wash || alice in borderland

iv. the cat and the hatter

sitting on a curb, reiko flipped the card between her fingers monotonously. the nine of hearts game remained on her mind. in all her years of living she had never done something so heartless with such little hesitation, but with her predicament she couldn't help but feel a sense of nonchalance. she probably felt more upset about the bar than her actions.

"hello again."

reiko looked up with a small gasp. "neko-san!"

there in all his glory, was chishiya smirking down at her, still in his monochromatic outfit.

"what's this?" crouching down in front of her he plucked the card out of her hand. his eyebrows shot up when he saw the suit: a nine of hearts. tilting his head, he stared at the girl with skepticism and the slightest bit of interest.

with a curled lip he flicked the card back at reiko. "well, you don't disappoint, do you?"

reiko smiled, the ends of her eye's sharpening to a borderline threatening point. it was a disturbing look for chishiya to witness. she looked cunning, like she knew she could beat you before you even lifted a finger.

of course, what was a penetrating stare to chishiya, was a harmless smile from reiko - she was just happy to see the cat-like boy once again. stuffing the card into her backpack she stood up and held out her hand.

when chishiya raised a curious eyebrow she giggled, "you're supposed to take it silly!"

scoffing jokingly, he grabbed her hand and let her hoist him up before dragging him down the street.

"so, where are we going?"

"i need you to help me find the beach!"

chishiya chuckled at the girl's disposition, did she even know where they were going? "whatever you say."

"oh wait," reiko stopped and looked over her shoulder sheepishly, "i don't know where the beach is."

removing his hand from hers, chishiya patted reiko on the back in faux comfort, "i was waiting for you to notice that. you know, for someone who just cleared a nine of hearts, i'd think you'd have a little more common sense." he didn't wait for the girl to catch up and walked ahead in the opposite direction of where they were headed.

reiko skipped a few steps to catch up to chishiya's pace. "so it's in this direction, yes?"

"again," he put his hands in his hoodie pockets leisurely, "i didn't think you'd lack so much common sense. imagine blindly following someone you barely know."

"imagine inviting someone you hardly know to the beach in the first place." reiko countered.

"well," he smirked, "you got me there."

the two walked in a comfortable silence down the streets of the city. while chishiya was more calm, reiko was a little more busy, constantly changing her pace and turning her head in every direction to take in the sights of the city. they made no effort to hold hands again, not that it was possible with chishiya's hands in his pocket and reiko's fiddling hands, but it was a nice walk.

the beach was slightly secluded from the rest of the city, but now that she knew where it was, reiko was sure she would never forget it. when chishiya said 'beach' she envisioned some random huts thrown together on a shoreline like one of those survival camps. what 'the beach' really was, was a luxurious looking building - reiko suspected it used to be a hotel - with graffiti that reclaimed it.

reiko gazed at the building in awe, "oh, it's like... actually nice."

"what'd you think it would be?" chishiya scoffed lightly.