Alice in Borderland

Chapter 67 - Familymembers

On the way back, I keep feeling Aguni's frowning look in the rearview mirror, but I just look silently out the window. I try to convince myself that it's not because of all the blood on me but because I'm getting the car seats dirty. I rest my head against the cold window pane and try not to think about anything. When we park in the parking lot of the hotel we all get out and I decide to walk to the entrance last. If I just storm to the entrance like that I would signal that I am hurt and emotional. No question, I feel the same way but none of the men need to see that. I still keep a little distance and walk up the stairs of the beach behind them.

Without paying attention to the other people or their looks I run towards the stairs, but something manages to attract my attention. A quiet laugh, so familiar that I just can't ignore it. I look to the side and discover a well-dressed man in his late forties, who looks at me with amusement and almost pride. I see his eyes twinkle from here and stop as if in a trance. He looks at me waiting and while my heart beats up to my throat, I nod respectfully to him and keep walking.

No, please not him. As soon as I get past the stairs, my breathing catches in a gasp and I stumble down the remaining hallways to my room. I slam the door and slide down it. Of all the members of my family, it has to be my uncle. Now I just can't hold back my tears and I cry out in despair. It's all too much at once, my body seems to notice and starts to shake. I look down at the blood on me and this time I look at it with different eyes. I feel transported back in time and no longer see the blood of a player on me, but that of an innocent woman.

I rush into the bathroom and carelessly throw my knife into the sink, splattering a few drops of blood on the mirror. I throw the clothes on the floor and jump into the shower to wash the blood off me. But I feel as if it is running down my body in slow motion. The cold water makes me think clearly and I try to leave my feelings out and think rationally. That my uncle is here changes everything, I have to change! He has always been a good analyst and manipulator, if I behave normally he will notice how I relate to the people here and take advantage of it. So I have to behave the way he has always expected me to behave.

I leave my hair wet and put on my black bodysuit and loose pants. I grab bandages from the small cabinet under the bathroom mirror and wrap them roughly around my injured hand. I rub my unwounded hand on my bloody sweater and smear it on the back of the bodysuit. My uncle should be distracted enough by this not to ask too many questions and greet me lightly with open arms. I close the room door behind me and walk to the pool area. Of course, I immediately spot Izumi standing at the bar and head straight for her. I don't see my uncle after a fleeting glance, yet I feel his gaze on me.

"Sayuuri, what are you doing here?" asks Izumi, and from the pitch of her voice I can tell she's been drinking quite a bit.

"Having fun," I laugh and take the glass from her hand to drink it up in one go. My uncle remembers me from my senior year in high school: parties and alcohol. So I have to give him just that. I walk over to the bar counter and grab a closed bottle of whiskey and immediately pour myself a refill.

"Is everything okay?"

Normally she would ask me with concern, but since she's already been drinking it's more of a perfunctory question that I can easily escape.

"Yeah, I just feel like partying, are you in?"

"Always," she laughs happily and lifts a new cup under my nose, which I fill as well. I start dancing lightly to the music and Izumi seems to think nothing of it. As she pulls out a small folding mirror to touch up her lipstick, I see an opportunity.

"Can I borrow this for tonight?"

"Yes," she says and hands me the mirror, which I immediately pocket. She dances a little with me and I drink the cup quickly. I walk to the bar and pour myself another drink, although my throat burns from the quick alcohol intake I look in the mirror. I recognize in it my uncle at the milliner and how he watches me. As he points and the two of them run to me, I quickly make the mirror disappear into my bodysuit and turn to Izumi as if not noticing him. We dance together briefly as the two men join us.