𝐑𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐤𝐨 𝐊𝐚𝐧𝐳𝐚𝐤𝐢 was raised to be the queen on the chessboard. With brilliance in her blood and the weight of a medical dynasty on her shoulders, she spent her life calculating every move,winning over every room, and crushing her every opponent. All except one. 𝐒𝐡𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐨 𝐂𝐡𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐲𝐚, her mirror and her opposite, the heir to a rival empire. Their rivalry was a cold war of perfect scores, stolen glances, and a game neither could afford to lose. A lifelong match of white versus black. But when the world shatters and they're stuck in the Borderlands, their endless match is interrupted by something far more dangerous. Now, stripped of privilege and trapped in a new world, Rin and Chishiya must face the one thing they never prepared for: Each other.

𝐘𝐚𝐬𝐚𝐬𝐡𝐢 𝐊𝐚𝐭𝐲𝐚 wasn't surrounded by the best people growing up. She was raised around the world of drugs, crime and violence. But growing up in that environment meant she had to be careful. One wrong move could've gotten her killed. So, she developed the ability to read people. She knew what people wanted, before they even wanted it. She understood people even when they didn't understand themselves. This ability got her so far and now she has to use it to survive in the borderlands. She just hopes that her emotions won't get in her way. 𝐒𝐡𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐨 𝐂𝐡𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐲𝐚 didn't care about anything. But there was always one thing that stuck in his mind. He always distanced himself from everything and everyone. He knew he was selfish. He always performed out of self preservation. He couldn't understand why anyone would want to save him, and yet she did. Now that they are stuck in the borderlands together, Katya has to survive with him and face the darkest moments in her life. And Chishiya has to watch as Katya does the thing he is incapable of doing. Care.

𝓔𝐋𝐘𝐒𝐈𝐀 𝓜𝐈𝐙𝐔𝐊𝐈 was that doll you never wanted. A porcelain beauty left to rot in flower pressed graves that simply took the skin of a beautiful, human psychiatrist. She never minded seeing her porcelain skin covered in blood and wept tears if that meant to know the answer to love. 𝓣hen, she looked into the mirror. 𝓢𝐇𝐔𝐍𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐎 𝓒𝐇𝐈𝐒𝐇𝐈𝐘𝐀 was a heart surgeon who didn't understand love. Didn't need love. An empty soul bearing the skin of an empty human. He worked with careful precision and emotionless strategy that didn't require feelings, or did he believe in finding the answer to love. He didn't understand hearts, he learnt to fix them. Well, only theirs and never his own. 𝓣wo morbid souls who could never truly accept each other- or maybe just their own, distorted reflections. 𝓣hey simply follow each other, falling down into the rabbit hole- just two heartless, empty dolls, one born to save, and the other to heal fractured hearts, finding themselves in the Borderlands. 𝓣here there is no room for morality, nor principles, let alone for judging what is good and what is evil. 𝓟erhaps that is what makes humanity so beautiful to people who already lost theirs. ──── 🃚 ──── started: july 3rd 2025 status: incomplete ended: n/a