Down the Rabbit Hole

Chapter 8: Niragi Hate Squad

Getting ripped away from your friends after finally being able to reunite with them, was never part of your plan. But when Aguni dragged you away before you even had a chance to say anything to them, there was little you could do to fight back.

"Danma will not allow you to stay, remember the rules," he attempted to explain once you made it to the car. Chishiya took his sweet time walking back to the car, leaving Aguni to suffer with your childish actions. "You can talk to him once we get there. I'm sure he'll understand."

"Then he can forgive me later! Let me go see them, Aguni! Please," you pleaded, knocking against the back windows but never with too much force to actually break them. You were angry. Betrayed to a certain point as well, but you also respected Aguni. He would never understand your urgency, he was innocent to your endeavors and to the future.

Aguni didn't know that you were trying to prevent the death of your friends. For all he knew, you already helped them in gaining more days for their visas and were severely codependent on them. Chishiya's cheshire grin did little to appease your stress. Instead, he focused more on feeding into your panic as Tatta started the car and drove off to the beach.

"You know... what's his name? Oh, Karube was injured in the fight. A pretty deep knife wound from what I could make out. Your little Arisu also seemed bummed that you left so quickly," he teased, making sure to stare into your wet eyes while giving you fake pity. He would have continued on with his unneeded mental torture but Tatta cut him off with a sharp turn.

"Don't worry (y/n), I told the one that I was with that you would find them again. Soon..." Tatta reassured, giving Chishiya a pointed look through the rearview mirror.

Scrunching his eyebrows, he returned the look while feigning innocence. It was never Chishiya's fault if you got tired of his teasing. No, it was your fault for being so sensitive and dependent on a group of men that were fine before you found them again. There was no need to run back to them so soon, they got their time with you. Would it kill them to let you go once more for just a few days?

It probably would, and he would never understand that. "I should have let the hunter shoot you," you mumbled carelessly under your breath. "You need someone or something to humble your ego, maybe getting shot will do that."

"Let them shoot me next time then. How much you want to bet that if it were Arisu, you would never let someone even aim their gun at him," he shot back, shoving his hands back into his pockets as if he didn't care.

"That's different-"

"Yeah, because it's so healthy for you to dote over a grown man that should be more than capable in caring for himself. Your lack of faith in them just proves how useless they are."

"Shut up! We will make it back to the beach in silence! I will not have a pair of toddlers yapping away in my back seat," Aguni demanded. The car immediately grew quiet from any arguing but the tension remained. Tatta kept trying to look at you through the mirrors but Aguni also made sure to glare at him to keep him in check.

Chishiya let out a few signs to show how little he cared about the entire ordeal which only fueled your anger more. Leave it to the friendless man to try to control your friendships as if he had any say. Dealing with the actual Chishiya was ten times more infuriating than you would have ever imagined. If anything, the games made his asshole persona grow and prosper in the name of survival. Throwing your shoe at his face would definitely make your mood better, but Aguni was already pissed enough.

Tatta took the quickest route to the beach in order to avoid the tension in the car and was the first one to leave with the excuse of having to run some car maintenance. Aguni attempted to hold you back in order to have a proper conversation, but you stormed past him and into the hotel before he could get a word out. He leaned against the parked car, witnessing you shove past a few drunk beach members while trying to make your way inside.