Chishiya said, wondering why he was even trying to comfort Arisu. "It's no one's fault.
"Just what in the world is this?" Now Arisu was looking at Chishiya as if he had all the answers.
"Maybe it's hell, maybe it's aliens, maybe it's some kind of extreme drug trip. I don't know either." Chishiya shrugged. "But, don't let anything distract you from what you have to do to survive. If we weren't willing to do those things, we might as well just die."
Arisu took a shaky breath in. "Yeah, you're probably right."
"Speaking of surviving, you should probably go if you want to make it until morning. The games reset after they're played, meaning someone has to come in here to do it. I'd suggest not being around when they do."
Arisu nodded and got to his feet. "Thank you."
Chishiya laughed. "For what? I didn't do anything for you. I was just trying to survive."
"Still." Arisu said. "You could have let me die, or used me as a human shield, or-"
"Ok, I get it." Chishiya said as they made their way down the stairwell. "What is this, your second game? Third?"
"Second." Arisu said.
"What was your first?"
"A clubs game where you had to choose between two doors."
"I've played that one." Chishiya said. "Not a lot of people make it out of that one, surprisingly. Were you the one who solved it?"
"Yes, but my friend was videoing parts of it, that's the only reason-"
"You ramble a lot, Arisu." Chishiya said.
"Sorry."
"I didn't say it was a bad thing. What happened to your friend?"
"Karube? I don't know. He went to help take out the first tagger." Arisu said. "I'm hoping he's waiting outside."
"He's probably fine." Chishiya said, knowing the people Karube would have been working with to take down the tagger. He's probably dead, he thought.
It turned out that Karube wasn't dead. He was waiting outside of the apartment building looking frantic.
"Arisu!"
"Karube!"
Chishiya watched the happy reunion with limited interest. The table where the playing card should be was empty. That was a shame, although it would be obvious who had taken it if it wasn't there for Aguni to find. Oh well, he'd just have to get his hands on them later.
"Karube, this is Chishiya." Arisu said. God, now he was trying to make friends. "He helped me clear the game. He probably saved my life."
"I unscrewed a door and dropped it on someone. That's all." Chishiya shrugged.
"You what?" Karube said, raising an eyebrow.
"It was really cool." Arisu said.
"Well, I'm glad you unscrewed the door." Karube said, a condescending, mocking tone in his voice. "Let's go, Arisu."
"Wait, he's been here for a while, I think." Arisu said. "Maybe he could tell us something about this world, or why we're here, or how we get home-"
"I already told you; I don't like the looks of him!" Karube snapped. "He's bad news, I've seen guys like this before. Too clever for their own good. They'll backstab you even if they don't have a knife. Just look at the look in his eyes. He thinks he's better than us."
"Hm? No, I don't think I'm better than Arisu. Just you." Chishiya said. He had almost died. He deserved to have a little fun, didn't he?
Karube grabbed Chishiya by the shirt collar and slammed him against the wall of the building. "Say that to my face, you fucking creep!"
"I just did, but I can always say it again." Chishiya was probably going to get punched in the face, but it would be worth it.
"Karube!" Arisu yelled as Karube drew his fist back.
"You're right. He's not worth it." Karube said as he shoved Chishiya to the side. "Let's go, Arisu."
Chishiya knew he should walk away. He should walk away right now. "I heard you say you're looking for a doctor." God dammit, what was he thinking?!
Even Karube's eyes lit up with hope. "Do you know one?" he asked.
"Maybe, but you might not like him. He might come off as a fucking creep."
"You?!" Karube said incredulously. "You're a doctor?!" he turned to Arisu. "That's bullshit, that's got to be bullshit. He looks like he's our age!" Arisu ignored Karube, turning to Chishiya instead.
"My friend got hurt during the first game we played, and his visa is running out. If we accidentally pick a spades game, I don't know if he'll make it-"
"Arisu! We don't need him! Let's go!"
"Please, if you're a doctor, I'll do anything-"
"Arisu!"
Why was it that every time someone heard the word "doctor" they assumed that the doctor in question was some kind of god of healing. Did people even know how many types of doctors there are?
"It would depend on what his injuries are. I'm not a miracle worker." Chishiya replied.
"What kind of doctor are you?" Arisu asked. Chishiya like him more now.
"I graduated med school early and started working as a pediatric assistant in a cardiovascular surgery ward."
"That's bullshit!" Karube yelled. Chishiya was liking him less by the second.
"What about burns?" Arisu asked.
"I know how to treat them unless they're life threatening. It's definitely not my specialty, though. I'd have to see them-"
"We can take you to him right now!"
"ARISU!" Karube roared. "Are you insane?! We know nothing about this guy! He could be lying for all we know! He could murder us when we take him back to our camp!"
"If it were you, Chota would be doing everything physically possible to help you!"
"Don't throw this back on me!"
"Just let me try-"
"What makes you think this is a good idea, huh?!"
"I trust him!"
"Why?!"
"I don't know! But I know we can trust him!"
Now this was interesting. Arisu had just made a critical mistake, putting his trust in someone who couldn't be trusted at all. Trusting any stranger right off the bat was bad enough, but someone like Chishiya? That was a major, major mistake.
"This is a mistake." Karube said, once again proving to Chishiya that he had the sharper instincts of the two.
"Letting Chota die is a mistake!" Arisu argued.
"Fine!" Karube snapped. "But if this all goes to shit, then it's all on you, got it?!"
"I'll take that chance!" Arisu yelled before turning back to Chishiya. "It's not too far from here. We have food and supplies; you can take whatever you want-"
"Arisu! Are you shitting me?!"
"-Just please try to help him."
"You're awfully trusting." Chishiya said.
"That sounded suspicious!" Karube yelled.
"I'm desperate." Arisu said. "Look, if there's anything you want that I can give you, I'll give you it."
"I'll keep that in mind." Chishiya said, ignoring the blaring question that statement brought up. What in the actual fuck was it that Chishiya wanted here?! Even as he followed Arisu and Karube back to wherever their base was, he told himself this was a bad idea.
But part of him didn't care at all.
Chota had clearly been busy in the time his friends had spent away from him. Chishiya could tell from the flush on his cheeks that he had been engaging in certain activities while his friends risked their lives. Well, everyone needed a distraction, he supposed.
"Who is this?!" a woman demanded, most likely Chota's partner in crime. "We can't take in every stray you come across!"
"He's a doctor." Arisu said. "Maybe he can help."
"He's a doctor? He looks like he's our age." Chota said.
"I guess some people are more successful than others." Karube said bitterly, as if it were Chishiya's fault that the world wasn't fair.
"Let me see the burns." Chishiya said. Chota pulled down a blanket and some bandages. Chishiya had learned to keep a straight face when patients showed off their conditions, no matter how bad it was. It might not be the official cause of death, but Chishiya already knew that the burns might be what killed Chota.
"Is it bad?" Chota asked.
"Moderately bad." Chishiya said. "You're lucky, there are a lot worse places to be burned."
"Yeah." Chota said quietly.
"Your biggest concern is infection." That was a lie, everyone's biggest concern was the games. "It's a third-degree burn. I can try to clean it but since it wasn't cleaned right away, it's going to be painful and maybe even futile. But if you want me to, I'll try."
"That would be nice." Chota said.
"Alright. One of you start boiling some water. I'm going to need antibiotics, tweezers, bandages or something that can be used as a bandage-"
"Where the fuck are we supposed to get those?!" Karube exclaimed.
"Go raid a pharmacy. Do you want my help or not?" Ah, yes, now Chishiya remembered why he had stopped being helpful. He either would have to undo all that help later, or people were just dicks about it.
"We can do that." Arisu said. "What else do you need?"
Chishiya grabbed a nearby pad of paper and a pen and scribbled down a list. "Get me those, and I'll get to work."
"Thank you." Arisu said. "Seriously, thank you so much." Chishiya sighed as he and Karube went running off.
"I haven't even done anything yet."
Two hours later, Arisu and Karube had managed to find almost everything Chishiya needed. He quickly got to work sterilizing the tools, moving Chota to a flat surface with clean sheets, and a dozen other tiny things that had to be taken into consideration with burns. His time spent in an ER had taught him most of what he knew about treating injuries like this, but it had still been a while. Hopefully these people weren't expecting a miracle.
"How much will it hurt?" Chota asked anxiously.
"A lot." Chishiya said. "But an infection will hurt worse and then kill you."
"Ok, I get it." Chota said. He took a deep breath. "I'm ready."
"I'd try to be quick, but rushing these kinds of things isn't the best." Chishiya said. "If you don't think you can hold still, we might need to hold you down." And that was how Chishiya found himself doing spontaneous burn treatment on a leg that was strapped in place by a belt belonging to a stranger with a desk lamp shining over the burn. He certainly hadn't foreseen his day going in this direction.
To Chota's credit, he tried to stay strong throughout the three excruciating hours of cleaning as Chishiya scraped away and removed dead, burnt flesh and portions of infected skin. He always appreciated patients who were cooperative. Finally, he deemed the burn as clean as he could get it, and applied the best antibiotics Karube and Arisu could find to the wound. The last step was re-bandaging the burn, and it was done.
"Thank you." Chota whispered, despite the tears of pain still present on his cheeks.
"Change the bandage once per day. Keep an eye out for signs of infection. I can't guarantee that I stopped anything that's already started." He didn't mention that Chota might not have many days left regardless of his burn.
"Wait, you're leaving now?" Arisu asked.
"Yeah." Chishiya said. Why wouldn't he be leaving right now?
"You've gotta be tired and hungry. We have food and room." Arisu offered. Chishiya considered it. It was a long walk back to the Beach from here, and he didn't fancy the idea of running into gangs of players who had decided to try and rule over the streets. Staying for a few hours longer to rest would probably be most advantageous to him.
"Well, I might as well if you're offering." Chishiya said.
"Yeah, do whatever you want." Chota said earnestly. Even Karube and Shibuki, the girl, seemed less opposed to it. "Karube can kind of cook, as long as there's nothing that can give you salmonella-"
"Shut up!"
"I'm just saying!"
"I gave Arisu food poisoning one time!"
"Yeah, and I thought I was gonna fucking die!" Arisu yelled. These three were clearly close, longtime friends. Chishiya wondered what that was like. Close, longtime friends weren't something that he had ever had or really ever wanted. Even when he was less cynical about the world, attachments left you vulnerable. The best friend he'd ever had was probably Kuina, who he'd known for a grand total of two weeks. He supposed that was pretty long term for him, all things considered.
He ended up eating a bowl of instant ramen and then taking a nap on a nearby couch. He woke up to the sound of static crackling.
"What is this?!"
"Shh! I'm trying to listen!"
"I can't see!"
"It's walkie talkie, Chota! There's nothing to see!"
Walkie talkie? Chishiya rolled over to go back to sleep...
Wait, shit.
Chishiya sat up and checked his pockets. Sure enough, the walkie-talkie that had been given to all executive members of the Beach was gone. Had they gone through his pockets?! Well, that was what he got for letting his guard down.
"That's mine." Chishiya said. It was a little amusing how all four of them jumped at the sound of his voice, as if they were guilty children who had been caught with the cookie jar.
"We didn't want it to wake you up." Karube said. Wow, this guy was a shit liar.
"-shiya, if you can hear this, return to the Beach." the walkie crackled. Chishiya held his hand out and Arisu guiltily handed the walkie talkie over.
"Ann, is that you? Did you miss me?" Chishiya asked, smirking.
"Hardly." Ann said, her voice mildly difficult to understand. He must have gotten slightly out of range. "Hatter wants you back here."
"Awww, so he misses me too? That's cute."
"You're one of our best diamonds players and we may have discovered a new diamonds game. Hatter wants you back at the Beach. Now."
"I'll start walking." Chishiya said sarcastically. "Do me a favor and tell Kuina I'm not dead, will you?"
"Just get back here." Ann said, before the walkie talkie fell silent.
"What was that?"
"Who's Ann?"
"What's the Beach?"
"Is Ann hot?"
The questions started flying. Chishiya sighed.
"Are you with anyone?" Arisu asked.
"Nope, I'm single."
"...I-I meant are you with a group?" Arisu said. Oh. That clearly hadn't registered. Why had that been Chishiya's answer to begin with? He must be more sleep deprived than he thought.
"I guess you could say I'm with a group." Chishiya said as he stood up and stretched. "Tell you what, if you all make it through your next game, come find me at the Beach. We don't usually accept rookies, but three games should be fine."
"What's the fucking Beach?!" Karube yelled.
"It's not something I can explain." Chishiya said. "Well, see you."
"Get back here, you son of a bitch!" Karube yelled. Chishiya only raised his arm and waved without looking back. He made it all the way outside and onto the street before he was grabbed by the shoulder.
"Hey." Arisu said. "I just wanted to thank you again. For saving my life, helping me clear the game, and helping Chota. I won't forget that."
"It's not like I saved his life or anything. You're being too grateful."
"Still." Arisu said. "I'm lucky I ran into you. Thank you, Chishiya."
"I already told you; I helped you clear the game and kept you alive for my own benefit."
"What about Chota?" Arisu asked smugly. "How was that benefitting you?"
"I got free ramen."
Arisu actually laughed. Well, Chishiya supposed humor was scarce in this world. "Chishiya."
"Hm?"
"Let's meet again someday."
"Sure. I meant it when I said to come find me. We'll see each other then." Chishiya didn't believe the words leaving his mouth for a second. He'd never see Arisu again, and that was just the reality of things.
"I'll see you then." Arisu said. "Good luck."
"Yeah, you too." Chishiya watched Arisu jog back inside to his friends. He still seemed so hopeful. Well, that hope would be stomped out before too long. It was only a matter of what died first. Arisu's hope, or Arisu himself. But as he walked away, Chishiya had to admit that he wouldn't mind seeing Arisu again, hope intact or not.
He was just going to blame this sudden irrational behavior on the spades game. That had to be it.
"Hey." Chishiya said as he walked up next to Kuina. Kuina whirled around and stared at him before punching him in the shoulder (it actually hurt. She was stronger than she looked).
"I thought you were dead!" Kuina yelled. "I was going to build you a little memorial shrine, and I would've gone through with it if Ann didn't walk by and say, "Oh, by the way, Chishiya says he's alive." Where the hell have you been?!"
"Making friends, winning games, treating a third-degree burn."
"I can't tell if you're lying or not."
"I know." Chishiya looked around at the normal club-like atmosphere of the Beach. "Anything interesting happen?"
"Niragi started giving me some creepy looks."
"Very exciting."
"Yeah, highlight of my day. Aguni didn't pull anything, did he?"
"Hm?"
"He came back without you."
"I'm not worried about him. Clearly Hatter cares if I stick around or not. If he wanted me back here so badly, I doubt he'd let Aguni shoot me in a back alley or something."
"How does it feel to be special?" Kuina asked, batting her eyelashes at Chishiya.
"Pretty fucking great. I bet you wish you were special."
"I cry about it every night."
"Good."
"You look tired."
"Yeah, I'm tired of this conversation."
"Why are you such a dick?" Kuina groaned. "Seriously!"
"I think it's genetic. I'm not sure."
"I'm serious, though. You look like shit. Go lay down or something. And make sure you dream about me."
"Pass."
"On which part? The sleep or the dreaming of me?"
"Both?"
"The first one's non-negotiable," Kuina said sweetly. "The Beach needs their special snowflake well-rested."
"They don't need me that badly, though. They have Ann and Kuzuryu."
"Chishiya." Ann said coldly from behind the pair.
"Jesus, she's like the devil. Speak her name and she'll appear." Chishiya muttered.
"She's too pretty to be the devil." Kuina responded. Chishiya raised an eyebrow at her but questioning her on this would have to wait.
"The executives are holding a meeting now that you've finally returned. I suggest you attend." Ann said.
"There's nothing I'd rather do." Chishiya sighed.
"Well, come find me when you're done." Kuina said.
"Trust me, I will. I want to get some Ann-swers out of you." Chishiya said quietly.
"You're such a dick!" Kuina hissed, but there was no denying the slight blush that had spread across her cheeks.
It seemed that sleep would have to wait, but that was alright. Chishiya could hardly complain when interesting things kept coming his way one after another. He would have to weigh which one captured his interest the most later. A new game or Kuina's love life.
Or Arisu. Arisu might have to be considered as well.