Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
AFTER THE GAME, THE three had nowhere to go so they decided to keep walking until they found some shelter, food or water – whichever came first.
They had left Kota at the game since a rather kind woman offered to take care of him. Although Akuji missed him, she knew it was for the best.
The sky was dark. It was definitely past midnight. The only thing that could be heard apart from comfortable silence was cicadas chirping. There was an eerie feeling in Akuji's stomach and a shiver that clung to her spine, but she didn't know why. The street they were walking down seemed familiar but she couldn't figure out why.
"I want to finish these games." Arisu said, breaking the silence as he smiled, "I want the answer. But more than that, I want to go back to our world. All of us together."
The two girls smiled at him. "So do I." Usagi said and Akuji nodded in agreement. Arisu's smile widened at that.
Suddenly, they paused. "Hey, look at that!" Arisu exclaimed, pointing in front of them.
Akuji turned to face it — and she realised why she felt so horrid. It was the arena. The Seven of Spades arena. Just like she'd left it. Crumbled, crashed, collapsed. She felt panic seize her chest and she tried to step back, she tried to run away, but Usagi and Arisu prevented her.
Usagi sniffed, "That smell...Arisu, did you fart?"
"What? No! Of course not!" He returned.
Together, the two ran toward the dilapidated building. They had no idea they were running toward the horrible smell; toward the rotting corpses.
Usagi bent down and placed her hand in a small pool of water. Akuji wanted to scream at her not to, but she was frozen in place. Luckily, Usagi exclaimed, "The water! It's the perfect temperature."
"It's a hot spring!" Arisu grinned.
The two headed back to Akuji and tucked their shoulders under her arms so that they could help her walk but whenever they took a step, Akuji stayed still.
"I don't— I can't— I'm not going in there." She told them, her voice shaking. In fact, every part of her body was shaking.
"Come on, it'll be good for your body and your muscles." Usagi tried to encourage her, "I used to take long, hot baths after I climbed a mountain. It helped a lot."
Arisu nodded in agreement, adding lightheartedly, "And you won't stink as much."
Akuji didn't laugh at his joke and the two became concerned.
"Akuji, are you okay?" Arisu asked at the same time as Usagi held a hand up to the girl's forehead, checking her temperature.
"I just don't want to go in there." Akuji said. She pulled herself out of her friends' grasp and took a step away from the arena, "You can. But I–I can't."
Sharing a look, Arisu and Usagi silently agreed not to push it any further. Whatever had happened, it had seemed to cause Akuji lots of pain. However, the two still planned on taking a warm bath and so they said goodbye to Akuji, told her not to wander too far and then headed inside.
Akuji felt like she was shutting down. Her body quivered and her vision swam. She was dizzy. Every time she took a step back, she lost her balance even more than before until she eventually tripped. Panic and guilt seized her heart. There was a heavy weight on her shoulders.
She couldn't breathe. Something was invading her throat.
Unable to pull herself onto her hands and knees, she puked all over her shirt. It didn't make much of a difference since her shirt was already soiled. She struggled to push the vomit off of her – her mind and body still panicking as she did so. She thought that she might be having another seizure but her body hadn't begun to jerk, only shake, so she pushed that idea away. She wished 'Cool Headed' was here to help her again.
Or anyone was here to help, really.
It was if her prayers had been answered as Usagi and Arisu had arrived at that moment. There was something different between them, Akuji could tell, but she didn't know what; and her mind was too clouded for her to think straight and figure it out.
"You poor girl," Usagi pouted, "Did you throw up?
"You should have come with us." Arisu said as he took off his jacket and handed it to Usagi.
Usagi, who had kneeled beside Akuji, began to gently wipe the sick off of the girl's shirt. Then, she and Arisu helped Akuji to her feet and began to walk away from the arena, in search of shelter to stay in for the rest of the night.
The farther away Akuji got from the arena, the more her panic eased. The more her guilt could be hidden away.
Still there, still choking her, but hidden from everyone else's sight.
AUTHOR NOTES some of y'all bout to be real mad at me for the next chapter 🤭 but i had to do it bc i love angst...also its for akuji's character development LMAO
