Marionette ¦¦ Chishiya Shuntarou x OC

Beach Arrival - Part Two

"Not only will you promote me, you will make me an executive too."

He was taken aback.

Most people, when he met them, were broken by Borderland and the games. There were two different types so far: those who would jump at the chance to live at the Beach and those who would doubt him. She was neither. She was not accepting him whole-heartedly, nor was she rejecting him straight out. She was bargaining.

"We'll have to see what cards you have first," Hatter smiled.

"Ha! Do you seriously fucking think she'd have any cards we'd need?" Niragi interrupted. "Look at her! She looks like a fucking Disney princess, she's probably a newbie."

"Why thank you, I do try," Kurenai smiled, flipping her hair.

She was...infuriating.

Niragi did not understand Hatter's fascination with this woman. Sure, the more people they had at the Beach, the more players to gather cards. Though, he highly doubted a woman like her would bring anything to the community. She would be nice to have in bed, but that would be her only purpose as far as he could see.

"While I do not agree with his vile words, I do understand what Niragi is trying to say," Hatter said. "Show us your cards, and we shall decide whether or not to promote you."

Kurenai reached into her dress, pulling her cards out from her bra. Just as she was about to hand the cards over, she stopped and pulled back, keeping both hands on the cards.

"I'll show you the cards, but I don't like him." She pointed at Niragi.

"Are you fucking serious? If you don't give your cards up now, we'll just fucking kill you right here and dump your body into the river."

She did not respond to Niragi's threat but instead, held her cards in a way that very clearly showed she would not hesitate to rip them up. "Throw him out, or I tear them up," she said, her voice ever so calm. "Believe me when I say, you want these cards. In fact, I have three cards you'd want."

He could see it in her eyes, Hatter could. She was dead serious.

"Get him out." As soon as his orders were given, Niragi was ushered out of the room by the other executives.

Hatter was conflicted about the woman. He liked her, but simultaneously, he did not. She was clearly an intelligent person, and she seemed to be skilled at manipulation. She riled up Niragi on purpose, when everyone else would have avoided him as much as possible. She even dared to threaten ripping the cards up just to get Niragi thrown out of the room.

Was this the power of a Chuya?

"Now will you show us your cards?"

A bright smile plastered on her face, Kurenai handed the cards over without hesitation this time.

Taking the cards, Hatter flipped them over to see the five of spades resting on top. This was brought back last night, did she participate in the same game? Skimming through the rest of the cards, Hatter looked at Kurenai as if to confirm that this was real. Holding the card between two fingers, Hatter showed the rest of the executives. It was the nine of Diamonds. Next, eight of Hearts. Last but not least, nine of Hearts.

Who was this Chuya Kurenai?

"They are all high numbers."

"Two Hearts cards too," a woman in a black swimsuit commented.

"How long have you been in Borderland?" Hatter asked.

She dressed like she was a newcomer who landed just the day before, yet here she was, in possession of three high number cards. Hearts and Diamonds cards.

This woman was scary, even Hatter had to admit. If he were not careful around her, she could turn and take over. It would not be hard for her, since she already got them to kick out an executive just so they could see her cards.

"Today's my fifth day," Kurenai smiled. "And before you ask, yes. I participated in a game every night. I must be quite unlucky, seeing as I only got high difficulty games. But...I guess I'm also lucky, since I survived them all," she giggled.

"By yourself?" A woman with short hair asked.

"By myself," she nodded. "I arrived here alone, and I'm not good at making friends."

The executives looked to each other, all seemingly skeptical of Kurenai. She understood, however, because if she were to be in their position she would doubt herself too. By now, they would have seen how brutal the games were. Kurenai had been lucky enough with mostly Hearts games. She was not built physically to be participating in athletic games, and while she had the intelligence, she preferred to play with people's hearts.

Moving further away from her as a group, it took the executives quite a while to discuss, possibly to agree on whether she was allowed to stay, and most importantly, what rank she should be given.

Some were rightfully doubtful of how promoting her to an executive number would affect the dynamic at the Beach. Some thought she would be a great addition, considering her abilities in Hearts games.

After what seemed like an eternity, Hatter finally approached Kurenai.

"Miss Chuya, welcome to the Beach!"

--

Red was the only colour Kurenai liked as she chose a red bikini along with a sarong wrapped around her waist. She always thought it was a bold colour though some might say that she liked red simply because her name meant red.

She headed down to the pool, watching as everyone seemed to be having the time of their lives. It felt so surreal to watch them partying like college students when night would come and some of them might lose their lives. Kurenai was never one to bother too much with her own life, but they were on another level.

As she was walking by the pool, she was suddenly grabbed by the waist and was face to face with none other than Niragi. He held her tightly against his body, his other hand reaching for hers. He lifted her wrist, looking at the key number.

Number nine.

This goddamn bitch was promoted to an executive number.

When the meeting was over and he was allowed back into the room, to say he was shocked to find three high level cards crossed off the wall was an understatement. This prissy little rich brat brought them those cards?

"Just because you're an executive now doesn't mean you're safe," Niragi whispered, right by her ear. "You better learn to sleep with your eyes open because trust me when I say, I will be your worst nightmare in Borderland."

"Don't you mean that I will be your worst nightmare?"

Catching a glimpse of Hatter coming by the pool, Kurenai bit down Niragi's shoulder. Hard.

He was caught off guard and as expected, shoved her off before slapping her across the cheek so hard that Kurenai fell. Holding her cheek, Kurenai started bawling and muttering something under her breath. Niragi frowned at her reaction, he only knew her for less than half a day but this was not how he expected her to act. Was she not supposed to be tough and in-your-face?

"What's going on here?" Hatter asked.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry," Kurenai cried, looking up at Hatter.

Tears were streaming down her cheeks nonstop, and she kept apologising. Hatter looked to Niragi with a glare, holding his hand out for Kurenai and helped her onto her feet though she wobbled and fell right into Hatter's arms.

"I'm so sorry for causing trouble. I'm really not that kind of girl. I know we're allowed to do as we please here at the Beach, but I'm not into that. I just want to focus on the games and gather the cards so that we may all go home. I am so sorry."

It clicked instantly in Niragi's mind why she was acting so off-script.

This bitch set him up.