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WHEN AKUJI WOKE UP, she was met face to face with an arrow ready to kill her and a familiar face she thought she would never ever see again.
"Akane," She choked out, so shocked that the words stuck in her throat, "You're alive."
"No thanks to you. You left me to die!" Akana snapped.
Akuji felt a fresh wave of guilt, much more heavier than the last she was carrying, overtake her. Tears sprung into her eyes but she still held Akane's gaze, lip quivering as she repeated over and over, "I'm sorry. I'm really, really sorry."
Akane laughed, "Wow, you really are pathetic." Then, very reluctantly and slowly, she put her bow and arrows away as she said, "Sadly, I can't do anything to you because Aguni told me not to upset Arisu and he seems to really like you."
Akuji looked over to the side and realised Arisu had watched the whole interaction in shock, eyes wide and mouth agape. Finally, he asked, "You two know each other?"
Akuji nodded, avoiding eye contact by staring at the forest floor, "We used to be best friends in the old world. We came to the Borderlands together."
Akane scoffed, shaking her head, "And you forget the most important part. Arisu, I wouldn't trust her if I were you. Our very first game she left me to die." She turned to Akane, "I was injured and you left me! You decided only one of us could survive and you chose yourself. Why did you decide your life was more important than mine?"
Scrambling to her feet, Akuji walked over to where Akane had begun to clean her weapons. She anxiously began to play with her fingers, picking at the skin around her nails, as she thought of what to say.
The truth was plain and simple: Akuji, in the moment when she had to think fast, believed Akane would die regardless and so she prioritised her own safety.
So, she told her just that - the truth.
Akane ignored her, instead asking Arisu, "You're looking for someone. A girl, right? Usagi?"
Arisu scoffed at her, "You shouldn't eavesdrop."
Shrugging, Akane dropped her weapons onto the floor and began to play with a piece of cloth in her hand. She had a very familiar piece of fabric wrapped around her upper arm: Akuji's school tie. Humming, Akane took a step toward Arisu, a smirk on her face, "Do you think I'm cuter than her? You do, don't you? Are you blushing?"
"No." Arisu said firmly, frowning in confusion at this random girl he had just met flirting with him.
Akuji stepped between the two, holding out her hands in a protective manner as she stated in a scolding tone, "Akane, leave him alone. He's too old for you and not interested."
Akane shoved Akuji away quite easily. Akuji, shocked, tumbled to the ground. She wasn't sure why but she sort of half expected Akane to be friendly and sweet toward her like she used to - as if everything Akuji did would just be forgotten and Akane would be overjoyed to see her best friend again - so the aggressive action took her by surprise.
"Stay out of it, bitch!" Akane snapped at her ex-friend before practically leaping on Arisu. She grabbed his wrists and pinned them above his head so even though he struggled and tried his best, he couldn't break free from her grasp. "You seem nice enough and you're pretty cute, too. Let's do it! We have to live in a world where we don't know if we'll survive the day, you know?"
Scrambling to her feet, Akuji rushed over and grabbed Akane by her shoulders, hauling her away from Arisu and throwing her to the floor. "What the hell is wrong with you?" Akuji screamed at her, her skin crawling with fear and shock. It was like she could feel Niragi's touch on her just by looking at the scene. "What made you like this? Why are you so fucked in the head that you tried to sexually assault someone? You were never like this before!"
Akane had the face of a wounded puppy. She looked shocked by her own actions and she blinked repeatedly while her brain processed Akuji's words. Eventually, she looked between the two and said, "I didn't, did I?"
Arisu, who had scrambled to his feet and taken a large step back from her, silently nodded.
"I'm sorry!" Akane exclaimed. Then, her gaze shifted to looking at somebody over Arisu's shoulder and she jumped to her feet, waving her arms around like a mad woman, "There's nothing going on here! Don't look at me like that! You already said no, so..."
Spinning around on her heels, Akuji caught sight of a rather muscular man. He was bald and had a scar across one eye. She instantly felt threatened and her hand reached for her revolver - only to realise it was gone from its place.
"Where's my-- hey! That's mine, you asshole!" Akuji yelled once she realised the man was holding her gun. She turned to Arisu and Akane angrily, "Who the fuck is this guy?"
"My name's Aguni." The man replied for the two before briskly walking by the group, "We're on the move. Follow me, all of you."
"What?" Arisu frowned at him, "I'm not going with you. I'm going to find Usagi."
Akuji nodded in agreement, "I'm not going with some stranger, especially one with a pile of weapons."
Aguni shook his head, "You need to worry about yourself. As soon as he gets us in his sights, he's gonna attack. He might even be tracking us here already. I'm not sure but we definitely need to keep moving. We'll lead him up into the mountains somewhere. Then, we'll strike."
"He's talking about the King of Spades." Akane explained once she spotted Akuji's and Arisu's frowns of puzzlement.
"Hang on! I never agreed to this." Akuji protested.
Aguni shrugged, "You can go on your own but your chances of survival become slim. It's better to stay with a group. And more people means more chances."
Akuji hated that he was right. She hated even more that she would be stuck with Akane the entire time, the guilt eating her alive and the gap between them growing bigger and bigger by the second.
Rolling her eyes in irritation, Akuji let out a long sigh. She held her hand out toward Aguni, "Fine. But I get my gun back."
Smirking, Aguni nodded and handed her the revolver in his hand. Then, he took the shotgun off of his shoulder and gave it to Arisu, who took it with wide eyes and trembling, confused hands. Then, they took off into the woods in pursuit of a good place to fight the King of Spades.
Akuji wondered if they would survive - or if this would be their final fight.
AUTHOR NOTES booo akane 🗣️👎 i made her apologise tho bc arisu deserves one. also why the heck do all their names start with an A 💀 that was completely unintentional LMAO also!! idk if any of you guys will care but i have a tiktok (@ httpyn_) where i post about this fic!! i post memes & edits & just stuff about akuji :P
