Alice in Borderland ~ Chishiya

14

Just like every time I cleared a game the day before, I wake up with a fast beating heart. As soon as I get even a little bit of consciousness, my thoughts go straight to last night. I feel the thrill again when I think about what it felt like to duck from the mascots' arrows. I was in that tension for twenty minutes, but when the game was cleared, it almost immediately subsided.

Maybe I really am a thrill seeker. Especially since the death of Hikaru, I have wondered every day whether I'm still there, but when I'm always on the edge between life and death, I feel most alive. It's not that I necessarily look forward to a game, but I don't mind playing them either. What else am I supposed to do with my time?

I've already made and ate breakfast before Raiden shows any signs of life. He slowly starts to get up as I put on my running shoes. 'Morning,' I say, looking at him. He doesn't look at me, but nods in acknowledgment. I notice he's been acting strangely since we cleared the game, but I decide not to ask.

'Here,' I say, putting some breakfast on a plastic plate and placing it in front of him. 'I'm going for a run, so you have five minutes,' I add, starting to warm up my muscles. 'I'm not going,' he replies. I look at him questioningly, but he pulls up one leg and looks at his foot. I see that his ankle is a little swollen. 'That asshole shifted attention to me and pushed me away, doubling my ankle.'

Last night, I saw him walk with a bit of difficulty, but I thought he had stumbled while running. I didn't know it was a bit worse. 'Why didn't you say anything last night?' I take a low crate and put a pillow on it. 'You have to keep your foot up. Actually, it also had to be cooled for a while.' Raiden sighs in exasperation, but does as I say. 'It's indeed better to let it rest well before you put too much pressure on it,' I continue. 'I can bandage it.'

'Jesus, you're pretending I broke it or something. I just fell through it.' I don't understand why he's so annoyed. Is it because I come across as someone who knows everything better? I didn't mean it like that. 'It's not broken,' I reply, 'but if you don't let it heal properly, you can make it worse. You then wouldn't be able to walk in three days, or whenever your visa does expire.'

'What do you care?' he sighs. I don't like this atmosphere we're in right now. If he can only be pissed off, then he can do that on his own. 'I'll be back in about two hours,' I say, tying my cardigan around my waist. I walk out of the camping store and start running without looking back at him.

What's his deal? Since the game, he's been quite moody. If he's in pain because of his ankle, he should take some painkillers. He doesn't have to take it out on me. I was just trying to give him some advice. He doesn't want to participate in a game without being able to move properly, does he? If there's going to be another physical game and he can't even move a few steps forward, how is he going to clear it? I decide to put my annoyance away and evaluate last night's game.

I think Yuri's serious. In the beginning, we all had to make a switch, but after three minutes he didn't shy away from sacrificing others to save his own skin. He had already wanted to sacrifice Taree and he threatened me, but that was just talk. Last night, he had the newbie killed by the mascot, deliberately betrayed my location by shining the light at me, cornered Chishiya and nearly got Raiden to be caught. Yuri had looked so angry when he retrieved his card after the game, but that's utterly hypocritical. Why is he allowed to risk all the lives of the others, but when someone does something to him, he reacts as if a terrible thing has overcome him? He's a dangerous player. Maybe next time I run into him, I should really eliminate him. Too bad the mascots turned their attention towards me and didn't look into the booth where he was hiding.

I focus more on my breathing when I run up the mountain and rest halfway through. I look out over the city, which is quiet during the day. It's not until the evening when everything changes. I think about the moment when I was the newbie. I couldn't understand what was going on and why Tokyo was so deserted. Except for a few small pieces of information I received during my first game, nobody explained to me how everything works here. Still, I survived the game, and then another and another..