Niragi

The next couple of hours were a bit blurry to me. This thing that bitch stabbed into my neck got infected and the wound burned as hell. So inbetween telling Chishiya's symbols, I drifted away and fell asleep into fever dreams.

'Niragi? Are you there?' Chishiya asked me on the walkie. 'This is going to be the final round.'

I squinted my eyes and rubbed them to wake up properly. I saw the sky above me turn purple: the day was coming to an end. I sat upright to see him better. Damn, I felt horrible. But I didn't show that. I didn't want to make this about me. We were going to save Chishiya, not me.

'Yes, I'm here, darling. Show me your symbol' I said and he turned around so I could see it in the mirrors. 'Ah, it's hearts again' I murmled and I plopped down again, laying on the flattened grass.

'Thank you, we did it! But before I come to you, I have to deal with something else! Hang in there, I'll be as fast as possible' he said.

'I really wish to see you soon...' I mumbled while falling asleep again.

Chishiya

Ippei made me realise somthing very important about myself I had almost forgotten: how I was before Borderland. But - as the villian I was now - I turned that realisation into a little evil masterplan. Unlike other times, it wasn't neccesarily beneficial for myself. Just think about it as an honour for every person that didn't become stronger because of Borderland. This was for the people that lost fate, this was for Ippei.

'Please tell me your symbol' the voice commanded.

'It is hearts' I replied. And I heard two shots before my door clicked open again. That were the last two: the couple. Banda made them distrust each other by telling them some lies and their paranoia did the rest. Now it was just the three of us. Man, I was going to enjoy this big time.

I heard another cell door open, some stumbling in the hallway, and the sound of crazy laughter. He was probably thinking that he won, already celebrating our defeat. But the contrary was true.

I slowly opened my own cell and by the creeking sound of the hinges, the laughing abruptly stopped. I stepped outside and gave Enji a smirk.

Right after me, Banda did the same, on the opposite side of Enji's cell. We both had the biggest grin on our faces. Off course, who wouldn't be happy when they are proven right?

For a second, Enji had a weird look on his face. It seemed like he wasn't afraid. It was more... dissapointment. Like he was sad that the game was over, and that he didn't win. But he quickly recovered and made frantic efforts to save himself: 'uh, Chi... Shiya? We finally eliminated the last people, so we can be sure now about Banda!'

'Well tried, Enji. But we all know who the Jack of Hearts is. No need to try to save yourself anymore...' I smirked while Banda quietly got closer to grab Enji from behind.

The psychopath struggled but wasn't strong enough to break loose, and we took him to the cellar to make an end on this game.

Banda tied Enji to a chair with plastic bands I found in the guard room. I glanced outside to the dark blue sky, my back facing them, as I opened my mouth to say what was on my mind.

'This game made good people like Ippei go insane and loose fate in humanity. That's so... cruel. Therefor the maker of it needs to be punished' I said coldly.

Banda took a knife out of his pocket. I was a bit shocked because we weren't allowed to use weapons during the game, but he didn't seem to bother at all. He kneeled before Enji and stabbed the knife into his palm. Enji didn't move a muscle. It was a real psychopath.

'How can we possibly physically hurt a psychopath?' I asked Banda. Enji started to laugh.

'It's not that it doesn't hurt. I just don't care. The two of you clearly won. You proved that you're smart. You earned it. But I won't give you the luck of seeing me cry about it' he said.

Banda pulled the knife out and stabbed it into Enji's other hand. Blood dripped on the ground. Nothing, just a grin.

I slowly turned around and walked past him. I placed myself behind Enji's back and pressed my fingers against his neck. As I knew a thing about pressure points in the human body, I effortlessly made him suffer.

'Let me ask you something. What did you do to become a Citizen of Borderland? Why are we just Players?' I asked.

He groaned: 'funny. You are so smart, though you don't even know anything about Borderland yet.'

I pressed a little harder and he grunted. 'Tell me' I commanded.

'Okay, okay. It's actually very simple. I just completed all the games' he calmly said between his teeth.

Banda pulled the knife and stabbed it in Enji's left knee. 'So we can't leave this place when we finish the games?' he asked and his eyes lighted up.

'I didn't say that' Enji moaned.

'Why here? Why this game?' Banda asked excited, his interest fully sparked.

'Because this is my home. You don't know me, but I never told you how long ago I've been in this world. Time is a weird thing in Borderland. I was in prison way before you came here' he answered.

Banda looked confuzed, but didn't react.

'And why this game? Because I will never get tired of playing with peoples hearts. I've played a lot with peoples bodies already. Testing their limits. Cutting, scratching, testing what they can endure before they succumb to their injuries and blow out their last breath. I did that so much, I got bored of it. But hearts? No. I never get tired of seeing the weird things people do when they are mentally pressured' he reminisced.

'Even though I totally understand what you mean, I'm still mad at you for doing this to Ippei' I said before using another pressure point.

Meanwhile, Banda stabbed the knife in his abdomen. He groaned again and his body doubled over. A red puddle had already formed under the chair.

'What happens when we finish all the games?' I asked.

'If you finish all the games...' he grunted, 'you get the prize. The choice. I am sad that I will never be able to watch you make the wrong one, ha ha ha. Or...'

Banda pulled back the knife just to stab it right again. He smirked at me. He clearly enjoyed it, could probably go on like this for hours on end. But I longed for Niragi. So I had to hurry this up a bit.

Banda noticed my hurry and spoke to me: 'Chishiya, you can go if you want. I'll finish this for us, don't worry.'

I nodded and left the two men behind. I walked through the main hall while my collar unlocked itself. I carefully grabbed it and put it on the table where I first found it.

For one last time, I looked behind me to the screen with the faces of all the players of this game. Everyones picture was darkened, except for me, Banda and Enji. The last one would be gone soon too.

I stumbled out of the prison building while the zeppelin above me exploded and fell down. Now that I had this new information about Borderland, I had a new goal for me and Niragi. Niragi!

'Niragi!? Where are you!?' I yelled. No answer... I looked around, left, right... And saw some movement in the bushes next to the building.

Niragi

I was laying flat on my back, looking up to the sky. Fuck, everything was blurry. I saw the zeppelin above me and heard a loud noise. The zeppelin caught fire and thundered down. A sting went through my neck and I touched the painful spot. When I looked at my hand, it was red. Damn...

'Niragi!?' I heard his voice. Was it real? My eyes followed the sound and I saw Chishiya standing there. I rolled around towards him, but the pain made my body unable to move. He turned around and locked eyes with me...

'Ni...gi!? Wh... ...ppened? ...y didn't y... ...ell me ...ere hurt!?' he yelled while he sprinted towards me, kneeled down and took my head between both his hands. I couldn't focus anymore but I was too tired to fight against it. Now that Chishiya was here with me, I could drift away without any fear. I just knew he would bring me to safety and patch me up.

I felt the warmth of his fingertips against my skin. He rubbed his thumb over my cheek and looked at me intently. I could feel his warm breath against my face while he talked sweet words I couldn't even understand anymore.

The last thing I vaguely remembered? He pulled my body over his shoulder and carried me to a sheltered place. He laid me down carefully in a smudgy bed and covered me with a ticklish bedsheet. Like I was the most fragile being in the world. Fuck, I didn't want him to think that I was helpless... But I couldn't do anything.

'Cl... ...our eyes, Ni...gi. Cat... up on ...ome sle... now that we ...re saf...' I vaguely heard his voice, close to my ear. And I drifted away with the feeling of his warm body next to me.

Chishiya

I took Niragi to the nearest building I could find. There was no time to waste. I laid him down and quickly went back to fetch the backpack Niragi had taken. Man, I was so happy that I thought about putting some basic medical supplies in one of the hidden pockets in it.

I came back and soaked a cloth with some bottled water to put on Niragi's forehead. He had a bad fever so I had to cool him down. He looked terrible. I could see wounds from his burns peeking out of his shirt. It was torn completely and underneath it, he bandaged himself up wrongly. The wounds were clearly infected because they weren't treated well right after he got them.

And he had a bad wound in his neck too. I carefully touched it and felt a little bulge. Was there something in there?

I undressed him and my eyes traveled over his body. Hmm... I grabbed the backpack and laid out all the tools I found in there. I took the scissors and cut another cloth, soaked it and used it to clean Niragi's body. Big patches of dead flesh came off and I made a face. After that, I rubbed a good amount of hydrating cream on his torso.

I went to look for clean clothes and found a black trainer in the closet of the main bedroom. It was a bit dingy, but could do. I dressed Niragi in it and covered him with the bedsheet. It wasn't the most clean place, but it was our only option right now. We were safe here: the King of Spades wouldn't come near a place where a zeppelin just exploded.

I sat down on the bed and kicked out my shoes. I looked down on Niragi. He looked so fragile. But he wouldn't be fragile for long. I would patch him up. And we would continue our journey. From now on, always together. We were a good team after all. The observer and the doer.

I laid down next to him and whispered in Niragi's ear: 'Close your eyes, Niragi. Catch up on some sleep now that we are safe.' I took him in my arms and hoped that he would get better soon.

[End of chapter thirty four]

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Hi y'all. Happy New Year! I have good news for you: my good resolution for 2024 is publishing at least 1 chapter every month. I really hope you enjoyed reading this chapter. You're always welcome to give me feedback. Stay put for the next chapter. Votes and comments are always appreciated!