The Winners Take It All | Chishiya [English]

A treasure in the depths of despair

One pool for each team.

It seemed like a normal competition, but why were they separated from each other?

It made me hesitate. Why was I so suspicious again? It was a clubs game! A team game where we had to look for gold coins! It just involved diving and getting wet, so why was I so upset? Why did I always have to filter and then study every single word?

Everything looked normal and some participants were already on their way into the water.

Completely harmless!

And yet I stopped and preferred to observe. Apparently, it wasn't just me who was suspicious of the game, because Kuina also stopped at the edge of the water and seemed to look at me curiously. Most of the other participants also stayed out of the water; they seemed unsettled by our behavior. And to my dismay, Chishiya was there too. He let his gaze wander over the water the whole time. Apparently, he knew something and was trying to test his guess. Maybe I wasn't so wrong after all!

Something actually happened when the first ones were submerged in Team B's pool. I watched in confusion as the water rippled abnormally and eventually air bubbles began to rise. Sure, at first, I thought it came from the participants who were already looking. But as the bubbles grew larger, my doubts increased.

Suddenly, there was a delicate pink rose, which suddenly turned dark red on the surface of the water.

It was blood.

I recoiled, perplexed. The woman next to me started screaming, Kuina just frowned. I didn't even check how Chishiya reacted; it would probably drive me crazy again anyway. And yet, my mind had been right again: there was something in the water that was specialized in killing us without mercy.

But what was it now? Why was someone bleeding so much, who was the enemy?

I narrowed my eyes a little and approached the surface of the water. But of course, I couldn't see anything, so I guess I'd have to try something else. I looked around and found what I was looking for: a stone. Whatever was hidden in the depths seemed to respond to movement. So, I threw it on the surface of the water. For a moment nothing happened - but then there was a loud splash and the first thing I saw was an elongated, green tail.

Tropics...

Animals from the tropics that could be dangerous to us...

Alligators!

My suspicions were confirmed when a large green mouth appeared and snatched at the water before diving back under. Now we knew what we were dealing with. But the next question opened: How many of the beasts were actually in the water?

80 minutes remain!

I felt the eyes on me. They were waiting for an answer since I had made the first move. But I didn't have any. Then it probably meant that we had to bite the bullet.

I went back to Kuina and leaned towards her slightly: "Which team are you?" She immediately showed me her phone and I breathed a sigh of relief when I saw the A. "Great. I have a request. Can you distract the little animals? All you must do is throw something into the water and they will focus on the surface," I explained to her as I took off my sweater and carelessly threw it on the sand.

"What are you planning, Ayuna-chan?" she looked at me with a heavily furrowed brow as I also left my shoes behind. I turned to her again before pointing to the water.

"I decided to take a bath now. It'll be fun to swim with alligators," I pointed to my phone, "What does it look like, we're in a game! Someone has to get the coins." Then I stepped to the surface of the water again and took a deep breath. It was a complete risk, but I was willing to take it. I looked again at Kuina who gave me a thumbs up. She was ready.

I tried to dive in as gently as possible. I succeeded, although the cold shocked me a little at first. The darkness also created an oppressive feeling in my chest, which didn't help. How was I supposed to find anything when it was so dark?

I ran out of air, so I surfaced and gasped for oxygen. Meanwhile life had come into the water. Team B copied our method. They were also busy distracting the animals. Kuina was no longer standing there, but the woman had taken over the task. And Chishiya was nowhere to be found either. I didn't even know if he was on my team.

Something brushed against my foot...

Please don't - please don't let it be an alligator!

There was a splash behind me, and I slowly turned around. My heart was racing, threatening to jump out of my chest. But it was... just Kuina. She was holding a gold coin in her hand.

"Damn, was I scared! I thought you were one of those critters!" I whispered and she nodded.

"I thought that too when I swam under you," she pointed to the coin, "Little tip from Chishiya: Use the flashlight on your cell phone. They are welded into a waterproof cover for this purpose."

Why didn't I think of this sooner?

45 minutes remain!

Where had the damn time gone!? I turned on my flashlight and then went back underwater so I could help the others. At one point I noticed that one of our team members was being mauled because he swam too close to one of the animals. But I couldn't think about it because I was too busy - which maybe wasn't such a bad thing after all. I was sure that otherwise I would have peed my pants in fear.

Our chest was steadily filling, and we managed to create a solid lead. Just when I thought everything was going well, our peace was interrupted.

I didn't expect Team B.

One of the muscle guys suddenly grabbed our distraction by the throat. And it went downhill from there. I noticed too late that the alligators were now reacting to movements underwater again. And that's why I didn't notice a little animal sneaking up behind me.

It wasn't until two of his teeth sank into my calf that I was brought back to the painful reality. Blood immediately spread into the water as I pulled away.

Team B tried to kill us this way.

They tried to make up their deficit by cheating.

And my wound put me in the damn line of fire!

25 minutes remain!

Had I perhaps ended up on the red list of luck?!