SHARPER || Chishiya Alice in Boarderland

-22- the devil in hell

The buildings are decaying faster than the people. Vines and greenery have overtaken the concrete, twisting and crawling across the ruins of Tokyo. It feels like the entire world is dying, nature reclaiming what's left. I step through the overgrown streets, my eyes lifting to the sky. Two blimps remain: the Queen of Hearts and the King of Spades.

Figures.

The end is near.

I tighten my grip on my knife, my mind only on Chishiya. He must've gone for the Queen of Hearts. It's exactly his kind of challenge—the ultimate mind game. I pick up my pace, my feet carrying me swiftly through the desolate streets. The sunlight breaks through the overgrowth, casting long shadows across the crumbling city, and I weave through them, keeping my focus sharp.

Minutes pass. Maybe half an hour. I slip into a tunnel, the echo of my footsteps bouncing off the stone walls. That's when I hear it—the voice I never wanted to hear again.

"You're fucked up," Niragi's voice ricochets through the tunnel, dripping with twisted amusement. "Are seriously trying to kill yourself?"

The sound of his laugh grates on my nerves, and I instinctively press myself against the wall, moving silently. He hasn't seen me yet, and I inch closer, carefully. If I play this right, I'll be rid of him once and for all.

"Just kill me," a weak voice croaks, breaking through the tunnel. I peek around the corner and see a man sitting in front of Niragi, blood staining his clothes. He's already half-dead, his eyes glazed over with exhaustion and fear.

Niragi scoffs, grabbing his revolver. Shit, I don't have a gun. Just my knives.

He crouches in front of the man, shoving the barrel of the revolver into his mouth, grinning with that same twisted glee he always has when he's about to do something cruel. But still, for a moment, I think he might actually do something useful for once. Finally, Niragi will put someone out of their misery instead of being the cause of it.

The gun clicks, and the man's eyes flutter, resigned to death.

But then Niragi pulls the gun away and laughs, wickedly. "What? Did you think I was gonna let you off that easy?"

I grip my knife tighter, fury rising in my chest.

Niragi presses the gun against the man's wounds, digging the barrel into the open flesh. The man screams in agony. "Are you fucking stupid? I'm going to make you fucking suffer," Niragi says, his voice dripping with sadistic glee. "Only then will you die."

Disgust churns in my stomach. Niragi hasn't changed. He's still the same monster, reveling in pain and destruction. Only difference is, he know looks like it too. Can't believe Takeru died for that.

He drags himself away from the man, limping, muttering to himself, "I'm gonna make everyone wish they never met me... then I'm gonna die and go straight to hell."

At that moment, I step out from the shadows, my voice cold and cutting. "Everyone already regrets meeting you."

In one swift motion, I throw my knife. The blade sails through the air and hits its target: the man slumps forward, dead, freed from his suffering.

"And I can get you to hell, if that's what you want," I say, my eyes locked on Niragi's.

Niragi's head snaps toward me, his eyes wide, then narrowing into a crazed grin. "Yuki, Yuki, Yuki... Always meddling with me and my toys." He limps toward me, his revolver hanging loosely in his hand, as if he couldn't care less about the gun anymore.

"Still enjoying torturing people, Niragi? Pathetic," I spit, my eyes blazing with contempt. "What's next? Gonna whine about how I never picked you?"

"Picked me?" he echoes, his grin stretching wider. "Oh no, Yuki. It's never about picking. It's about... control. About making you regret not picking me."