Marionette ¦¦ Chishiya Shuntarou x OC

Feeling Alive - Part Three

"I heard you nearly died last night."

No doubt, Kuina heard that from Chishiya.

It was not a secret, however. Or at least, Kurenai never thought to keep it a secret. She was bound to have a game she would not clear so easily, and it happened to be last night.

"And I see you had sex with Chishiya last night," Kuina said, pointing to the hoodie Kurenai was wearing.

"I did, and I did," Kurenai smiled, slipping her hand back in the sleeve of the hoodie and brought it up to her nose, sniffing it. "Smells like him."

"How was it?"

"Nearly dying, or sex with Shuntarou?"

Kuina's reaction made her laugh. "Nearly dying, babe. And for future reference, I will never be asking about how sex with Chishiya is."

Her smile dropped a little as she looked away from Kuina. How did it feel to die? Honestly, she felt nothing. If anything, she felt peaceful when she closed her eyes and let the darkness take over her. It was the feeling when she was brought back that was overwhelming.

"I never cared if I live or die, even before coming to Borderland," Kurenai admitted. "Then this place...ha...I played the games knowing full well I could die, and I still didn't care. I thought, if I died here, it would be bittersweet. To be able to die in a place like this, seems like a dream.

"Then last night happened. I drowned once before. I remember thinking I didn't want to die, not because I wanted to live but because I didn't want to die in the hands of my brother. Last night...I kept thinking I didn't want to die. I want to live, and I want to go back to the real world."

"I want to go back too," Kuina said, lowering her head a little, and let out a sigh. "I have to survive Borderland and go back to my mother. She needs me. I need her."

"My reason to return is not as noble as yours," Kurenai giggled. "I just can't die here, because my father wins if I do. I want to go back, and make him suffer."

The hood of her hoodie was tugged on, and Kurenai fell backward but only a few inches as Chishiya was standing directly behind her. She closed her eyes when she saw him leaning in but instead of a kiss, she felt the hoodie being unzipped.

"Not in front of Kuina, Shuntarou. I'm shy."

"Just here to get my hoodie back."

Taking the hoodie off her, Chishiya slipped it on and zipped it up. With a pout, Kurenai swung her legs back onto the balcony, grabbing Chishiya's face in one hand and pulled him close.

"Have you already forgotten all the fun we had last night?" Kurenai whispered. "You were so rough with me, Shuntarou."

"I didn't forget," Chishiya smirked. "And if I recall, you were the one telling me to be rough."

"For goodness sake! You guys had sex last night, how is the sexual tension higher than before?" Kuina frowned.

Letting out a giggle, Kurenai gave Chishiya a quick kiss before getting off the ledge and headed inside the hotel. While they both enjoyed last night together, and would probably enjoy more nights after, they both seemed to have agreed without saying that this was as far as the relationship would go.

After all, this is Borderland.

Perhaps if they met in the real world, Chishiya might have dated her.

"Have you decided?" Kuina asked, snapping Chishiya back to reality. "I know you slept with her but, would she get onboard with our plan?"

"She will."

--

Kurenai only got to the end of the corridor when she was suddenly grabbed by the hair and slammed against the wall. She groaned softly, feeling the pain in her ribs from the bump. Before she could see who her attacker was, a hand was clutched tightly around her neck.

Niragi.

"Hello, princess," he hissed. "What, didn't think I would survive too, huh?"

"They also say cockroaches would survive a nuclear apocalypse, doesn't mean I'm impressed."

"I finally know why I hate you so much. You and Chishiya, both of you are always so condescending. You think you are so much smarter than everyone else, so you look down on us."

She could only laugh at that statement, to which Niragi responded by squeezing on her neck harder. It was getting hard to breathe, but she did not show fear. She would never show fear to Niragi, because she truly did not fear him.

"Do you know why you think we are condescending?" Kurenai smiled. "If you were as smart as we were, you wouldn't think so."

"You got a real smart mouth. Let's see if you'd run your mouth in bed, huh? Heard you slept with Chishiya last night, it's my turn now."

This time, Kurenai laughed harder, much to Niragi's annoyance.

"Oh God...you're trying really hard to intimidate me," she grinned. "And it's irritating you that it's not working. What are you trying to compensate for, hm? Let me guess, small dick? Oh, you can't get it up? No, wait."

Staring straight into Niragi's eyes, it was as if she could read his mind.

She knew those eyes. Specifically, she knew that look in his eyes. She had seen that look plenty of times in her own eyes, in that of her brother's too. That look of hurt and feeling wronged. The 'I didn't do anything, so why is this happening to me' look.

"Ah...when was it?" she asked.

Niragi's grip on her neck loosened a little, and he could not keep eye contact with her. All that tough act was now gone, and he felt vulnerable to be seen through by her.

"Middle school? High school?" Kurenai continued asking. Niragi's frown deepened. "High school. So what did they do? Spread rumours? Took your money? Beat you up? All of the above? And now you think you're a man by hurting others because you were hurt when you were younger? Pathetic."

Coming back to his senses, Niragi narrowed his eyes and squeezed her neck as hard as he could, determined as he was choking the air out of her. She was gasping hard but with his hand clasped around her neck, it was almost impossible to get any air in.

Next thing she knew, she was released and Niragi was on the floor.

"Hey, you okay?" Kuina asked, helping Kurenai onto her feet and checked her for injuries. Her neck was bright red, it would definitely be bruised later on, but she should be fine.

"I'm fine."

"It really hurts to punch someone," Chishiya said, rubbing his knuckles.

"I told you I'd do it," Kuina mumbled. "But no, you gotta be the hero."

Walking up to Niragi and kneeling next to him on the floor, Kurenai leaned in close. "Just so you know, I wouldn't have sex with you not because I don't like you. I don't. But the reason why is because I know you will never be as good as Shuntarou."