wash || alice in borderland

i. down the rabbit hole

there was something nanami reiko needed to paint, desperately. grabbing the walkman that once belonged to her older brother, she put the headphones on and blasted the music on full volume. grabbing her paints and some spare rags, she sat herself down on the floor and prepared her canvas. the other night she had the strangest dream of a little white rabbit with a pocket watch and a coat, how ridiculous is that! but either way she wanted to paint it before she forgot. her cat dinah elegantly walked over and sat herself in the girls lap as she painted.

carefully dipping her brush into the white paint, reiko mixed in the smallest amount of black, just enough to give her the cloud gray she needed for the shadow on the rabbit's fur. gingerly placing each stroke on the canvas, reiko let her hand guide her with little thought, the delicate touches making seemingly unnoticeable changes, but she knew that once she had the chance to look at the image in its entirety, the impact would be there. reiko didn't know how long she sat there painting for, but one minute it was ten at night and the next it was four in the morning.

letting out a sigh, the girl stepped back to observe her progress. the painting was almost done, but there was something missing from the painting. the background consisted of a beautiful garden, trees and bushes with white roses that dripped something red. the sky was a bright blue, the clouds bright and fluffy with sunlight peeking through. in the very center of the painting was the white rabbit of her dreams. the coat and fur were all done and the pocket watch glistened. the only thing left blank were the eyes. no matter how hard she tried, she could not remember the colour of the rabbit's eyes. stretching her back, reiko stumbled into her bed. perhaps she would see the rabbit in her dreams again.

the white rabbit never came. in fact, reiko had no dream last night. letting out a great yawn she ruffled her hair, messing it up further. getting up slowly she shuffled tiredly to her kitchen, but there was no food in sight, she'd have to make a run to the store. making her way back to her room she shoved her hand in the closet and pulled out the first few things she felt. with half closed eyes she pulled on the baggy jeans she grabbed at random, making sure to secure it with a pink belt. after clasping her bra she slipped a matching pink tank top over her head before throwing an oversized hoodie on top. grabbing the backpack she had half haphazardly left in the middle of her floor she checked to make sure everything was intact. grabbing her walkman, she headed for the front door, her converse waiting for her at the entrance.

something was strange when she went outside. reiko cocked her head, her eyes dancing around the street.

oh, i see.

instead of the bustling city reiko was expecting to see, it was entirely deserted. come to think of it, i suppose i haven't seen dinah either. not dwelling on it too much, reiko airly made her way to the supermarket across her house, the bells on the door ringing. she wanted to say hi to her favorite cashier mina, but when she entered there was no one in sight.

'curiouser and curiouser!' she thought as she merrily made her way up and down the aisles. does this mean i can steal? reiko giggled lightly at the thought, she was all alone and it's not like anyone would know. but still, she would probably feel bad. grabbing some of her favorite products (that of which included honey butter chips, ramune, instant ramen, and fruits) she made her way up to mina's usual cash register. taking her wallet out of her backpack she shoved the money under the cash register, a little sticky note placed on top that read 'for mina, do not touch if you are not her! >.<'.

placing the items in her backpack she walked toward the exit when she noticed something from the corner of her eye. lying by the chair of the cashier station was a croquet mallet. reiko looked around quickly before swiftly snatching the mallet from the ground. tossing it lightly from hand to hand, reiko gave it a few test swings, a child-like smile plastered on her face. shoving the mallet in her backpack as best she could (which wasn't very, the handle stuck out of the top quite a bit) she happily exited the store, the bells faintly jingling on her way out.

once again she was greeted with the barren streets, exactly the same as when she entered the store. just the regular buildings and cars of the city. looking both ways, reiko began to cross the street when a flash of white darted across her vision. turning her head to the right, reiko's eyes widened at the sight of a white rabbit staring at her with its blood red eyes. the rabbit turned back around and quickly scurried off.

"wait for me!" reiko called after the critter.

taking off in a run, reiko followed the rabbit so as to not lose it. the rabbit turned right at the corner of the street and she followed enthusiastically. everywhere the rabbit went reiko followed as it led her around various buildings in the city. she had been running in a straight path for a while when the rabbit suddenly made a sharp turn and dashed behind the corner of a run down building. reiko hurriedly chased after it, hoping to finally catch up, but when she turned the corner the rabbit was gone and she was all alone again.

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word count: 972

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