Black & White-English Version

29-The King of Spades, again

"Run." Arisu came back to us.

Then, we heard the shots.

I didn't care about what would happen, I'd have just stayed there, protecting Chishiya until my heart was beating.

I saw other Players coming and running everywhere; I wondered if Kuina and Ann were among them.

"It's okay." I said looking at Arisu and Usagi. "Go, I'll stay with him."

"Let's hide behind the cars." Arisu said.

"Okay." Usagi looked at me, and in that look, it was as if she was thanking me and wishing me luck.

"Just one thing Arisu." I told him. "If you see Kuina, tell her we're fine, okay?"

Arisu seemed to understand the why that was hiding behind that sentence and nodded. I didn't want Kuina to get distracted thinking about us being wounded and Chishiya being...well, for now he was still conscious and that was enough for me.

He and Usagi went into hiding and what happened next was a mix of people running, screaming and others falling to the ground.

I saw the King of Spades, with his cloak, shooting in every direction, until someone ran him over with a car, which crashed into another, causing an explosion.

"What's happening?" Chishiya asked me.

"The King of Spades might have just died." I answered him unconvinced, continuing to watch the scene. If he had come in our direction, I wouldn't have hesitated for a second to shield my boyfriend.

For a while, there was only the sound of the fire crackling, followed by people cheering and interrupted shortly after by more shots.

The King of Spades wasn't dead.

"I knew it." We said in chorus.

I saw him go to the roof of the car and take off his cloak and balaclava.

Since I didn't know which way he'd go and we couldn't run, I decided to reuse my idea of playing dead.

"Let's play dead." I said to Chishiya, making him lie down and then lying next to him.

"I don't think I'll have to pretend much longer."

"Don't even say that." I took his hand and squeezed it. "We'll go home together, remember?"

"I'll do my best." Chishiya intertwined his fingers with mine and closed his eyes. I imitated him.

We waited what seemed like a lifetime before opening them again.

The shots had become distant and wherever the King of Spades was, I very much hoped that the others would be able to stop him and make it out alive.

I helped Chishiya sit up and, very slowly, I managed to get him up and let him sit down again with his back against the nearest car.

He was out of breath.

"Is it that bad?" I asked him.

"It's worse than the first injury, the bullet needs to be removed." He said with his doctor's professionalism. "But the most important thing now, is to stop the bleeding."

"Okay. Take off your hoodie and lift up your t-shirt, I want to see how bad it really is."

"Don't you trust a doctor's opinion?" He gave me a weak smile.

"I don't trust my boyfriend's opinion. You know, he has a bad habit of omitting some details sometimes."

Chishiya obeyed and the wound was so full of blood, that I couldn't even see the bullet's hole.