Arcade Game | Chishiya x Reader ¹

18

Nothing had changed in the span I'd spent in borderland.

Only the weather, the summer started to appear through the cold weather that was once there and the flowers started to bloom reaching for the sun that had began to show itself more often in the ocean blue sky... it made me thankful that even some life was thriving in the dystopian death land we were in.

But we still hadn't got the whole deck of cards.

Chishiya and I were merely close friends.

And I hadn't escaped.

The only new thing in the repetitive life I had lived was Kuina. A pretty girl who Chishiya had met in a game of his and after a few weeks she had appeared at the beach creating a friendship with me after asking about the beach itself and the world we were now trapped in.

Her kindness was strange in a place where kindness was a weakness, she had an almost harsh exterior with her face constantly riddled with her lack of excitement; a clear sense of her unimpressed feelings and opinions on the beach, she had found herself accompanied a lot of the time with a fake cigarette in her mouth biting it as if it were still there and she'd opened up to me a lot in a short amount of time about her past and her worries as days passed in the twisted reality we were trapped in and she was apart from her mother , each time she spoke to me a strong bond had been created between us.

Upon this Chishiya had offered the idea of letting her help us with our plan - to steal all of the playing cards - but we were barley a mere step closer every day with the appearance of cards earned from the deathly games participated by the ever growing participants from the beach.

Chishiya had constantly counted the new cards that appeared at the table and jotted them down secretly so that we could keep an active count of the reoccurring cards that we had. As official executive members now Chishiya and I were allowed in the room where the cards were counted; discussing each card carefully and talking about the repeated cards to the executive members was key.

Chishiya didn't often talk to those around the table, he found no need to and found his personality was created by others through his mysterious and uninviting side. However, I spoke.

I always spoke.

The chance to create a mutual friendship between executives was my chance to know more about Hatter and his ideologies and any clues as to where he could be hiding the cards and fortunately if I continued my kind smile as I spoke and polite deeds I was able to get away with asking almost suspicious questions about Hatter, the beach and the games without any questions - Hatter was too thankful someone seemed even a little interested in him, the reality of it was that I wasn't, unfortunately, I was merely interested in his drop of persona that could occur any second I kept speaking to him as the chance of him giving away a vital clue to the placement of the cards still remained.

None of the executives knew where the cards were hidden, only Hatter did, and when he had stamped down the envelope  containing the location of the cards for the next person to take his place as the grand leader of the beach if he were ever to die not a single thing was announced to anyone sitting at that table about their whereabouts.

Creating a friendship with someone like Ann, a skilled woman who understood a lot of things about how to play the games and how they worked, was a good attribute to help heighten the chances of our plan working whenever we were to carry it out.  So I'd done my best to create a mutual friendship between the woman, I needed every chance I possibly could to help Chishiya and I escape; and Kuina too if we were able to do so.

I didn't want to leave Kuina behind.

Almost every day we all meet up and the plan was discussed at night to stop anyone listening in, sometimes in the loud crowd of the beach where people would pay no attention to us or in my bedroom where we were isolated from the busy crowds.

Kuina would often join us and she agreed with the plan expressing that she would have done the same thing if she had the confidence and therefore Chishiya's trust in her too was heightened.

Now not just a two person team aiming to steal all of the cards but a now a three.

The other change in the beach was the slow decline of peace that had once been there between the militants and everyone else at the beach, specifically the executives. What was once a three man team led by Aguni now grew larger and hungrier for power. Niragi had always been power hungry, to him there was no better feeling than the pure rampage of power over others.

Niragi was as tenacious as usual, he'd flirt with any girl he liked, but he'd come back to me whenever he could and I merely saw it as a hobby just because he enjoyed seeing Chishiya's eyes twitch for a moment before he'd jump in and save me but the outcome was usually the same. Niragi would merely ask "Why are you protecting her? You're not her boyfriend!" And he would laugh, a noisy laugh which would be met with Chishiya's scowl.

"It doesn't matter what I am to her, but you keep your hands off her" Chishiya would reply.

Sometimes the two would get into an argument and I had felt extremely embarrassed being the cause of it so I had merely tapped the boys on the shoulder and looked between them both with an agitated smile. "You two are acting like children, grow up" I would say, my voice strained with the smile I tried to present to the two different personalities.

It was aggravating, childish. I'd expect it from Niragi though but having such an repetitive argument from Chishiya was so unusual, so unlike him.

I'd noticed Chishiya and I had gotten closer; the once mutual friendship strengthened and strangely the personal trust I had never put in him had been diverted for now I trusted him with my personal life and secrets. I'd always trusted him with my life but never did I trust him to keep a personal secret. He always told me more things about himself every day and in return I'd do the same. If we were ever in games together I was still his main priority even if it wasn't a team game and Chishiya understood games in an instant making it extremely refreshing to be stuck by his side where I knew my chances of survival were high.

Chishiya had never let me go in a game if one of the main militants or an executive member didn't accompany me. If he couldn't be with me on those games he would definitely make sure someone else who could heighten the chances of my survival would be there - sometimes it was a little awkward to have been accompanied by an executive member especially when I too was one but they had only followed Hatter's words... Hatter trusted Chishiya and thought highly of him and that's exactly why Chishiya's idea to have someone come with me was accepted and granted.

All because Hatter liked Chishiya and thought he was amusing and serene. The perfect example of a man Hatter admired.

The beach had quickly become the utopia that Hatter had once hoped for, now filled with more people than ever and more appearing every day I had realised the extent that people would allow themselves to go to just for a moments relaxation as they bathed in the glory of being alive. Even If he was still missing a few cards Hatter was ever so intent on getting his army (the beach inhabitants) to win them for him, every night was the same; a grand speech full of reassuring words to spark unity in the crowd below him before sending most of them to their deaths.

He was good at that; creating false hope. Hatter was skilled in his ability to label the beach as a utopia when it was the pure antithetical to what he painted it to be. The stench of bodies often appeared if I were to step outside around the back of the building, the tears and screams of those who'd participated in the games became more frequent in the dining area where Chishiya and I liked to talk alone and as the beach grew in occupants the noise was only louder, but Hatter had manipulated their minds so much to believe that there would be a day they would all escape; only a few knew that wouldn't be the reality.

They'd either die or find their own way to escape, and that opportunity to escape was only presented in death.