Chishiya

I was sitting down on the side of the bed as I looked down on Niragi, touching his forehead with the back of my hand and frowned. It must have been about the twentieth time this night that I checked his temperature. He was still glowing. I had no idea he had suffered thís bad from the fire at the Beach... And that infection on his neck didn't do him well eather. When he woke up, I had to ask him immediately how he got it so I could treat it as well.

I felt a feeling that I didn't feel quiet a lot in my life yet. Was it... worry? Care? Who would've ever thought that I would worry about hím? He looked so fragile... But I wasn't afraid he would die. This was a lame way to die, for him. If he died, he would do it with a banger.

I stood up, pulled the chair from under de desk and placed it next to the bed. As I sat down on it - elbows on my knees and my fingertips touching each other in almost a praying kind of way - I stared into oblivion, thinking about the first moments when I started to feel something for him...

The clean, white curtains moved due to a fresh breeze blowing through the window. Niragi sat down on the white bed and grabbed a bun from the platter before reaching it over to me. 'I thought you'd appreciate it' he blushed. 'I wanted to clear my debt. And thank you, actually...'

I frowned and looked him deep in his eyes, questioning what he was trying to do. I took the bun and brought it towards my mouth. 'Why are you always trying to approach me when I am alone, yet you are always so mean to me when your friends are around?' I asked before taking a small bite out of the bun.

Niragi's eyes followed every movement and his lips curled up. 'I don't know... I am the other militants' figurehead. I can't act like a pussy around them. And... I just don't know how to act around you, I guess...' his cheeks got even more red. 'But I was thinking last night... That I maybe can... Like... Change that because you were so kind to me during the last game...?' he admitted. Niragi shuffled on my bed and twisted his fingers while looking at me patiently.

I blinked to wake up from my daydream and made a slight smirk. It felt like such a long time ago. So many things happened since that day. But thinking back about it, it seemed like Niragi already cared about me.

I lovingly looked at him and saw him blink, trying to open his eyes. He groaned when he moved. I uprighted myself to move closer to him.

Niragi

I woke up and blinked a couple of times to get used to the light from the rising sun that shone through the bleak window. When I moved, all my injuries burned like hell.

'Shit...' I mumbled and Chishiya moved closer to hear me.

I playfully pushed him away and laughed at him, despite the pain. 'Fuck off, you!' I giggled. He frowned.

'I mean, argh...' I repositioned myself in the most comfortable pose possible. It hurt even more than before Chishiya patched me up. 'Why did it take so long? I searched everywhere for you but I have the feeling that you didn't even try to find me' I mumbled as I looked down, my fingers twirling around.

He laid his index finger under my chin and tilted my head to look me in the eyes. 'I'm sorry' was the only thing he replied.

'Normally you have more nice words to talk yourself out of things' I said cheekily.

'I think we've changed a lot since the last time we saw each other' he smiled and came closer to me, his lips softly touching mine in a gentle kiss.

I reached for the back of his head to pull him closer so he wouldn't stop kissing me. He carefully swinged his left leg over my lap to sit on top of me. His weight felt heavier than normally. It hurt. He laid both his hands on my cheeks as I intensified the kiss. I stroke my lower lip against his and folded my arms around him in a tight embrace. I didn't care about the pain for a moment.

'It's been so long...' I huffed inbetween kisses while moving my hands down his body. 'I have missed you so much.'

'I missed you too...' he broke off the kiss and looked at me. 'You have to be carefull with your injuries' he said with a sad smile. He glared outside, to the sun and sighed 'It's time for another painkiller.'

Chishiya

I stood up and noticed his disappointed expression. Even though I'd rather spend my time having sex with him, I knew that that probably wasn't the best idea right now. I took the backpack, opened it and pulled out a painkiller for him to take.

'Here, swallow this' I said while handing it over.

'I'd rather swallow something else' he smirked. I gave him a dirty look and sat down on the bed.

'I... am sorry. That I didn't come earlier... I had no idea about the severeness of your injuries. And I had some business to take care of. I know more about Borderland now. Knowledge is power...' I smiled softly.

He smiled back and swallowed the pill with no water. He caughed and sank back into bed as he groaned.

'At least come here and lay next to me. If you don't want to fuck, we can at least cuddle...' he mumbled and patted on the bed.

I laid down in his arms and laid my head on his chest. I looked up and stared to the wound on his neck from up close.

'How did you get this?' I asked while nodding towards it.

'Hah! Some crazy bitch stabbed into my neck' he blurted out.

'Crazy bitch? Who? Another player?' I asked.

'No, a queen. She said that I should come back after I found you and that she would come and find me if I didn't' he grinned, 'the stupid whore.'

I frowned and watched it very closely. His skin was way more pale because of his condition. But I noticed something else. Something weird underneath his skin. It was a little, red blinking light. I carefully touched it and Niragi cringed.

'What the...' I said.

'What?' he tried to look down but couldn't possibly see it.

'It blinks. It almost looks like... some kind of electronics?' I reasoned, 'I have to take it out. Who knows what it is?'

I grabbed a piece of cloth and the scissors I used before and stared at them. Niragi's eyes followed mine and got big when he saw what I was holding. I saw a bit of panic in them before he recollected himself and hided his fear with a grin.

'I am sorry, but since we don't know what it is, we can't take the risk. We need to get rid of it. It's gonna hurt a bit, but I'll be careful' I said.

'Hm, Off course. I am not a pussy like Arisu. I can handle this. I've been roasted like a chicken, I almost fell from a skyscraper. What you are going to do is nóthing compared to the things I already went through, há há há' he said emphatically.

The thought of reassuring him that he didn't have to hide his fear for me slipped through my mind, but I quickly dismissed that idea. I knew it didn't matter.

I seated myself in a relaxed position in front of Niragi and breathed in and out. I laid down the scissors and placed my hands on his jaw so that I could move his head in the best position. I took the scissors again and placed one of the sharp ends on his skin.

'I want you to take a deep breath and hold it until I say to breath out again' I commanded him.

'Kay, doc' he smiled and did what I asked.

As he held his breath, I quickly made a slid in Niragi's flesh and pushed the scissors in. Blood flowed out of the wound as Niragi grunted. I took the bulge in between the two legs of the scissors and tried to get a grip on it. His fingers squeezed the filthy sheets. I carefully pulled it out without breaking it.

After I removed the blinking thing, I pressed the cloth against his neck and rubbed a bit to clean it up as good as I could. 'You can breath again' I smiled.

Niragi

I tilted my head towards him and smiled a pained smile. I had to admit it did hurt. But I wanted to stay strong for him.

I reached out to touch his cheek and he started blushing.

'Let me take a look at the treasure you found inside of my body' I grinned.

He handed the bloody thing over to me and I carefully inspected it. It was a tracker. Shit. So that's how she was going to find me. Maybe she was already on her way. Shit. I prepared to get up, but tripped and fell on the ground instead. Chishiya rushed towards me and pulled me up by my arm.

'Are you okay?' he asked full of panic.

I grunted: 'that bitch placed a tracker inside me. That's how she will find us to play her game. We have to get rid of this!'

My thoughts rushed as I tried to think of a plan, but I couldn't think straight.

'Be careful with your injuries' Chishiya said and he placed me on the bed again and tucked me in. He stroked my cheek with the back of his hand. That made me calmer.

And then it occured to me. I thought out loud: 'how can she use a tracker in Borderland? Everything that works with a chip, doesn't work here. Unless...'

'... unless the kings and queens have access to things we can't access' Chishiya finished my sentence.

'If this tracker has a chip, I can use it to hack into a computer. And program electronics that can help us beat all the face cards' I explained. Chishiya's face betrayed that he didn't understand a thing from what I just said, but he smiled at me anyway: 'I didn't know you were this smart.'

'Hm, someone once told me to not show all my capacities at once' I winked. 'The only thing I need is a computer' I sighed.

His eyes lighted up: 'I know where to find one! I once went scavenger hunting with... I went to a shop where they sold electronics!'

He hesitated.

'You need to stay here and rest. You're clearly not healed well enough to accompany me. I will fetch anything you need and come back here asap, I promise!' he said enthousiastically while hanging a sheet over the window to hide our spot for the outside world.

I nodded, even though I didn't like the thought of staying here and doing nothing.

He grabbed the backpack and stuffed a new bottle of water in it, together with the scissors.

'Take a painkiller every two hours or so. Sleep well and drink as much water as possible. I'll be back in no time' he commanded me before giving me a quick kiss and leaving.

Chishiya

I ran out of the building and tried to orient myself. The game shop I went to with Arisu was inbetween the Beach and this location, some more to the East. I looked around and saw a bike standing next to a tree on the pavement. Great.

I rushed towards the shop. I wanted to be back with Niragi as soon as possible, I didn't like the idea of leaving him alone with these injuries... I was lucky to not come across any other people. As I got there, I threw the bike against the frontage and opened the door. The pick I used to unlock it was still there.

I entered the shop and looked around. It seemed like there had been people since the last time I was here. Some rayons were completely ran over. Luckily, the one with the laptops was kinda untouched. I chose a Samsung Galaxy Book 2 and stuffed it in my backpack when I heard a noise.

I ducked down and made myself small, but it was too late. 'Chishiya, is that you?' I heard a female voice. Kuina.

I sighed, stood up and waved at her.

'What are you doing here?' she asked.

'Searching for something. And you?' I replied.

'The same. We're trying to gather everything that could be useful for our plan. We are planning to attack the King of Spades' she said while taking a seat on the counter. I walked up to her and stood still one meter away from her. She had some bruises and cuts but looked fine overall.

I smirked: 'how are you going to do that?'

She hesitated. She seemed wary around me. She had all the reason to not trust me anymore though, so I didn't blame her. 'We are gathering with a group. Some of us are still in games, so we agreed to meet at Shibuya square in nine days' she explained.

'Who is we?' I asked out of curiousity.

'Me, Arisu and Usagi of course. We also met up with Aguni again. He is useful because he's strong. He met a girl named Heya, who is very athletic as well. We can use anyone if we want to compete against the King of Spades' she shivered.

It was silent for a moment. She asked: 'did Niragi find you?'

I admitted: 'yes, he did. He was in a very bad shape so I patched him up a bit and...'

The look on her face hardened so I stopped talking about him.

I smiled softly: 'are... are you still mad?' I glanced at her.

She sighed: 'what do you think yourself? I mean, okay, you can't choose who you fall in love with. And it's a very Chishiya thing to try to save Niragi from dying from his injuries, but... It's still Niragi we are talking about.'

I interrupted her: 'what do you mean, 'a Chishiya thing to do'?'

She blinked. 'I mean... You saved mé back when we met. I was left for dead and you patched me up. You may want to come across as a bad guy, but deep down you are a good person. I am sure of that' she said with a sad smile. 'But yes, I am still mad and you will have to do something very big before I can forgive you' she ended her sentence.

I thought about what she said for a moment and made an agreement with myself: I would make it up to Kuina. I could really describe her as a friend of mine. My only friend. So she deserved better than how I treated her before.

'So yeah... If you would like to join us in nine days. You are always welcome. Even though Arisu and Usagi won't like to see Niragi coming. We can use anyone to compete with the King of Spades' she whispered. She jumped behind the counter and stuffed some things in plastic bags. Then, she jumped up and held something in her hand: an IPod touch with wired earbuds.

'Isn't this something for you?' she asked.

I smiled and took it from her when the door of the shop opened again with a ringing sound. A gasp echoed through the building. It was Usagi. She stomped towards me and slapped me in the face. Ouch...

'Kuina, what are you doing with this... traitor?' she hissed.

I rubbed my red cheek and blinked confuzed while I quickly put the IPod in my pocket.

'He has the backpack that Niragi had earlier! He works together with that dog!' she yelled at Kuina, gesturing ferociously with her arms. She turned towards me: 'do you know that he ráped me?! Do you support that? He is an animal!'

She exploded and started hitting me again. I stayed silent and let her rage. I knew that trying to defend Niragi was useless. Kuina jumped up and grabbed Usagi's arms to get her off me.

'Usagi, stop it!' she said and pulled her back. Usagi had a fierce look on her face. 'Let him be. I'm so sorry that happened to you, but he has nothing to do with that' Kuina said as she looked at me.

I gratefully nodded towards Kuina and walked out of the store without saying a word. I knew she was still mad, but I was thankful that she stood up for me against Usagi.

I left the bike behind. I needed a walk to put my thoughts straight. I tried pressing the button of the IPod while walking. It's battery was on 48%. I scrolled through the song list. It only contained some brand music, but it was better than nothing. I hadn't listened to music since I lost my previous IPod, and I had to admit that I missed music. So I plugged in the earbuds and put the brand music playlist on repeat while I jogged back to our hiding spot near the jail.

[End of chapter thirty five]

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Hi y'all. I really hope you enjoyed reading this chapter. Though I had some troubles writing some dialogue, and I was worried that it would be boring to read, I think I managed to make it interesting. It's essential to know for the continuation of the story. You're always welcome to give me feedback. Stay put for the next chapter. Votes and comments are always appreciated!