Ace of Hearts | Sunato Banda

Chapter 7

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Y/N's POV

It was dark outside. I could hear a bond fire lit up next to me.

With all the energy I have left, I tried my best to analyse my surroundings. Banda lied next to me, unconscious.

All of a sudden I saw a dark silhouette of someone, they step closer.

"Who's there?" Arisu yelled and quickly found a small log to defend himself. I hadn't realised that he was awake on the other side of the camp fire.

The unknown figure emerged from the dark and reveals herself. A girl. I looked down and couldn't help but notice that one of her feet were replaced by a metal coil-looking apparatus.

She held an unimpressed expression on her face and sat down next to the camp fire. Her long black hair almost reached her elbows.

"Are you.. a citizen?" Arisu asked, scared and confused as to why she's not there to kill us.

"Huh?" was her answer, indicating that she didn't even know what it means.

After being awake for a few seconds, the pain from the hit started to kick in. "Why did you attack us?" Arisu winced.

"You would've gotten killed if you guys kept running like that" she replied in a judging tone "I told him to leave you three behind because we don't need dead weight. But guess what? He was willing to drag you all the way here."

"Who did?" I asked. Instead of telling us, she looks in the direction of where "he" was. "You better thank him. Especially you, Arisu."

Confused as to how she knew his name, Arisu walked to where our supposed saviour sat. Before leaving, she warned him "Watch out. He's in a pretty foul mood since you guys messed up our plan."

Arisu nodded his head and headed to the person while I stay with Banda. I sat down next to him. His relaxed face made me feel better for some reason. The moonlight hit his profile perfectly and all his best features stuck out. I couldn't help but stare at them.

"How long?" The girl suddenly asked, breaking the silence.

"Sorry?" I shoot her a confused look.

"How long have you been together?" She repeated herself.

"Oh, no. We're not-" I clarified while laughing awkwardly.

"Good" she responded nonchalantly. My laugh had stopped. The sound of crickets filled the area, replacing, what could have been, silence.

"By the way, my name is Heiya" she introduced herself.

"Y/N" I shook her hand, still wary of her. "I'm curious. What was your first game?"

She paused for a moment, unsure if she should reveal that part of her. Eventually, she went on to tell her story.

"I was confused at first. I couldn't take the man who kept blabbering about "beating the game" seriously.
To answer your question, the seven of spades was my first game." she narrated.

"The boiling death" I muttered.

"Yeah, how'd you know?"

I shrug my shoulders. "Lucky guess"

"Okay then" she didn't seem to care about what I said "In that game... That's how I lost my foot"

Upon hearing that, I started to empathise with her. Remembering what happened seemed to have opened a wound for her. I decided not to press any further, because her pained face was enough to show that she wasn't ready to retell her point of view.