SHARPER || Chishiya Alice in Boarderland

-24- Takumi and I

The streets are eerily quiet as Takumi and I make our way through the decaying city. The buildings are crumbling, overtaken by vines and moss, their former grandeur reduced to rotting skeletons. The sky is a pale, hazy, seemingly fake blue, and the distant hum of the Queen of Hearts' blimp serves as a stupid reminder of what still lies ahead of me. Of Chishiya. My knife feels heavy in my hand, and though Takumi walks beside me, his presence does little to dispel the oppressive silence that wraps around us.

For a while, neither of us says anything. The weight of everything—of Mariko, of Haruto, of this entire damned world—settles over us like a shroud. But eventually, Takumi speaks, his voice quiet but steady.

"Yuki," he starts, his hands shoved into his pockets. "You don't have to do everything alone all the time, you know."

I glance at him, my lips pressed into a thin line. "You know I don't have a choice. I'm the only one who can find him. Chishiya's out there somewhere, and I owe it to him to bring him back."

Takumi lets out a low sigh. "I get that, but... you don't owe him your life. You've already lost so much..." I know who he means. Mariko, my brother. I ignore the sting of tears in my eyes and keep walking."—You think he'd want you to risk everything for him?"

I stop walking for a moment, my grip tightening around the handle of my knife. "He saved me," I say, my voice firm. "He didn't have to, but he did. More than once. And Mariko—she... she believed in him too. She gave her life to save his. I can't just walk away from that, Takumi. I won't."

He turns to face me, his dark eyes filled with something I can't quite place—sympathy, maybe, or understanding. "I'm not saying you should walk away. I'm just saying you don't have to shoulder all of this on your own. Let me help you without me needing to beg every time."

I shake my head. "You've already lost so much—"

His jaw tightens, and for a moment, he looks like he's going to argue. But then his expression softens, and he steps closer, his voice quiet but resolute. "Family doesn't abandon each other, no matter how hard things get. Haruto would've said the same thing."

The mention of his twin makes my chest ache. I swallow hard, trying to push the emotions down. "I'm sorry, Kumi. About Haru. He... he was a good person."

Takumi's lips twitch into a small, sad smile. "Yeah, he was. A pain in my ass most of the time, but a good person. I miss him every damn day." He pauses, his gaze drifting to the crumbling buildings around us. "But that's why I can't just sit back and let you do this alone. If I can help you, even just a little, then maybe it'll mean something. Maybe it'll be worth it."

I look at him, my resolve wavering. "I don't want to lose you too."

"You won't," he replies, the conviction in his voice almost breaking me. "Not as long as we stick together." 

For a moment, it's just the sound of our footsteps, uneven and soft against the cracked asphalt. The air smells faintly of earth and decay, mingling with the faint metallic tang of blood that seems to linger everywhere in this city. I want to speak, to ask the question that's been clawing at me, but I'm afraid of what the answer might be. Still, I force myself to say it. 

"What happened to Haruto?" 

Takumi stiffens slightly, his shoulders tensing before he exhales a shaky breath. "It was... stupid," he begins, his voice low. "Not heroic or anything. Just bad luck." 

I stop walking, my hand gripping his sleeve gently, silently asking him to continue. 

He glances at me, his dark eyes red-rimmed but steady. "We were running from the King of Spades," he says, his voice quieter now, like he's confessing something. "The four of us—me, Haruto, Nio and Kenji. There were gunshots everywhere. We thought we'd lost him when we ducked into an old parking garage, but Haruto... He wasn't paying enough attention. He tripped over some rubble, and before we knew it..."