Four Leaf Clover

♦ Two Of Diamonds ♦

Warnings for this chapter: Non-consensual drug use//Murder.

In theory, eight days seemed to be more than enough time. Would Clover have preferred at least a full month to recover from her minor injuries and mental breakdown over the fact that she was trapped in a parallel city? Of course. But beggars couldn't be choosers.

The first three days after finishing her first game had been the hardest. With no one to talk to except a baby who was much better at chewing on her hair than offering any words of wisdom, Clover's nerves, understandably, became a little frazzled.

Not long after leaving her own game arena, the sky gave way to countless beams of red light, targeting areas all over the city. On one hand, it was a reassurance. The lasers coming down meant there were plenty of people walking around the city, comforting Clover with the fact she wasn't completely on her own. However, they also served as a sharp reminder of how dangerously close one of them had come to taking her life.

Clover had returned to the scramble after her game, hopeful that she'd find other people like herself. Unfortunately, it was exactly the same as when she had woken up there. With no one in sight, and her stomach turning the longer she remained in the uncomfortable silence, Clover decided to head back to the B&B she'd been staying in before all of this happened.

The small apartment had been good enough for her. After all, it was the cheapest she could find so close to the middle of the city, and she wasn't going to be spending that much time inside the apartment anyway. It came with a single bed, a kitchen, and a bathroom. So, in the grand scheme of things, it was nothing to complain about.

When she eventually made it back to the B&B, Clover had to acknowledge one or two problems. First, there was no electricity. She'd flipped every switch and tugged at every light string, but it was entirely futile. Thankfully, after a tedious search around the apartment and the storage room at the bottom of the stairs, she'd gotten her hands on enough candles to safely brighten the place. Lining the countertops with candles when there was a baby present would've had CPS on her ass in ten minutes, but considering the circumstances—and the fact the baby couldn't even walk on her own two feet—Clover couldn't find the will to care.

Second, there was the matter of the baby. The apartment had been laid out for a single occupant and wasn't equipped for anyone travelling with a child. It didn't have a high chair, a crib, or anything even remotely close to a play pen. On top of this, Clover had stocked up the cupboards enough for herself, but not for a baby. And, if she was assuming right, the kid couldn't live on instant noodles and banana biscuits.

And so, despite the aches, pains, and fatigue, Clover forced herself out of the apartment.

On arrival at the shopping centre, after determining there truly was no one else around, Clover couldn't deny the sliver of excitement bubbling up inside. Yes, she was stuck in a weird and deadly world and had absolutely no idea what was going on; there was no denying that one. Although, being able to go from store to store and grab whatever the hell she wanted without putting a dent in her bank account was incredibly enticing. Best-case scenario, this was all a really fucked-up dream, and she'd wake up in the hospital with the worst case of heatstroke. Worst-case, she truly had been shipped off to another, darker version of Tokyo, which still granted her free reign to do anything she wanted without restriction.

For the first few days, Clover spent her time journeying between the shopping centre and the B&B. On her first night, she'd been quite sensible about it. A quick visit to the pharmacy had been first on the list, where she'd swept band-aids, bandages, and all manner of first-aid essentials into her shopping cart. After all, the burning scratch along her lower back was a harsh reminder of just how violent the games could get. That same night, she'd piled jars upon jars of food suitable for a six month old into the same cart, along with a few other baby-based necessities. Initially, Clover had wondered if she'd gone a bit overboard with it, only to find out a few days later that it wasn't even close.