Chasing Shadows: An Alice In Borderlands Fanfic (Completed)

Chapter 6: A Glimmer of Hope

Karube reached for me. "I'm here, Jen! I'm right here!"

A bright light pulled me out of a troubled sleep. Before I could roll over, a weight dropped on the bed beside me.

Niragi.

He was out before his head hit the pillow.

"Aren't you even going to turn off the light?" I asked, but he didn't answer.

Frustrated, I crawled over him and stumbled to the switch by the door. I didn't even get a hand on it before I heard him raise his rifle toward me.

"I'm just turning off the light," I said, annoyed.

"Mmph."

The gun dropped to the floor and Niragi rolled onto his back, throwing an arm over his eyes. Was he even awake?

He mumbled something.

"What?"

The militant opened an eye. "I said, I brought your clothes from your room." He waved in the general direction of the door before closing his eyes again.

I looked beside me to see a large bag filled with familiar stuff. "Oh! Thank you."

I'd go through it later. I turned the light off and dragged the bag next to the bed before crawling back in beside him. When I tried to wrap an arm around him (something I always did with Karube), Niragi pushed me away.

"Don't." He rolled, facing away from me.

I decided to do the same. With a harumph, I faced the wall and somehow drifted back off to sleep.

***

I awoke to my ear being licked.  "Do you want me to slap you again?"

Niragi grabbed my shoulders and forced me on my back. "No. I want you to fuck me again."

I pushed him away. "Not now. I just woke up and I feel gross."

"So let's fuck then shower together. I'll put that mouth of yours to good use."

Fuck. Panties instantly soaked.

I let him have his way with me in bed, then I gave him a blow job in the shower.

The whole time, something seemed off with him.

"I'm playing another game tonight," he said as we got dressed.

"Another game? What's bothering you?" I asked, tying the rainbow bikini around me.

"Nothing. I'm just bored and want to play." His posture said otherwise, like something had upset him. He looked a little brow-beaten.

"What happened on your rounds last night?"

His eyes flared. "Nothing," he insisted, but, under his breath, he muttered, "Fucking Chishiya."

"Chishiya? What did he do?"

"I said, nothing!" Now he was really annoyed. "The fucking asshole. He's just a stupid asshole, you know."

"What did he tell you?" I knew if I kept at it, he'd eventually answer me.

"To stay away from you. Fucking asshole. I hate him."

I laughed. I couldn't help it. He was jealous. So fucking jealous.

That earned me a gun to my face. I pushed it away. "You know you don't scare me."

"Tch." He dropped the rifle on the bed. "He said I was going to hurt you, and I told him he wasn't wrong. He called me baka."

"You two are like polar opposites."

"How can you even stand him?"

I shrugged. "He's my friend."

"I hate him. He thinks he's so smart."

"That's because he is. If anyone's gonna survive this, it'll be Chishiya."

"I'll survive this." Niragi acted so arrogant, but I sensed something lurking below the surface. Insecurity.

"What were you like before?" I asked. "You know, before coming here."

For the smallest part of a second, a stricken look flashed on his face before he caught it and covered it up with a shrug. "I told you, I was a game designer."

"But what were you like? What shaped you to the type of person you are?"

"This isn't something I want to talk about right now. I gotta go meet with the boss."

He slung the rifle over his shoulder and left. At least he didn't lock the door this time.

I left to go look for some food. The restaurant was busy, so I grabbed some onigiri and headed out to the pool area. Chishiya and Kuina were sitting at a table under an umbrella and I joined them.

"What, no boyfriend?" Chishiya asked with a slight sneer.

"He's not my boyfriend and no. He had to meet with his boss."

He looked at me with disappointment.  "He's gonna get you killed, you know that right?"

"Why do you even care?" I was getting irritated.

"Because you're one of the good ones, Jen. You deserve to get out of here."

"And he doesn't?"

"He's not gonna live long enough. He's a disaster waiting to happen. I'm sorry if you can't see that."

"It's not like I have much choice in the matter. He won't let me go. And I...I need him. He makes the heartache go away."

"So, you're using him to forget your husband? I'm sure Karube would be thrilled to know that. " Chishiya rolled his eyes.

I'd had enough. I slammed my hands on the table, jerking to my feet. "Karube's dead! He's not coming back!"  I shouted.

Chishiya's voice was quiet. "You don't know that. He might still be alive somewhere."