Chasing Shadows: An Alice In Borderlands Fanfic (Completed)

Chapter 13: To Get the Cards

My head hurt so bad I couldn't sleep. I found a couple aspirin in Niragi's desk drawer, which I washed down with an abandoned bottle of water.

I noticed the camera was missing. He must have it on him, and that worried me. As obsessed as I was with him, I didn't trust him.

Sometime later, there came a knock at the door. Knowing it couldn't be Niragi, I peeked through the hole, half-expecting to see the council ready to string me up. Instead, Chishiya stood in the hallway, a subtle, bored look on his face.

What did he want?

Curious, I opened the door and invited him in. "No Kuina?"

"No Niragi?" he countered.

"I'm sure you saw him at the succession meeting. Did it go well?"

"Better than expected." His smile expanded.

"Hmm. I'm surprised Niragi isn't back yet, then."

"He's attached to Aguni's hip right now. Helping with the takeover."

"And you're not?"

Chishiya shrugged. "I got more important things to do. Like talk to you since he's tied up."

"Talk to me? About what?" I sat on the bed and held my throbbing head in my hands. Come on, aspirin, start working.

"That was quite the blow you took. Are you okay?"

"Just took some aspirin. I'll be fine." Then I looked at him. "Wait. How do you know how bad it was?"

He just gave a little shrug and sly smile.

That bastard. He did this to me, didn't he?

I should have confronted him. Instead, I asked, "What did you want to talk to me about?"

"I heard you're wanting your two of hearts back."

"Yeah, and...?"

"I might be able to help you with that."

I leaned forward. "Really? How?"

He paced the room, touching things of Niragi's, taking it all in. What was he looking for? I'm sure Niragi would have been pissed to know Chishiya was going through his stuff.

He turned to face me. "I can't say much, but you...and you alone...should meet me at dusk outside Hatter's lounge."

"Why? What's going on?"

"Oh, I don't want to give it away. Just trust me on this one. Niragi will be occupied with the inauguration speech, so he won't bother us. No one will expect you to be there since you are injured."

It dawned on me. "You know where the cards are kept, don't you?"

"Something like that." He shrugged.

***

I saw Niragi briefly that afternoon. He stopped by for a quick fuck despite my aching head.

"Is everything okay?" I asked him afterward. "Am I...okay?"

"You've been cleared. The slug came from a handgun."

That was a relief. Then I made the mistake of asking, "Do you have the camera on you?"

He raised an eyebrow as if I dared question him about it. "Yeah. I'm keeping it safe."

"Oh..." I bowed my head.

"Why? Do you have a problem or something?"