The Winners Take It All | Chishiya

The curse of falling in love

I used three visa days to rest.

I only left the room to get something to eat and drink. I had already handed in the old bracelet, but luckily, I didn't meet Hatter, but Ann, who saved me the trip to the boardroom.

But on the fourth day I couldn't sit still anymore. My body was practically begging me to move again, so early in the morning I grabbed a towel and scurried down to the pool. There wasn't much going on at this time, only a few other people had spread out on the loungers to enjoy the sun as it made its way to the sky. I threw my towel onto an empty chair and then sat at the edge of the pool to acclimate my skin to the cool water. The water rippled slightly and I enjoyed the peace, which was very rare here.

When I realized that my legs were slowly getting used to the water, I carefully slid myself into the pool. Then I did my first swimming strokes. My muscles sighed with relief and I swam a few lengths. I quickly managed to block out my surroundings, which meant I didn't notice someone sitting on the edge and watching me. It wasn't until my name was called that I noticed Sakusa grinning at me.

"Man, you could have asked me if I wanted to swim too, you know?" she teased as I pulled myself up and sat next to her.

"Come on in, it's nice here," I said as I jumped in the water again. She just giggled and then waved me off. Then we were silent for a while.

"I was really scared, you know?" she started suddenly, "You didn't come back. I thought you had died. Looking back, I'm quite ashamed of the thought." I looked at her in surprise.

"Why are you ashamed? It's normal to assume the worst, especially here in the Borderland. A completely normal thought," I tried to reassure her and she smiled.

"That's not what I mean by that. I'm ashamed that I doubted your intelligence. Even though you've proven me wrong so many times," she finally replied, "For a moment I believed the rumors about you." So that's how it was. I thought it was time I trusted Sakusa a little more.

"Are you coming with me? I want to chat a little, but not here," I finally asked her and she looked at me curiously. Then I pulled myself out of the pool, grabbed my towel and motioned for her to follow me. We headed for my room because it was closer, otherwise I would have had to come into the military hallway and that was still uncomfortable for me.

Once I closed the door behind me, I pointed to the sofa and we sat down. I crossed my legs and then opened my mouth: "You're right, they're really just rumors." She looked at me with questioning eyes. I smiled briefly before pointing my finger at my torso. "Who am I?" I asked her and her face changed from confusion to complete cluelessness.

"You're Hayashi Ayuna. Man, what are you getting at, Ayu?" she was curious.

I smiled and gathered my courage before finally spilling it: "Exactly. I'm Hayashi Ayuna. I received a scholarship to the University of Tokyo to study psychology." The knot was broken as soon as I said the last sentence.

"No..." Yuki mumbled, "Ayumi didn't do that..." I nodded.

"Oh yes... She did. She didn't assume that I was stranded here too. You know, I don't have the best relationship with my sister. There's a pretty terrible story behind it. But that's unimportant right now . In any case, I hadn't dared to finally take action against her. Until four days ago," I showed her the bracelet and her eyes widened, "Someone spoke to my conscience."

Suddenly she had a huge grin on her face. "Oh... That someone... That wasn't Chishiya, was it?" she grinned wider as my face fell.

Man, she seemed to know me better than I expected.

"Chishiya? Really now? You get along with him?" she asked me.

So I decided to ask a counter question that I had wanted to ask for a long time: "And what about you? How are things going with Niragi?"

Bingo, I hit the mark.

"How do you know that?" she asked me with wide eyes and I smiled.

"You have to work on your looks and your body control. You're practically an open book," I told her and she looked impressed.

"Now I know why Kuina says that you and Chishiya are a good match," she grinned, cleverly steering the conversation in a different direction. I groaned. Why did Kuina already know so much? "So? What's he like, have you slept together yet?" the blush immediately hit my face again when she asked me this question. She laughed. "That's not true! Really?! How hot is that! And what is he like in bed? Was it great? Was his big enough?" I jumped up and buried my face in my pillow. Why did Sakusa want to know all this? How embarrassing!

"Yes, yes- it was good," I finally answered and felt her sit down on the bed next to me. The next moment I was subjected to a tickle attack.

"Come on! Tell me more!" she crooned and I couldn't breathe from laughing.

"I- no- air!" I finally groaned and she let go of me. Then I told her how it had come to our make-out session. Her face contorted from anger to sadness and then to joy. She understood what I had been through.

"-and now I don't know what this feeling is trying to tell me," I finished the story. She rested her chin on the back of her hand and seemed to think.

"You seem to have ended up in the same curse that I have to live through," she finally answered, and I knew that she was talking about Niragi. She loved him, he didn't even know her name. A sad fate. Chishiya knew me, but he wouldn't return my feelings either. There was only a platonic relationship between us, nothing more.

So, I guess we could really talk about the same curse. I was clearly in love. But these feelings hit a wall.

It hurts.

And yet I knew I couldn't just flip the switch. I would carry these feelings around with me. It was the consequences that I had to bear.

Who knows? Maybe the feelings would already be gone tomorrow and I had just imagined them.