wash || alice in borderland

xi. the trial pt.1

"we have to find whoever murdered momoka and burn them in the fire of judgement."

wow, always so level headed! how cool! reiko admired anne with awe. her mood immediately soured as niragi pushed his way to the front of the crowd.

"a witch hunt game, huh? this ought to be good." niragi turned to face the crowd of anxious players. "allright, lets go witch hunting!"

reiko stared hard at the dead girl's friend. in her head she kept going back and forth. she was worried there would be a consequence for ruining the game so quickly,  should she reveal what she knew and put a stop to the game early and take the risk? or should she indulge in a little fun and let the game go on for just a bit longer? for once, reiko couldn't come up with a decision on her own.

chishiya prepared to quickly slip out of the crowd before things got too hectic. he took a few steps before he realized a certain girl he cared about was not following him. with a huff chishiya turned back around to the shorter girl, tugging gently on her wrist.

"come on, we need you." he whispered in her ear.

reiko faced chishiya with an innocent smile. "don't worry, i'll join you guys soon. i have something i need to do." she glanced over to where the dead body of momoka laid.

chisihya sighed. "fine, but you better join us later. i don't..." he hesitated. "i don't need you dead." for the first time his voice held serious concern. while he knew reiko had somewhat of a lucky streak when it came to games, the possibility of her getting hurt worried him.

"it's okay." reiko held the side of his face gingerly and brought it down so she could place a quick kiss on his cheek. "i promise nothing will happen to me." she reassured. "go on, i'll find you later." she urged.

unsurely, chishiya nodded his head before leaving the crowd, kuina following closely behind. satisfied, reiko faced the front again, to see the girl in the yellow top being held by a bunch of the other beach residents, fighting against their hold as they accused her.

"that's enough." mira commanded, stepping infront of the players holding the girl up. "put down asahi."

the players quickly dropped the girl to the ground, leaving her panting harshly.

"we're all suspects in this game." usagi spoke up from next to mira. "where were all of you" and what were... were you all doing? and can you prove it?" usagi questioned the crowd.

niragi stepped forward, gun resting on his shoulder. "i can prove that you and i were having a good time in- ah!" his sentence was interrupted by his exclamation of pain, reiko having stepped forward to smack him hard on the head. niragi glared at the girl who gave him a playful finger heart, happy to have pissed him off.

"now now," reiko mused. "let's not get too rash here." she walked over to where asahi was kneeling and offered her a hand. asahi accepted skeptically, surprised by the girl's strength as she was lifted to her feet with ease.

reiko looked the girl in the eye and smiled brightly. placing a hand on her shoulder she tugged asahi close to her so that to everyone else it looked like they were hugging. reiko leaned close to asahi's ear and whispered softly so that she would not be heard.

"i know." asahi's breath hitched as she looked at reiko with panicked eyes. reiko subtly lifted her finger to her mouth. "don't worry, your secret's safe with me."

asahi nodded slightly so as to not get caught by anyone else. how the dark haired girl knew what her and momoka planned she wasn't sure, but she didn't have the luxury of questioning it.

"hey," niragi suddenly yelled out. "who are you to hit me like that?!"

reiko pointed a finger at herself as if to clarify he was targeting her. his glare hardened when he recognized the airy look and nonchalant demenour.