A Kid in the borderlands (AiB FF; ENG)

Chapter 2

(POV: Akiko)

"Bye Akiko! See you tomorrow!"

"See you tomorrow, Sana!"

I hugged her before going to the subway station. It's been a while since we first arrived here in Tokyo, I go to my new school and already made 3 best friends: Sana, Tsumugi and Naomi. They're sitting next to me in class and very smart! They always offer me help in math classes, since math isn't my favorite subject in school.

I looked at my phone because Hajime told me to send him a message when I arrive at the subway station when suddenly the screen turned black. I looked up and realized nobody was here anymore.

That's weird. Tokyo is always full of people. Where is everyone?

"Hello?"
I shouted as loud as possible, I still couldn't see a single soul when I suddenly saw the shape of a group of men. Two of them were wearing guns and the one in the middle wore a weird and colorful bathrobe. My heart skipped a beat when I saw them turning around to me. I started walking backwards out of anxiety when the man in the colorful bathrobe looked the other two men, rising his hands, telling them to lower their guns.

I was still afraid of them. They looked dangerous. "What are you doing here, little kid?",the man asked. I took a deep breath and tried to look confident. "Why is everyone gone? Where did all the people go??"

"Hatter, I guess the child is a newcomer.",one of the men with the guns said. He was bald and had some little scars in his face and on his arms.

"She'll die soon. Look at her. So small and weak...", the other said.

I'll die? What does it mean? Why will I die?

"Stop scaring this poor kid, we could help her.",the man with the bathrobe said and turned back to me. "Hey little girl, look, it's all a bit confusing. We are in a parallel world of Tokyo and need to play games to survive. Do you like playing games?"

I just nodded, still wondering how I ended up here. I was just looking at my phone for a minute.

"That's good! And we can help you with winning these games. Oh and before I forget that, you can call me Hatter. That guy on my left side is Aguni and this guy is Daichi."

Hatter? Like the character from Alice in wonderland? Well, he looks crazy, like him...

"And what is your name?",Aguni asked in a calming voice. "My parents told me to not tell strangers anything about me",I said and looked straight at them.

Hatter smiled:"Well, she's small but clever."

"I'd call it stubborn.",Daichi said.

"My brother uses to say that too."

"Listen, little girl. We can help you finding your family again. But therefore you have to trust us. You can trust us. We may have guns but only for our safety.",Aguni said and put his gun on the ground, showing that I could trust him.

"And you won't kill me?"

All of them nodded.

I had no choice but to join them. For my own safety. "I'm Akiko."

Hatter lowered his hand:"Akiko, we would have to play a game now. I can team you up with some of our best people. Let's go."

I took his hand and we went to a massive building. Some people were waiting in front of it. Hatter showed me to go with Aguni while he would wait in a car in near of the building. Aguni and Daichi went to another guy with a white hoodie who was waiting in front of the building. "Chishiya. We found a newcomer. She's Akiko.",Aguni said and pointed at me. The man, Chishiya, took his headphones out and and looked confused at me.

"That's a child.",he just said.
No way, I am a child?

"I know, but she needs our help to survive. You're the smartest. Take care of her." Aguni told me to stay with Chishiya through the game in order to survive. Was he really that smart? He looked so arrogant and egoistic...

Chishiya nodded and showed me to follow him. We went to an elevator and Chishiya pressed the button to the seventh floor. The floor on the top. "What are we doing here?",I asked. Chishiya knelt down in front of me and explained:"We can choose our starting position in this game. And the top floor is the perfect place for observing everything. Trust me, Aki."

He grabbed something out of his hoodie. It was a small bag of cookies. "Do you want some?"

~~~
Authors note: Just imagine Chishiya with this little girl....too cute...

Ps: the interactions will become more cute, pls get ready for them :3

~Cassy