Saikyō | Alice in Borderland

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VISA COUNT: 6 DAYS

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The sun was slowly rising when Karai finally made her way back to Miyo's apartment. She opened the door on it only to find out that the girl had fallen asleep on the floor right next to the door, holding onto Karai's old shirt. Her face was all scrunched up and her cheeks glistened with half-dried tears. Was she having a nightmare? She silently closed the door and crouched down to her sleeping companion before gently shaking her. "I'm back." She spoke, her voice low. Miyo's eyes shot open. 

"Serizawa!" She squeaked and threw her arms around her without a warning. "I got a bit worried when you didn't show up for the entire night..." Karai tensed at the sudden contact. She despised hugs. The reason was pretty simple. She didn't want to get attached to anyone, but given the state she found the brunette in, she hesitantly allowed herself to relax and she slowly wrapped her arms around Miyo in a very stiff manner. Miyo's hug was surprisingly comforting. She held onto her as if her life depended on it, but the warmth of her body made the otherwise stoic woman feel better for at least a little while. She hasn't felt this kind of comfort since she had gone to jail. She soon pulled away with a sour face because it only reminded her of her goal. 

"I'll take a nap if you don't mind." She yawned and her companion nodded, before her eyes widened. "Y-your nose.." She started.

"Huh?" Karai raised her hand to her face and toughed her nose. It stung a bit and when she pulled it away, she could see blood on the tips of her fingers. She stood up and went to look into the nearest mirror. A rather thin, yet deep wound was sprawled across her nose. She noticed more wounds but they were mostly shallow. She hadn't noticed them before, probably because the high level of adrenaline in her body. "It ruins your face!" Miyo complained, to which Karai just rolled her eyes. 

"I don't think so. I find scars to be pretty cool. Each one tells a different story." Miyo didn't say another word and disappeared in the kitchen. She soon came back with a first aid kit. "I'll patch you up so it doesn't get infected, yeah?" Karai nodded. Her companion began pouring some disinfectant on a white rug, then told Karai not to move. Slowly, she began cleaning the wound on her nose and to her surprise, the raven-haired woman didn't even flinch. Once she was done, she put everything back where she found it. Karai didn't move at all and when Miyo looked closer, she noticed that the woman had fallen asleep. She smiled. "How can you fall asleep while someone is cleaning your wounds?" She shook her head. 

It was late afternoon when Karai had finally woken up. "What game did you even have to play? You were completely drained." Miyo's question hit her and she reached into her pocket to take out a card. "Six of Clubs." The girl's eyes widened. "Impressive. It was your second game, right?" She nodded. Miyo then proceeded to explain her what each suit meant so that she could judge the games as well. "I want to play more." Karai spoke. 

"Already?!" Miyo questioned and Karai nodded. "Isn't tomorrow your last day? You should play a game as soon as possible." The girl sighed. "Can you handle it though? You just came back from one." 

"Yeah, don't worry about me. You wanted to play a game together, right? Consider this your lucky day." The brunette laughed at the woman's remark and so she accepted it. Once the sun has set, the two exited the apartment and followed the arrows on commercial screens until it led them to a hospital in Shinjuku. There were only three smartphones left on the table and so they quickly took two of them before stepping inside. Miyo started to get a bit scared and so she hid behind Karai, walking everywhere she went like her shadow. 

Other than them, there were five participants. A man with torn jeans and mid length hair styled into a top knot, a girl in a cutesy outfit, a strict-looking middle aged woman with glasses, a teenage boy with muscles that reminded Karai of that dimwit from the first game and a dirty man dressed in a road worker uniform that was giving inappropriate looks to the cute outfit girl. For a split second,  Karai's nose scrunched up in disgust. She never judged but perverted men were in her opinion not even worthy of breathing near a woman. Miyo had noticed that as well and so she quickly walked over to the girl and waved at her. "Hi, your outfit's very cute!" She grinned at her. "What's your name?" The girl shyly eyed Miyo and then warily smiled back. "Yuriko..." She spoke in a quiet voice. Miyo whispered something to the girl and then pointed at Karai. 

The woman didn't know what to do now that both of the girls were staring at her and so she just nodded her head as a small greeting. Miyo then gave Yuriko a pat on the shoulder and walked back to Karai. "We can't help everyone we see, Arima." The raven-haired woman stated and her companion made a sour face. "Don't you have at least a bit of empathy?" Her question remained unanswered since Karai was busy looking at the phone. 

"There are currently seven participants. Please wait until the start of the game. Fifty seconds until the registration closes."

Miyo let her own phone to scan her face only to see the same thing that was on Karai's phone. Someone new had walked inside the hospital, claiming the last phone on the table. It was a man that could be around Karai's age if not older. He had white hair and piercings. A lot of them at that. Miyo eyed her phone once again. Fourteen seconds until the registration closes. And finally, a sound was heard, signalizing that the registration time had ended. 

"Registration has closed. There are eight participants. The game will now commence."

Karai's head was full with various thoughts about the upcoming game. What's the difficulty? Will she be able to win? The automatic voice was heard again.

"Difficulty: Nine of Hearts."

Karai's heart skipped a beat. Hearts. And NINE at that? She was doomed. Miyo was going to drag her down. Her line of thoughts was once again interrupted by the automatic voice.