Life in Borderland

Chishiya's Heart

"Namika?"

Chishiya couldn't believe his eyes as he watched the woman he loved sitting in the dirt just a few metres away from him. The apathetic mask he always wore was gone the moment he saw her. He didn't think he would ever see her again after he had abandoned her and the way she looked at him, almost in awe, made his heart melt.

"Hi Shuntaro." Namika replied.

There was a hint of nervousness in her tone that caused Chishiya's grin to drop to a smile. He wasn't sure if he had ever smiled at her like that before. He normally tried to conceal how happy Namika made him. But, after his game with Kuzuryu, he no longer wanted to hide behind his mask.

Chishiya's tactic for handling the King of Diamonds game was to understand and predict Kuzuryu's reasoning, just like one would in any intellectual game. That, he succeeded in and somewhat related to: the value of life. Kuzuryu wanted a game that gave everyone a fair chance because he didn't want to determine the value of a life. He, just like Chishiya and Namika, had peered behind the curtain and seen the ugly truth about what could happen in the world. Chishiya had seen it in his line of work as a Pediatric cardiovascular surgeon. Kuzuryu had seen it in his line of work as a lawyer, but Namika? Well she lived it. The cycle of poverty was something that used to never bother him after watching so many poor children die over a few yen. Chishiya learned long ago that people with enough money were the ones who could choose who lived and who died.

Not that Namika would ever know, but when it came down to just Chishiya and Kuzuryu, she was a topic of conversation. Kuzuryu asked him who he would give a million doses of a vaccines to if he could choose and his answer was children with no parents or money. Children just like how Namika was. Children just like Hayato and all the others that died because the hospital chose to value another life higher than theirs. While Chishiya worked out very quickly Kuzuryu's reasoning, he did not expect him to do that same. Kuzuryu it seemed had noticed Chishiya's interest in Namika before he had even approached her for the plan. Kuzuryu had told him prior to dying that Chishiya now had a chance to let someone in and to see the value in not only human life as a whole, but his own life.

Chishiya had never been afraid of death and in fact, was prepared to die before Kuzuryu's sacrifice. He was so jealous that Kuzuryu was able to choose to live by his ideals when Chishiya threw his own away years ago. Now, here she was: the woman that had flashed before his eyes before Kuzuryu chose to die. The woman he was going to better himself for and make himself a man worthy of her love and affection. Without that, he was no better than Niragi. 

Chishiya watched as Namika got to her feet and started to move towards him. As soon as she took a single step forward, Chishiya jogged towards her and pulled her into a tight hug. She smelled of blood and sweat, but he didn't care. He was just happy to have her in his arms and now he wouldn't make the foolish decision to let her go again. Even if he had to play every Hearts, Diamond and Spade game to keep her safe while Namika waited somewhere safe for him to win. He would do it. She was his and he was hers and he was going to make sure she knew that.

Pulling back from her, his eyes examined her face for a few seconds before he placed his forehead against her shoulder. He felt Namika place a hand on the back of his head and the other around him. He couldn't look at her. Every time he did, he heard the words from the old lady he played against in the Six of Diamonds game. It was his first game and it was just a game of blackjack. He had a chance to win outright but gave the old woman, his final opponent, an even chance to win. It wasn't out of the kindness of his heart, but simply because he had no interest in living. 

'You're a sad person'

He remembered the sadness in her tone as she spoke and while he agreed, because it was true, it was a comment he simply shrugged off. Now, well now everything had changed and that comment haunted him. He had changed in a way he thought he never would and it was thanks to both Namika and Kuzuryu.