bts-story

[bts-story]

Hi!! Just wanted to say hi and see how you are doing? Hope all is well!!

Hi, hello!!

I’m fine, thank you for asking 🙈 I’m so sorry for not being around lately, I started work again after my maternity leave and I feel kind of overwhelmed at the moment, so I don’t have the time to write anything 🥹

I hope everything is well for you too 🩷

- Nageoire

[bts-story]

LOVE IS CHAOS

Previous chapters

CHAPTER 14 — CHOICES

Every beat in Niragi's chest was nervous. Nothing could hold him back anymore. 

He had a terrible headache, which no medicine seemed to be able to cure. He didn't know how long it had been since he had slept, but he didn't even want to think about it. Niragi was alone, more alone than he had ever been before. In fact, it had been a while since he had felt like this. And it was scary, terrifying. 

Yet you were right there, in front of him, only inches away. But your eyes were closed, already in an almost deep sleep. The sound of your heavy breathing echoed through the room to Niragi's ears, and he couldn't erase the infernal memory of the heart game from his mind. He had his fingers on the trigger, and he could see your face twisting with apprehension. He had fired, and your body had burst on the floor in a pool of blood. 

It was quiet, the room was silent, and yet he could hear himself screaming, his hoarse voice ringing in his ears. The pain that gripped his heart was too much to bear.

Niragi had never seen so much blood before. It was impressive and he didn't like it. He had always hated the sight of blood, as far back as he could remember. It hadn't gotten any better growing up, even with the almost daily sight of his own every time he fought one of his high school bullies who had followed him to college. 

He was slumped in the battered hotel room chair, elbows on the armrests as he absently played with that hunting knife he'd kept from the game of clubs. He turned the blade over and over between his fingers, making the blade scrape against his skin, almost to the point of cutting. His hands were still stained with your blood, dried, which draped his forearms with an aura even more threatening than his eternal scowl. 

But his eyes were fixed on you, asleep on the bed. 

You had your arms by your side, sleeping peacefully with your shirt off. The bandage that Chishiya had made was already soaked with blood, and Niragi had to change them before you could sleep. It was not an easy task, but he managed to do it. 

Your face looked so calm, far from all the torment that was currently going on in Niragi's head. He hated this world with all his being. 

If he had ever been asked, he would have said loud and clear that he would rather die than have to shoot you, threatening your existence between life and death. It was an inconceivable idea to him, an impossibility such that he would never for a second have doubted his own loyalty. 

And yet. 

And yet, here we were. In that moment, if there was one thing Niragi hated more than the reason you were here, it was his own self. It was ironic, because he had spent so many years learning to love himself again, to enjoy life again, to appreciate the little moments of everyday life, only to have it all shattered into a million pieces in the space of one little second.

He hated himself for that. It was the truth.

Niragi jumped to his feet. He knew he shouldn't leave you alone for a second, but he had something important to do. It may not have been more important than watching over you to make sure you made it through the night, but it deserved a lot of attention just the same. 

Discreetly so as not to wake you up, he closed the bedroom door with a heavy click that he insulted under his breath. Niragi knew very well what he looked like. He was stained with blood, your blood, and he most certainly looked like a serial killer straight out of an American television show. The sound of music echoed through the walls of the hotel, the eternal party that went on every night at The Beach was making Niragi's headache worse. 

He had to take matters into his own hands. It was one thing to steal a machine gun from an executive to get taken seriously, but he had to step up his game. This was crucial. 

Reaching the top of the stairs that led to the hotel pool, Niragi scanned the crowd of players dancing, laughing, and drinking before his eyes. Many were returning from their own arena, looking for plenty of alcohol to take their minds off the nightmare they were in. The others were already either drunk or stoned, but Niragi didn't try to join them for a second. 

Laughter could be heard in his ears, girls singing at the top of their lungs to the music, and most of all, the few worried looks of those who had noticed him. Obviously, he ignored each of them, studying the crowd to find what he had come for. 

"Hey, it's you, I recognize you," a voice came to his ears. A small, shy, unwelcoming voice that belonged to a young man with glasses, hair brushed ridiculously to the side. 

Niragi ignored it, he had no time for whoever it was. Not only did he have better things to do, he had to get back to watching you as soon as possible. Girls were jumping into the pool laughing, or maybe they had been pushed by teasing boys looking to hit on them in a completely cheesy way. 

"My arm still hurts, but I think it should be fine. I have a girl friend who helped me stitch it up. She did two years as a caregiver in a nursing home. It's not much, but at least she was able to help me," the youngster laughed shyly, scratching the back of his head absently at Niragi's total indifference.

He was rolling his eyes internally, annoyed by this guy who was getting on his nerves. He tried to disregard every word that came out of his mouth, but that little voice was piercing his eardrums too unpleasantly to continue ignoring it. 

"How... How's your girlfriend? She saved my life and I hope that Chishiya was able to —"

Niragi's head snapped back to him so quickly that he was a second away from breaking his neck. How could he have forgotten? It was that young man with whom he had shared the game of hearts, the one who had shot himself in the bicep. The same boy who had helped him bring you back here, and who had gone to get Chishiya for him. 

Niragi should thank him for that. He should offer him a smile and tell him that you were fine, that you weren't out of the woods yet but that he believed that you would be fine, and that you would make it. But Niragi's eyes did not transgress anything more than the usual aggressiveness he showed all the time.

The young man had interrupted his sentence in front of this imposing look. No more sound came out of his mouth because Niragi had been quick to block his hand against the boy's mouth, preventing him from uttering a single word. He had dragged him a little further onto the terrace, not completely out of sight, but enough to find some privacy. The back of the young man was facing Niragi's chest, so that he could not see his face, impossible for him to struggle. 

Instantly, the other player's eyes widened with fear, afraid of having upset Niragi. He might not have heard of Niragi's antics around The Beach yet, but he would soon know what he was capable of. He tried to scream under Niragi's hand which blocked his mouth with force. 

The music was far too loud to really attract anyone's attention, but Niragi reassured him all the same, "Shh, shh, calm down, calm down." The young man's frantic gaze glared at him apprehensively, and he was right. 

Niragi had much more strength than he did, fortunately. If he hadn't, it would have been difficult for him to block the boy and reach that particular hunting knife that he had hidden in his pants pocket again. 

"You know, Chishiya has a secret," Niragi whispered in his ear, and if the boy tried to struggle, it was futile against Niragi's strength around him. He brought the knife to his prey's throat, pressing the blade down hard enough to immobilize him. Niragi knew he would not attempt to struggle for fear of the knife going down his throat. "And Chishiya wouldn't like his secret to get out."

Niragi knew that what the young man was trying to mumble under his hand could most likely mean that he was swearing he wouldn't tell anyone. That he swore to forget about this game and that he wasn't looking for trouble, that Chishiya's secret would be safe and that he would never, ever dare to tell anyone. 

Niragi believed that. He knew that this player would not risk anything. 

But Niragi would not risk anything either. He had no mercy for anyone in this world, except for you. And you were the reason why he was acting like this, here. You were the only one that made him do all those things he never thought he could do before. It was all about you, and protecting you. There was no going back, anyway. It had to be done for you. To protect you. 

So he pressed that blade deep into that young man's throat. He sliced through the carotid artery with great force, but it sank into the skin like butter. Blood spurted everywhere and mixed with the dry blood on Niragi's hands. The boy's body convulsed for a few moments before he collapsed to the ground with a loud noise. 

Lifeless, with empty eyes, the dead silhouette of the slain player laid on the ground. Niragi breathed out an insult, catching his breath. "'Fuckin' hell,' it didn't feel so good to take another life, but here was a collateral damage he had no choice but to take.

Niragi shook his hands to drain the blood which had soaked him. It was then that he noticed something, there, locked between the fingers of his victim. A small white card, the five of hearts. It was easy for Niragi to retrieve the card, and as he examined it, he wondered if this player had come here to give it to the Hatter before interrupting himself to chat with him.

A small gasp was heard behind him, and when Niragi looked over his shoulder, he came upon a young girl. Hand over her mouth, eyes wide, skin livid. "What the fuck are you looking at?" 

The girl ran off, afraid of receiving the same fate as the poor boy. Niragi shook his head, he could have laughed at the girl's reaction, if it wasn't for all the blood that was starting to pool on his hands. 

He knew that what he had just done would quickly enrich his little reputation, and he would not hide from it. If Niragi went to such lengths to make himself feared and respected, it was certainly not to deny everything he could be accused of. Guilty, that he was. 

When his eyes finally found the thing he had come here for too, Niragi passed the crowd of dancers without caring if he was jostling them or stepping on their feet. He twirled the card between his fingers before slamming it with the palm of his hand hard on the wood of the coffee table. 

Empty and half-filled glasses shook at the impact, but no incident occurred. The Hatter didn't even look up for a second, too absorbed by the lips of a barely grown-up girl who was devouring his lips. 

The Hatter was sitting on one of those benches near the pool with exactly four girls in swimsuits around him. They were all rushing to pamper him; a massage, kisses on the neck and Niragi wouldn't be surprised if one of them started sucking him off, right there and then. 

He had discovered that it wasn't very harmless to come across exhibitionists here, as the laws of the real world had been taken away from them. There were no limits, no shame, no rules. 

Niragi took place in front of the Hatter, ignoring the intrigued look of the chicks who were sticking to him. At first, he didn't make himself noticed, but as he placed his knife on the coffee table with a thud, the Hatter finally turned his head towards what interrupted him. "Niragi," he began, caressing the buttocks of the girl to his left, "How do you like the Beach so far? You like it, I hope?" 

A smile tugged at the corner of Niragi's lips. No, he couldn't say he liked it here, or even this world for that matter. He hated everything about this country, every blade of grass, every wall and corner of the city. Every wild animal, every game and every arena. He hated the other players just as much. Every man, every woman and that fucking Hatter. 

He moved the five of hearts card a little closer to the Hatter with two bloody fingers, before bringing his elbows back to his knees, looking serious and grim. 

When his eyes landed on the five little red hearts, the Hatter broke free of his embrace with those girls to better examine the card. A very wide smile appeared on his face while Niragi remained unmoved. "This is amazing! You don't know how rare hearts are around here..." 

The Hatter's enthusiasm was exactly what Niragi was looking for. He knew that this card would more than hold up to the threats he was about to say, once again. "From now on, [Y/N] and I are executives." His tone was firm, commanding, and the Hatter's smile faded. "You want to be number one, whatever. Aguni is your number two, I'm fine with that. But from now on, [Y/N] will be number three, and I will be number four." 

Hatter said nothing. In fact, he was so stunned by Niragi's audacity that he froze like a statue. No one here had ever dared to speak to him like that before. 

"You can tell anyone after your list that they've been demoted," Niragi continued in a stern voice, looking far too comfortable for what was coming out of his mouth. The Hatter was gazing at Niragi's bloody forearms, almost unimpressed by the scarlet color. 

It was now something familiar to see blood in this world. Some games required no sacrifice, others required a lot. It didn't matter to the Hatter whose blood it was, as long as the five of hearts card was brought back to him. 

Niragi's good faith had been proven, just by that. His loyalty and total devotion to the Beach was represented in this small white card that the Hatter hastened to secure in the pocket of his bathing suit. 

The Hatter could trust him - well, as much as he could. Niragi was not a trustworthy man, but for now, he would have to make do. Niragi slumped into the cushions behind him, taking a comfortable seat by resting his feet on the small table in front of him. 

He had finished his little monologue, finished his threats and what he expected from the leader of The Beach, but he wanted to push his arrogance a little longer. Just to make sure he was understood. "I have something to offer you too, Niragi." 

What Niragi had asked was anything but a proposal, but still, he sketched an inviting smile, without saying a word. If the Hatter had something to offer him, so be it. He was (almost) never closed to listen to anything, that didn't block him in any way. It did not force him to do anything.

Hatter disentangled himself from the girls' embrace, straightening his back as he approached Niragi a little closer. "This morning... I caught a few gamblers trying to collect cards on their own." Niragi tilted his head, intrigued. "So I decided to create a third rule for The Beach: death for all traitors." 

Now that was something Niragi was interested in. Every less player in this world was one less competitor. He was quickly getting used to the idea that violence was the only currency in this world, and that anything was needed to survive here. Murder, assault, brutality, torture. Name it, he was not afraid of anything.

"Aguni is putting together a team of activists to keep order here. I propose you to be his second man. You will be... the second in command of the second in command!" Hatter burst out laughing at these last words, truly amused by the quip he had just made. Niragi wasn't amused in the least, but he needed to know a little more about this proposal before he knew if it was futile or brilliant.

"And what's in it for me?" Niragi asked with a raised eyebrow. He was not an easy man to impress, let alone bribe. 

"You'll have access to the armory," The Hatter knew full well what those words implied, no matter how Niragi literally licked his lips. "And your duty will be... shall we say... to keep order. Do you think you are capable of that task?" 

Oh, Niragi was more than capable. He had been ready for this for a long time, since the moment he had set foot in this world. From the moment he had understood the difficulty with which he had to survive. It was a dangerous game. So very dangerous. And Niragi was rubbing his hands in anticipation, he could feel the metal of those weapons under his fingers already quivering.

Niragi's smile did not fade for a second. On the contrary, it grew until it reached his ears. Of course this proposal was tempting. Anyone would be a fucking idiot to refuse it. 

"You'll be number four, if that's important to you, and your girlfriend will be number three, fine. You'll be free to kill whoever you want...punch whoever you want, all of it. You can fuck whoever you want, I don't give a fuck. You'll just have to answer to Aguni and follow his orders, okay?" Hatter held out his hand towards Niragi, waiting for him to seal their arrangement with a handshake. 

Niragi looked at that hand for a second, before rising from his seat to catch it between his fingers. Firmly, he shook. "Deal." 

It was done. Niragi almost had full power, it was real now. He didn't need it, but it would make his task of conquering The Beach easier. He didn't really care, but his devotion to getting you out of here as quickly as possible remained his number one priority.

Hatter grimaced at the feel of blood on his fingers, wiping his hands in disgust against the pillows beside him. The girls around resumed their work as soon as he found his place at the bottom of the cushions again, new kisses on his neck and caresses on his naked chest. 

Niragi, him, took back the knife of the coffee table, and without addressing any more interest, he left. Anyway, the Hatter had already forgotten about him, diving too deeply into the prominent tits of one of the girls. Again, he crossed the crowd of dancers, pushing anyone who wouldn't let him pass. 

He still had that unbearable headache that the loud music didn't help. But Niragi ignored what was pounding his brain to concentrate on his path. At the bottom of the stairs, he froze. Chishiya stood straight and proud at the top of the terrace, a clean sweatshirt and that condescending look still stuck to his unbearable face. 

When their eyes met, it would have been impossible for anyone to decipher what was going on between them. Chishiya's eyes shone with a dreadful malice, something hostile in the way he stood. Back straight, hands in the pockets of his sweatshirt (why was he always in a sweatshirt when it was the middle of August?!) and of course, this little sneer on his lips that could mirror the one that Niragi was so often wearing.

Niragi, on the other hand, was burning with an agonizing uncertainty. He didn't like Chishiya, he didn't like him in the least. He hated him down to his ridiculous blond hair, even though he had just saved your life. 

Niragi walked up the few steps of the terrace, and stopped at the other man's level. There wasn't really a war of ego going on, but a battle of arrogance. The way Chishiya looked at Niragi with raised eyebrows made him tense. Every muscle in his body tightened, every fiber and every nerve burned with the desire to harm this man.

Niragi grabbed in the back pocket of his jeans his smashed cigarette pack. He pulled out one that was much more beaten up than he was and raised it to his lips. After only three tries, his lighter ignited and the flame burned the end of the cigarette. Still without breaking their eye contact, Niragi inhaled strongly and released the smoke on Chishiya's nose. 

This was pure and proper provocation.

But Chishiya didn't say anything, not a sound came out of his mouth and Niragi went on his way, not without giving him a last threatening look. It was so hard not to succumb to the urge to rip his face off. He could do it, if he wanted to. He knew that very well. But for now, as long as you weren't out of trouble yet, he would need him in case there was any complication. 

Chishiya wouldn't want to interfere with your recovery any longer, but Niragi was sure that a new death threat would help him change his mind.

When Niragi returned to the hotel room and closed the door with the same thud as when he left, you were still sleeping. He had stubbed out the end of his cigarette on the hallway carpet, uninterested in smoking inside or defacing hotel equipment.

Your eyes were deeply closed, and you hadn't moved a muscle. Your ribcage was slowly rising and falling with each breath, and Niragi was trying not to crack the wood hidden by the carpet under his feet. 

Niragi approached the bed slowly, and he suddenly had the urge to caress every inch of your body. To hold you so tightly in his arms and feel the beat of your heart against his chest. Everything had happened so fast, the night had been so long and so short at the same time. It was a strange feeling, as if time was no longer running properly. 

But with his hands still full of blood, it was impossible for him to be able to do any of this. "W-where —?" Your shaky voice filled his ears. Too immersed in his thoughts, he hadn't noticed your eyes flashing open, or even the way you were trying to get up with difficulty. 

"Shh, what are you doing? Lie down, are you out of your mind or what?" Niragi pushed you back against the cushions of the bed, ignoring the feeble strength with which you had tried to get up. He shrugged off your question, instead pulling the blanket back over your legs that had moved with you. "You need to rest, where are you trying to go like this?" 

It was a question he didn't want answered, he didn't want to force you to talk for nothing. On the contrary, he wanted to preserve you as much as possible. Your wound was still far too fresh to do anything.

On your side, it was too frustrating not to be able to talk and ask him the thousand questions that were bothering your brain. And the fatigue was so great, as if weakness had taken over your whole body. Every movement was so difficult to make, every breath seemed impossible and just blinking your eyes required immeasurable strength. 

Not to mention the pain of your wound that could make you forget your own name. It was only slightly better than when the bullet was still lodged in it, and yes, the painkillers had made quite a bit of improvement but it was still so painful that you couldn't ignore the damn curse. 

In turn, you didn't answer the question that Niragi had asked. It didn't matter, it didn't really deserve an answer anyway. You rested on the not very soft pillow, already annoyed by the little strength you had. Your eyelids were heavy, so heavy, but as Niragi slumped back into the broken armchair at the foot of the bed, your eyes fell on his hands. 

Niragi followed your gaze, and sighing, he said wearily, "Yes, I know, I'll go take a shower." He looked exhausted, as if he too, somehow, had no strength left. He had rested his head on his right hand, which was leaning on the armrest, rubbing his forehead with pain, his eyes closed. 

It was a miracle what he had managed to do. Keeping you alive all the way to The Beach was impossible, but somehow he had done it. When your number had appeared on the big screen, back in the game, and the second image had stopped on the belly, your heart could have given out. 

You knew that a wound like that was fatal, and that no one could survive it without quick medical attention. But you didn't know how, you were there after all. Back in this shitty world, and forced to survive to get your old life back. 

So Chishiya had agreed to help you. It was a desperate choice, after all, to ask for his help. Chishiya was not someone who was willing to help others immediately, despite his background as a doctor. He was selfish, narcissistic and despised everyone around him. That was the main reason your small history didn't work out. 

Oh yes, it was so long ago. Was it really a story at all? Maybe it was just a fling, or a crush, you wouldn't even know how to describe it. A romance, maybe. Whatever it was, it was so long ago that you couldn't give it any importance, whatever it was. 

If only Niragi wasn't snooping around the stuff that was hurting him.

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I know, I know, this chapter a little smaller but it was necessary to make my transition!

So… so… Well Chishiya would be an ex-boyfriend but the story doesn't revolve around that, you told me you didn't want a love triangle On the other hand, I need him to feed Niragi's jealousy and add to the suspense of the story

Well, let's get to work on the next chapter now!

Nageoire

[bts-story]

LOVE IS CHAOS

Previous chapters

Chapter 13 — Survival

"It's not a date. It is not a date." 

For as long as he could remember needing to know such a thing, Niragi had a tell-tale equation he used to figure out if a particular outing was a date or not. It was simple, but brilliant in its simplicity, and for a few years now, it had yet to let him down: 'If you have to ask if it's a date, it's not a date.' 

As far as Niragi was concerned, if the person asking one out on the outing did not make their intentions clear enough for the other to know for a fact that they were romantic intentions, they did not mean them to be romantic at all. Simple.

So why in the name of God was he struggling so badly with this one? Oh right. Of course. You were the one who extended the invitation. 

"It's not a date. It's most definitely not a date." 

Don't be wronged, Niragi was really not used to go on dates. If his memory wasn't faulty, he'd say he could count them on the fingers of his hand. On one hand, yes. 

Niragi was not a bad boy, but his shyness was such that he lost all his nerve at the sight of even a pretty girl. And then, he could remember a time when a nice co-worker had invited him to spend the evening in a rather trendy and chic restaurant and poor Niragi, had he understood that she was inviting him to spend an evening alone - Niragi had shown up in a suit, pointy shoes and a bouquet of flowers when in reality, it was just a night out in a seedy bar of the same name that was celebrating her birthday.

"Not. A. Date." 

It was a memory he would deny body and soul, and would take great pleasure in punching anyone in the nose who would allude to that little moment of solitude. 

In any case, he needed to get his mind right. He still found that he had a funny air with these piercings on his face, something that finally made him a tiny bit aggressive. Far from the days when he looked like a scared little sheep, but he still had a little trouble adjusting to the reflection he saw every time he passed a mirror. 

He had grown his hair out under your guidance, and he still needed to learn to master the art of the messy bun. He had redone some of his wardrobe and traded in his student uniform for smart shirts and holey jeans that contributed greatly to his new bad-boy look.

Girls were turning around as he walked by, now, and Niragi couldn't deny that it was a pretty good feeling. He wouldn't know what to say to them, but feeling visible to the world had done a wonderful job of boosting his self-esteem. He was still learning not to let his feelings get the better of him, but he was making progress in not letting himself get stepped on. 

"Come on, Niragi, don't be so stupid. It's just not a date, no big deal!" He muttered to his reflection in the mirror, applying the cologne to his neck that he had bought not long ago. 

So this date, no, no, scratch that, this... outing, had been organized by you, excited at the sight of the beautiful days that were leaving behind the snow and the freezing cold of winter. A picnic in the park, alone, was definitely not a date and Niragi should surely have it tattooed on his skull to remember it well. 

He had spent about forty minutes deciding how he was going to dress so as not to look too classy nor too cheap. He'd spent half the morning with a lump in his stomach, telling himself over and over that no, fuck it, this isn't a date. Shit. 

Deep down, it wasn't a surprise though. He wanted, hoped to the depths of his soul that it was really a date. He dreamed night and day that he could dare to feel your eyes on him, that he could imagine the feel of your skin against his — if dreaming awake was a crime, then let's put him in jail right now. 

He thought about you, day and night, from the time he laid eyes on you. That night you sewed on his eyebrow that those college bullies had savagely torn off. He didn't know why he was so enthralled with you, but just wanting to help him seemed to be the reason. 

He hadn't really faced many people in his life who were willing to help him like you had. So he had developed a kind of obsession with you. Okay, okay, you were a doctor and it was your job to heal the wounded, but that was an excuse that Niragi found too cheap to justify his new fantasies.

In all cases, the result was the same. He was obsessed.

"Look at you, handsome, that's a nice pair of shoes, right there!" You had hummed excitedly when your eyes had landed on him, there at the park. Niragi had told himself over and over again not to stress, and that everything was going to be okay. 

He had frozen about twenty meters down the hill of the park in the green and flaming grass, when his eyes had found your silhouette. You were wearing a pretty long dress that encircled your waist to perfection, fluttering in the wind every time you turned around. You must have just arrived, you were still setting up a tablecloth on the floor that kept turning over every time you put it down. 

Even without the sound, Niragi could hear your little voice in his head grumbling about the difficulty of the task. He smiled a little and once that tablecloth was set as you wanted it to be, you looked in a bag for everything you had brought to make this picnic a memorable one. The bushy tree you had chosen to shelter you from the sun was no mean feat, as the holes of sunlight that crept through the foliage crashed against your face, making you squint with difficulty. 

Fortunately, you had not forgotten to take a hat to shelter you from these violent rays which were currently crashing very heavily on Niragi's forehead. This hat, by the way, made of straw and somewhat worn by time, flew away under the gust of wind that emerged behind you, making your headgear twirl in the air. 

"Shit!" You blurt out, trying to hop through the air to try and catch the runaway. 

The hat flew and swirled over the grass before coming to rest gently at Niragi's feet. He had a smile on his face, truly amused by the scene that was unfolding before his eyes. He picked up the culprit between his fingers, and waved it in front of him as he finally met your eyes, relieved at the idea that your hat was in good hands. 

"Hey, thanks," you giggled as you picked it up again after walking the few yards to Niragi, placing it on your head firmly, to make sure it didn't get loose again. You had now stared at his outfit, and Niragi had blushed under the compliments you had given him.

Niragi only smiled, he couldn't find the strength to make a single sound out of his mouth, he was so amazed by your beauty. The sun colored your skin with a tanned hue that made him dizzy. Your hair was shining, your dress was flying, and your smile... Fuck, your smile. Niragi could lose his mind over just one of them. 

"You brought wine?" You asked curiously, laying your eyes on the bottle of white wine that Niragi had locked between his fingers, arms at his sides. 

It was like a little click to bring him back to earth, and he stammered slightly, to remember where he was. "Yes, yes, it's French wine, I hope it's good..." 

"French? You must have paid a fortune for it, you shouldn't have..." You exclaimed happily as you took the bottle in your hands, peering at the label as if you could read French. Apparently, the bottle was from Provence, that's the only thing you could make out.

Niragi thought that what he had spent on that nice bottle of wine was surely not worth the time you had spent to cook this picnic. As far as he knew, a picnic was supposed to be small snacks, sandwiches made with leftovers from the fridge, a bag of chips and that was it. 

But no, what you had taken out of the bag were two small sandwiches with breaded pork (Niragi loved to eat them), a dozen makis (Niragi loved the ones with Chinese cabbage), a bowl of rice each (Niragi was very happy to see that you hadn't forgotten that), and of course some onigiri (Niragi's mouth was already watering).

It was a more than pleasant moment. The laughter of the children playing near the fountain, the birds singing in the sky and the soft sensation of the wind that came to tickle Niragi's neck made this day absolutely memorable. He was biting his cheek so hard that it was bleeding, the nervousness still part of his whole being. 

He laughed at every one of your jokes, even the ones that didn't deserve a smile. He tried to think about everything before speaking, just to make sure he wouldn't say anything stupid. Niragi was really trying to sound as natural as possible, even if it meant he was talking a little more than he usually did. 

"Well, no more jokes now. Tell me, how are you?" You had asked gently, and Niragi's smile had wavered. 

It was true that getting his life back under control was no small task. He was still having a hard time learning how to live and facing all his fears that were holding him back. He was so used to having the feeling of undergoing his existence, of undergoing things he didn't like, just because he had to do them. He envied the people around him who were more successful than he was, and he could tell that time was not more precious to him than that and he did not want more of it. 

There were things he was excited about, but nothing could force him to do them. He didn't take action, he suffered. But thanks to you, he was able to discover the importance of it all. He knew that in order to fulfill himself and become who he really was, he had to take control again. 

Niragi was so used to dealing with an unimaginable number of problems that he forgot that there could be solutions. Everything was becoming clearer now, and problems were becoming less frequent, even with the heavy feeling that he still had a long way to go. 

"I'm fine," Niragi had announced after taking a few seconds to think. The air was getting a tiny bit tighter in his lungs, but the question hadn't scared him as much as he would have thought. "It's still not easy every day, but I'm working on it..." 

"What's bugging you these days?" You wondered if there was a new way for you to help him. If you could put all your skills into action, you would gladly do so. 

Niragi was dreamily playing with the grass between his legs, pulling out stalk after stalk. He didn't want to meet your gaze, for fear of appearing less strong than he was trying to show. "My boss is an asshole who talks trash to me, he makes me work overtime and I want to punch him in the face." 

He had said all this with a rather hypocritical smile, but one that was meant to be reassuring about his setbacks and misadventures. "Just piss him off." 

"And find myself without a job? How do I do that?" Well, okay, maybe that wasn't the best solution, you could admit. 

You then turned your whole body towards Niragi, crossing your legs as you narrowly missed spilling the half-empty wine bottle. Niragi was a little startled by your movements, eyes round as you motioned him to turn back to you, mirroring the same position. "Let's do an exercise, shall we?" 

It was a solution you had found very flourishing to help you in the moments of frustration that swelled your head. You waited for Niragi to sit across from you, legs crossed, to take his hands in yours. His skin was warm and you noticed that it was a little clammy too, but you didn't say anything about it. 

"Repeat after me, okay?" You closed your eyes, taking a small breath. "Fuck!" Niragi pouted as he cocked his head, not really understanding what you were getting at. "Come on, say it. Fuck!" 

There weren't that many people around you, but the way you said that word loudly made him a tad uncomfortable. "Okay, fuck." 

You giggled, opening your eyes again to scold him. "No, louder than that. Look, fuck!" 

Niragi didn't know where to put himself, he was getting a little bothered by what you were asking him. He really didn't see the point of it all, and he knew that any moment now, the moms of the kids around would start giving you annoyed looks. "Fuck!" 

"'Louder than that," you urged, applying pressure to Niragi's fingers in an attempt to reassure him, to get him to trust you. "Like this, look. FUCK!" 

If this had been a movie, the birds in the area would have flown off the tree branches, disturbed by the sudden outburst.Niragi sighed as he rolled his eyes, clearing his throat before finally shouting, "Fuck!"

"Okay, okay, not bad. Still lacks a bit of willpower, but we're getting there," you stated with a smile, as Niragi shook his head from left to right in disapproval. "Come on, just let yourself go. Close your eyes, for starters. And say it again. But be careful, this time I want you to yell it with all your might, as loud as you can!" 

He didn't like this idea very much, but since that day at the station, that day when you had decided to stay by his side, he had understood that once you had an idea in your head, it was very difficult to change your mind. It had nothing to do with your astrological sign or the position of the moon when you were born, it was just the way you had learned to grow up in this world of brutality that was planet earth.

Niragi closed his eyes, and took a long breath. He tried to concentrate on the sound of the wind, ignoring the laughter of the children. To do this, he had to get into a state where he would not be ashamed to shout this word loudly, without worrying about the looks of people. He would ignore everything, and focus on one thing only: the feeling of your fingers against his that made his legs weak and excited his heart. "FUCK! FUCK FUCK FUCK! FUCK THAT! FUCK!" 

A loud laugh erupted from the depths of your stomach, and that's what interrupted Niragi and brought him back to your side, eyes round at his own words. You were squirming with laughter, unashamedly and unabashedly, not even covering your mouth with your hand like the genteel girls of Tokyo's uptowns did. "My God, you were holding that one back!" 

Yes, it was true. Niragi had built up so much frustration that this little slip-up felt so good. Just being able to shout his words at the top of his lungs took a weight off his shoulders that he hadn't even noticed. 

And as expected, the moms around you hurried the children to play further away, giving you dark murderous looks over their shoulders. Niragi could only laugh with you, the way your head was thrown back made him all happy. It was a good time, and even if no solution had been found for his heinous boss, just letting off a little steam had helped him. 

This was his new life, after all, and he had to get used to it. The tornado that was you had turned his life upside down. It was such a mess that Niragi forgot his own name sometimes. But he would thank God every day for putting you in his path if he could. 

You were his gift from heaven, and even if he wasn't quite used to the idea yet, he'd be glad to know that he'd eventually gain complete confidence in himself. And on that day, he would do a lot of damage.

⬳⬳⬳⬳⬳⬳⬳⬳⬳⬳⬳⬳⬳⬳⬳⬳⬳⬳⬳

"Find me Chishiya, now!" 

The boy ran away, wrapping his wounded biceps with much force, his legs supporting the heavy weight that was his own body. 

Niragi laid your motionless body on the stretcher of the infirmary, his clothes stained with your blood. As soon as his hands were free, he put pressure on the wound in your abdomen again, unmoved by the amount of blood that was running down your skin, crashing fiercely against the cold floor of the room. 

There was no sound around him, only the sound of his breath going in and out of his lungs echoed in his ears. His heart was pounding against his rib cage, so hard that it would most likely pierce his bones any moment now. 

"I'm here, princess, I'm right here." His voice was shaky, trying so hard not to let panic control his movements. He was putting pressure on your wound, pressing again and again. The time seemed infinitely long, it seemed like every second that passed lasted an eternity. 

Niragi looked towards the door with apprehension, waiting for Chishiya's blonde figure to finally cross the threshold. But he wasn't coming, Niragi couldn't see his punchable face that he usually dreamed of avoiding. He had driven at full speed the car that had been lent to him at the beginning of the evening to find an arena. He'd driven through the city at a completely non-regulatory pace, but fuck the traffic laws of this lonely world if it meant he could get to The Beach as quickly as possible. 

"It's going to be okay, all right? Chishiya's coming, he'll take care of you, okay? You just need to hold on a little bit longer." He had dragged the other surviving player with him, the one who also had a hotel wristband around his wrist, to make sure you could be monitored the whole way. 

You had passed out pretty quickly, but there was still a heartbeat that allowed Niragi to press the gas pedal, foot to the floor. He had ordered that same player to look for Chishiya and bring him here, as you had requested. 

Even though he had no idea how he could help you, Niragi trusted you. He knew that if you ordered him to do something like this, it was for a good reason. It wasn't for nothing. But for now, the damn fool had to come, finally.

"Stay with me, princess, I'm not done with you, you hear me? Huh, you hear me?" The color of his skin had disappeared under the ton of blood that flowed from your belly. He tried to look around, looking for a cloth or bandages, anything that would cover the wound more than his trembling fingers. 

He tried to grab a sheet that he could see folded gently on the other bed, opposite the one where he had laid you, but it was much too far away and he didn't dare take his hands off you for a second. He tried to lift his leg, trying to drag the sheet a little closer to him with the back of his shoe. He was almost touching the fabric, just a little more... 

"I hope you have a good reason to —" Niragi stopped short, interrupted by the annoyed voice of Chishiya who was entering the room, hands in the pockets of his sweater. But he couldn't finish his sentence, the horror of the scene unfolding before his eyes. 

Chishiya could only see blood. Lots and lots of blood. And you, just lying there, motionless. He stood frozen in place with the impossibility of understanding anything about what was happening. "Don't just fucking stand there, help her!"

But Chishiya did not move, no. He just stood there, immobile, and if Niragi had the ability, he would kick his ass to force him to move. "What do you want me to do?" Chishiya had a blank, emotionless stare, an expression that stuck to his face so often that Niragi felt the blood turn hot in his veins at this. 

There must have been a reason for you to ask for Chishiya, you knew something that Niragi didn't. But he trusted you, he knew you had a good reason. He had to believe in you, he had to get Chishiya to do something. "Listen to me, you son of a bitch, if she dies, you die too. Do you understand me? So get your fucking ass here and do something!" 

Niragi's voice pierced the room with unmitigated violence. It was so powerful and threatening that Chishiya was seriously considering his next moves. What should he do?

"What happened?" Chishiya asked as he finally came out of his temporary paralysis, taking a stand beside Niragi to examine your body. He made sure you still had a pulse by placing two fingers at your neck, then took your wrist in his hand, searching under your skin to feel the heartbeat that must have echoed through your fingertips. "Keep the pressure on the wound." 

"F-five of heart is what fuckin’ happened," Niragi admitted quickly, his eyes glued to Chishiya who was moving left and right to gather several different medicines. He quickly searched through the cabinets of the infirmary, the flickering neon light overhead casting a fishbowl-like atmosphere over you. 

He reached for a large syringe, so large that Niragi's eyes widened. Chishiya drew from a small vial a liquid that filled the syringe and quickly came to stick it straight into your belly, right next to Niragi's fingers, without batting an eye. 

"What the fuck, are you a doctor or something?" Niragi asked fervently, his breath short and his voice stuck in his throat. 

Chishiya didn't answer him, instead he lifted one of your eyelids, flashing a small flashlight he had found in one of the drawers. He examined the reaction of your pupil, then the other eye, and then he asked, "How long has she been unconscious?" 

"I... I don't know, fuck, you're going to save her, right?" 

"How long, Niragi?" Chishiya raised his voice, his eyes stern as they planted themselves in Niragi's. Surely he had a death wish to speak with that tone in his voice, but right now he had much more to worry about than Niragi's feelings. 

"Ten minutes." 

"Are you sure?" 

"Yeah, she kept passing out and waking up on the way here but... since we got to The Beach, she hasn't woken up again." Niragi stated confidently as Chishiya gathered several utensils and threw them on the small table next to the stretcher.

He didn't know what to do but stand there, his hands buried in the wound of your abdomen that smelled slimy and sticky under his fingers. He was trying to ignore the feeling of your organs against his skin, he could feel every muscle and tendon with his fingertips, as if your whole belly had been ripped out. 

Chishiya stood on the other side of the bed, right in front of Niragi, and paused for a second, to regain his senses. He thought for a short moment, and Niragi was a second away from hurling another insult at him, when he spoke again, "When I tell you, you will take your hands off her." 

He didn't explain further, but Niragi did notice that he seemed to know what he was doing. Chishiya's movements were sure and calculated, and Niragi was pretty sure he was a doctor too, in his old life. He might have wondered why Chishiya was going to such lengths to hide it from the Hatter, why he didn't want anyone to know, but he was far too preoccupied with the mechanical beeps that counted your heartbeat as Chishiya had a beeper hooked around your finger.

He had put latex gloves around his hands, and counting quickly to three, Niragi finally let go of your stomach. His arms felt so heavy along his body, he felt so useless. He wanted to do anything that would help you, to plunge his hands into your body to get that bullet out, he wanted to share his oxygen with you, he would give you his own heartbeat if he could. 

But there was nothing he could do except watch Chishiya's blond figure stick a funny shaped utensil into your stomach. He wanted to do something, he couldn't stand by and do nothing, he had to do something.

"— Niragi!" The monitor was beginning to frenzy. The beeps were sounding one after the other with such speed that it perfectly mirrored Niragi's every heartbeat. Your pulse was accelerating horribly, but Chishiya, with his hands plunged into your belly, could do little about it. "She's going into cardiac arrest, you're going to give her a massage, okay?" 

"No, no, no... I can't do that, I've never done it before, I can't —" 

"You don't have a choice, okay? You put your hands on her chest and follow my instructions, understand?" Chishiya ordered sternly, and if Niragi were in his right mind, he would have grabbed him by his collar and slammed him against the wall, the threat of death heavy on his lips. But he didn't do any of that, instead he put his hands on your chest, just as Chishiya said. "You count to five and blow into her mouth to give her oxygen, okay?" 

Niragi didn't waste a second and started to press. One, two, three, four, five. He let go of your torso, and when he grabbed your jaw between his fingers, he painted your face with the barely dried blood that stuck to his fingers. He was pressing his lips against yours, but none of this was sensual pleasure, far from it. He was blowing as hard as he could, trying to force air into your lungs. 

And he was doing the same thing again. Hands on your chest. 

One, two, three, four, five. He blew. One, two, three, four, five. He blew. One, two, three, four, five. He blew. One, two, three, four, five. He blew. One, two, three, four, five. He blew. 

The monitor was finally stabilizing. The little beeps that pierced Niragi's eardrums sounded like a salvation to him. He didn't dare move now, afraid that if he did move even an inch the monitor would start to go crazy again. 

Chishiya worked in silence, full concentration on his face as he finally seemed content with the result of the heart massage. Had he removed the bullet? Was the damage as bad as Niragi had feared? Were you going to make it? Would you survive this nightmare? 

There were far too many questions rattling around in Niragi's head to understand any of them and try to find an answer. "Come here," Chishiya demanded as he juggled several utensils and buried them in your abdomen one after another. "Sponge the blood." 

Niragi did as he was asked. For now, he would just play nurse if it would help your survival. He would dab the cotton pads that Chishiya had brought onto your stomach, trying to absorb the red liquid that was drowning your belly. 

"What was that heart game? Care to explain?" Little did Niragi know that Chishiya didn't care a bit about the game and was actually trying to distract Niragi. The latter was as pale as the sheet on the bed, all color drained from his face by the fear and anguish that was eating him up inside. 

Don't get him wrong, Chishiya was not endowed with compassion, least of all towards Niragi, but if he could avoid a meltdown, he would. He still needed him to assist him in this impossible surgery. 

"Uhm, uhm, it was... it was a Russian roulette. We had to shoot each other," Niragi thought but his memories were getting fuzzy so much he was getting feverish at the memories. "She... she's told me to shoot. She told me you could help her, I —" 

"You shot her?" Chishiya's incredulous gaze locked onto Niragi's face for a few moments, eyes wide and arms frozen. 

Niragi could feel Chishiya's judgment right down to his bones, and call him a raving lunatic if he was going to let someone like him do that. Niragi prepared to hurl a well-placed insult, he didn't even have to think about the poignant words he would use. "Yeah, I fuckin' shot her — what the hell was I supposed to do, uh?" 

He wouldn't admit that it would have been game over for everyone if he hadn't, and that he'd had very little time to think about the situation before he found himself under the extreme pressure of having to pull the trigger of the gun. He much preferred to feel on his skin the silent condemnation that Chishiya was working out in a corner of his head. Niragi wouldn't blame anyone who dared to think he was the dirtiest piece of shit that ever walked this earth. 

No, he wouldn't blame them, he could assure that. Who in this world was willing to shoot his girlfriend like that? Fuck, that was a real head-scratcher, and Niragi was gnawing at his heart trying to ignore that pain in his lungs that kept reminding him what a fucking cocksucker he was. 

"What about her shoulder, did you do that too?" Chishiya muttered into his stubble, looking at the bloody red drape around your shoulder, despite the distinct words that were very clear to Niragi's ears. 

The blood flowed hotly through his veins, and clenching his jaw with all his might, he bore his murderous eyes into Chishiya's, grabbing the collar of his shirt to snarl bloodily in his face, "Listen to me carefully, you son of a bitch, I'm sure The Hatter would be thrilled to know that one of his execs is a doctor, wouldn't he?" Niragi's hands soaked Chishiya's sweater with blood, and the threats of exposing his secret made Chishiya livid. "So focus on her before I kill you, is that understood? I told you before: if she dies, you die too. You got that, Doc?"

A sharp scream, strong and powerful, broke through the frenzy of the room. Your back arched as the pain coursed through your entire body. You could feel your body split open where the bullet had passed through. It was unbearable, as if every vein, every muscle, every organ had been savagely ripped open. You felt like an animal in front of a butcher, except that you were alive and breathing. 

You had no strength in your arms or legs, but the instinct to flee was so strong that you had to get away and run. You didn't know where you were, you didn't know how you got there — everything was blurry and vague, and you were deaf to what might be happening around you. 

"It's okay, it's okay — Princess, it's me," Niragi's hands came around your face, brushing a strand of hair away from your eyes as he left traces of blood on your skin. His dark irises looked into yours, and immediately your heart skipped a beat. It was him, it was definitely him, with his furrowed brows and that eternal scowl on his face that belonged only to him. "Shh, I'm here, don't worry, I'm right here." 

His voice was soft, reassuring, and it wasn't usually his tone when he talked to you. But it was enough to regulate your breathing and forget, for a quarter of a second, the pain that was spreading throughout your body. Throwing your head back, a new wave of pain ran through your stomach, and the memories came back to you little by little. 

The heart game, the revolver, Niragi.

The pain was blinding, it was unimaginable to be in such pain. And yet, you had treated many patients (too many to call reasonable) with gunshot wounds, but nothing could have proved to you that the pain was this bad. 

Your eyes rested on Chishiya. His eyes were focused, looking at your stomach. Gloves of blood surrounded his hands that worked fervently inside you. He had ignored your awakening, had ignored your screams and cries, instead he had been working hard not to make a false move and aggravate your wound. 

Your wound was drowned in the pool of blood that covered your entire belly. You could barely see the torn skin where the bullet had snuck in, a few inches to the right of your belly button. Surgical steel instruments stuck in and out, then fresh white cotton sponged the wound and —

"You're doin' great, babygirl, don't look at it — look at me," Niragi caressed your cheek with such delicacy that you wondered if you weren't really dead after all. It had been a long time since he had forgotten the small attentions of everyday life, small loving languages like a caress, or a loving look from the other side of the room. It was a pleasant and sweet feeling, but it proved too much how serious the situation was. 

You opened your mouth but no sound came out. Your whole body was shaking, little gasps were escaping from your throat, and your eyes were streaming with hot tears. You felt yourself slipping away, the world around you spinning so violently that you could have thought you were in the midst of a hurricane. 

"Shh, I know it hurts, I know. Don't talk, just look at me, okay? You're doing great, princess," Chishiya's eyes looked up at Niragi for a second, analyzing the words that came out of his mouth. If Niragi hadn't noticed, he kept pulling your attention to him, offering comforting words that almost calmed you down. Chishiya had to admit that Niragi was doing pretty well, too. 

"Keep her awake, don't want her to pass out again," Chishiya ordered wisely, he knew that if you fell asleep again, the chances of survival were getting smaller and smaller. Moreover, he also knew very well that Niragi's threats were far from empty. He had not planned to die today. Or tomorrow, or ever, for that matter. 

Niragi offered a slight nod, but did not take his eyes off your face. You had managed to move your hand close to him and instinctively he had found you halfway around, circling your wet fingers between them. His grip was stronger than yours, but just having him by your side motivated you to fight and keep your wits straight.

Otherwise, you would go mad instantly. You couldn't think about what would happen if Chishiya couldn't heal this wound. You couldn't think of the undeniable emptiness that awaited you, the one that cured all evils and offered eternal peace. Or was there a heaven somewhere? You had never really taken the time to think about it. There could be anything and everything, maybe all the religions were right. Maybe, on the contrary, there would only be the abyss and eternal emptiness. 

Either way, none of these scenarios really attracted you, none of them seemed so appealing that you could immerse yourself in them until the end of time. There was so much to see and do, and you wanted to fucking kick the shit out of this world that only deserved your survival. You hadn't done all this to die now. You couldn't. 

"I- I- I'm s-scared," you cried and cried, and the pain, my God, that pain. 

"Shh, I know, I'm scared too. You've got to hold on just a little bit longer, okay, princess? You'd do that for me, right? I know you're strong, you can do this, okay?" Niragi was paying attention, he was present and he was looking at you with a deceptive serenity that could have made you believe what he was saying. 

Niragi, on the other hand, couldn't think of it either. He knew that if the unthinkable happened, if you didn't survive this injury, then nothing could stop him. No more ties, no more cuffs or invisible ropes could contain the rage and violence with which he would face the world. He would crush this world to dust, burn every living thing to the ground and kill every last one of them. 

He had given you a piece of his heart so long ago, he knew you would leave with it. Don't get him wrong, he wouldn't want it back, but knowing it was lost forever would unleash the monstrous beast that has slumbered within him for far too long.

"Hey, do you... do you remember that time we went to the beach, to Shirahama, to your grandmother's house?" Niragi asked, still in his soft voice, squeezing your fingers tightly in his hand. His eyes were immersed in yours, and even though he had forgotten how to cry, his eyes still betrayed a certain sadness that he tried to hide behind a warm smile. "It was raining that day, but we decided to go swimming anyway... Damn, we were idiots! We both got sick after that," he chuckled at the memory, sniffing away his pain. 

How could you forget that memory? It was one of the best of your entire life. You could still smell the sea in the rain, a mixture of salt and spring at the same time. The sand stuck to your feet, the thunder rumbling overhead, the languid kisses and Niragi's hands around your waist. The cold water in your hair and Niragi's warm body against yours, alone in the world. 

"We promised each other we would go back, didn't we? On a rainy day, during winter, that was the deal right?" Niragi affirmed and you choked out a response that made your whole body tingle. He was doing a great job of distracting you, and immersed in this memory, you could hear your laughter intermingling in the wind, forgotten by time. 

The deal was shaky from the start. You were the one who insisted on bathing. And Niragi had grumbled and complained and sulked and whined half a million times that you were probably going to get sick, that it was a bad idea, that you didn't have a bathing suit or a towel, because, 'Damn, baby, I don't want to swim in freezing water. It's winter, by the way, so cut the crap. We came to see the beach, we never said we were going swimming!’

Niragi had given in under pressure, or maybe it was under the mischievous look you gave him when you dropped your top, and jumped into the water only in your panties, with your breasts in the air and your legs so long that he couldn't see the end of them. The sky was so dark that he knew very well that lightning was going to strike you if you didn't find shelter quickly. 

But he had followed you. He had taken off his pants, his shirt and his shoes and jumped into the water. He had caught you quickly, for fear that you would slip under the water and escape him forever. He'd grabbed your waist and snuggled you against his water-frozen chest, capturing your lips in a mad kiss that made his head spin. And yours too, for that matter. 

And there, amidst the fish and dead seaweed, you whispered something like, 'I wish time would stop and we could stay here forever.’

To which Niragi replied with a chuckle, 'We'll probably freeze to death with your nonsense.’

'At least we'll die together, right?' 

Eye to eye, there was no answer to that question. It was a given, even then, that nothing would separate you from each other and that it was you and him, until the end of time. It was written, somewhere, you could have sworn it.

‘If we get sick, then we'll come back here and swim again, okay? If we don't get sick though, like I told you, then we won't come back and find a new place to spend our weekend, okay?' 

Niragi looked at you strangely, trying to understand what you had just said. 'Are you aware that there is absolutely no logic whatsoever in what you are saying?' 

"And we got sick as hell, remember?" Niragi had asked with a smile on his mouth, as your lips began to turn a color he didn't like. Purple had never been one of his favorite colors, but the way it twisted your face upset him somewhat.

You could have laughed at the memory, even though the week that followed had been very difficult to bear. 

Niragi was wiping the tears that were running down your temples with his thumb, stroking your hair gently. He almost forgot where you were, so immersed was he in the depth of your eyes. He wanted to hold you close to him at all costs, close to his body, where he knew nothing could reach you. 

And yet, he could hear it, he could hear that little voice in the back of his mind, screaming out loud, 'This is all your fault'. He hated this world and those who forced him to do this. He was so angry, so much hate was starting to form in his heart - he wanted to avenge you, and show this world who the real monster was here. He'd go to the end of those cards if he had to, he'd go find the fucking bastard who did this to you. He would go as far as his legs would allow and fight every single freak in his path. 

It was decided.

"Hey," Chishiya called softly, as if he was worried about interrupting you. Both of your heads turned back to him and he stood motionless in front of you, his hands off your body hanging in front of him, looking feverish. "I'm done." 

Beside him, the broken, bloody bullet rested in a small bowl he had found on the shelf earlier. Your skin was stitched up with surgical thread hidden however under a bandage carefully placed on your stomach. Niragi had taken you so far in your memories that you had forgotten the pain for a few seconds. You didn't feel anything, or very little, and your body wasn't shaking as much as before, even though the wound was still giving you very unpleasant electric shocks. 

Chishiya met Niragi's eyes, but it was too hard for you to make out what they meant. You understood the animosity between them, and even with the mystery of what they had said to each other while you slept, you couldn't understand that little silent exchange of looks. 

Then Chishiya's eyes landed on you. You were breathing as best you could, and the painkillers he had given you were slowly beginning to numb the pain. "You're not out of trouble yet," he had said with a dry tone, as he used to do with his hospital patients, in the old world. "If you make it through the night, you should be fine." 

This time it was you he was passing something on in his gaze. And you had spent enough time by his side in another life to decipher what he wanted to tell you. It wasn't an act of charity, what he had done, you knew that. It wasn't his soul as a doctor that compelled him to save you, let alone his desire to save a life. No, if he had done it, it was only because you asked him to. 

Solely. 

Then he turned back to Niragi, once again, "You have to change her bandage every hour. She can't sleep for more than two hours at a time, okay? Otherwise she might fall into a much deeper sleep than just fainting." 

Niragi swayed from one foot to the other, listening carefully to the instructions. He had regained his menacing look and furrowed brows, but he said nothing more while he still had one hand intertwined with yours, the other on your hair. 

"There's morphine in the second cupboard behind you. You give it to her every five hours," Chishiya continued, and Niragi understood that his role ended now. 

He had done what was asked of him, and he would not be involved in the rest. He wouldn't be your doctor in the long run, that was obvious. Niragi would have to take that role, whether he liked it or not. 

"I suggest you find someone to clean this up before the execs realize what happened here." Chishiya addressed a smile devoid of any emotion, before heading for the exit. He was going to leave just like that, without anything more, like a thief. But he stopped before he stepped through the doorway, turning back to you, "I forgot, you should take her up to your room. I think she'd be safer there." 

Niragi would have spat out to him that he would be the one to decide where you would be safest, but Chishiya had disappeared so quickly that he didn't even have time to do that. Instead, he redirected his attention to you, as you tried so hard to breathe calmly. "It's going to be okay, princess, I promise. We're gonna get through this, okay?" 

Yes, obviously. Niragi had such an easy promise that not for a second could you doubt his words. He was going to take care of you, you knew it. Despite his attitude and everything he wanted to put the world through, he would always do it with one thing in mind: revenge.

///////<</<<//////<</////<///>/>>>/>/>/>>/>//>/>/>/>/>>>>>>/

Oh my godddddddd

Thank you all SO MUCH for all the feedbacks; I just can't with you guys, I was giggling, and swinging my feet in the air like a middle-school girl hahaha

Some of you made me blush and stuff, I just LIVE EXCUSIVELY for feedback <3

— Nageoire

[bts-story]

Chapter 12 was honestly so so good. I was on the edge of my seat the entire time! One of my favorite chapters of the whole work. Thank you so much for writing!!! It’s such a treat!

Hiiii! Oh my god thank you so much!!

You're making me blush haha; I'm so so glad you liked it that much <3

Nageoire

[bts-story]

LOVE IS CHAOS

Previous chapters

Chapter 12 — Five of hearts

Registration closed.  The game will now begin. 

The robot's chilling voice echoed in your ears with such intensity that you thought you would burst your eardrums. It was just an impression, in fact the voice was as normal and low-density as usual, but today everything seemed to be a bit more dramatic. You could feel every look on your shoulder like a caress of the wind, every time your eyes stared at something, you seemed to perceive an insignificant detail that would never have caught your eye under normal circumstances. Every sound seemed a hundred times more intense, every movement a thousand times more painful. 

You could hear the vibrations of a voice in your ear, a male voice, hoarse, dark, annoyed. Niragi. He snapped his fingers in front of your eyes, and finally, all the noise stopped. It was as if by some miracle he had found the remedy for your misfortune. His face loomed before your eyes, his piercings threatening and his eyes searching yours for the reason for this little absence, "Are you here with me, princess?"

You had to regain some concentration before you could give him a smile that required the strength of a hundred warriors. Niragi frowned but said nothing, returning his attention to the giant screen in front of him. You hadn't paid enough attention to remember where you were, but the room you were in looked like a gymnasium. A large, empty room with empty bleachers. A basketball court was drawn on the floor, two baskets at each end of the room. The lights were dimmed, it was dark, but it was enough for you to make out the four other players beside you. 

Game: Surprise Roulette. Difficulty: Five of hearts. 

There was Niragi, of course, towering over you by many inches, his gaze focused and on the lookout for what might be going on. The first person to catch your eye was a young girl, a foreigner with round eyes and fair skin, her dazzling blonde hair pulled up into a tousled bun. She looked as frightened as she was hungry, her skin on her bones and her eyes feverishly focused on dark circles that were impossible to ignore. Next to her was a man who was a little older but looked about the same age as you. Tall, dark, with glasses on his nose and sweaty hands wiping constantly on his holey jeans. He had a bracelet from The Beach, you noticed the number seventeen. The last person present was a man in his fifties who looked suspiciously like a personality you had seen on TV before. 

Positions validated.  We will now explain the rules. 

"Hey," Niragi's voice called again and your gaze automatically turned to him. He didn't look exactly the same as he did in the bedroom this afternoon, when he had his fingers clamped around your throat and a threat on the tip of his tongue. That incessant authority wasn't leaving him anymore, but the sound of his voice was meant to be calm and reassuring. "Focus." 

Yes, you had to. Focus. A lot of focus. 

A giant screen at the back of the room, with a white background and black writing. There was this table that separated you all, or rather like a round, white, bright display. It looked like there was a trap door hidden in the center, also round. You noticed a very small screen in front of each player that displayed a number. You looked down to see yours. Number four.

Niragi, on your right, had number one. The foreigner was number two, the old man was number three and the other young man was number five. You wondered what this had to do with a game of hearts. Oh, yes. A game of hearts. That's what you had heard, right?

This was the first time you'd been confronted with a game like that, and from what you understood, it was one of the worst to come across in this world. The heart was a dreaded card, no matter how difficult it was. There would be collateral damage, you knew that even before you started this game.

Each number represents the order of each player's turn, and their number of tries.  On each turn, the player called will have to pull the surprise roulette wheel.  It's GAME CLEAR for players still standing at the end of the time limit.  It's GAME OVER for all players down.  If a player refuses to play, it's GAME OVER for everyone.

"What the hell, I don't get it! Did you get it? Did you understand anything?" The kid the same age as yours asked with uncertainty, concern in his voice and round eyes as he searched your eyes for answers. You didn't understand much more, but you had spent enough time here to know that the rules would become clear as soon as the game would start.

But no one answered him, instead, simple looks were exchanged. Niragi returned his gaze to you, this time with a new warning in the hollow of his irises. You could tell the difference again, that look that had nothing to do with the hatred or disgust he carried in his eyes all day, had something that wanted you to take back control of yourself to finally indulge in the game. He was right, you had no chance of surviving if you continued to daydream. 

Time limit: 5 minutes per player.  Game start.  Round 1. 

"Number one, please pull the surprise roulette," the female voice rang out again and Niragi left your side. All eyes were on him as he approached the giant screen and only when he pulled the huge red trigger hanging on the wall did you notice it was there. On the screen, two vignettes began to scroll, in opposite directions, with a little carnival music playing in the background. 

It looked a lot like a casino game, with the added pressure of survival on top of it. On the first square, you could make out numbers between one and five scrolling by at full speed, while the second panel seemed to be unrolling human body parts. Yes, that's right, between each image, you could make out a leg, a foot, an arm, a head, grotesquely drawn.

The roulette wheel decreased and Niragi took place again before his number. First, the digits stopped more and more, you saw number one, number two, three, four, five. Then it started again, one, two, three. Number four. No, five. 

It was number five. The elder of the game exchanged glances with Niragi, who didn't seem the least bit impressed. However, the man looked at him apprehensively, swallowing with difficulty at the announcement that he might be involved in this tour. Then the second vignette finally slowed down as well. A head, a leg, a torso. An arm. Might be a head. A leg. 

All around the vignettes, lights lit up and a little music played. You really would have thought you were in a casino if it weren't for the display case, which suddenly flashed as well. The trap door opened and with the help of a discreet mechanism, a tiny platform rose up, with a revolver in the center. 

No one moved as Niragi took it in his hands. It was madness to entrust him with a weapon again, and you gradually understood where this game was going to lead you. "Each number represents the number of tries we have, right?" Niragi muttered in a low voice, more to himself than to anyone else. It sounded like he was still trying to figure out how to play this game, and it was true that there were still a lot of gray areas within this arena. 

"I... I think you shoot leg of mister five," the stranger said in broken language, her Japanese far too poor for the sake of it. At least she was making herself understood, you had to give her that.

"No way, genius, did you figure that out on your own?" Niragi retorted with a petty look, and you frowned at his nasty demeanor. The girl was just trying to help him, to make sure she understood the same rules as everyone else. It couldn't have been easy for her to play all these games without being fluent in the language. And Niragi didn't need anyone's help, but a little compassion would never hurt. You hoped so.

She looked down instantly, suddenly concerned with her fingers on which she began to scrape dead skin anxiously. 

"So, I only have one shot to make... What a shame," Niragi mused aloud as he unlocked the safety of the revolver, as if he were alone in the room. The man with the number five on his right waddled from one foot to the other, not really knowing what to do about the situation. He was far from wanting a bullet in his leg, and you knew that inside he was praying that the bullet wouldn't fire. 

You were asking yourself the same question as Niragi. You needed to know if he would be given a game over if the bullet didn't fire, which would greatly reduce his chances of survival compared to the other players. It wasn't really fair, and you knew he chose that number because he thought he would have the advantage regardless. 

He had decided that going with the first number would probably be a strategic choice, which would help him do damage first without benefiting from it initially. It was as dangerous as it was smart, but you thought that in the end, the placement didn't make much difference. It was a surprise roulette, the gambling was anything but fair.

"Mmh, might as well go for it." Niragi pointed wildly at the floor, to his right, into the foot of his victim. The deafening sound of the shot echoed throughout the room and the bullet came crashing through the old man's toes. You jumped at the sound, covering your ears as quickly as possible. But the shot had already gone off, and the man collapsed in pain on the floor. 

The girl and the boy exchanged frightened glances as you stared at Niragi, who slowly began to laugh. How could he enjoy the pain of others like that? He didn't look like the person you had been stuck in this world with for days already. Had the madness already consumed him? 

He looked at the man mockingly, the gun still in his fingers as the man moaned in pain. "Niragi..." you called softly, pulling on his shoulder to search for his eyes. When he landed his on you, his smile barely flickered under your incredulous gaze, eyebrows furrowed and mouth ajar in shock. 

"My love," he whispered serenely, placing a hand wisely under your chin, dipping his eyes into yours. He took a lock of hair that fell roughly in front of your face and tucked it behind your ear with the hand that still held that weapon. "Let's play this game right." 

He rested his weapon in the center of the stage, and the weapon disappeared as soon as it came back down. The hatch cover closed, and the robotic voice announced. "Number two, please pull the surprise roulette." 

You understood that you had to play the game, you had no doubt about that. And sooner or later, it would be your turn to shoot someone, or even get shot. But in all of this, there was nothing to say that you should enjoy the moment. You would do anything to survive it, and you would kill anyone here if it would save your life and Niragi's. But you would never, ever enjoy this madness. 

The stranger took her place by your side after pulling the wheel near the giant screen, and the pictures turned around again. Niragi gave you one last sly smile before looking at the result of the roulette wheel. 

Number five. Again. And this time... the head. 

A cry of panic escaped the man, and he immediately backed away as carnival music echoed through the gym. He stood up rather easily despite his foot injury, but he limped away miserably. The girl watched him do it, the gun appearing in the middle of the display again. 

"Two shots, okay?" The man whispered to the stranger, holding up two fingers in front of him to try to get the rules of the game across to her. "Two." He affirmed again, in case she didn't understand the first time, pointing to the number two that was painted in front of her, on the display. 

She took the weapon in her trembling hands, and watching the show, Niragi turned around, leaning against the display as she walked towards the old man. Only, the door to the gym was locked when he got there, and despite his best efforts to try to pick the lock, he found himself trapped between the wall and the gun. 

You thought she would hesitate much more before firing, but the stranger unlocked the safety easily and fired once after raising her arm to the other's face. Nothing happened and the man was shaking like a leaf, sweat visible on his temples. "Please," he prayed, but she didn't care, it was her survival too. She fired a second time and... nothing. No shots rang out in the room. 

Only the silence was broken by the older man's sobs as he slid his back against the metal door of the gym, his head in his hands. The girl turned around, fear clearly visible in her eyes as she searched for an answer from anyone who could give it to her. But you also didn't understand why the gun hadn't gone off, and why she couldn't shoot. Were there going to be consequences for this failure? 

A few seconds passed while everyone was waiting for something, anything, but nothing happened. The timer on the giant screen, which displayed the five-minute time limit per player, froze. A reset, and it went back to the starting countdown. 

Everything was starting to become clearer now. It wasn't just a surprise roulette, but more, "A surprise Russian roulette," as you could see. 

The gun disappeared under the trap door. Now it was the young man's turn. "Number three, please pull the surprise roulette." The game had just taken a whole new turn. Even though you were confident that you wouldn't be penalized if the shots didn't go off, there was still the threat of getting shot back. It hurt to admit it, but Niragi was right about one thing: kill or be killed. 

And it was a game of hearts. And games of the heart were feared for a reason. Survival was starting again now. One had to pray for the trigger to pull and the blast of the gunshot to echo through the room. 

The wheel spun, again, and again, and again.

Number one, two, three, four, five. One, two, three, four, five. One. Two. Three. Four. Five. One? Two. Three. 

Himself. It had fallen on himself. The game was insolent, and left no room for the weak. It was indomitable and unpredictable. It was cruel, ruthless. The young man cried out in surprise, covering his mouth with his hands although the second square had not yet stopped. 

You knew he still had a chance. If the roller stopped on an arm or leg, he could largely escape the severity of the situation. The bullet wouldn't do too much damage and he could get away without too many scratches. 

So what would happen? What spell would be cast on him? 

Head, leg, torso, stomach, arm. Head, leg, torso, stomach, arm. Head, leg. Torso. Arm. 

The man took a deep breath and the music played all over again. The gun appeared, and the countdown began. He took the gun in his hands and pointed the tip of the weapon at his hand, thought for a second and then pointed it at his forearm and moved it up a little more towards his bicep. He didn't know where to shoot, maybe he was looking for where it would hurt less, or where he would be least bothered with his future recovery. 

"Try shooting in your bicep," you called calmly and he snapped his neck towards you, looking for an explanation to your words. "The main thing is to avoid your bone, okay? If the muscle is torn, it will recover, but most importantly, don't touch the bone." It was important to leave as much room as possible for the bullet to travel, which is why you felt the biceps was the best place to shoot. 

You felt Niragi tense up beside you. You didn't have to look at him to know, but the way he was pulling on your arm to get your attention could be an indicator. The man took a deep breath, and before he pulled, Niragi tugged wildly on your arm again, forcing your entire body to turn towards him. "What the hell are you doing?" 

"I told you I wouldn't let anyone die if I could help it." You justified yourself despite the glare he was giving you. You'd hardly forgotten the feel of his fingers around your throat this afternoon, and the way his eyes were flashing easily reminded you of how he'd spoken to you and what words he'd used. But you had no time to be afraid of him, no time to deal with his bullshit when he wanted to play hardball. 

If he took this game as a joke, that was his problem, but may he keep you out of it, for the love of God. "He won't die from a shot in the arm," he contradicted you mockingly, and the young man stammered, suddenly frightened that he might go through with a wound he thought was more or less harmless. 

"What do you know, you're a doctor now?" you retorted curtly as you returned your attention to the young man, trying to offer him reassuring eyes. Niragi scoffed, rolling his eyes as he leaned on the display. It surprised you that he didn't say anything, didn't make a single move or spit an insult to remind you not to talk to him like that in public. But he didn't do anything. It was strange. 

The clock was ticking fast, and now he needed to shoot his arm out as quickly as possible. He took a deep breath, and after validating the position of the gun with you with a look, he pulled the trigger. Once. Twice. 

The shot went off and echoed around the gym. He didn't even have time to get to three, and the pain he felt was reflected in the scream that escaped his lungs. He let go of the gun, which crashed to the ground, and with his newly free hand, he put pressure on his wound, now letting out long tears of blood. 

Quickly, you walked around the display to him, and as he knelt on the floor under the weight of the pain, you caught his shaking body. The bullet hadn't gone through his arm, which meant it was still stuck between his muscles. You couldn't risk sticking your fingers into the wound to retrieve it, nor were you equipped to do anything else. 

"Hey, you, give me your shirt." You called to the girl who looked at you with a frightened look on her face, not knowing what to do but stand in her place. "Your shirt, quick!" She was wearing a red and white plaid shirt over a faded crop-top, which she quickly pulled off her shoulders and gave to you once she understood what you wanted from her. Forcing on the material which ended up tearing after a moment, you tightened the shirt around the arm of the young man who winced with pain. 

You could feel Niragi's eyes sinking into the back of your head, watching your every move with attention. All he needed was popcorn to fuel his entertainment as he turned his head to the old man at the back of the gym who was removing the shoe from his foot. Likewise, blood was dripping from his wound, draping the floor with that same red liquid. 

"And him, don't you help him?" Niragi mused in a rebellious tone, as if he was trying to challenge you. With a jerk of your head, you looked over to the oldest player of the game who was staring intently at his orthopedic injury, completely disinterested in the other players and how the game was going. 

You kept the pressure of your fingers on the wound, watching from the corner of your eye between your new patient and the exiled player. Without taking the time to answer Niragi, the robotic voice called, "Number four, please pull the surprise roulette." But there was nothing for him to do, other than keep his foot in the shoe that was putting pressure on the wound by itself. He had already pulled it off and there was nothing for you to offer. 

Without giving any answer, you tightened the knot around his arm and helped him up. You walked toward the wheel, the sound of your every step echoing against the hard floor. Every pair of eyes was focused on your figure, except perhaps the old man who was still far too interested in his foot than in what was going on around him, and you pulled the handle once you reached it. 

The pictures on the screen began to spin again, and taking your place back between the girl and Niragi, you watched the images carefully. Niragi, however, was no longer interested in the screen, and straightening his back while brushing his teeth with his piercing, you knew that as soon as the game was over, you would have to face his wrath once again. 

But you couldn't follow him around, you couldn't approve of everything he did. He knew you weren't a little sheep, so afraid of his strength, that he could handle you any way he wanted. He knew that you thought for yourself, and decided your own will. You had known each other far too long for him to misunderstand. So, why was he here, now, going out of his way to try to win you over to his side? 

The roulette wheel, however, wasn't taking the time to wait for you. It spun and spun until the numbers stopped on number two. The stranger made a sound that caught in her throat at the sight of her number, and clutched the edge of the display so fervently that her fingers changed color. Then the second box spun and spun, until it stopped, slowly, on the image that represented the head. 

The carnival music sounded, and the gun appeared. However, before you could even reach for it, the girl grabbed the revolver, backed up several steps, and pointed it at the three people in front of her. "G-get back!" she exclaimed, her voice trembling with fear. She gripped the gun with both hands, alternating her aim between you, Niragi and the young man with the injured arm. 

Niragi straightened up from the counter, his hand encircling your wrist immediately, as if to prevent you from moving towards her. He pulled on your arm to make you step back, taking a place in front of you as if to shelter you from the girl's aim. It was tyrannical the way Niragi could switch attitudes so easily. He could lay eyes on you with the promise that he would be the one to eat you alive, shredding your skin with a single bite; but who would fight the whole world and more to come if anyone had the audacity to even threaten you.

"Me... me told get back!" she shouted a second time as Niragi slowly walked towards her, still in completely wacky Japanese. Niragi raised his hands in front of him, level with his chest, and stopped dead in front of her. He was only two meters away from her, but she kept taking one or two steps backwards, as if to get away from the threat that Niragi could represent. 

She understood very well that you had entered the game as a pair, and from what she could see, she could bet that you were planning to leave the arena as a pair as well. The time on the big screen was running fast, only four minutes left, and the girl activated the safety of the gun, pointing it at Niragi.

"You don't want to do that, darlin', believe me," Niragi scolded softly, in a voice so soft that it was a contrast to what he had just said. He took another step discreetly, so discreetly that it was almost imperceptible, and the girl didn't even notice, too busy holding her weapon at arm's length.

"Stop!" She barked again, taking another step back.

"Watch me closely," he tapped his lips with his fingertips, inviting the stranger to pay attention to what he was about to say. And you, you could only stay frozen in place, too afraid that if she saw you move, she would pull the trigger, a bullet likely to crash into Niragi's body. The risk was far too great to incur. "Do you see my girlfriend, right there in the back?" He nodded sideways, pointing at you from afar and the girl nodded, "If you shoot me, she will most definitely come and break every bone in your body, one by one. She'll crush your eyes, cut into your skin at random and you'll be in so much pain that you'll beg her to kill you. She's going to make you regret taking that gun in your hands, when at the end of the day you had a two out of six chance of the ball not firing if you let her shoot the fucking gun." 

He had it all wrong. At least, you thought he was all wrong. You were not a torturer, and you would never take pleasure in hurting anyone. Even if Niragi was in danger, even if a bullet pierced his belly, you would be far too busy trying to save him to worry about the assailant. You didn't understand what he was getting at, you didn't know what he was playing around with, why he was being like this. 

"And if you shoot her..." he continued with a smile that looked more like a sadistic, malevolent smile than anything else. He left the doubt for a few seconds, so that she could imagine well what could happen if this case were to appear. "Well, let's just say that what I just told you is not even half of what I would do to you."

That, nevertheless, was far from an empty threat. You knew it, he knew it, and she could know it. Everyone here in this room could know that if she shot you, it was over for her. She would be caught in a circle of cruelty so immense that she would lose her mind in just a few moments. 

"So don't be stupid, and give her the fucking gun, do you understand?" Niragi demanded and almost immediately she gasped as if she had perfectly understood everything that had just been said to her. She looked down, lowered her weapon, and came to hand you the revolver, which fell into your hands. The weapon was much lighter than you expected, and Niragi looked at the girl with disgust in her eyes. 

But now sure that nothing seemed to threaten you, he ruffled his hair and took a slight breath, resuming his position at your side. The time announced that there were less than two minutes left on the clock, and as the youngster knelt at your feet, staring at your shoes, you had the feeling that nothing here seemed right. Yes, yes, it was a game of hearts, but the way the tears flowed hotly down the girl's cheeks, sobbing inaudible words under her breath in her mother tongue, twisted your stomach inexplicably. 

You couldn't conceive the idea of shooting someone, of having to kill to ensure your own survival. You couldn't pull the trigger on the girl who looked miserable and scared out of her wits. It was so, so hard.

"Breathe with me, princess," Niragi came to your side, encircling your hips with his left arm. Your back pressed against his chest, his grip strong and reassuring around you. He grabbed your right hand with his, forcing your arm that held the gun to point at the stranger's head. Contrary to what you might have thought, your fingers weren't shaking, or maybe it was just Niragi holding your hand so steady that it prevented you from doing so. 

Breathe in. One, two, three. Breathe out. One, two, three. Breathe in. One, two, three. Breathe out. 

He brought his mouth close to your ear, and he whispered those few words with perfect composure, "I'm here with you, okay? I'm not moving." He was putting pressure on your fingers to remind you that time was running fast, and if you didn't shoot quickly, it would surely be game over for you. And on heavens, that wasn't in his plans. His voice was so calm and soothing, you could only trust him as you sank into his skin. His fingers were warm around yours, and his breath even hotter on your neck. "On the count of three, you're going to shoot, okay? You don't think, you just shoot. Four times, is that understood, princess?" 

He waited for you to nod to make sure you had his instructions clear, and with his eyes lowered to your victim, he began to count, the girl's sobs still there. 

"One," you breathed. "Two," he breathed. "Three." 

The trigger clicked once, to no avail, then a second, and a third. On the fourth click, the gun went off and echoed around the gym again. The young man with the glasses plugged his ears in apprehension, a cry of shock escaped his lips at the sound of the gunshot. 

The girl's lifeless body sprawled on the floor with a loud thud, the blood from her skull coating the dirty wood. The splatter from the shot had reached the bottom of your pants, staining your already smeared shoes with a new layer of blood. You stood still, afraid that if you moved, another shot might go off. 

But Niragi took the gun from your hands, placing it on the rack that swallowed it under the hideout. His left hand went around your hips and he took a position in front of you, taking your face between his fingers. Your face was frozen, your eyes blank. Your eyes were wide open, as if the whole world was crumbling around you. You weren't even shaking, you were just standing there in total paralysis, not realizing what was happening.

"Princess? Look at me," Niragi was searching your eyes, trying to force your vision to focus on him and him alone. And he found them, eventually, but as you gazed into those familiar and comforting irises, everything around you seemed to pause.

There was only him. Only Niragi and his warm fingers, only Niragi and his soothing smile. Niragi, Niragi, Niragi. There was nothing around, you were alone in the world, and the oxygen was finally returning to your lungs. It was amazing the power he had over you, despite everything that was going on here, and everything he had done so far. Niragi meant comfort to you, he was a cup of hot chocolate during the coldest winters and a cool breeze during the sweltering summer heat waves. 

It was just him, just Niragi. And no matter what atrocities he might do, no matter what he had in mind - no matter the insults, the beatings and the injuries, you knew that as long as Niragi was by your side, you would go to the ends of the earth. And further, still. 

It would be okay. Everything was going to be okay. 

"Well done, babygirl, you did it," he whispered with that devastating smile that made your legs shake any day of the week. Niragi had that pride in his eyes that could have made you forget what you had just done. "I'm proud of you," he continued, forcing your face against his chest, hugging you tight, tight, tight.

"Number five, please pull the surprise roulette," your embrace was interrupted by the robotic voice and ignoring the old man who limped over to the handle to activate it, Niragi put pressure around your body before finally releasing you. He offered a simple little kiss on your lips, and the warm feeling that emanated from his mouth fled far too quickly for your taste. 

He took your hand in his and led you to the display case in the center of the room, taking your places again as the pictures scrolled quickly across the big screen, yet again. And then all of a sudden, the winning number appeared. 

Number four. You, it was you who would be targeted. 

Was this your punishment for pulling the trigger and killing that girl? After all, it wasn't like the game of spades in which you had taken the life of that young man who was teamed up with you. No, here you had pulled the trigger and seen, with your own eyes, the lifeless and bloody body crashing to the ground. This was no longer collateral damage, no, this was cold-blooded murder. 

Niragi laughed at your side, but you perceived it more as a nervous laugh than as anything mocking. Of course, his movements became sharp and you felt the palpable tension hovering over your heads. Without even knowing where the old man was going to shoot yet, you knew it was going to be a problem. 

When the second vignette stopped and the gun appeared under the hiding place of the display, Niragi was much quicker than the old man to snatch the gun. At the moment, you would be much safer with him holding the gun than with the other man. He had to think of a solution, a way to keep you from getting shot. 

"Hey, give that back!" The man exclaimed, trying to grab the weapon out of Niragi's hands. But the latter stepped back, offering a kick to the other player's thighs, forcing him to retreat for a few moments. 

"Shut up," Niragi spat dryly, examining the weapon carefully. It wasn't a bad idea to try to open the gun's cartridge, as he was trying to do - maybe he wanted to check where the bullet was, maybe he wanted to get it out - but the gun seemed to be glued extremely tightly with a super-strong glue. There was nothing he could do about that.

On your side, you were watching the images on the big screen, the chronometer going down second after second. Niragi was struggling with the gun, trying to force the opening while he could, and the other two men were watching him without saying a word. "Baby," you called quietly, crossing the few steps Niragi had taken to distance himself and examine the weapon. "Baby, that's a shot in the arm, it's not going to do anything to me, we need to play." 

Niragi ignored you, clicking his tongue in protest. Or maybe he was just grumbling at the gun that still refused to open. "Don't be ridiculous." 

"Niragi, if he doesn't shoot, it's game over for everyone," you tried to sound him out, assuring him that a bullet in the arm couldn't hurt you much. So, yes, there would be pain, but you would survive it. You promised. 

He looked at you with annoyed eyes, knowing you were right. And he hated it, he hated the fact that he had to drop the gun in the hands of the old man who seemed to take great pleasure in finally being able to take revenge for his foot injury. There was nothing but chance in the outcome of the roulette, but that didn't stop Niragi from threatening the old man with the words, "Next round, I'm going to put a bullet in your skull and I will like to do that."

The man ignored him as if he was used to hearing threats echoing through the air. He was not wrong, this world was made of thugs and violence. He pointed his gun at you, and you stood like a statue, motionless and trying to summon up all the courage you could find in yourself. It was one thing to say it, but doing it and standing in front of the aim of that gun seemed like two totally different things. 

The menacing tip of the gun was pointed at you, and the clanking sound of the safety being unlocked sounded like a whistling noise in your eardrums. He had five shots, then, and out of a total of six rounds, you had only one chance that the bullet wouldn't fire. It was a small possibility, but you believed in it. It was the only thing keeping you upright, otherwise you would have collapsed under the weight of fear a long time ago. 

One, nothing. Two, nothing. Three, nothing. Four, nothing. Five, and it fired. 

The bullet crashed into your shoulder, finding a home between the collarbone and the muscle. It had hit the bone, you could feel it in the blinding pain that shot through your body. You didn't even scream, you didn't cry either, and the pain was so shocking that it was actually totally insensitive.

Blood was flowing profusely down your arm, and it was imperative that a garrot be applied quickly to minimize blood loss. The bleeding had to be stopped, the wound had to be protected and the bullet had to be removed. But it was impossible for you to do all that, you couldn't move and it was a miracle that you hadn't crashed to the ground yet. 

Oh yes, Niragi's arms were there, that's why. Niragi had held your body before it fell to the ground, and he was the one who found something to press on your wound and minimize the blood. He'd seen you do the same to the young man a little while before, and it wasn't totally in the same place, but he seemed to be able to handle the situation. "The bullet came out," he said as he pressed on your shoulder and the pressure made you wince. 

Niragi wasn't panicking, but his movements were frantic and you had to somehow get his attention to assure him that you were okay, just as he had done for you moments after you shot the stranger. "Niragi, I'm fine, I'm fine! Calm down." 

Niragi stopped abruptly, making sure that what you were saying was the truth, and that you didn't dare lie to his face. And when he decided it was okay, he helped you up after securing the wound, murdering the old man with his dark and defiant look.

"Congratulations, you have completed the first round," the robot's female voice echoed overhead, and the carnival music sounded again. "Pay attention to your new numbers.”

New numbers? The small digital screen that had previously displayed your position numbers scrolled by, mirroring the one on the giant screen as the handle was pulled. Soon the numbers stopped all at once and you were offered a new position. Grabbing the counter to steady yourself, you discovered number two. 

Niragi laughed beside you, a chuckle that quickly turned into a Machiavellian laugh, like a villain in an animated movie. Number five. He met the old man's gaze, which was now very small in front of the number that had stopped in front of him, the number one. If someone asked him, Niragi would say that this number exchange was just the fabulous work of karma. 

The number in the stranger's place had stopped at three, a number now useless to her. The young man, for his part, had recovered the number four. “Round two begins. Number one, please pull the surprise roulette.” 

You tried to ignore the pain in your shoulder as the man was about to pull the wheel a second time. Just like the other times, the images scrolled by and as soon as they stopped, the carnival music was heard throughout the gym. 

Number three. The belly. 

"By all means, what's the point of shooting a dead girl?" The elder asked as he rolled his eyes, as if the person he was talking to might be coming from the ceiling. But the timer started, and the revolver appeared under its hiding place. It was obvious that the player was disappointed, as if he wished he could shoot someone alive to satisfy his desire for revenge. Well, Niragi was once again safe, for the moment.

Still, the man took the gun between his fingers, and walking with difficulty to the body of the girl, he aimed at the stomach and fired once. The bullet didn't go off, and even that was a little hope that he could shoot something flying away for him. 

Niragi giggled again, amused by what he was seeing. "Number two, please pull the surprise roulette." 

After you cranked the handle and the images stopped, you could see the number one appear and... a head. The fate of this poor man seemed to be more and more deserving of his curse. He was becoming quite unsympathetic to you, and you didn't understand how all those statistics could once again force you to savagely snatch someone's life. 

How you came across the same vignette twice was a mystery to you, but the man didn't seem to be willing to give in so easily. Niragi had grabbed the gun before him, obviously his movements were much more precise and quick than those of the older man who had virulent arthritis. 

Niragi handed you the gun calmly, muttering wisely something like, "Go ahead, princess, it's the same as before. Don't think, just shoot." 

No, it wasn't the same as before since it was a nightmare that you had to relive all over again. And you didn't know if you had enough strength in you to be able to do it all again. The man mumbled inaudible words that sounded like a prayer as he clasped his hands together in front of him, silently praying to a being above his head. He made the sign of the cross, and you were surprised that he didn't try to run away this time. 

You pulled the safety, and raising the gun towards the man, you tried to breathe calmly. You had to play, you had no choice. 

It was strange to be less hesitant than the first time, and you didn't like it, far from it, but your grip around the handle seemed stronger and more deft, and clearing your throat, you leaned on the heels of your shoes. With a little luck, the shots won't go off.

Luck was either on your side or on the man's side. Regardless, neither of the two shots you fired set off the detonator, and putting the gun back in the center of the stage, the man seemed to be thanking his God somewhere with a prayer of gratitude.

"Number four, please pull the surprise roulette."

The kid went through the same motions as everyone else, and patiently waiting for the results of the roulette, all remained silent. Number one, the belly. 

"No... no, that's cheating!" The old man protested, pointing at you, panic taking a new place in the corner of his eyes. It was a wonder his heart hadn't given out yet with all the bullshit, it was so strained. "It's them, I'm sure! You hacked the game!" 

He denounced wickedly, trying by all means to clear his name. It had been too many times that his number had appeared on the screen, too many times that he had put his life in danger to save the lives of others. He didn't care what happened to you anymore, he wouldn't get shot, he had decided. Fuck if it meant game over for everyone else. 

"What the hell are you talking about?" Niragi sighed annoyed, incredulous at the accusations. You couldn't quite see how you could have tampered with the game to your advantage either. If that had been the case, you certainly wouldn't have that bullet hole in your shoulder, that's for sure. 

"You, your number didn't fall once, you probably cheated, you had to!" The man kept waving his finger frantically in Niragi's direction, so close to his face that you were only slightly surprised when he grabbed his finger to twist it. The man cried out in pain, forced to the ground as he tried to grab his finger and free himself from Niragi's grip. "What the hell are you doing?" 

"Shut the fuck up!" Niragi threatened fully, and the man shut down under the pressure of the other's eyes on his stunned face. "You're going to play this fucking game, or I'm going to make you do it, do you understand?" 

In any scenario, the man would lose. He didn't want to risk a fight with Niragi who would easily prevail against him, but he couldn't bring himself to let himself be shot like that, without defense.

The young man, the one with the gun in his hands, pointed his weapon at the kneeling figure of the old man, trying to aim as best he could. He didn't look comfortable with the gun, but in the end, neither did you. 

With the first pull of the trigger, the gun went off and the bullet crashed somewhere in the middle of the older player's abdomen. He, in turn, slumped to the ground, blood flowing out of his stomach. He was shaking with various spasms, and it was hard to look at a wounded person without doing anything, without even moving a finger.

Niragi watched him gasp for breath as he let go of his finger and let it slump to the ground, a loud rattle that made him choke. It only took a few seconds for that look that silently called for help to become vague and for the life to leave his eyes in an instant. 

No matter how much of a doctor you were, there were many reasons why you couldn't help him. For one thing, his wound had been aimed so centrally into his stomach that it was totally impossible to survive here. On the other hand, you knew that this time, Niragi would not let you try to save him. 

"Number five, please come and pull the surprise roulette." The voice called and this time there was a whole different tension in the air. 

You knew that roulette could still fall on the dead, but now, with only three players still in the race, Niragi's life and your own was in more danger than ever. 

You didn't even know how many rounds this game had, you didn't know how long this whole circus would last. And Niragi knew very well, he knew that he was more and more likely to run into your number or even his. It was a miracle that he hadn't been chosen until now, but his luck would change sooner or later, it had to.

And the world suddenly came to an end. You couldn't believe the number that had just appeared on the screen, but there it was, written in black and white, that little letter that would change the course of history. Of your history. The shock had robbed you of your speech, no more sound could come out of your mouth. 

Niragi was looking at you with wide eyes, his mouth open, his face frozen in expectation of a fear that gradually turned into worry. It was a strange sight, to see his face twisted like that. You thought nothing in the world could scare him, he had spent so much time mocking the world that you believed it; you believed hard that nothing on this earth could cause this. 

But there he stood, frozen too, jaw shaking and breathless. Does he believe it himself? So many questions were running through your mind at once, too many for you to even know what they were. You didn't know what you felt. You didn't know what you should feel. Anger? Sadness? Fear?

You looked into Niragi's eyes as if he were the only thing in the room, trying to extract the truth from his eyes. As if he was the only one who could confirm to you that that number, up there on the big screen, was really yours.

The carnival music resounded, giving way to the second image. The belly. 

A more than nervous laugh escaped from your lips, so much so that you could hardly believe it. A kind of cold, swiveling numbness had spread over your forehead, your mouth, your cheeks. You couldn't speak because your jaw muscles were paralyzed. Even if you could, you wouldn't know what to say anyway. You noticed that your knees were shaking, your stomach had opened up into an empty, nauseating pit.

"Go ahead and shoot," you were surprised by the raspiness of your own voice, but not by the words that came out. 

Niragi's eyebrows furrowed, as if he hadn't quite understood what you had just said. He had surely mistakenly understood, that went without saying. A misunderstanding that he wanted to clear up right away. "What nonsense are you talking about?" 

You cleared your throat, swallowing heavily the saliva that had accumulated in your mouth. You pursed your lips, and taking a calm breath, you repeated, "Shoot. We don't have a choice, we have to play." 

"I won't shoot you." Niragi was firm, his mind was made up. He would never do that, he would never have the courage to do it despite the bliss he was in. It was no longer a pleasure to see others kill or be killed, it was not a story of revenge or a framed experience in this new world. 

No, this was you, and this was your life. And Niragi would never be caught alive putting a bullet in your stomach. Never. Never. Never. 

Everything you saw was speeding up, but your own movements were slowing down. That feeling of anxiety when you realized your failure was imminent if you couldn't move fast enough, the liminality between realizing you were dead and despairing for life. You were scared, really scared.

You walked the few steps between the two of you, taking Niragi's face in your hands, and every move you made seemed to mirror the ones he had made towards you when you killed the stranger. The roles had been reversed, and now Niragi needed you. He needed reassurance, and he needed to shoot. That was the game. "Baby, it's going to be okay, all right? I'm going to guide you, and I'm going to be fine -" 

"No," he took your wrists in his hands, pulling your grip away from his face. He couldn't believe the words coming out of your mouth, he wouldn't. It was impossible. No. "How can you say something like that?" 

You knew it was hypocritical of you, because if you were him, it all seemed just as impossible to you. You would never have the strength or the courage to shoot him, and asking him to do it was something unthinkable. But Niragi was always stronger than you, he had always had more courage and more bravery. No matter his past and all that had been done to him during his teenage years, Niragi was a different man now. 

He was valiant and strong, and if there was a small chance that you could both get through this, you had to take it. And for now, it was to shoot.

"I'll... I'll figure it out, let me think," he let go of your hands, ignoring the gun on the platform that was just waiting to be retrieved. The timer on the big screen read just over three minutes, and the seconds were ticking away rapidly. 

"Don't think about it, baby, you've got to shoot," you tried to convince him as best you could. Time was running out and you knew that there was no way to counter this inferno. "Niragi, please -" 

"Shut up!" He was starting to panic, you could tell by the pacing he was starting to do from left to right of the gym. With his thumbnail in his mouth and his eyes focused on his feet, he was thinking hard. He was going to sprain his brain if he continued like this, he had to resolve, there was no solution. If there was, you would have found it by now, and no player would have been killed. 

You knew that this world left no room for exceptions, and that the only way out was to play. 

The game of hearts was beginning to make sense now. It was a psychological game, playing with the happiness of some and the misery of others. It was a game that pushed the limits of the human body, challenging the brain's ability to play with your nerves. It was so cruel. 

Tears were starting to roll down your cheeks now, the pressure of the game was getting so great that you couldn't handle your emotions anymore. The fear was growing so much and taking up so much space in your whole body that you didn't know where it started and where it stopped.

Two minutes. "Niragi, please, stop your bullshit..." you were crying now, your whole body shaking with little gasps. 

But he wasn't listening, he didn't want to hear anything. Niragi was thinking and thinking, trying to find a solution, trying to remember the correctness of the rules of the game to find a loophole. He looked around, looking for a clue that would help him find the solution. But there was nothing, there was nothingness as he let an angry cry escape the back of his throat. 

Rage manifested itself in the form of clenched fists, fierce and annoyed movements, the jaw tense and the look gathering fear and frustration all at the same time. "I can't... I can't..." 

"Yes, you can, please, Niragi, you have to!" You were crying so hard that your vision was blurred by tears, kneeling on the ground under the weight of defeat. 

Niragi would turn around, his eyes on your figure and his heart would break into a thousand pieces under your tear-ridden face. He loved to play hard to get, trying to prove to the world that he felt nothing but indifference and anger for everything that was happening around him, but he couldn't deny the true nature of his being. The very reason he was still alive today. 

In the end, it was always you. You, you, you. 

One minute, and it was game over for everyone. You stood up, taking the gun in your hands, completely unaware of the look that the young man was giving between you and Niragi, also mute and frozen. You put the gun in Niragi's hands, and for once he didn't seem to want to take it between his fingers. He looked at it as if it were a time bomb, afraid that it would go off at any moment. 

You circled Niragi's fingers around the weapon, placing the aim in the center of your stomach. Well, not quite, just a little to the right, where you thought there was a chance the bullet wouldn't do too much damage. The belly was full of various organs, each one more important than the other. You didn't want to hit anything vital, but the chances of survival were extremely small.

But it was necessary to try. It was necessary. 

"Niragi, look at me," you called and Niragi's eyes were red as they met yours. He wasn't crying, but he wasn't far away. His breath was heavy and his fingers were shaking. "Don't think, please, you have to shoot. Everything is going to be okay, all right?" 

"I can't do this..." he sighed sadly as the last few seconds of the timer ticked down. 

"Once you pull the trigger, you'll have to put pressure on the wound to limit blood loss. I might go into shock, that's okay - Niragi, focus! - You will finish the game, and you will shoot everything that moves, if necessary. Then you'll take me to The Beach as soon as possible, okay? Once there, you take me to Chishiya, understand? -"

"Chishiya? Why -" 

"Niragi, do you understand what I'm saying?" You were shouting now, there were only a few seconds left, you had to act so fast. 

Niragi was nodding his head up and down, and when you were sure he understood what you had instructed him, you took two steps back. You braced yourself for the pain, blocking the breath in your lungs, as Niragi held the weapon firmly in his fingertips. You offered a reassuring look, trying to show him your strength through the fear that was eating away at your body. 

Three, two, one. 

The pain was like a fire burning your skin and exploding your head with a terrifying emptiness. It was nauseating. The pain felt like a hot, sharp, salt-coated knife cutting through your skin and into your muscles and bones, as if your belly had been frozen and a lightning bolt had struck your body from head to toe. 

And then, nothing. Nothingness, the abyss. 

You were sinking, far, far, far. 

No more sounds, no more images. 

Only emptiness.

////////////////////////////////

Hiiii! You know, I had this chapter planned for SO LONG that it was so easy to write haha

I hope to update next part as quickly as possible, don't mind me if that takes a little more than a few days ah

I'm kinda enjoying this part, where you're probably going to want to punch me in the face??!!

Anyways, see you soon everyone ;)

Nageoire

[bts-story]

Aaah I just binged all of Love is Chaos I am obsessed!!!! Seriously so freaking good. I’m always so happy to find other Niragi lovers who want to explore his complexities and not just write him as the one dimensional “bad boy”. I am in love with how you write him. Thank you so much for writing this! You are a truly talented writer and it’s been so great to read your work. I can’t wait for more!

Oooooh my god!! Thank you so much for that feedback 🙈

I’m seriously so thrilled that you love it that much, and I hope you’ll like the next parts just as well!

Have a nice day dear anon, I love you ❤️

- Nageoire

[bts-story]

LOVE IS CHAOS

Previous chapters

Chapter 11 - Trouble

The rumors about Niragi's crime had spread very quickly in the night around The Beach. All the players who lived in the hotel had heard about this newcomer who had killed a militant in order to steal his gun. The Hatter did not find the need to reprimand him, but a visit from Aguni was necessary the next day, when the sun was not yet up. 

Several knocks came on the door of the room you had chosen. It was a large and luxurious room, with a king-size bed and an equally impressive bathroom. It was a room you could never afford in the real world, so Niragi had insisted on enjoying it and appreciating the value of this inaccessibility. 

The door opened with a bang, after all, all the keys to the rooms had been stuck inside the locks to avoid a troop withdrawal, or any other secrecy, for that matter. 

You were entwined in Niragi's arms, bare chest pressed against the softness of the mattress. The sheet had gotten tangled between your legs and was falling right down your back. Niragi was also naked, one arm draped over his chest while his cock rested proudly along his thigh. 

You both were startled by the stranger's invasion into the room, and you tried as best you could to quickly hide your body with the sheet. Eyes still glued shut, it took a little while to figure out what was going on. 

"What the fuck do you want?" Niragi spat as he turned on the light on the bedside table, unconcerned about hiding (he had always been proud of his parts, and very unprudent, even in front of men who might have stared at him). 

Aguni stood at the foot of the bed, hands in his pockets and chins up, a defiant look in his eyes. He didn't care about you, at that moment he was only looking at Niragi and if he himself was that stupid, he would grab his machine gun and point it at the intruder. Fortunately, none of that happened. 

"Can you explain to me why one of my guys has a belly full of bullets, in the hallway?" Aguni asked nonchalantly. There was something strange about him that bothered you, it was confusing to face someone who was so imposing with so little interest in anything. 

Well, maybe not, if he was trying to understand why Niragi had killed one of his own. 

Niragi sighed, blinking to try to erase the sleep. He chuckled stupidly and lay back down, twirling the sheet over his thighs. "Get the fuck outta my room." 

But Aguni wouldn't be satisfied with that. He walked over to the bed, and kicked Niragi's legs, who suddenly opened his eyes again, a murderous look on his face. You were still on the other side of the bed, sheet pulled up and tight to your chest as you stood mute before the scene. 

He didn't scare you any more than that, but he seemed to want answers and you couldn't really blame him. One of his men had been killed, and he was looking for someone to blame. It was understandable.

"I'm only going to tell you this once, so listen carefully," Aguni resumed in his threatening voice, "It takes more than that to become an executive member of The Beach, it's not for everyone. I'll let it slide, just this once. But the next time something like this happens again, you'll answer to me." 

It was an act of charity to let Niragi off the hook like that, but for now, you'd take anything. Aguni didn't even give you a glance, nothing at all as he headed for the exit. He slammed the door with a thud, and finally your tense body seemed to relax. 

You didn't even notice your fingers gripping the sheet intently, and Niragi grunted widely as he turned off the light. "Who the fuck does he think he is?" 

Niragi buried his head in his pillow again, and without waiting for an answer, he seemed to want to get back to sleep. "For a number two, I guess." You commented quietly and Niragi didn't really respond, aside from an almost imperceptible shrug. 

That, that sort of thing, was obviously one of Niragi's weak points. He often thought he was so far above everyone else that he forgot that some people had the same attitude as him. A war of egos had no place here, and you wouldn't be the one to take sides in this chaos. 

You knew that Niragi would attract problems, it was always stronger than he was. He always had a tendency to insult the cops who would have arrested him, thinking he had stolen a bottle of liquor from the store; he always had the obligation to throw middle fingers at the first person who honked at him in the car. Niragi was that kind of person, to puff up his chest at the sight of anything that bothered him and often followed by well-chosen words to make his target feel like a nobody. 

But he was too naive to understand that this world was much more dangerous than he thought. 

You turned on the light which burst on the walls again, reflecting the white color of the bulb. Niragi grunted a second time and turned around with a question written all over his face. "Go back to bed," he ordered before slumping back against the pillow. He encircled the pillow with his hands, pumping the muscles in his back. This was usually the kind of sight that made you bite your lip, a definite thought in the back of your mind. 

But now something else was bothering you. "I told you you were going to get us in trouble, we're in Aguni's bullseye with your stupid shit!" 

If there was one person in the world who could talk to Niragi like that it was you. The only person who could stand up to him and make him see the truth in his own eyes without the risk of getting a fist in the face. It was a heavy burden to bear at times, but even Niragi wasn't perfect. Sometimes he was wrong, sometimes he made bad choices. 

"What are you talking about? It's fine." 

"Fine? No, it's far from fine, actually," you exclaimed incredulously and now fully awake. "Niragi, baby, fuck... We should be keeping a low profile, not having fun shooting the first one that comes along. If we're going to get out of here, we need to do it smart." You were starting to get a little angry, all this drama was making your blood boil. After all, you felt that calling attention to yourself was not the best way to gain respect.

If you had to prove your loyalty, this was not how you would have hoped to do it at all. "Be careful, sweetheart, you're standing dangerously close to the fire." Niragi had warned in a deep voice, his eyes closed despite the threat that had just come out of his mouth. 

He didn't want you to forget that despite your relationship, it didn't leave you the opportunity to talk to him any old way. Respect was something that Niragi cherished strongly, and he never missed an opportunity to remind you of it. Even if you hadn't said those exact words, implying that what he was doing wasn't smart annoyed him to no end. 

Far be it from you to diminish him, but you had to make him understand that he shouldn't do it again. What was done, was done, you couldn't go back. But if you could avoid another lapse, then you'd do anything to protect yourself from it. "We have three days left before our visa expires," you clarified, ignoring her warnings, still being careful how you said things. "We're going to have to get them a card back tonight." 

"Yeah, okay, can we go back to sleep now?" Niragi was far too unconcerned for your liking, and as he turned around once more to protect himself from the light that was dazzling him too much, he threw the sheet back over his legs. He hoped that this time he'd get to the bottom of it and force you to go back to bed and catch a few more hours of sleep. 

Unfortunately, you were far too awake to go back to sleep, and the idea of trouble coming after you was too much on your mind to hope to move on. Niragi's breath was getting heavy, and you suspected that he had already gone back to sleep. It was good of him to be able to go back to sleep so easily, without any embarrassment in the world. 

Discreetly, you tried to extricate yourself from the bed without making the mattress creak, and picking up your clothes that were dragging on the floor from Niragi who had torn them from your body last night. Your legs were still a bit sore, but without a word, you put on the clothes to cover your body. 

You didn't want to walk around in a bathing suit here, but for now, you took advantage of the fact that a pair of shorts and a crop top were enough to be left alone. You picked up your shoes, stained with the blood of one of the victims of your first game, and put them on once you left the hotel room and turned off the light. The door closed with a small click that wouldn't wake up Niragi. 

The body of Niragi's victim had disappeared from the hallway, but the dried blood on the carpet was still clearly visible. Ignoring this chilling sight, you made your way to the elevator. 

Few people were already awake, and very few had not yet gone to bed. The hotel corridors were deserted, and it was rare to see anyone. 

As soon as you found yourself outside again, on the patio of the terrace that led to the pool, a light breeze came crashing down on your face and you wished you were more covered up than that. There were still a few players having fun, the sound of the music much lower than during the evening. 

Two young boys were passed out on the cushions of a bench a little further away, a man was lounging on a buoy in the pool, a half-drunk glass of alcohol in his hands. Two girls were still dancing to the music, their movements somewhat blurred and disoriented. 

You sat on the steps of the terrace, wrapping your hands around your arms to try to regain some of the heat. It was a nice place to catch a glimpse of the sunrise, which started to bathe the sky in an orange color. The yellow ball had not yet appeared across the horizon, but it was only a matter of seconds now. 

"You're up bright and early," a voice interrupted your thoughts as you were just beginning to appreciate the beauty of the landscape, which was the same as at home in the real world. 

Chishiya came over and sat down beside you on the steps. He held out a cup towards you that was smoking, and you could feel the smell of coffee tickling your nostrils. 

"Coffee?" He offered kindly, and you couldn't refuse such an invitation. 

"Shit, where did you get that? I must have scoured the city and never found any!" You exclaimed excitedly, taking the cup in your hands. The cup was warm, and you brought it to the edge of your lips before finally resting it in your lap, eyeing the black liquid suspiciously. 

With a small laugh of amusement, Chishiya justified himself, "It's only coffee, don't get carried away." He didn't really explain how it was that there was coffee at The Beach, but you now suspected that a supply crew was surely the cause of the citywide shortage. "Two sugars, if I remember correctly... Is that it?" 

He pretended to be doubtful, but he seemed to remember very well how you liked your coffee. This caused your stomach to tense in a slight way that abruptly bothered you. "Thank you," you mumbled before letting the scalding coffee run down your throat. The taste of caffeine on your tongue would have been enough to make you lose your mind. It was a real problem to be so addicted to coffee. 

A small silence followed as the laughter of the two dancing girls echoed around you. One of them jumped into the water, catching the man on the buoy to play with him. She splashed him, he laughed. 

You were not so much bothered by Chishiya's coming, but you preferred to be alone with your thoughts, just to think about what to do. Of course, you had to keep an eye on Niragi who was slowly starting to fall into a spiral that would swallow him alive if he wasn't more careful. And you, you had to take the responsibility of being the new doctor of the Beach because as the Hatter had said, there didn't seem to be any in this world. 

Besides, it made you think that... "I hear you don't have a doctor?" You asked calmly, hoping that Chishiya would be open for this conversation.

"We have one now, right?" It wasn't the answer you were expecting, but you had to be content with it. Your eyes crinkled as you stared at Chishiya, who only offered you a steady gaze in response. 

He was indeed implying that you would take this role, as if you didn't really have a choice after all. 

"The last doctor we had was killed in a game of spades about twenty days ago," he explained calmly, turning his attention back to the landscape that was finally discovering the sun's bright rays. 

You didn't need the details, although you would have liked to know a little more about the game that had taken his life. The more you learned about each arena, the more you thought you could survive it. 

"I see," you didn't care who this person was though, as long as your place here was secure. Being the new medic of The Beach didn't seem like such a bad role, after all, and even with little experience in this world, you knew you wouldn't be bored. The wounded were surely frequent. 

Again, a few minutes passed before one of you spoke again. The air had turned into something so awkward that you hardly dared to make a sound. It was so strange to see Chishiya in this world, to see him again after all these years. The memories you shared with him were jostling so hard in your brain that it was starting to give you a headache. 

He hadn't changed much physically, except for his hair which had grown a little bit more. It was so long now that he could tie it back in a ponytail if he wanted to. Mentally, he still seemed to have that detached air that made anyone think he didn't care about anything, that little interested him behind his arrogant face. 

"How long have you been here?" You asked to make conversation, that he didn't think you wanted to end your exchange. The case was there, but he didn't need to know that. 

"At The Beach, or in the Borderland?" He asked in a curious tone. 

"I don't know, both?" 

He thought for a second. "I arrived in the Borderland about thirty days ago. I found The Beach quickly, and the Hatter's offer was quite attractive so, I joined his cause." He explained simply, and even though you could feel his gaze out of the corner of your eye, you kept your eyes fixed on the sunrise, thousands and thousands of miles away. 

You took another sip of coffee. The birds began to rise as well, as the sky began to brighten. It was getting less cold now, but you weren't sure if it was the hot cup between your fingers, or the sun's rays crashing down on your figure. 

"What was your first game?" You asked again.

"The ace of diamonds," Chishiya spoke casually, far from being bothered by all your questions. At least, from what you were thinking. "Pretty simple game for a first timer, I got lucky." 

He didn't say what it was, or how he'd managed to survive, but you sensed he was deliberately leaving it in doubt. That was his thing, acting mysteriously as if you would finally beg him for answers to your questions. 

No, far from it. He probably forgot how casual you could be too. Or maybe you'd become that way with Niragi in the last few years. It didn't matter. 

"What kind of game was that?" Still, you wanted to know how far he would go, how far he would be willing to give you answers. You distrusted him like the darn plague, after all, you knew him well enough to know the selfishness and narcissism he displayed. 

"Little riddles," he clarified, but nothing more. Except, "Are you really interested in what I've done so far, or is this just an interrogation?" 

You smiled. He had broken through your offense. It wasn't exactly a well-hidden attack, but it sure seemed like he remembered your style very well. "Don't get me wrong, it was just to make conversation."

He smiled as well. A bird was flying high in the sky, feathers spread wide with each flap of its wings. The two players in the pool had come out a few minutes ago and trained inside the hotel, surely to find the warmth of their bed. There was still those boys who had fallen asleep on the benches, and the other dancing girl had poured herself a last drink before looking for her room in turn. 

"Looks like your boyfriend is making trouble," Chishiya commented with a detached air, as if to change the subject. There was no judgment in his voice, but you could very clearly hear the sound of denunciation floating in the air. 

You closed your eyes for a small second, "It's not what it looks like," you'd try to smooth it over, make it look like an accident, maybe. 

Chishiya was one of the execs at The Beach, and if you could get him in your pocket to avoid your exclusion so quickly, then you had to find every way to brush him off. Playing the hypocrite was part of that. 

After all, despite all the feelings that were stirring in your heart at the sound of his voice, you had to put the affect aside and focus on what was in front of you. That is, survival above all. 

"Niragi is..." you thought carefully about your words. You would never be the one to discredit Niragi here, you would never talk about his quiet moments where simply the sound of the waves crashing against the sand would be enough to calm him down. You would never talk about how, between four walls, well protected from prying ears and insistent looks, he knew how to appreciate the feeling of your skin against his with two or three kisses as delicate as a summer morning. 

No, no. It was a secret you would take to your own grave, whether your loss was the consequence, it did not matter. Niragi had spent so much time rebuilding himself and understanding that he wasn't just a victim of this world and that he had the power to fight, too; that you would never dare destroy his house of cards just for the sake of showing off your knowledge.

"...Niragi is not what you think." It wasn't an explanation per se, but it was enough to make Chishiya doubt. 

"And what do I think?" Chishiya asked, eyebrows raised and his voice slightly surprised. 

"You think he's a bully, don't you? That he terrorizes those weaker than him for the fun of it, and that he takes a liking to their frightened looks." You would never admit that it was just a shell, just a veil that hid the personality you had fallen in love with long ago. "We're all trying to survive here. Each in our own way." 

That, however, you would admit. You'd admit that maybe it wasn't the best way, but that at least there was such a willingness to get the hell out of here and get back to the life you left behind in the real Tokyo, that maybe it was excusable. Maybe. 

Chishiya nodded, as if he thought what you said made sense. "I don't think he likes me much," he tried to joke with a smile, but it wasn't enough for you to do the same. 

"Yeah, he doesn't know much about dealing with people..."  You knew it was much easier for Niragi to threaten people and take them down, than to play on small talk and make friends. "Don't take it personally. He doesn't like many people." 

Maybe in another life he would have succeeded. 

Chishiya added nothing more and remained silent. The sun was quite distinct on the horizon now, and the orange sky was giving way more and more to the cloudless blue that would herald yet another warm day. 

"I'm going to get some breakfast, would you like to join me?" Chishiya offered gently as he looked away from the horizon to try to catch your eyes. But when he found them, he was disappointed to find that he surely would not have the pleasure of enjoying your company any longer. 

"I'm not very hungry, but thanks. Maybe later," and that wasn't entirely a lie. It was true that you should enjoy the food at The Beach, which surely had to offer a whole buffet that you had been dreaming of since you had first set foot on this land, but all that stuff with Niragi that had happened in such a short time had spoiled your appetite.

"The lunch room is on the right side of the stairs, in the lobby. Everything is very well explained, let the signs guide you when hunger strikes again," Chishiya explained and he stood up with a last smile and finally left. The sound of his footsteps behind you echoed very shortly before you found yourself alone again. 

There was only the sleeping boys on the benches who were keeping you company, but considering their condition, you wouldn't have had much conversation from them. It was not a bad thing, because you wanted to enjoy the last drops of your coffee in peace. No talking, no excuses, no nothing. 

Just you, and the landscape.

But there was this little sensation on your shoulders, tingling your skin. It wasn't the wind, or any insect that had landed without permission, but as you searched for the cause of this effect, your gaze met the two black eyes of Niragi, leaning on the railing of the fourth floor balcony. Smoke was coming out of the stoned cigarette in his hand, his naked body clad only in boxers. 

The sun's rays were also crashing down on his face as he took a puff of nicotine into his lungs. His gaze was so insistent that you wondered how long he had been there. Maybe he had never gone back to sleep, and he had seen everything about your conversation with Chishiya. 

Even from too far away to hear anything, just the sight of a man sitting so close to you could give him a good reason to set the world on fire. 

He wouldn't let go of your eyes, a real threat in the middle of his irises. Jaw clenched, muscles tensed, you knew you were in trouble. 

Damn it. This was definitely not the time to piss him off. 

You felt like you were walking on eggshells all day. As time went on, you feared that Niragi's wrath would descend upon you at any moment. He had already built up a reputation, and now whispers could be heard after every step he took, looks suddenly changed to something fearful, and most importantly, Niragi was now strutting around with his brand new machine gun on his shoulder. 

Not only did it give him a funny look, like a mobster straight out of a Hollywood movie, but also, he had this arrogance that was unequal to him, which seemed to have completely changed sides for an absolutely glorious insolence. He was having far too much fun playing with his authority, that you still didn't quite see the point of his maneuver. 

He had already insulted too many people by mid-day, that it was a miracle that Aguni had not yet returned to reprimand him. And you avoided him like the plague. 

You knew that the moment Niragi got his hands on you, you would owe him an explanation for that little talk with Chishiya. There was nothing wrong and nothing really interesting about it, but Niragi had a nasty habit of doubting your good faith if he decided there was something to blame. 

"Do you want to explain to me what that asshole had to say to you, sweetheart?" He only called you that when he was pissed off, or when the tension in his body started to rise dangerously. 

He had you pinned between the wall of your room and his muscular torso, machine gun in hand and eyes as black as night. You'd done a pretty good job of avoiding him most of the day, or he'd given you enough of a break to run through in his head all the punishments he could try on you if he didn't like the answer. 

His voice was low, as weak as the warning he carried in his eyes. His body was pressed so hard against yours that you could only sink into the wall, no escape possible. His breath crashed against your mouth, your own breath worried and stuck in the back of your throat. "Am I not allowed to talk with a friend?"

"A friend?" He repeated as he raised his eyebrows, bringing his left hand up to caress your cheek with the back of his hand. It was such a gentle gesture that it contrasted with the way he was looking at you. He hooked his fingers together at the back of your neck, his thumb gently rubbing your jaw. Then he grabbed the back of your hair hard, so hard that you couldn't hold back the moan of pain from your mouth. "You didn't tell me that Chishiya was a friend..." 

No, you didn't. He wasn't really. But if Niragi found out what Chishiya really meant to you, you knew that the blond would end up with a bullet between the eyes very quickly. 

You opened your mouth to justify yourself again, but the pressure on your neck was so strong that it took your breath away. Bumping his forehead lightly against yours, Niragi closed his eyes for a second before pulling back, murmuring softly in his husky voice, "I'm really trying to get us out of here. You and me. But if you make it hard for me, we're going to have a problem..." 

This wasn't the first time Niragi played on words to make you understand that he wasn't happy, and that a scolding would surely await you if you didn't do as he wanted. 

He finally let go of his weapon and it crashed to the ground with a thud, and with his right hand he put pressure on your hips so that you could feel the force with which he could punish you if you didn't listen to his warnings. 

"I know who you are, Niragi..." It was very dangerous to answer him, let alone say those few words. But you didn't care about his threats that could terrorize the world but your own. "And I know where you're coming from," he put more intense pressure on the back of your neck and you looked straight into his eyes. "You can have fun scaring whoever you want here, but it won't work with me." 

The very insinuation of his past life, the one he had spent years forgetting and burying, was enough to cause a pain in his heart that made his head spin. There was a lot going on in his head now, and the only thing you could see in his eyes was anger. Anger at being reminded of the horror and shame he suffered night and day about the person he once was. 

He was so far away from that now, so far away from all that pain that he couldn't imagine that the only person who could remind him of that was you. It was like a betrayal in his eyes, like a call to hatred that would slowly take place inside him. Because yes, he hated who he used to be, he hated the person he had been for too many years. 

Suddenly, the fingers around your neck loosened to painfully encircle your throat. Niragi crushed his fingers so hard on your skin that the air was now really hard to breathe. The pressure on your throat even seemed to cut off the circulation of your blood, so much so that you could feel the difficulty in concentrating within seconds. 

"Well maybe I should make you afraid of me too then, mmh?" Niragi growled through his teeth, and you felt like he was tightening his grip with every word he spoke. 

It was now so hard to breathe that you couldn't hear what else he was saying, if he even said anything at all. Instinctively, your hands grabbed his, trying valiantly to free yourself from his grip. But he had too much strength, and you were losing yours with each passing second. 

You couldn't conceive of the idea that Niragi was actually strangling you, which had nothing to do with the moments spent under the covers while he was thrusting deep inside of you. No, this was much more intense and ferocious than that. 

You were slowly losing consciousness, silently screaming, searching for your breath.

And when he finally released the pressure around your neck, the air finally flowing into your lungs was so painful that it was hard to regain a sense of sanity. You slumped to the floor, hands and knees scraping against the hard surface of the bedroom carpet. The oxygen was returning to your body and your blurred vision was beginning to find its focus again. No matter where Niragi was, you couldn't see anything but the black spots that still stained your eyes. 

You coughed, once, twice, three times. Air, finally. 

"No one tells me what to do," Niragi's voice echoed in your ears, like a distant sound that was very difficult to hear. Before your eyes, you could see his boots coming closer, and as he knelt in front of you, he took a handful of your hair in his hand, which he squeezed again. You couldn't feel the pain it caused, but it was enough to force you to look him in the eye. "Not even you."

He ran the tip of his tongue over his lips, the shine of his piercing glinting from the light of the day. 

Niragi planted a kiss on your forehead, a gesture so delicate that you almost expected to feel pain that didn't come. "Did I make myself clear?" 

It took you a second to understand what he was saying. The pain in your lungs was still there, and the fervor with which he was gripping your hair was giving you a headache. Maybe it was the lack of oxygen, though. 

Not a sound could come out of your mouth, and not one of your muscles could fire up. Suddenly, you didn't even know what your first name was, so much so that Niragi's insistent gaze caused your stomach to twist. 

For the first time in your life, Niragi was looking at you with something new in his eyes. Something that gave you chills and made your fingertips tremble. 

Quickly, you nodded your head up and down, praying you wouldn't keep him waiting any longer. "Good," he muttered, letting go of your hair again. 

Niragi walked away, just like that, without another word, without another gesture. He picked up his machine gun and left you there, slumped on the ground, bruised and scared. It was a strange feeling to see him in that state, with those eyes that were normally reserved for the world but you. 

This world was consuming Niragi. Or releasing a fairground beast that only had room between bars.

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I'm really really trying to speed this up but I have so little time to write :(

I hope you guys are still there, please don't leave me !!

Anyways, see you soon <3

Nageoire

[bts-story]

I really like your writing.

I was wondering if you could tell us something about you like how old are u, what do you like to do when you're not on tumblr... etc. :)

Hi, thank you for reading me 🙈

Well, my name’s Jeanne, I’m 27 and I live in the south of France in a small village in the mountains. I’m a lil mama of a 9 months old boy, and apart from tumblr, my free time is basically renovating the house we brought with my husband (I feel like a 50 yo saying this lmao)

I think I was like… 15 or so when I first joined tumblr and now I feel SO old by saying just this — haha

Mmh what could I say more? I like baking… patisseries and stuff and playing poker with friends?

What about you? I’m curious about my readers too~ 😃

- Nageoire

[bts-story]

LOVE IS CHAOS

Previous chapters

Chapter 10 - Hatter

The Hatter. 

He was a strange character. Eccentric, arrogant, extreme. To begin with, the way he never took off his sunglasses, like an undercover movie star, made him absolutely ridiculous in your eyes. He must have thought he was the "Sun King" because the way he kept talking with big gestures and threatening words was a clear indication of how he was used to having a horde of minions at his command.

He may have been someone important in the real world before, but this was the Borderland. And in the Borderland, there were no labels, no class pyramids. Money was useless, fame and beauty were worthless. 

It had been precisely twelve days since the eight of clubs, and with Niragi, you spent your days mostly trying to find food. This was no small task, and hunting was definitely not your forte. Still, persistence paid off, and eventually you found a way to trap those famous rabbits that wandered the city at random. 

After a few days, a big discussion had once again taken place between you two. You had determined that the only way to learn more about this crazy country was to play games. There was always a sharp-tongued player to bring you new information, while outside of the threat of an arena, no one was willing to reveal anything. 

One evening, while walking near the harbor, you came face to face with a group of players. Three women and a man who had literally liquefied in front of you. They were so frightened of running into other gamers that they took off running, abandoning their camp as fast as they could. Good for you, you got to taste their dinner and drink their water. It wasn't very nice of you, but it was their loss. They didn't seem to want to come back so soon anyway. 

Another time, it was two men you passed near Koto's movie theater, and their menacing looks and the sight of their weapons held at their fingertips made you turn back. There was no point in confronting them when they didn't look at all convenient. 

So, the only way you could get answers was to wait at the exit of a game arena and question the surviving players. You still had days left on your visa and there was no point in going into a game unnecessarily. 

At the exit of a two of diamonds, you had stopped a woman in her thirties who was clutching her bloody left hand, which was missing a finger. "Hey, you," Niragi had called in front of the Tokyo Museum of Contemporary Art, "tell me what you know about this country." 

The woman looked at him incredulously as she caught her breath. Other surviving players passed behind, exclaiming and celebrating their victory. The woman leaned against the wall outside the museum, ready to hurl a well-placed insult. But you approached her gently before she could say anything, shooting an exasperated look at Niragi. "My name is [Y/N], I'm a doctor," you explained gently, hoping that this would help her relax. "I can probably fix your hand, if you let me look."

Suspicious, the woman looked at you from head to toe, and after a few seconds, when she considered that you did not represent any danger for her, she nodded. You had kept your backpack, the one where you had made a small stock of medicines and bandages that you now always kept with you. 

The lady's hand was shaking and while you were looking in the bottom of your bag for some sanitizer and bandages, Niragi was standing at a distance, staring at you. It was better if he left you to it, he had a lot of qualities under his nasty shell but social and sociable were clearly not his forte.

"That's a dirty wound," you commented to get her attention on you so that she would forget about the way Niragi was looking at her with unimpressed eyes. "What was the game?" 

"The hangman," she asserted breathlessly, already apprehensive of the pain you were about to inflict on her. "And you had to provide the hanged man with a body part of yours for every wrong answer." 

Oh, that was nasty. Really nasty. It must have been a mess. Curious that it was only a twofer after all. She didn't seem to want to say anything more and you understood her. Reliving the horror when you had just escaped it seemed like a whole new ordeal in itself. 

"Careful, it's gonna sting," you warned before pouring the disinfectant over the bloody hole between her thumb and middle finger. The woman hissed in pain, gripping her wrist tightly. A nasty insult flew through the air and after that, you prepared the sewing thread as well as the needle you had found in a sewing kit from one of the apartments you had been squatting in. 

"Why are you helping me?" She asked to keep her mind occupied and not think about the pain that would ensue when you'd pierce her skin with that needle. 

Niragi was looking at you intensely and you didn't need to meet his eyes to know what he was thinking. He was probably wondering why you were so intent on wasting your resources and medicine on a stranger, and you could have gotten information out of him otherwise. "I think the real world is already way too shitty for us not to help each other in this one, don't you think?"

It was a logical progression though. Helping her and expecting something in return. Information. It was a very respectable exchange according to you.

"My name is Seolhyun and I'm Korean. I've been here for thirty-two days, I've played six games, and I still don't know who the fuck is that put us here. I have no idea how we got here, no idea why we got here. All I know is that we have to play games to survive." She recited these words breathlessly as you finally broke through her skin. In the end, it didn't seem to hurt as much as she thought it would, as she barely moved at the pain. 

Niragi sighed behind you. It was true that it was disappointing to know that this woman would not bring you more information and that the gaping hole of mystery of this world remained unanswerable. " Fucking hell..." he swore as he threw his head back, defeated at the words. 

It was true that it was quite disappointing to know that this woman couldn't give you any more answers. It was as if, finally, it was absolutely impossible for anyone to unravel the secrets of this world, and that you were all destined, whoever you were, to play these games without question. 

"You don't know... if there's any way out of here?" you asked carefully, as you finished stitching up the lady. You still had to do a bandage as you cut the thread, and she watched you do it carefully. 

"You look like a good person to me," she began softly, still ignoring the way Niragi sneered at her words, "so I'll tell you something. There's someone here who thinks he's figured out the mystery of this world. But... he's not really a good person. He is a dangerous man who calls himself The Hatter. He thinks that if we put all the cards together, we can get out of here." 

That was a good explanation. You had come up with the same one. It was a logical enough interpretation to come up with at the moment. And it seemed like a long, long time. You had only one card, and the second card, the eight of clubs, had been stolen from you callously by Chishiya and An. How do you get fifty-two cards together when everyone else is chasing them too? 

"Has anyone ever succeeded? To get out I mean..." you asked as you placed the bandages on her hand, which soaked up blood directly, draping the cotton in a dark red. 

"Not that I know of, it's just a myth after all." She affirmed and clasped her hand against her chest again as soon as you were done with her. She met Niragi's eyes, who this time, was waiting for her next words with impatience. His face was closed, eyebrows furrowed as he stood motionless in front of her, arms crossed against his chest. "You could look him up and ask him yourself, he's hiding out in a hotel he's renamed The Beach. But... Here's my advice for helping me... If I were you, I'd do anything to avoid him. Him and his minions."

"What makes him so dangerous, then?" Niragi asked firmly, unimpressed by her warnings. 

She looked at him intensely, and after a few seconds, she continued, "He is looking for players to collect the cards for him, under threat of execution if they do not submit to his orders." She sighed and you exchanged a look with Niragi, "He is creating a dictatorship in that Beach of his, and the only solution to not dying because of him is to run away from him at all costs." 

"And how do you know that, anyway?" Niragi accused suddenly.

"Those are the rumors... If you want to get out of here quickly, you should gather those cards on your own," she muttered as she finally stood up. She stretched her injured arm and patted her upper thighs to dust them off. With a smile, she began to walk a few steps toward the exit but stopped short at Niragi. She stared at him silently, judgment clear in her eyes. She turned back to you, and spoke again, "Thanks for your help. And beware of players with numbered bracelets around their wrists. They are the Hatter's minions." 

The woman left and Niragi's incredulous look mirrored yours. If it was possible, she hadn't so much brought answers as even more questions. It was quite strange, and despite her warnings, the curiosity that hovered around Hatter would perhaps drive you to seek him out and find the answers for yourself. 

Which leads us, ultimately, to this very moment. It was actually just a coincidence, but the woman's warnings had been of great help to you. 

He was shirtless, wearing shorts and a long red and black Japanese vest. He had medium-length hair that fell over his shoulders and sunglasses on his nose despite the dark evening and the stars shining high in the sky. 

It took only an hour and a few minutes after meeting this young woman, to run into the man who called himself The Hatter. It was not in your plans to run into him, let alone fall into his net. Even if the warnings of the player had not worried you more than that (you had bet on the small possibilities of running into him in the vastness of Tokyo to escape him), it was much more prudent to be wary of every word he said. 

"Look, Aguni, two little lost sheep," he laughed with a cold chuckle as he got out of the car, slamming the door violently. 

You really had to go over all those mathematical calculations, because running into someone who was warning you about somebody else, and running into that somebody very precisely an hour later, was a coincidence you found suspicious. And the headlights of the car speeding toward you as you walked down to the harbor had caught you off guard. Amazed to see a car running, the metal carcass had stopped at your level before you could hide from it. 

Strangely enough, even before the two men showed up, you had a crazy hunch about the identity of these two thugs. Or at least one of them. He had this arrogance painted on his face that couldn't fool you. Niragi had stepped in front of you, protecting you from any threat that came your way. 

The man named Aguni was tall and strong, wearing a tank top that showed off his muscles. He had a shaved head, a mustache and a goatee that vaguely reminded you of the military stereotype. Anyway, his face was closed, his jaw tense and his arms crossed over his chest as he leaned against the hood of the car he hadn't turned off after he left the wheel. 

He said nothing and the other shirtless man walked around the car to greet you with two open arms and a smile on his face. "I don't believe we've met," he'd said and you'd taken a step back, more than a little wary at the sight of these strangers. It wasn't trivial to run into other players in the city, but the intentions of some were so questionable that it was best to stay in your lane and avoid unnecessary trouble. 

"Who the fuck are you, and what do you want?" Niragi had threatened in a low, authoritative voice, offering his best dark look he had in stock. 

There was a gun around the tank top man's belt and a bracelet around his wrist, and the Hatter stepped forward a little more, as if to block your eyes as they analyzed his friend's figure. "My name is Takeru Danma, but you can call me Hatter." 

Niragi chuckled at the name. A small chuckle that slowly evolved into a mocking laugh and you watched him from the corner of your eye, somehow worried that he might offend the man in front of you. "You're the Hatter?" He chuckled some more before turning his head to meet your gaze. He had that little mischievous look in his eyes that you found absolutely no place for in this situation. "I was expecting some kind of big shot and a freak hat on his head."

"You know me?" the man asked curiously, almost surprised. 

"You have a reputation," you informed before Niragi could, as if expecting him to say something tangential again.

This time it was the Hatter who smiled, and behind him the stone man did not move, did not smile, did not speak. "A good reputation, I hope," he tried to joke as if to lighten the mood. But it was futile. The woman's warnings remained in a corner of your head, far too prepared by the soft words or threats he might throw at you to rally you to his cause. 

"Not really," Niragi chuckled as if it gave him pleasure to contradict the shirtless man, as if depriving him of such an illusion somehow gave him personal satisfaction.

"I take it you've heard of my Beach, then?" 

"Your dictatorship?" Niragi asked innocently, as if the weight of his words didn't have the power to put you in danger. "Yeah, we heard of it." 

The Hatter's smile faded for only a second, insisting with his deep black eyes on both of your figures to determine what attitude to approach after a confession like that, and finally, he clapped his hands and exclaimed again, "Aguni!" He turned around and the man behind him looked at him with a bored expression, finally dropping his insistent gaze from your face. "Remind me why the Beach was created." 

Taking a breath, Aguni recited in a detached tone, as if every word he spoke pissed him off, "To gather as many players as possible and help each other gather the cards so we can all get the hell out of here."

"There, that's it," the Hatter nodded as if he wasn't sure why he had created his... company, or whatever it was. He walked a few steps to the right, then back, walked left, and back again. He was thinking, as if he was finally calculating his every word. Was he trying to win you over?

"Rumors say you get people to play games to collect cards for you," you pointed dangerously, cutting him off in his reflection. 

He stopped short and stared at you for a few seconds before licking his bottom lip. Then he scratched the back of his head, exchanged a look with Aguni, and finally said, "You don't strike me as people who believe rumors." 

Mmh. He was answering your accusation with another accusation, and that was smart, from your point of view. It didn't create affirmation or negation.

"I have the vague impression that you've been here long enough to know that the players of this world have to play to supply our visas, am I right?" He was right, indeed. But that didn't really mean much. It was as easy to steal other people's cards as it was to force them to play deadly games under threat of irreversible repercussions. 

The master of this game was no match for the Hatter, who made his own rules in this crazy world.

"I have something to offer you," he finally began again, and Aguni straightened up behind him, offering a menacing look as a sign of his authority. "You join my Beach, play the games of this world, and bring back the cards you win..." 

He knew he had piqued your interest, he knew you were waiting for the next part, to know what he was going to offer you in return. He knew he was onto something and that his proposal was enticing enough to make anyone flinch. It was only the beginning of his experiment, only the beginning of his creation, but he had faith in his values and expectations. He believed in it, and with that alone, the Hatter knew he could rally anyone to his cause. 

"...and in turn, I offer you food, shelter, electricity, and most importantly, working showers. Hot ones, I might add." That last word could have been enough to make you groan on the spot. Your skin instantly tingled at the thought of a hot shower. It had been so long since you'd had one that you'd forgotten how it felt. 

You longed for something carefully prepared, something warm and good that had nothing to do with canned food or rabbits caught on the run. 

It was a tempting proposition. It was. 

"How can you have electricity in that Beach of yours, when the whole city is  out?" Niragi spat accusingly, and he was right to be suspicious. It was important not to forget the woman's warnings earlier. 

"There's a power generator," he explained simply. It was still suspicious to you, why would this world go to such lengths to strip you of electricity, if it was to leave generators lying around the city? 

The Hatter watched you intently, as if he had played his own cards and was waiting for your next move. He offered a smile as Niragi turned a second time to meet your gaze. 

You had never mastered the skill of reading each other's minds, but the years spent together were a great help in deciphering what was hidden in each other's eyes. 

Niragi's eyes were round, eyebrows raised as if to say, ‘What do you think?’

You only had to tilt your head slightly to the side and bite your lower lip, the intense look in your eyes to retort something that would have looked like: 'He can't be trusted!'. 

Niragi smiled. He had something on his mind. His decision was made. 

"And tell me, Hatter, in your beautiful Beach dictatorship there -" 

"It's not a dictatorship." Hatter cut Niragi off, who glared at him. 

Niragi rocked back and forth on his other foot, brushing away a lock of hair that fell in front of his eyes. He scoffed at the boldness that the other man showed him, fearlessly cutting him off. It was strange for him, because this person, the Hatter, seemed as unimpressed by him as by his threatening airs. 

Everywhere he went, Niragi was used to seeing glances down, footsteps rushing by, and sometimes even seeing figures change sidewalks at the sight of him. He had this bad boy aura about him, like someone so unfriendly that it was better to avoid him at all costs. Without even opening his mouth to express in a deep and authoritative voice two or three insults often well placed, he had the attitude of a man with whom one did not want to have problems.

But the Hatter, or maybe it was only because of the bodyguard behind him who was looking at Niragi with a contemptuous look, did not seem to be afraid in the least. On the contrary, it finally seemed to suit him. As if you were exactly what he was missing. 

"Forcing people to do what you want, I call that a dictatorship." You commented in a firm tone and the Hatter turned his attention back to you. 

"Ooh, that one bites!" He exclaimed with a big smile as he clapped his hands excitedly. He took a step towards you, but was stopped short by an arm that blocked his path, Niragi's figure more imposing than his own. 

Their faces a few centimeters apart, Niragi muttered something under his breath that was too imperceptible for you to hear. Behind them, Aguni straightened up and pulled the Hatter towards him, his gaze as black as the sky as he threatened Niragi with his imposing gaze. 

"Aguni, my friend, remind me of the rules of the Beach, please," the Hatter resumed and the summoned man's shoulders relaxed once he felt that Niragi was not a threat. 

"Rule number one, you must always wear a bathing suit," Aguni recited in a still detached, completely bored tone. Every word that came out of his mouth seemed to hurt him to the core of his being. 

Niragi sneered and you raised your eyebrows. "You're kidding." 

"This rule is only imposed on non-executive players, it's to... avoid carrying illegal weapons, I'd say," the Hatter explained and you wondered what the reason for this rule could have been. Had someone wanted to rebel, carry a gun and point it at him? 

"Rule number two," Aguni continued, ignoring the little exchange that had just occurred, "You are free to live your life exactly as you wish." 

"There, that... that's a good rule," the Hatter commented, taking his little steps left and right again. "That doesn't sound like a dictatorship, does it?" 

Aguni was still staring at the two of you, as if he was only waiting for one thing, and that was to get the hell out of here. A simple "No," came out of his mouth before he finally uncrossed his arms to shove his hands into the pockets of his shorts. 

"Who are the execs?" You asked curiously, and you needed a lot more before you knew if you wanted to join his cause or not. You had to take the opportunity to get away scot-free if it came up, or accept such an enticing opportunity if it did. 

"They're players like you and me, who have proven their loyalty and brought high-level cards back to the Beach," he explained simply, and that damn smile that stuck to his face was starting to irritate you. 

You could see past his fake politeness, past the appearances and this show he was putting on. 

"Do you have any cards, by the way?" Hatter asked curiously, alternating his gaze between Niragi and you.

The trust was so far out of reach that you couldn't conceive of giving him the only card you had in your possession. After all, taking on a card hunter wasn't in your plans at all. 

"What about you?" You retorted quickly, as if in the end, it was he who had to prove to you that he was worthy of this world. As if, it wasn't you who had to prove yourself, but it was him and his misplaced ideology that had to show that you could believe in him and what he said. 

Hatter chuckled as his eyes locked on yours, and calling over his shoulder, he grumbled happily, "You hear that, Aguni? The lady asks if we have any cards!" 

He chuckled at his own words, but the man behind him only bulged his chest, not a shadow of a smile on his face. You wondered then if this man had known joy in his life, even for a single second. 

"Of course we have," the Hatter continued after a minute, "we're starting to have a nice little collection, by the way." 

Once again, Niragi turned to capture your gaze and this time, it was you who spoke up. "Very well. We have a question though, before we join your amazing sect," The Hatter winced at the word but said nothing. "Your bracelets, there, what are they for?" 

You pointed to the bracelet around his wrist that brilliantly asserted the number one, under the light of the moon. Aguni, behind him, was wearing the number two. 

The Hatter exchanged a look with him, and scratching the back of his head again, he cleared his throat before explaining, "This is the hierarchy of the Beach. I wholeheartedly believe that if we put all the cards together, we can escape this world all together and return to our own. If only one person is allowed to go though... then the bracelets determine the order of departure. I created the Beach, so I am number one, it goes without saying." 

"And if we joined you, what number would we be?" You asked and Niragi listened intently, still glaring. 

The Hatter looked uncomfortable now, as if he had prepared his speech but not the questions he might have been asked. He hesitated for a moment, before answering that "It will depend on what you bring to the Beach. Either you're one of the reckless players who are obsessed with playing as many games as possible to bring back those cards, or you're one of the people who can help us outside the games. Mechanics, cooks, doctors, that sort of thing..." 

It took a lot of effort not to meet Niragi's gaze again and perhaps silently admit that one of you would be of great help to their group. You had to keep your identity a secret until you knew more about The Beach and the other people in it. 

But for the moment, with your status as a doctor, it was almost sure that it would bring you an undeniable importance there. Niragi, on the other hand, would be willing to play games to bring himself the importance he deserved. 

"You wouldn't be a doctor, by any chance? It would seem that there is not one in this world..." You found the Hatter to be a man of many words. He had his mouth running on its own schedule, not caring how briskly he strung together each word he spoke. As if the whole alphabet was not concrete enough to form the words he wanted to transcribe orally. 

He was a strange character. Yes. Arrogant, eccentric. It all blended awfully well with this gloomy world that reeked of danger and menace.

You largely ignored the Hatter's words, and as Aguni moved away from the vehicle to make room, you walked to the door. Opening the back of the battered blue BMW, you gave an inviting look to Niragi, who hurriedly sat down in the back of the car beside you. The Hatter clapped his hands, excited at the idea of having rallied two new recruits to his cause. 

"That's wonderful, Aguni, I'm sure the four of us will get along just fine!" And Aguni rolled his eyes as he resumed his seat behind the wheel. Sitting on the passenger side, the Hatter put his feet up on the dashboard, as carefree as he was indifferent. 

The engine purred loudly and Aguni accelerated towards his destination, the Beach. 

You were curious to see what it looked like, and who you would have to deal with, once there. You had to brave your courage and even with all the boldness in the world, you still had to be wary. For now, a new adventure was about to begin, and discreetly, Niragi's fingers slipped between yours to press a reassuring pressure. 

When you looked at him, his head was turned, eyes peering through the open window as the wind blew through his hair. He gave a second squeeze around your hand and as quickly as it had come, he withdrew his fingers and ruffled his hair as it fell into his neck. He pulled his bun tighter, and it was so hard to ignore the way his neck shone in the moonlight. Like he was inviting you to plant one, two, three, a thousand kisses there. 

But the Hatter's insistent gaze in the rearview mirror burned your skin, and looking away - finally - through your own window, you tried to carefully memorize the address of that Beach.   

The Seaside Paradise Hotel was large enough to accommodate two hundred people. It was an old luxury hotel, with a pool and tennis court, that had a great reputation in the real world. At the entrance, the name of the hotel had been scratched out with red spray paint, replacing the name The Beach. 

From outside, it was easy to hear the thundering sound of bass music hitting the floor with every vibration. Shouts of joy and excitement could be heard, and as Aguni parked the car at the entrance, the Hatter stepped out of the car, a smile still on his lips. "It's a party here every day," he clarified to your incredulous look, curious as to where that sound was coming from. "Every moment we spend not playing is another moment of survival to enjoy life." 

He was now entering the hotel and the entrance was adorned with a huge red carpet, and trinkets that carefully decorated the room. He walked through the room, and the people you passed were all wearing bathing suits, not embarrassed to show their skin so easily. They greeted the Hatter with a nod, offering their best smile to their leader. Then he headed for the exit and once you passed the glass doors that opened to the outside, an apocalyptic scene was revealed before your eyes.

Dozens of naked or almost naked bodies were dancing together on the tempo of a frantic music, the alcohol was flowing and the smoke that escaped from some groups suspected the state in which they had to be. "And how better to enjoy life than to submit to the debaucheries and sins that the original world forbade us?"

There were definitely a lot of players, much more than you would have imagined. Each one of them was getting carried away by the sound of the raging music, some were mouthing at each other, some were exchanging glasses of alcohol and some were even passed out on the cushions by the pool. 

Niragi stopped beside you and the petty look in his eyes made your jaw tense. He was playing with the piercing of his tongue, amused by the debauchery that appeared before his eyes. You knew that look, you knew he was enjoying the show. It wasn't so much the bare legs of these girls moving their butts and breasts vulgarly that attracted him, but rather this space of chaos that opened the door to delinquency and crime.

"Welcome to The Beach," the Hatter enthused, his arms open to what he called a paradise.

The sound of the bass made your heart tremble with how loud the music was. It was strange that you hadn't heard that racket before, you were sure it was echoing throughout the entire city. Niragi watched with amusement as two men who had drunk too much started to get into a fight as one of them threw the first punch. He laughed, pointing at the one who fell to the ground at the power of the blow.

You weren't sure how to feel about it all. It was both completely crazy and absolutely amazing. On the one hand, you supported the idea that people could finally let go of their lives and barriers, that they could enjoy who they were without the social pressure of real life. On the other hand, it could mean the end of the world. Without faith and law, everything became dangerous. Every person you met, every action of anyone could cause an inevitable tsunami.

"I see you found The Beach," a voice came from behind you through the music, and you didn't have to turn around to recognize who it belonged to. Unconsciously, you closed your eyes for a second as the voice began again, "Or did The Beach find you?" 

The last few days had been so tumultuous, considering the hunt for food and the quest for information to try to understand this world, that you had forgotten (or ultimately didn't care) that this meeting with the Hatter was not your first encounter with people from The Beach.

"Chishiya," you opened your eyes and offered as sincere a smile as you could as the blond approached. You could feel Niragi's stature tense up at the very sight of the other man, but he said nothing to let it be known. "What a... pleasure to see you here."

A pleasure, far from it. But if it was necessary to play dumb so as not to start off on the wrong foot, then so be it. Hatter called out to himself, looking between the three of you as he tried to figure out what was going on. "Oh, you two know each other already?" 

"We've met, yes." Chishiya agreed, offering a smile to the Hatter who looked at him excitedly. You weren't sure how to react to him, you weren't sure yet if he was one of the bad guys or the good guys. Knowing each other in the real world didn't mean that much here. He had always had this mysterious air about him, and he enjoyed seeing the confusion on the faces of the people he talked to. It was a pet peeve of his, and with his amused look crossing yours, you wondered how he ended up here, too. 

"By the way," Niragi stepped in front of him, taking advantage of the way he towered over the blond with his height. He was trying to be imposing and intimidating in front of the other who didn't flinch under the threat. Chishiya looked at him curiously, and Niragi resumed, "you stole my card." 

"Stole it?" Chishiya wondered, his eyes round. 

"The eight of clubs, that was my card," Niragi growled, his jaw tense. 

You could have rolled your eyes at this little testosterone war that was slowly taking place between the two of them. There was a rivalry that was starting to take hold that had no place here. You knew that Chishiya had the nonchalant attitude that could easily get on anyone's nerves, but you thought that Niragi would be smarter than that. Apparently, he was falling for it too easily. 

"I think what you mean by that is that it was your card as much as mine. It was a team win, haven't you forgotten?" Chishiya retorted and God forbid he was right, because if Niragi didn't restrain himself, he would be able to throw his fists in his face. Niragi had little patience and arrogance was something that irritated him to no end. It was quite ironic, for someone as arrogant as himself.

Yes, if your only hope of getting out of this hellish world was to partner with the Hatter, then giving him your cards was the only way out. Chishiya had probably already given it to him, and the seven of diamonds that was still in the back pocket of your jeans seemed to burn your skin through the fabric. 

Even though what he was saying made sense, Niragi still considered it theft. He didn't like the way Chishiya looked at him with that condescending look on his face, as if he considered everyone around him as mere pawns in a world that only deserved his own survival.

"I guess not," Niragi mumbled after a few seconds, still holding his gaze in Chishiya's irises, which didn't flinch either. 

You weren't talking about stealing, but you thought it was much fairer to provide a card for each surviving player, than one card for all. This would avoid situations like this that would inevitably cause arguments about who owns the cards. But here, as Chishiya so aptly put it, it didn't matter. All the cards were going to the Hatter anyway. 

"Excuse me," you snuck between their two bodies in an attempt to pull them apart. You knew that it would take Niragi only three times as much to jump on Chishiya, it was as if he was just waiting for the other to weaken so he could get a good punch in the face. Both of them took a step back when your shoulders hit their torsos, and stopping right in front of the Hatter, you held out your card. "This is a seven of diamonds. Our other cards were stolen six days ago, so... we're starting over."

It was much smarter to lie than to admit that you had only played two games so far. You had to showcase your survival skills if you hoped to move up in this hierarchy. The Hatter didn't know anything about you yet, but for now, he would just have to take your word for it.  

"I hope you won't hold it against us, and that you'll give us a chance to prove our loyalty to you." You were far from agreeing with everything the Hatter had put in place, it was all what you would call dictatorship, no matter what he might say. 

"Ah, my dear friend, don't worry about the cards," he put an arm around your shoulders, as a slightly too invasive friend would do, and pulled you a little further away. Immediately, Niragi on your heels and his eyes piercing the Hatter's skull with his invisible laser beams coming out of his eyes for touching you as you walked down the stairs to the pool, leaving Chishiya where he stood. "We'll see about that tomorrow. For now, I want you to enjoy your evening in your new life as a resident of The Beach!"

He let go of your shoulders to slump down on a banquette near the pool, and immediately, two babes came to settle down beside him, planting languorous kisses in his neck. He was greeted by a cocktail glass containing a bluish liquid which he hastened to drink of only one sip. He slapped the buttocks of one of the girls, and the other lit a cigarette to put it in his mouth. 

If that wasn't a dictatorship, you wondered what was. Niragi, at your side, was laughing playfully, as if he thought that this place wasn't so bad after all. You couldn't conceive the idea that all these players were stupid enough to forget what world you were in, while Niragi probably supported the idea that forgetting was probably the only way to relax and let go of death's grip on you all.

"My room is on the top floor terrace. The execs have the rooms on the fourth floor, the rest belong to the players. I'll let you find the one that suits you best." The Hatter added between two kisses with the girl on his right, and you understood that was the end of the discussion. There was nothing more to add, nothing more to understand, nothing more to explain. 

Niragi pulled you by the wrist, and led you through the small crowd of players towards the interior of the hotel. You passed Chishiya who had stayed in the same place, giving you a curious look before heading to a place you didn't know. Back in the lobby, a few players were bickering as they made their way outside, something about the game they had probably just played earlier. 

You were surprised to see that the elevators were working as a girl in a bathing suit came out. She was wearing nothing but her blue floral bikini, her body naked. A lollipop was nestled in her mouth, which she sucked absent-mindedly as she played with the dreads in her hair. She walked past you, without giving you a single glance, and walked away to a door behind the reception. Niragi entered the elevator, still dragging you by the wrist. 

He stopped in front of the buttons on the shaft, thinking for a second before pressing number four. "The fourth floor is for executives only, baby." 

Niragi smiled. Yes, he knew that. He didn't need you to remind him. "We didn't come here to be underlings, princess. From now on, we're execs, you and me." Okay, that was a pretty radical decision. Still, the Hatter and his minions had to agree as well. If a hierarchy had been set up, it was surely to avoid coups like these. 

This did not surprise you from Niragi. After all, he had put behind him all those days when he followed orders like a common animal, and you knew that he would never again agree to submit to the ways of the shepherd.

The ding of the elevator rang out and the doors opened onto a long hallway. The light from one of the sconces flickered on the right, all the doors were closed, and Niragi stepped forward. It seemed that each occupied room was marked in a different way. 

To the right, the first door had a large X painted on the wood. Opposite, there was a poster of a naked girl hanging. Then there were three rooms with nothing at all, then there was another door with bullet holes that had pierced the wood. Next to it was a blank door, with nothing to differentiate it from the others except for the dozen or so dead empty beer bottles that littered the floor. 

A small pink bow hung on the door opposite, and next to it, several empty rooms again. As you made your way through the floor, you had this funny feeling that you couldn't ignore. It was something like a foreboding. Good or bad, it was still hard to tell. But something was waiting for you, you could feel it. 

You were trying to open a door, finally, when you were interrupted, your hand around the handle, "Hey, you there, what are you doing here? This floor is for executives only," a man rumbled from across the hall, and as he stepped through the dim light of the sconces, you could make out a gun in his hands, pointed at you. 

Despite everything that had happened in this world so far, this was the first time you had a gun pointed at you. It wasn't as scary as you thought it would be, or maybe it was just the fault of this country that seemed to have redefined all your fears and beliefs. 

The man was small, he had a bandage around his neck and he was holding a machine gun in his fingers that looked much heavier than he was. His voice was shaking, his fingers were shaking and even his hair seemed to be shaking. He had on a bathing suit that fell well over his hips, and a dirty t-shirt that stuck to his skin. 

Niragi slowly stepped forward, not afraid of the tip of the device sticking to his own torso. "That's a nice toy you have there," he muttered and the man stammered under his breath. You wondered who the idiot was who had appointed him executive. Or was he just providing security for the floor? To prevent people like Niragi or you from trespassing in a forbidden place like this one. "Can I borrow it?" 

"Ba-back off!" The man said, and he looked more like a teenager than a young adult with his frail body and pretty angelic face.

Niragi seemed to be amused, he had a small smile on his face that didn't bode well for you. "Come on what, I just want to hold it for a bit..."

"Stop it, I said back off!" The man shouted, taking a step back. He seemed much more impressed with Niragi whereas he was the one holding the weapon. "Go back to your rooms, immediately or... or I'll shoot!" 

Niragi laughed and if you were smarter than that, you would hold him back by dragging him further away, so you could go back downstairs. But you knew that Niragi would not forgive you if you did. You knew not to hold him back at times like this, as if holding him back or preventing him from doing what he wanted to do in front of someone would make him feel inferior. You couldn't do anything, you couldn't call him out, bring him to his senses. It was futile and unnecessary. 

"Please..." Niragi stepped forward and the man stepped back. You could only stand in your corner, your hand still on the handle as Niragi's menacing aura continued to intimidate the man. With one blow, Niragi's right hook slammed into the man's nose and he took several steps back. He didn't have time to point his weapon at Niragi again, who grabbed it and smashed it against his forehead. The man fell to the ground, and Niragi grabbed the machine gun and pointed it at his victim. 

"Please..." he echoed, his voice even more shaky, if that were possible. "I... I'll do anything you want, I won't tell anyone you were here, I -" 

Trrratata! 

But Niragi had pulled the trigger. The deafening sound of the machine gun echoed through the hallway, and the noise chilled your blood. You couldn't conceive the idea that Niragi had just pulled the trigger when in fact, the young man's lifeless body laid against the floor, the scarlet blood from his abdominal wounds running down the carpet. "What the fuck, Niragi, what have you done?" 

You couldn't take your eyes off the inert body that sat before you, and as Niragi stepped up beside you, taking your face in his hands, he whispered, "Look at me, princess, here, look at me!" His hands were icy despite the warmth within his walls, and finally taking your gaze off the dead man, you found Niragi's intense gaze looking for some reassurance to transfer into your eyes, "We will not be slaves to the Hatter, do you hear me? I'm going to do everything I can to get you and me out of here, and that means we're going to have to make sacrifices, you understand?" 

If you thought about it, you would remember that you had also sacrificed a man's life in the game of eight of clubs, but everything was different in the arena. In a game, you had to make choices and decisions to ensure your survival. But here, right now, it was a completely gratuitous act that was anything but necessary. 

"You fucking killed him, what were you thinking?" You were beginning to feel your heart racing, your throat dry as Niragi's hands applied light pressure to your cheeks to draw your attention to him. 

This was far from your first body, you had seen so many deaths in the hospital that you had found the strength to detach yourself from the feeling it could give you when you saw this. But here you had witnessed a cold-blooded murder, something that was undeserved, you didn't understand. "To fear or to be feared, which do you prefer?" It was neither an explanation nor an excuse. "I'll chomp all over them, right here, okay?"

You knew what he was thinking. If you were just a little more twisted than that, you would understand Niragi's way of thinking. That holding a gun established fear and respect, and that with it in his hands, no one would dare say anything to him, or do anything he didn't like. He was taking strength by force, and he was in a good position to know what it felt like, and how to do it. 

It wasn't a bad strategy, but you wished he had chosen another. 

Yes, the Borderland had no laws or rules. There was no punishment for murder here. There was no one to take justice where it should be applied. Here, there was only the law of the strongest, and the strongest today was Niragi, who carried his new machine gun with a proud look. He was going to take care of his weapon, he was going to pamper it and caress it as it deserved. Because with this, nothing and nobody could touch you. 

He knew that with this, he could ensure that you would always be safe. He would take great pleasure in keeping away anyone who might want to harm you. It was a protection, more than a real weapon. You had to see it that way. It wasn't so much the idea of killing that excited Niragi, no, don't get him wrong. 

It was the idea that here he could do whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted. 

He would never say anything, never let on that you might get hurt in one of these fucking games. Or by one of those assholes who didn't like how you talked to them. Because he knew that all it would take to hurt him was to hurt you. 

No, he had to set his law here, no matter what the Hatter said. A new era had to start, the one of Niragi Suguru. 

And you, in all this, would always be safe. Always safe.

//////////////////////////////

Oooh lalalalala, I am SO sorry for the delay! My son had the flu all week, so he didn't go to daycare, and with work, I just didn't have time to write anything!

Anyway, we are in the thick of it! So, forget what I said about writing the story in one go, I'll have to make little time jumps otherwise it'll be endless

I've got a few more chapters to write that you're going to love, so I hope my little Niragi stans are still there, and that you still like what I'm making!

I hope to take less time for the next chapter, look forward to it, please!

Nageoire

[bts-story]

LOVE IS CHAOS

Previous chapters

Chapter 9: Memories from above - Part. 2

It was him, you were sure. 

There was no doubt. The raven-black hair that fell over his face, those broken glasses that magnified his small eyes, his shy and unsure walk. 

He had his head down, afraid to meet anyone's eyes in this crowd. But no one was paying attention to him, no one could notice the panicked look on his face. But through the subway train, through the seats and the people, you had noticed that figure. 

Niragi had come out at the Shinjuku subway station. He had walked exactly fifteen minutes from there, without taking a train. He had spotted a shack of abandoned materials that ran along the tracks. He had climbed the stairs, put his school bags on the ground, and watched from a distance to see if a train was coming towards him. 

You didn't know what made you follow him here. For all you knew, this man ahead of you could be a lunatic, a dangerous man who could hurt you. It was so stupid and irresponsible to follow him here, in a place as deserted as the Sahara. Besides, it was far from your initial destination, except that after having laid eyes on him in the subway, it was impossible for you to let him go like that. 

So discreetly, you went after him, hiding behind cars and other street corners every time he turned his head towards you. It wasn't as hard as you thought, because he seemed to have so many things on his mind, that it was impossible for him to pay attention to what was going on around him. 

"Hi," you had hopped in front of him, once you had climbed the stairs to the same abandoned cabin. He gasped, a stunned look on his face as he discovered who had surprised him here. You sat on the edge of the roof, your legs dangling. 

"I- uh, what- I'm," he stammered with difficulty and the look of incomprehension on his face had you giggling softly. 

"Niragi, right?" You had asked even though you had remembered his first name very well. It had been exactly three weeks and two days since that night when he had assaulted that man outside the bar. And since then, not a single day had passed without you thinking about it. The mystery of that act still unsolved. "I passed by you in the subway, towards Shinanomachi. I couldn't let you get away like that." 

Despite your explanation, Niragi still had a gaping mouth and wide eyes, as if he couldn't believe his luck. He was torn between running away without looking back, or confronting you if he could only have the honor of hearing the sound of your voice one more time. 

"I'm not going to eat you, relax," you had joked to lighten the mood, but strangely enough, it seemed to worry him even more. 

Niragi stood straight as a post, thumbs clenched into fists, and he avoided your gaze at all costs, as if the weight of your irises on him could reduce him to dust. 

Still, he said nothing, did nothing. He just stood there, not knowing where to put himself. "I... I'm sorry but... what are you doing here?" 

"Oh, your tongue seems to be getting better," you commented, deliberately ignoring his question. You were satisfied to know that despite being discharged from the hospital by your supervisor (still such an asshole to this day), Niragi had managed to take care of himself and heal his wound. "Well, I'm glad. It's not easy to heal a tongue, you know. When I was little, I missed a step on the stairs at my grandmother's house and split the whole side of my tongue. It took a good three weeks to heal, just that!"

Niragi didn't know what to say, he remained silent as he listened to your little story. He had so many things going through his head at that moment that it was impossible for you to even know what he was thinking. 

There was no noise around you, except for the screech of car horns that could be heard far, far away. There weren't really any birds here, or even any workers. Only the sound of your voices broke the silence. It was a cloudy day too, the sun hidden high, very high, but no rain was forecast. Only the greyness of the nice month that was April. 

"Do you live around here?" You had asked after a few seconds, once you had noticed that he didn't really know how to react to your story. In fact, he didn't even know how to act towards you anymore, as if he had suddenly forgotten what it was like to act normally. "This is a pretty bleak place..." 

"No, I... I live in Shibuya, near the park. But I often come here to go to college." Niragi had looked down at his hands as he said the words, then looked away to see if the train he was waiting for was finally coming. 

"Keio University? That school sucks..." It was true that this university was much more known for its dilapidated walls and endless construction sites than for its success and prestige. 

"It's not as bad as it looks..." 

"Really? It looks like a school for delinquents and bullies over there." You mused quietly without really seeing that last-word had made every bone in Niragi's body freeze like a child caught in the act. He didn't move a muscle and that was starting to annoy you a lot. You were far, far from being a mean person and seeing him scared every time he met your eyes was annoying. 

"Really, I don't mean to sound so rude, but... why did you follow me?" 

You swung your feet into the void, taking a long breath of fresh air as if to keep the suspense going. It wasn't to amuse you, but Niragi deserved that little bit of anxiety time before you finally confronted him. "I wanted to know why you assaulted that poor man outside the bar last time?" 

A wave of panic swept across Niragi's irises, and despite all the stammering that came out of his mouth, not a single clean word could be heard. It was almost comical. You could have laughed a little bit, but you had to have an answer, and to know once and for all what was the reason of this misunderstanding. Because it was surely a misunderstanding, it couldn't be anything else. 

"Huh? I mean... I mean, what? Sorry, I... I don't know what you're talking about." A response like this was to be expected. 

"Mmh, I think you know what I'm talking about, on the contrary." You stared at him, squinting your eyes, as if that was enough to make him confess everything.

"No, really, you must have me confused with someone else." Niragi was a very bad liar. He avoided your gaze at all costs (even though he had been doing that since you arrived), he played nervously with his fingers (but that hadn't stopped since you first spoke to him), and above all, he had that tremor in his voice that couldn't deceive you (and that seemed to be his natural voice, after all). 

"Ah," you nodded slowly, pretending to agree with him. As if you had to inevitably take his word for it. "Weren't you the one who tased a tall, rather good-looking man outside the Koko Bop three weeks ago? For no apparent reason?"

Niragi shook his head from right to left firmly, "Affirmative, it wasn't me." 

"Anyway, you know what? If I ever find this person, I'll tell them it's okay. I guess there's a good explanation for that." Maybe it was a strategy of preaching the false to find out the true, but from what you could see, either way, Niragi didn't seem to want to admit anything. 

"Maybe it's... Maybe this person wanted to help you?" 

You understood what was going on, now. He would talk about himself in the third person, assuring tooth and nail that he wasn't the attacker, but he would still seek to justify his actions. It was very clever, or completely stupid, you didn't know yet. "Why would anyone help me? Everything was fine." 

Niragi thought for a second, sticking the tip of his tongue between his teeth before resuming, "Maybe that person thought that man meant you harm and that person wanted to protect you?" 

"You think so?" You took in this new information, trying to figure out if this could explain it. But above all, to determine if this was justifiable or if on the contrary, it was unforgivable. 

Niragi nodded his head up and down, this time, still firmly. 

"And how would you explain that this person was there, at that time?" 

"Uh... that, I don't know." He admitted in a slightly more uncertain voice, "Tokyo is very large, after all. I imagine there are plenty of people who would come to the help of someone in distress. If it wasn't him, it could have been anyone." 

"You may be right, but I know for a fact that this person lives in Shibuya. And this bar is located in Kōtō. That's quite a distance from there, don't you think?" 

"Then, if you find that person, you'll have to ask him." He stated proudly, as if he had managed to trick you at your own game. He was smart, you could admit. 

"Mmh, I hope one day I get my hands on him then." You stated as you looked him straight in the eye, just to let him know that you weren't done with him and that you could see through his little game. 

A small silence fell between the two of you, and Niragi was still standing, only a meter or two away from you while your legs were swaying from the ledge. There was still no train on the horizon, and not a cat around. Birds flew overhead, and finally, Niragi decided to relax and took a seat at the edge of the cabin, just like you. He sat down at a reasonable distance from you, with his legs crossed and his hands on his knees. 

You wondered how he was able to see clearly through his broken glasses, and despite the fact that he told you he didn't have any spare money to spend, you wished he could fix his glasses. He had a beautiful face, through all that shyness. He had pronounced but delicate features, small almond-shaped eyes and well-defined lips. He still had that piercing on his eyebrow that seemed to have healed better, too. 

You were well aware that you were staring at him, but without embarrassment, you noticed those purple marks that were on his neck that he was vainly trying to hide with the collar of his jacket. Niragi did not move, even if he felt like a statue frozen under the glance of Medusa who would have changed him suddenly into stone. 

He seemed to have the weight of the world on his shoulders. As if his life was only about surviving under the threat that the depths of the earth would swallow him whole. He was unhappy, it was written on his face. It was so easy to read, his aches and worries were crystal clear. 

"I think I've been here before," you admitted after a moment, looking away to look into the distance. "It was raining like crazy, it wouldn't stop. I've been here, on the roof of one of these shacks, like this one. I was standing at the edge, waiting for a train to come. I told myself that I would throw myself under the first one that came by." He would listen intently, and you would tell your little story as if no one could hear you. As if no onlooker could judge you. "I waited, and waited, and waited. I waited so long that after a while it stopped raining. And no train ever came. With the storm, a power pole fell on the tracks and froze all traffic."

If he was surprised by your sudden confession, he said nothing except, "So, what did you do?" 

"I went down, got on the subway and went home. I took a shower, heated up some ramen and went to bed. The next day, I went back to work, as if nothing had happened." It wasn't as hard to admit all this as you thought it would be. In fact, it made it much more trivial than you were making it out to be up to now.

Niragi was looking at you carefully now. Perhaps he had forgotten why he felt so intimidated until now, as if your story had made him realize that you were not so different from each other after all. "Why didn't you try to do it again?" 

A smile played on your lips as you finally met his eyes. He looked intrigued, really, as if the reason you were about to give him would help him understand why you were here. "Don't you understand?" He frowned. "I was looking for a sign from the universe, at the time. And the universe gave me one. There were no trains that day." He didn't seem to understand any more despite your explanation. "And today the universe is sending you a sign, too." 

"Really?" He looked around suddenly, as if the sign was written somewhere in big letters with arrows and neon lights that would tell him what it was. 

A real chuckle came out of your mouth this time, which called Niragi to order and his disbelieving eyes landed on you again. "What do you think I'm doing here?" It was a bit pretentious to consider yourself a sign of the universe, true, but if it would make Niragi understand that he wasn't alone, then why not. 

You didn't understand this sudden urge to want to help him. Maybe his frightened look reminded you too much of your own, or the way he was so insecure made you want to protect him from all the thugs in the world. He didn't seem to be able to defend himself, or even brave enough to save his own life in case of a violent altercation. 

Perhaps he had felt like he had grown wings that evening when you left the bar. Anyway, he was intriguing and mysterious, and that made him attractive, somehow. It was nothing sexual, far from it, it was just an undeniable attraction that would be only justified by the way he acted and the way he was. "Tell me a little bit about yourself. What do you do for a living, Niragi?"

"I... I don't have a job yet. Truth be told, I graduate tomorrow. And... I have a job interview, first thing Monday." 

"That's great, congratulations!" You were suddenly getting enthusiastic, but Niragi didn't seem any more excited than that at the thought. On the contrary, he seemed rather dreadful about both events. "Why would you want to throw yourself under a train the day before graduation?" 

His attention turned back to you, as if you had just said the forbidden words. Okay, there had been this sort of silent agreement that had determined Niragi's presence here, but saying it out loud made it sound much duller and dreary than he found it to be. "I don't know, why wait?" 

"Mmh, fair enough." you contemplated the answer as you began to play with the hem of your sweater. It was true that if he wanted to do the unthinkable, the events to come were no longer important in the cycle of life. Nothing mattered anymore, nothing was expected or hoped for. "What's that degree about, anyway?" 

"Video game engineering," he then explained, glad to see you weren't arguing the point further. "I promise you, it's not as nerdy as it sounds. It's mostly coding and math, really." 

"Sounds pretty nerdy to me," you joked and for the first time, Niragi smiled. It was a nice smile, reserved and blushing on his cheekbones, but it was cute and it made you smile too. It was nice to know that you had the ability to provoke that in him, it was a kind of proof that finally the joy had not totally disappeared in him.

A dog barked in the distance, a car honked, still no train. 

"Do you have a family?" you asked after a few seconds of silence, once your little laughter had died down.

"It's just me and my sister. She keeps asking me for money that I don't have..." 

Niragi didn't give any more information and you felt it would almost be inappropriate to ask him more, like where his parents were and how he ended up alone with his sister. Maybe that was a story for another time. "What's her name?" 

"Sarika. She's seventeen, and she's a spoiled brat."

Once again, you let out a small laugh, "Ha, I remember when I was seventeen, I was a spoiled brat, too." 

Niragi laughed a little bit. He seemed to finally, finally relax a bit and feel comfortable with you. He probably felt that finally you were not a malicious soul and that you were not there to hurt him. That was rare for him, and somewhere along the line, he feared it would only be a short-lived pleasure. "I don't picture you like that at all, though." 

"Oh believe me, I gave my grandmother a run for her money," you explained with a shorter breath, recalling the few memories of your teenage years. "The cops brought me home more than once, it was a real mess..." 

There was that intriguing little look that gilded in Niragi's eyes that betrayed his desire to know more, and unless he was mistaken, he would never dare ask you anything about your personal life. Even though you had made a lot of effort to be interested in his own life, he was afraid to ask you about your own, fearing to break through the boundaries. What boundaries, he didn't know. But it felt like there were, and he would be extremely angry at himself for inadvertently crossing them. 

"My grandmother raised me," you would finally explain, and Niragi was relieved to hear you say it, and that he didn't need to ask you. "Turns out my mom was a spoiled brat, too. Except she never grew up and fled her responsibilities. I think she's somewhere on a boat in Indonesia, last I heard."

"What about your dad?" he finally asked, swearing to himself that he was an absolute dick for letting his mouth speak before his brain could stop him. 

"No idea, I never met him. I don't think my mom even knows who he is..." To Niragi's eyes, you didn't seem angry about the question, on the contrary, it seemed to make you happy that he was interested in you too. And it was true, he had finally let go, or at least forgotten why he came here. As if finally, all he needed was for someone to talk to him and be interested in who he was. 

For the first time in his life, Niragi felt seen. Many people looked at him, saw him walking down the street with his head down, his teachers watched him attend their classes, and his attackers watched him being abused and tortured by their own hands - but here, and now, Niragi was seen. And God, did it feel good. 

"Fuck, that sucks..." He let out and instantly led his hands over his mouth, as if that would wipe away what he had just said. You laughed broadly at his wide eyes, fear and dread taking a new place in the middle of his irises. "I... I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that..." 

"Don't worry about it. You're right, it does suck..." You laughed so hard at the tips of his ears turning a shameful red that it caused a bar in your stomach that made it hard to breathe.

Niragi avoided your gaze again, his lips closed to keep himself from saying something stupid again. There was still no train approaching and for a moment Niragi wondered if another electric pole had collapsed on the tracks, which would have caused a total stop of traffic, at least for the day. However, or as if to prove him wrong, the silhouette of a train appeared on the horizon, at last. It was coming at full speed, the perspective getting bigger and bigger as it got closer. The horn sounded loudly, and Niragi stared at it. 

He stared at the way the wheels squeaked against the rails and the way the cars moved in a turbulent way due to the speed of the machine. He had been waiting for this moment all day. As soon as he woke up this morning and made his decision. He had thought about it during his computer class, during lunch and all the way here. He had made his decision, it was today. 

But as the train headed towards you, the urge to jump seemed to get further and further away. It all seemed insignificant now. And your eyes sticking to his skin burned him harder than the sun in summer. He couldn't describe how he felt, except lost. 

The train passed by, and threw a huge warm wind between you two. His hair ruffled and the bottom of your skirt flew up so hard that you had to hold the fabric back before it exposed your thighs. Then the train drove away, leaving a new space for emptiness and silence as it moved further to the other direction.

You didn't need to point out the fact that he hadn't jumped. There was no reason to ask why or how that was. That wasn't important, far from it. What was important was that Niragi was still sitting beside you. He was there. He was definitely there. 

"There are five guys from my school waiting for me every week when I get out of class." He would open his mouth after a moment and the next words he would say sounded not like a confession, but like an explanation. "They're waiting for me and they're harassing me. They're making a meeting with me under the bridge, near the river. If I don't come, then the next time will be much worse." 

You listened attentively, your gaze on his fragile figure. He looked like a little boy, frightened by the grip of a strict parent. 

"I tried to stand up to them, but there are too many of them. I'm no match for those... those... assholes." Niragi's eyes were glued to his hands, and his voice was starting to shake again. His face was hidden by his hair that fell over his cheeks, preventing you from seeing that tears were beginning to bead at the corners of his eyes. "They... they torture me and beat me. I... I don't know what to do anymore to stop this madness." 

He wasn't waiting for an answer, you knew that. He sniffed. A pause. Then he continued.

"They make me a target out of me and have fun throwing baseballs at me. Fifty points in the intimate parts, a hundred points in the face. They... they're the ones who pierced my eyebrow, I was never on that fucking train that derailed last month," he was crying his eyes out now, you could hear it in the sound of his voice. Even though he still refused to look at you, you didn't even dare move, afraid that it would scare him into saying anything more. "I... made it all up because I was too ashamed!" 

You didn't know why he suddenly felt the need to speak out about it all either, but if it helped take any weight off his shoulders, then you were willing to accept offering a listening ear willingly.

"They wanted to make me eat rice that they had peed on before, and...and when I refused, they pierced my tongue with a syringe they found in the garbage." It was absolutely horrifying. So much so that it sent shivers down your spine. Who could be cruel enough to inflict that on another human being. 

Niragi wasn't the bravest or the strongest, but to take advantage of a man's distress to inflict his most outlandish ideas on him was something you couldn't describe as anything but inhumane. It was simply shameful to be like that. Your hands became sweaty, your breath short as you hung on every word Niragi said.

"I don't know what to do anymore... I wanted it to stop... I wanted this nightmare to stop," Nigari took his head in his hands, sobbing his heart out. He didn't care if you judged him or laughed at him for crying like that (he'd heard he cried like a little girl too many times before), and now nothing mattered but the weight of a bowling ball that seemed to flatten his heart and lungs.

You didn't know what to do either. What to do against such a confession? The sound of your heart breaking into a thousand pieces could be heard over Niragi's sobs that caused his body to shake frantically. So that was the reason for his unhappiness and uneasiness, the reason why he had come here today. 

That was the reason you had met him on the subway and followed him. Today was the day it was all supposed to start. It wasn't the end, after all - it wasn't the day Niragi would throw himself under the train tracks. No, it would be the first day of the rest of his life, the day you would help him defend himself, and face those bullies. It was a day of beginning, and a day of change. 

Yes, it was decided. It was today. 

So you got up from your spot to walk the few dozen centimeters that separated you, and Niragi was startled by your touch, the one that encircled his face and pressed him against your chest. At first he tried to struggle, but with a word of encouragement on the tip of your lips and a gentle voice, he finally rested against you. You could feel the tears running down his cheeks into your neck, and the embrace you were offering him caused him to sob a little harder. He was clutching your sweater so tightly, as if he was afraid you would suddenly go away and leave him alone again. 

But you wouldn't leave. Not now. That was out of the question. 

He needed help, he was in distress. And you would never leave someone in distress to fend for themselves. It was too hard, much too hard. You knew that.

"I'm here, Niragi, I'm not leaving. Look, I'm staying with you." you held him close, "Shh, I'm here."

And he cried, and cried again, until there was not a single drop left to pour. 

////////////////////////////////////

Are you guys still there? It feels like the fandom is dying… Where are my Niragi stans at yo???

Okay okay; so I made this a part two of the previous' chapter, just cause it felt more like a follow up than a next chapter; and I didn't have the time to write it last time and update it so soon so that's why I made 2 parts

Anyways; next chapter, I promise we'll get back to the borderlands and light some shit up

Please don't hesitate to comment cause that's basically the only thing I live for and I really need that to keep me going from writing <3

Nageoire

[bts-story]

hi! how are you? i’m really enjoying your fic bur i wanted to wait until it was finished to keep reading it. do you have any idea of how many chapters you’re gonna make? thank you :))

Hiiii!! I’m running a little cold, but I’m fine 😅 How are you?

Oh my goddddd; should I know how many chapters I’m writing??! I feel like I’m just rolling with it, without really knowing when it’s gonna end

Just ‘cause, originally, I basically just wanted to write the whole show but just by Niragi’s and Y/N’s pov 😭 It feels way too long now

I really don’t have an answer for you, I’m so sorry!! I think I’ll try to keep this short, and get into it more quickly cause I don’t think people are gonna wait for that story for long anyways haha

- Nageoire

[bts-story]

LOVE IS CHAOS

Previous chapters

Chapter 9 - Memories from above

You pulled back the white curtain with a sudden yank, revealing a man in his early twenties. He was lying on one of the hospital beds, several compresses in his mouth, blood-soaked absorbent cotton sticking out of his lips. 

"Hello, I'm Dr. Ito. I'll be taking care of you today," you stated without much will, the weight of the long night of emergencies you had spent written on the dark circles under your eyes. 

The man could not speak, he was lying motionless. He was wearing a black university outfit that was somewhat torn in some places, the collar of his white shirt stained with blood. The glasses over his eyes were cracked, a panicked look through the lenses. One of his sleeves was rolled up where a needle was stuck in it, connected to a morphine bag. There was also a beeper around his finger that monitored his heartbeat. 

You had his file in your hands and as you read the information, you said, "So, Niragi Suguru, is that right?" A grunt was heard, "It says here that you slipped on the subway stairs, and bit your tongue when you fell." Another groan. "Okay, let's look at this together, shall we?" 

The student straightened up on the bed and with a frantic look on his face, he looked at you apprehensively as you pulled on a pair of new latex gloves. You gently removed the cotton pads from his mouth one by one, being careful not to hurt him. 

With a small flashlight, you inspected his mouth. 

There was a lot of blood, his white teeth covered with a scarlet color. His tongue was so swollen that it took up most of the space in his mouth. In the middle there was a huge infected hole, redness all around and in some places the tongue turned white. 

It was very odd, the way the hole had formed, something you didn't think would happen the way he described it. "Are you sure you got that from falling down the stairs? It looks more like a piercing that got infected..." 

The man named Niragi muttered from the back of his throat, which you could understand as an affirmation that what he was saying was true. 

It was hard to believe, and as a doctor, it was crucial to know exactly how a patient had been injured in order to determine how to properly treat them. It was impossible to get a gaping hole like that on a tongue just by running down a flight of stairs. The hole pierced his tongue, like a needle that had forced its way through. 

Brow furrowed, you pulled your hands away from his mouth, seeking the student's frightened gaze. "Excuse me," you sighed in a weary, tired tone, not really buying his shit, "I can't treat you if you're lying to me."

You were tired of all those patients who didn't face their own stupidity. Just last night, a man had come in, his genitals bloody, claiming that he had cut himself while shaving. Only to find out that no, it was his dog that had bitten him while he was masturbating. You didn't give a damn about their two-bit stories, you didn't even have time to laugh about them because the workload on your shoulders was so enormous.

From your point of view, it was just a waste of time playing Sherlock Holmes to find out how their nonsense had come true, and less time spent in the shower or in your bed. 

The man on the bed had an angelic face, fine features drawn with care. He had a soft but panicked look, a piercing on his eyebrow that contrasted with the shyness with which he looked at you. He avoided your eyes at all costs, as if the ember in your gaze could burn him to the ground. 

"Hey, I recognize you, though! You were on the train that derailed, right?" You'd seen that same frightened face before, a face you never really would have noticed if not for the way his lips trembled every time you addressed him. 

It wasn't that you were used to being wooed, drunk guys hitting on you while you were sewing their nonsense didn't count, but it wasn't that often that a man would blush so easily just at the sound of your voice. There was that pink tinge to his cheeks as blood began to leak from his lip. 

Niragi shook his head from side to side, waving his hands in protest. This accident had happened about ten days before, and at the memory of that shy head avoiding your gaze, you remembered, "But... I sewed your brow back on, I think. Why did you put a piercing there?" 

Indeed, on closer inspection, you could see the skin of his eyebrow tugged where you'd sewn it back on, as if the stitches had been ripped out deliberately. The piercing wasn't fully healed, you could see it clearly, where the bruised skin was still red. 

You had enough experience, even if it was still short, to know that this kind of injury was often not an accident. You had already seen quite a few patients, and in any case, the emergency room was full of different cases. But this kind of wound was often the result of an intentional action. 

There was a fright in Niragi's eyes as he tried to hide behind a false imposing look. His lips trembled and the blood finally trickled down his chin. The fingers of his hand absentmindedly played with the dead skin around his fingernails, and if you concentrated hard enough, you could surely hear the sound of his heartbeat beating against the bones of his rib cage. 

"You didn't fall down the stairs, did you?" you stated softly, as if the realization had just hit you hard. You understood, and sadly, you completed, "And you weren't on the derailed train either, right?" 

It was still impossible for Niragi to speak, his mouth on fire as his frightened gaze slowly turned into a shameful and demeaning sight. There was no point in lying now as you had unraveled the mystery around his wounds. 

"Who did this to you?" You asked tenaciously, forgetting that he couldn't really talk. "Did you go to the police?" 

It was too much for him all at once. He'd spent so much time hiding his pain and torment from the world, that suddenly being noticed made him lose his nerve. He had only one thing on his mind now: to disappear. He tried to get up from the bed, ready to run away as far as possible, away from his problems and away from the questions you were asking him. 

"Hey whoa, where are you going?" You were trying to hold him back, pushing him back against the bed as he tried to walk past you. 

He was ashamed, so ashamed to be a man who let himself be bullied like that. He wasn't a man, no, anyway, he was a nobody. A worthless piece of shit, just a piece of trash. 

But he had gotten up so fast that his vision wavered, his head carried away in a tornado that spun, spun, spun. Niragi's hands were sweaty and his breath was coming hard into his lungs. The very idea of someone learning what he was going through every day, like a victim to his abusers made him feel as tiny as a speck of salt. 

"Easy, easy," you pushed him against the mattress and Niragi blinked, as if trying to chase away the black dots that obstructed his vision. He hadn't reported it, but the way his mouth was eating him from the inside out was a pain that was very hard to bear. 

The infection was itching, scratching and making his tongue throb unbearably. 

He remained motionless on the mattress then, and looking in the cupboard of the small emergency room, you searched for some mild morphine to inject into his IV. This should be enough to ease his pain for another hour or two, without overdosing him on drugs. 

You picked up a pack of new compresses, wetting them with saline before placing them gently on his swollen tongue. There was also the ointment you were looking for, which you put on the small table next to it to use in a few minutes. You glanced at the monitor that was beeping very softly over his head to check that his vitals were satisfactory enough before turning your attention back to him. 

Niragi had opened his eyes again, his gaze fixed straight ahead on the wall in front of him, as if he had finally accepted the inevitability that he couldn't defend himself. "I... sorry," you apologized after a few minutes in a soft, repentant voice, "It's none of my business, I... I shouldn't have asked you all those questions."

It was kind of embarrassing to have to follow up after an accusation like that. You had been far too intrusive and even if it was just a projection of your good heart that only wanted to help him, he must have been a big enough boy to stand up for himself. You had a mountain of work to do anyway and your job was to care for the patients who came to you. You weren't a cop or a social worker. 

The student didn't say anything, he couldn't talk anyway. But he let himself be treated without moving much, and once you had applied the ointment to his tongue, you gave the instructions that he should not close his mouth while the product was working. This should not have taken more than fifteen minutes, enough time for you to go and see another patient before coming back to see him. 

You had gone to see an old lady in her fifties who had almost torn her finger off with a kitchen knife while cutting her carrots. The skin was split down to the bone, the ligaments and nerves visible as clearwater. All that needed to be done was to change her bandages, which had been soaked with blood for several hours. 

Exactly twenty-two minutes later, you were heading back to Niragi's gurney. The patient from before had taken a little longer, and she kept moaning every time you touched her. She was a little bitch, according to you, and you would have let her know that if she didn't threaten to complain to your superior. A cunt, yes, that was the word. 

"Shit, where did this one go?" The student's bed was empty, the rumpled sheets flipped over on the gurney. There was not a single thing of him left, only the bloody compresses littered the small table set on the side of the bed. 

You turned around to look around, searching with your eyes in the middle of all those mattresses and patients if Niragi was not there. "Irina," you called a little further, your young colleague with very short hair and a white coat who looked up from her own patient, looking annoyed (it was a young boy who was holding his stomach, twisted with pains), "Have you seen the patient in bed 32? He was here fifteen minutes ago..." 

"I don't know, Doctor Tanaka went around the beds earlier, see with him," she replied in an annoyed tone, trying to focus on the child in front of her who was giving her trouble cooperating. 

So you headed to the counter where the nurses were hanging out updating all the patient files. The head doctor, your superior, was leaning against the counter, a forgotten file in his hands as he flirted shamelessly with one of the obviously embarrassed nurses. "Excuse me, doctor, did you see a young student come out of here? He was in bed 32 with an infected tongue wound..." 

The doctor wasn't listening to a word you were saying, too busy giving indecent looks to another nurse who was walking by. You wanted to raise your eyes to the sky so high that they would fall off, but that was risking getting caught in the act for nothing, which would generate a reflection from him that was far too justified for your taste. 

"Doctor Tanaka?" You repeated and the man finally looked at you, looking at you from head to toe as if you were nothing but a piece of dirt on the toe of his shoe. "Have you seen the patient in bed 32? Niragi Suguru?"

"Yeah, the guy wanted to leave so I discharged him." he explained in a weary tone, a smile playing on his lips as he turned his attention back to the nurse. 

"But... We had to keep him at least overnight, his tongue was completely infected and -" 

"Look, doctor... [Y/L/N]," he was looking for your name on your name tag that adored your chest, as if it hadn't been two years since you worked with him, "This is a hospital, not a prison. The guy wanted to leave, I let him go, okay? I think you still have work to do anyway." 

It was an order to end the conversation, you could hear it clearly in the sound of his voice that left no room for an argument. Disappointed and annoyed (he really was the worst asshole in your eyes), you held back a sigh before turning on your heels. 

It wasn't so much the fact that your patient's injury intrigued you, nor how and why it happened to him, but it was your instinct as a doctor that was outraged that you couldn't treat this injury properly. You knew he would have a hard time getting it to heal, and if he didn't treat his tongue right, it could lead to an irreparable fatality. 

"Hey, doctor," the head doctor called over his shoulder as you began to walk away, "next time you question what I'm doing, there will be a sanction. Is that clear?" 

Clear as a bell.

It was no longer your problem. Whatever you thought, Niragi's life was out of your hands and you couldn't legislate any longer on something that didn't concern you. And it should have stayed that way. Yes, you should never have met him a third time, because not only was it far too easy to call it a coincidence, but the way it happened was completely unacceptable.

"You've got a face, old girl, you do need to sleep..." Kana had said exactly one hour and twenty-seven minutes later in the absolutely dingy bar she had chosen to spend the evening. She was a young woman with very long black hair, often styled in braids, with a mole on her upper lip and always wearing make-up for any occasion, whatever it was.

You gave her an annoyed look as you sat down next to her, completely ignoring the way she was gently mocking you. "Yeah, and yet, here I am," you replied because she was the one who insisted that you come for a drink, just one drink, just to relax from the twenty-four hours of being on call that had absolutely wiped you out. It wasn't a bad idea, if only the softness of your mattress didn't seem to scream your name across town.

"Good thing I'm a golden friend and ordered you a lager, no ice, in a tall glass," she recited with a big smile on her face, proud to remember what you liked to sip on to take the edge off. 

With a smile of contentment, you took the drink in your hands and once at your lips, the smell alone was enough to appreciate how this beverage would help you relax your shoulders. 

You drank the beer with one sip, two, then three and finally, in no time, you finished all the liquid that went down your throat as easily as water. "Fuck, take it easy, are you nuts?" Kana commented, incredulous to see your glass empty as you set it back down on the table with a thud. You caught your breath quickly, wiping the corner of your mouth with the back of your sleeve. It wasn't exactly a very feminine gesture, you could admit, "Was the week really that hard?" 

"You have no idea."

It was a good evening, after all, Kana always had a smile on her lips and the right word to cheer you up. Even if finally, the way she kept trying to push you into the arms of this handsome stranger who had been devouring you with his eyes for the last twenty minutes or so annoyed you slightly. "Come on, just go ahead, don't be such a buzzkill!" 

"No, are you crazy? Look at me, I don't have my hair done, I don't have any makeup on, I just came off a twenty-four hour shift, I look like shit..." you were trying to argue, trying to ignore the dark eyes of this man who wasn't focusing on his own friends anymore but on you. 

"That's right, if he's interested in you now, imagine his face when you come out with it..." she had that laugh in the back of her throat that made you roll your eyes. 

And even though this man with short jet-black hair, pronounced facial structure and muscles visible through the fabric of his shirt, looked absolutely gorgeous (he was surely a very respectable man), you didn't have the courage to accept the advances he was making. 

"A Sex on the Beach from the gentleman over there," a waiter was coming to bring you a red colored cocktail, with a straw and a cut pineapple on the edge of the glass. Kana's penetrating gaze insisted that you were far too much of a killjoy for her taste. Meeting the man's gaze nonetheless, he raised his glass in a gesture of cheers, before sipping his own drink. 

"Honestly, you need to chill out, and there's a beautiful fucking stud right there to send you over the edge. What are you waiting for?" Kana was seriously insisting, and it's true that a good little one-night stand could bring you down in a way that alcohol couldn't. 

But no, not then, not now. Not tonight. 

"And you, you need to get off my back," you'd reply wearily, praying that she'd finally decide to move on. She still had that smile that made it impossible to be angry with her. You knew it was only her job as your best friend that made her like that, like a guardian who had to make sure your sex life didn't lose its importance. 

"Are you crazy? No way," she echoed, laughing out loud, looking proud and petty. 

You squinted at her, pushing the offered drink away in disgust, "I don't drink vodka anyway, so..." 

Even though she didn't say anything, you knew Kana wasn't done with you. When she had something on her mind, it was very rare to succeed in changing her mind. And tonight she had decided that sooner or later she would get you to fuck a guy. It was all the more tiring to have to deal with her when you were so exhausted that you needed at least a dozen hours of sleep.

"You don't know what you're losing," she said as she took a sip of the drink, offering a nod of thanks to the guy who was chasing you from afar. You stood up, grabbing your coat and pulling it over your shoulders, your bag in your hand, "I'm not done with you, [Y/N]. You're going to give in, sooner or later." 

You nodded so as not to contradict her. You didn't have the courage to argue about anything anymore, so you had to go home quickly. "Bye," you sang to ignore her accusing look, waving your hand in goodbye. 

"Love you, bye," Kana called as you walked further and further away from the table. 

You pushed your way through the crowd at the bar, trying to make your way to the exit. The trip home was not supposed to be more than ten minutes, but the sight of the pouring rain that was suddenly raging over the city of Tokyo made you swear under your breath. Your shoes were way too thin to keep them from getting wet, you didn't have an umbrella because the weatherman hadn't really predicted this nightly downpour (or maybe he had, but you wouldn't admit that you hadn't looked at the day's weather forecast for a few days already), and to top it all off, you didn't have a single penny in your pocket to take a bus and avoid this walk. 

"Hey, wait," you'd hear far behind you as you took only about ten steps up the street. Behind you, the handsome stallion from the bar was running with small steps to catch up with you, a smile on the corner of his lips, "'Hi,'" he chuckled as he reached your level.

Unconsciously, you sighed. You already knew what he was going to say or ask before he did. Not that you had developed a mind-reading superpower, but you didn't have to be Einstein to deduce why. 

"I... my name is Kenji, I have..." It seemed that in the end, he himself didn't know what he wanted to say. He scratched the back of his head absentmindedly, and he could hardly sustain your insistent gaze as you watched him intently. His voice was deep, and he towered over you by at least twenty inches, as if he had giant genes coursing through his veins. "I couldn't help but notice you in the bar earlier and..." Yeah, okay, so what? "I wanted to know if it was possible to get your number..."

A group of friends walked by you, their laughter loud and clear. You were embarrassed that you had to turn him down like that, if only he hadn't had the courage to run after you. "I'm sorry, I have to go home..."

It wasn't really a refusal, or just a way to get around a flat no to justify that in any case, he wouldn't get what he asked for. You turned on your heels quickly, resuming your walk and hoping that he would let it go. 

"Please," he called behind you and you continued to walk away. "Can I at least get your name?" 

It wouldn't have been unpleasant to be chased like that if only it were another day, another time. But fatigue was clouding your brain and preventing you from giving any information to this man who surely deserved a tiny chance. 

"Wait, I just wanted to - Argh, what the - Argh!" He shouted behind you suddenly and with a jump you turned around to see what was going on. This man named Kenji was on the ground on all fours, head down against the ground. Next to him was another man, a little shorter than him, with hair plastered against his cheeks that stuck out of his hood, a black hoodie and in his hand, a gray box that he was clutching with all his might. 

It was him. The patient from this morning with the infected tongue, standing in front of his victim, taser still activated as he looked at you with round eyes. "Oh my God," you exclaimed as you rushed over to Kenji, helping him up. "Is everything all right?" you asked but the man couldn't articulate a single word, shocked and immobilized with pain. 

Niragi stood frozen in place, as if he himself could not believe what he had just done. He took a step backwards, then a second one and finally, taking his legs to his neck, he ran down the street with all his strength and disappeared in the distance. 

"Who the fuck was that freak?" Kenji articulated with difficulty, trying to stand on his two legs that were still shaking from the shock. 

Searching in the distance for Niragi's silhouette, you didn't have the words to give an answer to the question. Even though you knew the identity of the aggressor, you wondered how all this could have happened. What was he doing there? Why had he done this? Where had he been? How did he get there? 

What made Niragi Suguru attack a man who was just talking to you?

//////// / / / / //////// / / ///// ///

Let's take this back a few years and admire how insecure Niragi was before being his now-self; kinda cute though no?

I hate ending chapters like, I never know how to do this shit -sighs-

Nageoire

[bts-story]

LOVE IS CHAOS

masterlist / previous chapters

CHAPTER EIGHT - EIGHT OF CLUBS 3

The way to Ninomaru Gardens was not very long. It only took about ten minutes of walking before you came to a small garden full of flowers and bushes of all kinds that colored the ground with the colors of the rainbow. You could have easily marveled at the beauty of the garden if only the fatality of the game didn't weigh so heavily on your shoulders. 

"According to the map, the flag should be located on the bridge that crosses the pond, right there," you pointed toward the path that led to the green, muddy pond that lay before you. 

The pond was large and swampy and indeed, in the middle of the bridge that crossed it, was the opposing team's blue flag, guarded by the old man with the loose hip. You frowned at the sight of the man. If you were them, you certainly wouldn't have put that player there to guard the flag. He was slow, tired and you would never bet on him to hold a fist fight. 

"Okay, let's go over the plan one more time. Jun, you're going to step in front of the old man to draw him away from the flag," at the call of his name, the man stared you straight in the eye, his head nodding up and down to support his understanding. "Me, I'll sneak up to the flag and Ann will stay back to cover us if needed. Is that clear to everyone?" 

Shyly, the man raised his hand in the air, like a student asking permission to speak in the classroom. "Uh...once the gentleman is far enough away from the flag, I... what do I do?" 

"You keep him at a distance," Ann explained, simply. 

"Yes, but... how?" 

"I don't know, be creative. Your only job is to get him away from the flag. The rest, you figure out on your own." It was a firm and perhaps a bit aggressive answer, but time was running out and not a second should be wasted. 

"The red team's flag has been stolen. The advantage goes to the blue team." 

"What?!" It was hard for the thirty-year-old to keep the surprise from his mouth and you exclaimed aggressively, demanding silence instantly. 

Firmly gripping one of the hunting knives in her hand, Ann called back to order, "This doesn't change the plan. Stay focused." It was hard enough for you not to think too much about why the flag had just been stolen. You were just as surprised and somehow a little bit annoyed too. You wondered what the reasons were that Niragi and Chishiya had not been able to defend your base. 

If the blue-haired girl had stayed at the bridge, the one with the braid had gone to your prison and the old man was there, in front of you, then it meant that the foreigner and the bearded sportsman were the ones who had gone to break into your camp. So it was a two-on-two fight, and you knew that Chishiya was not a very athletic guy but he was stealthy enough to defend himself. As for Niragi, he would have given anything to avoid this catastrophe, even if it meant hurting one of the opposing players if necessary.

"Ann is right, we must act quickly. They still have to return to their base, the game is not over." you added before rising from the foliage and leaving in the direction of the other side of the bank. You could hear Ann whisper a word of support to the man as he took courage before stepping forward and out of the shadows. 

You didn't have a chance to see how this part of the plan was going, you had to get to the other entrance of the bridge quickly. And when you got to the other side, you pursed your lips as you saw your teammate trying to draw the old man away from the flag. You were too far away to hear what he was saying, but it seemed to work. The man struggled to keep up with the young man and you were amazed at how easily he abandoned his post. 

Once you judged that the man was far enough away, you dashed across the dock, the sound of your shoes crashing heavily on the pond-wet wood. The blue flag was in your hands, and as you pulled the stick out, you saw the blue-haired girl take her place at the entrance to the bridge, from where you had passed seconds earlier. 

"The blue team's flag has been stolen. The teams are tied." 

The teenager had her arms crossed over her chest, with a smug, satisfied look on the end of her face. You wondered if this was part of their strategy, if her position on the first bridge had been a deliberate choice, as if you absolutely had to see her before you could move on. It was smart, if you knew she was there, you wouldn't wait for her here. 

The other side of the bridge was still crowded with the old man and Jun who was trying to draw the old man further away. But he was not fooled, apparently, and going back little by little, it turned out that you were finally trapped. There was no way out, and Ann wasn't coming out of the bushes. What the hell was she doing? 

Now was the time to come out of hiding. This was now the 'case of need', why wasn't she coming? 

The blue-haired girl was moving dangerously close with every step she took, and the only way to escape her was to jump into the water. So stepping over the wooden railing, you secured the flag in your hands before diving into the pool of green foam. The water was just as cold as the river, just as dirty and just as disgusting. Still, you tried to swim as fast as you could as the teenager leaned over the railing as if superpowers could help her bring you back. 

You were so focused on your swim that you didn't see the shocked look on her face, as if the choice of jumping into the water was far more dangerous than facing her. But she didn't jump into the water, she didn't do anything to catch you as a smile began to form on her face. 

There were ripples in the water that were not due to the breaststroke movements you were making to get out of the algae that littered the surface of the pond. It didn't take long to notice this little detail, and as you continued to swim back to shore, you sensed that something was wrong. Like... you weren't alone in the water. 

It wasn't another player, no, it was more like... 

Two bright eyes staring at you curiously. Right there, at the edge of the water, exactly where you were heading, there was a cracked skin so green that it blended perfectly with all the surrounding mud. The gaping mouth of a crocodile opened wide to show its teeth and closed so fast that you could hear the water crunch under its steel jaw. 

These were crocodile-infested waters.

Turning back, the adrenaline that coursed through every vessel in your body echoed in your ears. Your heart was beating so hard against your rib cage that it was suddenly almost impossible to breathe. The pond was vast and reaching another shore seemed impossible if there were other crocodiles in the way. 

The flag was still in your hands, which disturbed your swim. The crocodile came after you, its paws used to swim in these waters. He was closing in so fast that you could feel his sharp fangs digging into your flesh before it even happened. You would wait for the pain of its jaw to tighten around one of your legs at any moment until... 

Bang! Bang! 

Bang! Bang Bang!

Shots rang out and crashed into the water and then onto the animal's body, the beast's blood quickly spread into the water. The animal moaned in pain, still eager to tear up its next fresh meal. Another shot, one more, and at last Ann had her hands held out in front of her, a single handgun in her grip as she aimed at the crocodile with remarkable accuracy. 

"Get out of the water, hurry!" She shouted from the water's edge, and behind her, the blue-haired girl was closing in just as quickly, hasty in her attempt to neutralize her by capturing her. But Ann turned quickly and pointing her gun at the young teenager, she fired. 

The girl sprawled against the ground, screaming in pain as the bullet pierced through her thigh. 

"Quick, we need to get back to base camp!" Ann shouted as she helped you out of the water, grabbing your arm to pull you up. Her eyebrow was cracked, blood was running down her temple, and her lower lip was swollen where it had surely been hit. Blood had been wiped from around her nose and her previously white shirt was now draped with mud and seaweed. 

You didn't have time to thank her or even ask her where she'd been and what had happened to her, you ran in the opposite direction, the blue flag still in your hands. Knowing where she got the gun wasn't your priority either, the only thing that mattered was that you were still alive and that you had to do everything to keep it that way. 

Your denim pants were sticking to your skin, and your t-shirt deserved a good spin, but you had to hurry before the other team came back. 

You no longer cared about the fifth man on your team, leaving him where he was, alone on the other side. It was up to him to take his legs and run away (and he was facing an old man, he should be fine in logic), and in any case, that was the least of your worries, at that point. 

Arriving at the bridge that crossed the river, the way was clear, you now had to enter the forest again that separated you from your base camp. Through the trees, a race against time had now begun. 

In the distance, the silhouette of a man with your red flag in his hands could be seen in the shadows of the foliage, followed by Niragi who was running frantically behind him trying to catch up. He easily stepped over roots and obstacles in his path, his eyes focused on the bearded man in front of him. 

Coming to a halt in front of the scene, Ann cocked her weapon and with a determined look on her face, she exclaimed, "Go ahead, I'll take care of him!" 

She took off in pursuit of the other man and you headed back west, toward the impartial residence.

"Jun Masahashi, you have been captured. Please turn yourself in to the blue prison." 

You had to ignore this new information and focus on the obstacles that were obstructing the fluidity of your run. Air was barely getting into your lungs, cardio had never been your strong suit even with the hours of training you did each week. It was one thing to stay in shape, another to push yourself every day to aim higher. 

Another silhouette could be seen through the branches that the sun did not light well. You wondered if it was Chishiya who was dragging his feet, slowed down by his underused athletic abilities. Only, as you walked more and more meters, the build grew and grew and finally, you slowed down your pace until it was too late. 

Your eyes widened. The blood pressure coursing through your veins seemed to increase, enough to cause a pounding pulse in your neck. Suddenly, you couldn't hear a sound, and only the deafening sound of your own breathing blurred your ears. 

Majestic and imposing, stood a brown bear at least three meters tall. Right there, a few meters away from you, he was holding up the lifeless body of the man with the dark skin, torn to pieces. The animal's bloody maw looked at you curiously as it launched a fierce claw into the inert flesh of its victim. 

"Don't move." Niragi's calm voice echoed behind you as every muscle in your body froze. You didn't know when he'd turned back, you didn't know why he was there instead of stopping the other jerk with the red flag or why there was a fucking bear in the forest or even a crocodile in the pond.

As far as you knew, the palace gardens were not a zoo and there was absolutely no reason for wild animals to roam the imperial gardens. 

However, there was a crocodile in the pond and a ten-foot brown bear right in front of you. 

A branch snapped somewhere behind you and the bear roared groggily, or perhaps it was the deafening sound of its victim's bones cracking under the firm weight of its animal grip. "Back away slowly." Niragi ordered in a soft voice, as if the sound of his voice might launch the bear after you at any moment. 

You had to get that damn blue flag into your base camp enclosure at all costs or it would be game over for your team. However, the threat of the bear that was still savoring its fresh meal with ferocity created the possibility of not even having the chance to win this hellish game at all. 

Lifting one foot, you balanced for a few seconds before putting it down behind you, turning back. The mud on your wet shoes creaked in the wind as you took another step backwards, just as quickly and gently. 

One more step, and a hand encircled yours, Niragi's warm, fearless skin contrasted with yours, frozen from the water, and feverish from the fear that filled you.

Breathing in, breathing out very slowly to try to calm the frenzy of your heartbeat, a pressure built up around your hand and Niragi whispered, "He's hurt, see?" Indeed, now that you were looking at the bear's body and not his jaw, you noticed that there was a lot of blood mingling in his brown fur, in the middle of his thigh and on the side of his hips. Was it wounds that the opposing players had inflicted on him during their encounter, or was it a previous fight that had mutilated him like this? It was impossible to know, but what was certain was that if he ever came after you, it would slow him down greatly. "Take a good look at him. As soon as he turns his gaze to his food, we run. Got it?" 

You nodded.

"One..." 

Inhale. Exhale. 

"Two..." 

Staring. The heart that resounds. 

Bang! Bang Bang! Bang! 

The deafening sound of gunfire pierced the forest air, and the bear roared fiercely at the disturbance. His eyes fell on your two figures, his gaze hungry with the worry of being robbed of his meal. The bear's mouth opened and then closed, as it charged in your direction. 

"Fuck, run!" 

Your hands separated and your feet began to run. You didn't know by what miracle this had happened, but the good news was that you were running as far as your legs would allow. With your body still soaked and your clothes sticking to your skin, it made running much more difficult. 

The soles of your shoes were sinking and sticking in the mud, the water dripping from your shirt was trickling down your back and several strands of hair were whipping tenaciously across your forehead. 

You had to make a left, then a right, dodge a branch, don't stumble on the root straight ahead. To lower yourself under a huge branch, to run, always to run, to slip, no, to catch up just barely. Still running, still breathing, still straight. The flag, Niragi, the bear, the shots. The crocodile? No, a branch, a root, a crushed tree. A fox? A boar. 

The sound of the animal's shattering footsteps behind you. The silhouette of Niragi a few meters to your left. Running, running, running. 

"Kento Kiochi, you have been captured. Please surrender to the red prison."

The animal was getting dangerously close, and you were definitely not going to get a second's peace in this world of savages. There were no branches, roots or leaves blocking your path, but somehow you plunged headfirst into the muddy forest floor. Your forearms snapped open at the impact, and the side of your head slammed against the rocks that littered the ground, the flag slipping from your fingers. 

You could taste blood in your mouth, and the wild animal that suddenly covered you with all its imposing glory. Its claws were as wide as swords and its mouth was a bag of sharp teeth. The bear was dark, big and tall, with a face like a death mask hanging from a bone. Its eyes were like holes and its lips were dry, thin waterfalls. 

It was hard to focus on a way to escape, as the bear loomed like a storm hovering over your head, casting a shadow over everything else. There was your hunting knife pointing at your thigh, hidden in your pocket. But the beast was roaring fiercely and you knew that it was already too late, that the small weapon would do little to counter the danger of your opponent. 

A stone crashed into the side of the animal's mouth, and it roared at the shock it received. A second stone, then a third and Niragi was a few meters away, throwing and hurling everything he could find around him. Offering a warning with its paws, the bear almost forgot about the figure at its feet as it charged at whatever was attacking it. 

"That's it, come here Winnie the Pooh. Come here, little one," Seeing that the animal was finally coming after him as it tripped over his bloody thigh, Niragi started running with all his strength.  

The shadow of the beast gave way to the sun sneaking through the foliage of the trees, and it took a second to catch your breath. 

Niragi was insane. He was totally reckless to attract the beast like that, he had no more chance than you to escape it. And you could never forgive yourself if anything happened to him. So, getting up with difficulty because of your trembling legs, you went after them, grabbing the blue flag that was on the ground. 

There was the bridge ahead, the one the blue-haired girl was supposed to be guarding. There was no one in sight, of course, and Niragi ran the few yards of the structure, while the bear was still roaring ferociously behind him. It had been slowed down by its wounds, and thank God, that had probably saved Niragi's life. With its long legs and its imposing size, it would surely have made only one mouthful of him if it had been in shape. 

You didn't have to think about what to do next, that's why you jumped over the rock, a few meters away from the bear and dived into the cold water. It was quite foolish if there were also crocodiles in the river that you had not seen the first time, but it was either the crocs or the bear. The choice wasn't easy, but you still had to get across that damn bridge.

There were no crocodiles in sight and as you walked the few yards to the other side, Niragi was waiting for you at the water's edge, his feet covered by the ricochets. He put a hand around your hip, pulling you more easily to the edge. 

"Wait, wait," Niragi shouted to call out to you, and though the thought that Niragi might be hurt for any reason crossed your mind, you came to a halt so quickly that you almost lost your balance. 

He was short of breath, his shirt sticking to his chest with sweat from the run and the still unbearable sun beating down on his body. But he didn't seem hurt, and as he caught his breath, he pointed across the bridge at the bear. Frowning in fear that the beast would catch you, your gaze went to the animal standing on the other side of the bank. 

It had stopped short of the bridge, its front paws trying to grab whatever was out of its reach. Roaring, growling, it was as if crossing the bridge was impossible for him. A fear of bridges? Not likely. Abandonment? Even less likely. Prohibition from crossing the structure? Maybe, but by whom? 

A few meters behind the monster, you could make out through the branches of the forest, another bear, barely smaller, joining the animal's side. The two wild beasts roared one last time, circling to find a way through, and abandoning their post, they both returned to the forest, until they disappeared into the shadows. "Are you alright?" Niragi mumbled as his breath returned to a more normal rhythm, looking worried as he asked the question.

But you didn't take the time to answer clearly, as you resumed running, soaked again. "Come on, we have to go!" You wanted to hug Niragi, to tell him that yes, everything was fine even if you were completely shaken, disturbed by everything that had just happened. You wanted to make sure that he himself was not hurt and that he was unharmed, but it was impossible to waste a single second more. 

This part of the forest was much thicker and more difficult to walk through than Ninomaru Gardens. There was always the risk of running into another wild animal along the way, but the pressure this inflicted should not cloud your determination to set that flag on your base. 

You were out of breath and your hair was blowing in the wind, a stitch in your side, but you had to run, run, run. 

Your hair was blowing in the wind, a stitch in your side, but you had to run, run, run. 

The race seemed endless, and it was a mystery why the other team hadn't yet managed to plant your flag in their own base camp. Ann must have been giving them hell, you could only count on her to keep them from getting their way. 

There were snakes in the forest, hellish vipers silently crisscrossing the ground, spiders hanging from branches in search of food, menacing wolves wandering through the trees. The ground was spinning, the wind was chirping. 

There, right there, your base camp. The imperial palace stood proudly under the sun, and for the moment, no danger was apparent. All that was left to do was to snap that damn blue flag onto that base. You knew that Jun, the timid and frail man of your team had been sent to prison and that placing the flag on your base would surely cause his death. It was a material damage that you had to incur to survive. You had promised Niragi, 'If we have to sacrifice other people's lives for our survival, promise me you'll do it'. And you did, you promised. 

Congratulations, the game is now over.  Red team, you are the winners of this game.  Blue team, you have failed. 

You closed your eyes, breathing in deeply as the hellish weight on your heart seemed to lift. Niragi's hands encircled your waist, his hands soft as he slipped his fingers under the fabric of your damp shirt. His eyes looked into yours and not waiting a single second longer, he crushed his lips to yours. He could feel the blood still in your mouth from your previous fall, but he didn't care as he licked your lower lip. 

Niragi put pressure on your hips and your feet left the ground for a moment as he held you tightly against his chest. "We did it, princess," he chuckled incredulously at the difficulty of the game. He rested his forehead against yours, breathing in the air from you. It was impossible to let go, you wanted him against you for so long that it would be hard to do anything else. 

He kissed your lips again, one hand caressing your cheek and then, searching for your soul in the middle of your irises, he tucked a wild lock of hair behind your ear. You stood close to him, so close that you could feel the heat of his body. Your heart racing again as your eyes met and held. 

Red team, we will feed your visas for another eight days.  Blue team, game over.  See you soon. 

In the distance, high above the trees, and at several different locations in the forest, a huge red laser streaked across the sky. It oscillated for a few very short seconds before disappearing for good. "What was that?" you asked as your gaze left Niragi's eyes, eyes frozen in the blue sky now devoid of any eccentricity. 

"Game over for the blue team, I guess..." Niragi explained intelligently, and you wondered by what miracle you had managed to overcome the hell that was this game. "It was a fucking game of clubs." Niragi commented, his fingers intertwined with yours. 

Shifting your gaze to face him, a question largely written all over your face. 

"Games of clubs are athletic games and psychology, challenging your abilities. You have to work as a team to mix trust and skills." he continued to explain without admitting how he found out. Perhaps it was a discussion he had with Chishiya while they were guarding the flag, or it could be a personal deduction. Either way, it was a logical explanation. 

Adrenaline continued to fly through your blood vessels as your heart continued to pound your rib cage as if it wanted to escape. Capturing your lips with his again, Niragi slipped his tongue into your mouth, seeking yours easily. 

He wanted to touch every inch of your body, as if that would be enough to prove to him that your victory was real. As if he needed to feel every mole, every different imprint of your skin to understand that you wouldn't escape him. 

Between each breath, he couldn't help but devour your lips with his eyes, his hands gripping your ass with a frightening grip. Your skin heated easily under his touch which was far from being caused by the sunrays. Niragi grabbed the skin of your neck between his teeth which caused a sigh of contentment to come out of your mouth. 

"Baby, we can't... we can't fuck like that on the grass," you mumbled with difficulty. It was indeed a funny idea to do it there, and the thought that the surviving players of your team might come back here to debrief the game was far too great a possibility to risk. You'd had outdoor sex before, in public, risky places that made Niragi completely euphoric. It turned him on to get caught, drunk on the thought of people's eyes as he pounded your body with his hips, your voice shouting, moaning, wailing.

But with the way Niragi kept biting your neck could make you forget the words you had just said, far from you now the questions you were asking yourself  hovering over your head. You didn't care anymore where Chishiya had gone during the game, you didn't care who or what attacked Ann at the opposing base camp. There was only Niragi, Niragi, Niragi. 

Lifting your body off the ground a second time, you wrapped your legs around Niragi's waist, and he moved to a place you didn't care about. If he wanted to do it on the grass, in the forest, on the palace steps, then so be it. All you wanted now was to feel his majestic presence inside you.

The doors of the palace were open, apparently, as the heat of the sun disappeared. There was a huge entrance, with a red and gold carpet covering the floor and the imposing staircase in the middle of the room. Supporting your body with his hands placed on your ass, legs still around his waist, Niragi climbed the steps of the palace without caring about the impressive decoration. 

He entered the first room he found, and it may not have been the emperor's room, but he threw you onto the soft bed, covered with pillows and thick blankets. Niragi ripped off his shirt with a controlled tug, climbing onto the bed to cover you again. There was a darkness in his eyes that promised the desire to devour you. 

He had this hunger, like an animal before its prey, to take one bite out of you. It was a vision comparable to the brown bear devouring the stranger's matted flesh, as he licked his upper lip with appetite. You always felt like a little lamb when he looked at you like that, close to being torn apart by the big bad wolf. 

It was the adrenaline of the game that wouldn't go down, that caused pain with every breath, as if the unbearable lack of Niragi's skin against yours was torture. He paused, admiring your skin as it quivered under his imperious gaze. A smile adored his face, a face you had always thought far too angel-like for the vulgarity with which he was fucking you, once you moaned softly, "Please." 

"What?" he whispered softly and he knew full well the hold he had on you, "Tell me what you need, babygirl."

It was too hard to say it out loud, it was impossible to clearly formulate what you needed except just 'Ravage me, destroy me, fuck me'. Niragi's muscular torso plunged down on you again, even though there was no answer. He caught your lower lip between his teeth, crunching the skin to taste your blood again in his mouth. He ripped your top off so hard that it cracked slightly under the pressure, dipping his head into your chest. Your bra twirled easily and you felt the hot breath of his tongue against your instantly hardening nipple. 

He bit, licked, teased and you moaned again and again. You couldn't care about foreplay, there was no need to build up the tension, you had to feel him inside you and fast. You could die, right here, right now, if he didn't hurry up. "Easy, princess," he mumbled against your breast as he tugged at the waistband of your pants, "don't be so goddamn eager." 

He knew full well the influence he had over your body, he knew every square inch of your skin and how it reacted to his touch. Every word he spoke and the low vibration of his voice against your breast caused your pussy to launch hellish pulses through your pants. But you couldn't take it off, not right away, you knew that. It was always Niragi who had to take it off, he was the one who chose when and how things should happen. 

And the more impatient and helpless you were, the longer he took. His tongue traced a path over the skin of your belly, unbuttoning your pants with unbearable slowness. He came dangerously close to your crotch, pulling on the legs of your pants to make them slide down your legs. He pulled his head back over your panties and with a cheeky grin, as if he could hear your heartbeat echoing in your clit, he reached up to remove his own pants. 

Even before you felt his tongue against your pussy lips, you were already missing the feeling. He tugged at his boxers, revealing his proud, erect cock standing shamelessly against his stomach. The vein that traced the side of his cock pulsed too, and climbing up your body to stand above your head, he pushed his cock deep into your throat. 

Your whole body was trapped under his, the flesh of his cock far too big for your tight throat. The tipemperor's ro bumped hard against the back of your throat as he rocked his hips back and forth, seeking to fuck your mouth sinfully. He threw his head back at the feel of your tongue around him, gripping his own hair fiercely. 

His thighs tightened around your cheeks every time you had a gag reflex, causing the air to flow hard into your lungs. It was a position he loved. This way, trapped under his body, he loved having your mouth take him over. It made him feel not only strong and powerful and in control of your body, like one move of his would be enough to suffocate you, like the very idea of having full control over you excited him more than anything else in the world. 

"Fuck!" he sighed under his breath, one hand finding its way into your hair. 

He applied light pressure to your scalp, insisting that he wanted you to take it even deeper. Niragi was always a bit vocal during your lovemaking, and to your ears, it didn't really sound like a sin in the strictest sense, but more like the song of an angel tainted by the filth and perversion of the most impure of demons. 

"Look at you... you're desperate, aren't you?" he commented, his eyes analyzing every reaction your body made through his pelvic movements. Tears were running down your cheeks, where your mouth was spread so wide it hurt. "You want me to fuck you, is that it? You want me to fuck your pussy so hard you can't walk for days? I know you, baby, I know you're a slut..." 

Niragi was the king when it came to dirty talk. And you weren't in the emperor’s room, soiling his bed, but Niragi deserved his place in those sheets and in those premises if the mere fact that he could say such dirty things were allowed. And it made things worse because it hurt. Every word he said caused your clit to swell in a silent prayer that it be taken care of. Without even being touched, your vaginal lips leaked cum that wet your panties and you dripped.  

You couldn't talk with his big cock in your mouth, but the vibrations your vocal cords threw over his skin made him grunt. 

He withdrew from your throat, and the air was finally able to flow smoothly into your lungs. Niragi climbed down your body and grabbed your hair to lift you up; he wrapped his lips around yours again, tasting his scent on your tongue. The metallic taste of his piercing mixed with the blood on your lip, spiking your kiss with a solid, dirty taste. 

"Turn around," he commanded firmly and immediately, you ducked your head into the covers, lifting your ass high so he had a perfect view of your pussy that was perfectly outlined through the lacy fabric of your thong. He planted a kiss on one buttock, then on the other, and for a few seconds playing with the mesh of your underwear, he caressed the entrance to your pussy with two of his slender fingers.  

They were immediately covered with your juice, which he enjoyed spreading on your skin. His mouth watered, and another sigh escaped your throat as the wait became unbearable. A hard, powerful hand slammed against your buttock, a cry of pain mixed with pleasure echoing through the room. 

Your hips moved back and forth without realizing it, your body waiting to be ravaged. Niragi's teeth sank into the skin near your hole, and a second slap crashed against your butt cheek. 

You didn't know how much longer he was going to play with you like this, and even though you were dying to feel him whole inside you, you knew that the longer he waited, the more appetizing the taste would be. 

"So? You know I don't like to repeat myself..." Had he spoken? You knew that if you didn't give an answer, the repercussions would be fatal. But you hadn't heard anything, nothing to suggest that he had asked you a question. So how could you answer a question you hadn't heard... 

"Please... please..." you whispered and the pain in your body betrayed the inevitable need you had. 

"I didn't hear you right, babygirl. Say that again..." It was too hard. It was far too hard to make a single sound, to formulate a single word as another slap came crashing against your butt cheek, harder, more powerful than the others. 

With your head in the mattress, your hands clutching the blankets, you could lose your mind for just one of those damn words in your ear. Niragi's fingers wandered to your entrance, and you begged all the gods that could exist, of all religions and creeds to feel just one of his fingers inside you. Tears were streaming down your face so hot your whole body hurt, and you wondered how Niragi could play you so easily after barely escaping death. 

How did he himself overcome the urge to sink deep into you. How could he resist the temptation of lust, so strong, spread out and naked before him.

"I beg you..." the sound of your voice was so faint that he could have mistaken the words for a cry. Niragi planted a delicate kiss on your cheek, then he licked as if to taste your skin and, in the same place, he finally planted his sharp teeth in your flesh. A whimper of distress was heard and finally he stopped playing and stuck two fingers into your pussy. 

But that was not nearly enough. His fingers were long and svelte, and even though you were coating his skin perfectly, it was a sensation that didn't match the fervor with which he promised to ravage you. 

"More... I need... I need -" 

"Yes, what is it? Tell me what you need, darling," Niragi flicked his fingers back and forth, twisting his wrist as his free hand delicately caressed the skin he'd struck with his slaps. But he was excruciatingly slow, and you hated the way he needed to play with you like that. 

You hated the fact that he took pleasure in seeing you suffer, like someone sadistic enough to enjoy the distress of the person he loved. It was demeaning, tiring, but it felt so fucking good. Well, here was another thing you hated. 

"Please, please, just fuck me already, I need you. Please, I can't... I can't... take it anymore, please!" You were crying so hard that Niragi could almost have felt sorry for the state you were in, desperate and crying, with your head in the mattress. 

It was unbearable. 

That fire burning in the pit of your stomach, the way every millimeter of your skin quivered with apprehension, the way your heart was beating that was nothing like the frenzy it had been during the game. It was the same adrenaline, not the same sensations. 

That high that quivered every sense and short-circuited the survival instinct was like an imprint left in the sand. Ephemeral and delicate, but one more thrill, always more. 

The fingers left your entrance and finally, finally, Niragi positioned himself between your legs and introduced his cock. It was hard, it was big, wet and hot. It was all that was missing from your being to feel whole, as if until now it was the last piece of a puzzle that was missing to complete you. 

There was nothing around anymore. Not a single bird singing, not a ray of sunlight burning your skin, no game, no life or death. No sound, no image. It was nothingness, the blackness of an ecstasy so intense that you thought you would lose your mind. 

Niragi was pounding your body with his hip thrusts with a fierce and wild tenacity, like an animal instinct that took over the man. His hands were holding your thighs to grip his grip, growling behind your back. You felt a hand searching between your legs, expert fingers titillating your clit with divine pressure. You could have cum right there, right now, but you knew the repercussions that would bring. 

If Niragi didn't allow it, there was no need for you to upset him. And you could have sworn on the good Lord that offending him was the last thing you wanted. "Don't... don't stop, p-please." 

Niragi smiled, his breath short and his brain racing. He knew that a war was raging inside you, that you were giving everything you could to hold back that orgasm that threatened to explode at any moment. He knew your body by heart and the way your legs were shaking like dead leaves betrayed the vividness with which your end was imminent. 

It was ridiculous, the way you were completely surrendering to this feeling. That you didn't care how you sounded, or how you looked as long as Niragi kept doing what he was doing. As long as he enjoyed his power over you, as long as you could feel your muscles twitching, your eyes rolling back and you drooling on the mattress so much it was ecstasy.

"You wanna to cum, babydoll?" he whispered in your ear as he leaned in to plant fiery kisses on your back. It was a rhetorical question, of course, he knew how much you wanted just that. He knew that all you needed was his permission to surrender to your body and embrace the way it reacted to Niragi's cock as it continued to fuck, fuck, fuck into you. 

"Y-yes, yes, my God, please," It was so hard to hold back. Way too hard. 

A laugh echoed over your shoulder, a mocking, arrogant rail that enjoyed your confusion every second. "Go ahead and do it," he allowed and he didn't need to repeat himself. Before he even finished his sentence, your whole body exploded with intensity. Your legs jerked, suddenly too heavy for you. The breath in your throat caught and your heart skipped a beat as your climax made you see stars behind your eyelids. 

Your mouth dry and your body bruised, you were completely overwhelmed by the intensity with which your whole body was reacting to this orgasm. Niragi was filling you with all his size, his juices already flowing from your entrance, down on the mattress. A kiss on your shoulder blade, a warm breath against your skin, a caress on your completely sensitive and swollen clitoris. 

A moan of overstimulation escaped your throat, but Niragi's fingers continued to play with your lips. His movements were soft and gentle but it sent electric sensations through your entire body. "Stop, please," you begged breathlessly, too weak to break free of his grip.

But he said nothing as he played with the metal of his piercing, scraping his tongue up your neck to your ear. "Come on, baby, I've known you to be sharper than that..."

You were exhausted. From the game and the rough fuck-making that had drained every ounce of energy you had left. It was too much suddenly and your eyelids were getting so heavy that you wanted to give up this fight and sleep at least until the next game. It was too much, way too much.

"Please, stop," you breathed softly, your head in the mattress as Niragi continued to plant kisses on your shoulders, his piercing scraping your skin repeatedly. 

You could feel him smiling on your skin, you could see him without even turning around. He loved to overstimulate you, to see your body trembling under his touch, on the verge of collapsing. 

He'd barely get the tip of his cock between your lips, and that alone was enough to make you cry out in a mixture of pain and pleasure. It was so much that you didn't know how to react to the sensation, as if suddenly you were no longer in control of your arms or legs, as if every hair and mole wasn't yours but that of a third person who had taken over your body. 

The mixture of your two juices flowed down your thighs, where Niragi continued to caress your lips with the tip of his penis, again and again. A hand came to knead your breast, a bite in the neck, and before he sought your clit with his fingers, he lifted your leg on his elbow to completely get inside you. 

"Argh," it was torture on that level, and if every square inch of your body was in pain, it was so ecstatic that if you died right here and now, like this, naked and ravaged, you wouldn't mind. 

"Fuck, you're so fucking tight," Niragi whispered into your ear, capturing the tip of your lobe between his teeth. 

He continued to fuck you as if he didn't hear your cries, as if that was what was fueling his desire to destroy you. He went on like this for what seemed like hours, until finally, he let a grunt escape the back of his throat and slumped against the bed behind you. Until you lost your mind and fell into nothingness, where the calm and the storm raged. You were falling, falling, falling in a spiral and you weren't sure if you would ever surface again.

/////// / // //// / // / /////

hahaahahahaaahhahaha surprise!!

Look at him, nothing but red flags, but here we are, pledging allegiance

sighs

- Nageoire

[bts-story]

LOVE IS CHAOS

masterlist / previous chapters

Chapter seven - Eight of clubs 2

You took off the man's backpack that you had taken on your own shoulders, and searching the bottom of the bag for one of the water bottles, you removed the cap and handed the bottle to the man. With a breathless smile, he took it in his hands before downing almost half of it into his throat. "Easy, this is the only bottle we have for the three of us..." you grumbled, shaking your head. 

There was no need to burden yourself with three bottles, it was far too heavy and far too inconvenient for the task you had to accomplish. You still had to hydrate yourself and the morning heat that kept growing as the minutes passed became more and more stifling, even with the fresh air that the surrounding trees provided. 

The man handed you the bottle again, and as you put it back in the bag, An's returning footsteps could be heard. "The river's just on the other side of that line of trees over there," she nodded behind her before she continued, "There's a bridge a little further down that leads to the opposing prison, but there's a player stationed outside the gate. It's one of those kids, the one with the blue hair, guarding the entrance." 

"Even if she's alone, it's too risky to go through the bridge." You explained as you considered your options, "There could be another player around, and we can't risk either of us getting caught." 

"I agree. We need to find another way across." An commented as she herself looked for a solution to the problem before you. 

The man was slowly catching his breath, and you continued with the only way you could see. "We should swim across the river, I think that's the only way." 

An puckered her lips and indeed, she seemed to have come to the same conclusion, "Hey you," she intercepted the attention of the man who was looking at her apprehensively, as if he was afraid she would jump on his neck at any moment, "You can swim, I hope?" 

With a smile up to his lips, he nodded several times, glad to know that he wouldn't be a drag on this next step in the race, "Yes, yes, I used to do a lot of swimming as a teenager, I even won a contest!" 

You doubted An would care, knowing that it didn't make much difference to you either. Nevertheless, as you stared at the man strangely from his newfound enthusiasm, the cracking of a tree branch a few feet behind you caused you to turn around abruptly. 

"What was that?" the man asked timidly. 

"Shut up," An ordered firmly. 

Trying to find the source of the noise behind the trees, only the rustle of leaves falling to the ground echoed in your ears. A few seconds passed and finally there was nothing moving in the distance, nothing that indicated any nearby danger. 

"Let's go, hurry up," you said after a few more seconds, picking up the backpack and throwing it on your shoulders again. Taking the first step, An followed you closely, the walk closed by the man. 

The river was indeed a few meters away, and in the distance you could make out the electric blue hair of the teenager strutting across the bridge. Even from so far away, she seemed to be bored more than anything, you had to stay as discreet as possible. The water was not as cold as you imagined, but it was absolutely disgusting with greenish moss and slime.

 But without complaint or disgusted comment, you jumped into the water. The river was not very deep, it was just above your waist, and followed by the other two, the crossing was quick. Every movement you made sent the water ricocheting around and you silently prayed that the girl would not look back at you. Even at a hundred meters, it would be easy for her to understand that their base was starting to be attacked. 

When you reached the edge of the other bank, you rushed into the bushes for cover. An followed, and when the man emerged from the water, his wet shoes clattered against the mud and he stumbled over the soaked stones before barely catching himself. He was as clumsy as a toddler and you prayed he wouldn't screw up the plan. 

Once again sheltered by the trees and foliage, you pulled out the map you had carefully protected from the water and An leaned in beside you to examine it more closely. "Edo Castle is the enemy prison," she pointed to a spot on the northeast side of the map that read 'Blue Prison' in small black letters, "And we're here," she trailed her finger a few inches down to the river's edge. 

You were now on an artificial island that had the East Gardens of the Imperial Palace, provided with several factions and various monuments. 

"The Ninomaru Gardens are completely to the east, so it's either we cross the island at the risk of running into the other players, or we bypass it and go along the river to limit our chances of being spotted before we even see their flag." You confided intelligently and the man nodded like a fallible student in front of his teacher to try and draw the teacher's good favor. 

"We might lose time if we go around the island. It would give the other team a timing advantage." 

"Agreed. If there's a player stationed at their jail, maybe we can capture him and send him to ours. As soon as they are outnumbered, we gain the advantage on the game." It was quite a strategy and it was a difficult one. You had to follow it to the millimeter and above all you had to be very attentive to everything that was going on around you. Every mistake could be fatal. 

"But then, why don't we capture the blue-haired girl?" The man interrupted, and it took you only a few moments to roll your eyes. You had the impression that he was thinking with his feet and not his head, he was really a lost cause. 

"She's posted very close to the prison. Theoretically, if we capture the guard of this one, we should hope that it is this girl who will change position to go guard the prison instead." An explained and you were amazed at the patience with which she had decided to answer, as if finally she was not as mean as she appeared to be. 

The man offered a feverish smile as if he only understood half of what had been explained to him, but without questions, he closed his lips to listen to the rest carefully. 

It was as if An was reading your mind. It was quite strange to have someone who sounded the same as you, but it was also very restful of mind. Not having to argue or fight to be heard was just as nice as the way she listened carefully to what you were saying.

Exchanging glances with her, you put the map back in the backpack and looking for north with the compass, Ann set off. There was no point in running anymore, you had to keep the noise down and your shoes crashing hard against the tree branches would give away your position to the other team. 

The man stammered something under his breath as he expected to receive more instructions, the confused look in his eyes betrayed the many questions that were churning in his head. 

A few yards later, you reached another forest edge and behind the trees, Edo Castle. The tiles were broken where an old tree had crashed into the roof of the castle. Dead branches littered the ground and pieces of the abandoned monument's structures were crushed everywhere. And there, under that one patch of shade, was the other girl with the long braid and short skirt. 

She was playing absentmindedly with a pebble stuck under the heel of her shoe and you wondered for what reason this team had decided to post a player where there was nothing to keep. As far as you knew, no one from your team had been captured yet; the three of you were still together and the opponents would never have had time to capture any of you since the beginning of the game, it was impossible. Niragi and Chishiya were guarding the flag, they were safe for a few more minutes, you were sure. 

Looking around to see if there was any threat lurking in the shadows of the castle, the man whispered, "You think she's alone?" 

There was a good chance she was, indeed. And as you emerged from your hiding place after agreeing to attack the teenager, she squealed in surprise at the sight of your three silhouettes. She probably wasn't expecting company so early in the game, to free an imaginary prisoner. But she didn't know your strategy, and she needed to be caught as quickly as possible. 

She seemed to hesitate for a second, and when you were about thirty yards away, she took off running toward the castle. Reacting instinctively, you said "Go 'round the castle, I'm going inside. Don't let her get away!" to An who nodded in understanding before running after the girl. 

She was running fast, you had to admit. Her tall, slender legs had longer steps than yours, and you had to try harder to catch up with her. The castle was a labyrinth, and as soon as you entered this vast place, you had to concentrate on the figure of the girl who disappeared behind every corner, as if she had already taken over the place. 

She crept up to a door at the back, pushing the glass door open with such force that the glass shattered into a thousand pieces only a second before you passed behind her. The sun was blinding as you found yourself outside again, and you could see An coming the other way, only a few feet away from the girl who turned right to escape her. 

An's legs were just as tall and slender, and finally she caught the teenager's braid flying in the wind with her run. "Gotcha!" An shouted as she grabbed the girl's vest, and the two slowed their pace until they stopped running. 

"Good job, An!" You threw out excitedly as you came to clap her hand in victory. 

"Naomi Kazuko, you have been captured. Please surrender to the red prison." The robotic voice echoed somewhere around you, and you were perplexed by the statement. On the one hand, it made you feel better knowing that Chishiya and Niragi were still safe and that it would mean you would know if either of them were ever captured. On the other, the opposing team was now aware not only of your position, but also of the disadvantage they were now at. 

The teenager's shoulders slumped as she raised her head to the sky in defeat. Without saying a word but still grimacing, she walked off in the direction of your base camp, near the prison where she was now expected. 

"We need to move, fast!" You exclaimed just as the man had just joined you, still short of breath, panting as if breathing was the hardest thing in the world. He grunted as you were already leaving, each of his steps heavy and painful. 

For now, the plan was going smoothly. The most would be to grab the flag quietly, hoping that Niragi and Chishiya, on their side, everything was going well.

It was important to know that as soon as you ran through the forest, away from your base camp, Niragi's eyes, black with ice, stared back at the man beside him. He thought Chishiya looked ridiculous with his dirty blonde hair, with the black roots showing. 

The blond man had this snide look on his face that got on his nerves, as Niragi wondered if Chishiya was any danger to him. Don't get him wrong, Niragi was a proud and confident man, he was far more arrogant than he thought and he always assumed he was better than everyone else. But he couldn't get the confused look off his face when your eyes landed on the little man. 

Niragi wouldn't call himself a jealous man, no. He would simply say that he didn't like to share what was his, and that once he got his hands on something, it was for him, and him alone. He didn't like people looking at him with curious eyes, he would send several insults to the first one who dared to contradict him and above all, one should never, oh never, be interested in his girlfriend or else he would get a good big punch in the nose. 

"So, you're [Y/N]’s boyfriend, are you?" 

Both feet in the air. Chishiya squinted his eyes as the sun beat down hard on his face, but he had a curious look in his pupils that caused Niragi to raise his eyebrows. "Why the hell do you care?" 

Chishiya instantly removed his hands from his pockets to raise them in front of his chest in ransom, "Excuse me, I didn't mean to pry. Just trying to make conversation to pass the time..." 

He had this fake polite look on his face as an apology, and Niragi wasn't surprised to find that everything the other was doing was getting on his nerves. Chishiya had volunteered to guard the flag on the grounds that he wasn't really a hardy person and that it would be much better if he were stationed at the Imperial Residence. Niragi, on the other hand, had insisted that he be the second person to defend the base camp because "Two men should be enough to protect this flag," when he simply wanted to keep an eye on Chishiya. 

The silence fell again between the two men and Niragi turned his attention to the horizon. They were in the middle of a hot day and the sun was hitting their foreheads really hard. Niragi took a bottle in his hands and after quenching his thirst, he wiped his mouth with the back of his sleeve, very aware that Chishiya's eyes were watching his every move. 

Niragi turned his head to look at him. "What? You want my picture?" 

The blond man smirked and shifting his attention to the side, towards the eastern entrance of the imperial residence, he shrugged and shoved his hands back into his pockets, "No, no, don't mind me." 

Niragi licked his lower lip, taking a deep breath as he wondered if Chishiya was doing this on purpose, as if he wanted to test his limits. "Well then, go ahead, do you have something to say?"

The other man looked at him again and he felt that at any moment, Niragi could switch to a completely different mood. He had to be careful with his next words, and choose his turn of phrase with the utmost delicacy. "I have nothing to say, okay?" 

Niragi approached him with two firm steps, and he appreciated the fact that he towered over the other man with his height by at least a good ten centimeters, if not more. Chishiya had to lift his chin to meet Niragi's black irises, and even small under the dark-haired man's imposing build, Chishiya did not look away. "What's the matter, are you afraid? Go ahead, say what you think." 

Chishiya could have laughed at these words, but instead, he supported Niragi's gaze that Niragi wanted to be dissuasive and threatening. But Chishiya was not afraid of him, he was hardly impressed and somewhere, this continued to annoy Niragi who remained icy calm in the face of the situation. Still, he reminded himself that they were part of the same team and for now, it would be totally foolish to get into an argument with Chishiya. "Okay. But you might not like it." 

Niragi smiled, he was only waiting for that. He was only waiting for the moment when he could bump that mischievous smile off the corner of the blond boy's lips. Not that he needed a special occasion to fight with someone, but an excuse was much more motivating than nothing at all. "Please tell me what's bothering you so much," Niragi mumbled so close to the other's face that Chishiya could feel his hot breath crashing against her face. 

"I was wondering how a girl like [Y/N] could end up with a guy like you." Indeed, he was right. Those words didn't please Niragi at all and his fingers titillated him so hard that it sounded like a plea to hit him. 

But you would be surprised to see that Niragi did not throw a punch. He didn't lift his knee to throw a well aimed blow in the blond's private parts, nor did he even try to intimidate the other with one of the threatening gestures. Instead, he laughed out loud in a mad laugh, which grew from the back of his throat into his stomach, "Ha-ha-ha, ha-ha!" He took three steps back, spun around as he began to clap his hands. "Ha-ha-ha!"

Chishiya looked at him with a curious but hardly impressed look as a cloud passed over their heads, giving them a minute's respite from the blinding light. He cleared his throat, waiting patiently for Niragi to finish whatever show he was putting on. 

"You think you're so much better than me," Niragi chuckled after a wave of laughter as he traded his smile for a much more serious and aggressive expression, "but you don't know shit about me, man." He moved closer to Chishiya's face again as she still held his gaze with bravado, "So why don't you take those dumb little blonde curls with you and leave me the fuck alone, 'kay?" 

"I would never dare offend you, believe me," Chishiya retorted offering a sympathetic smile. Niragi had never met anyone so pretentious before and that was saying something because he himself was well placed to know what it was.

It was necessary to concentrate on the game, it was paramount. Silence fell once again between the two men and Niragi appreciated this moment of respite. He knew that sooner or later their base would be attacked. He needed to focus on that and be alert to any threat that might come close to their flag. The fact that Chishiya and his intrusive thoughts were hovering over his head was not to interfere with the plan that had been laid out to win this fucking game. 

To distract himself, Niragi took out one of the hunting knives he had carefully stored in his pocket a few minutes earlier. He played with the sharp blade, stroking the sharp metal with his fingertips.

"And how do you know her, anyway?" Fuck, it was stronger than him. Niragi gritted his teeth at the small words that had escaped his lips and without even needing to look behind him, he felt the other's heavy eyes on his shoulders. 

"Mmh?" Chishiya shrugged and without offering Niragi a single glance or risk facing his murderous eyes a second time, he calmly explained, "She's a doctor, isn't she? She treated my appendicitis a few years ago." 

Okay, so you weren't lying, then. Chishiya had indeed been a patient of yours, and although he trusted you, Niragi could only doubt your sincerity. He had seen the look on your fucking face that betrayed both nervousness and anxiety, as if your worst nightmare had suddenly appeared before your eyes. There was something more important in this story, Niragi knew it, he could feel it in his bones. 

He said nothing to make it clear that the answer suited him and did nothing to betray the questions he continued to ask himself. "And... and you, how did you meet her?" Chishiya tentatively tried, and he knew how dangerous it was to try to start that conversation, only minutes after having just been reframed on the subject. 

"Are you fucking deaf or what? I told you to stay out of my business!" It wasn't very fair, if anyone asked Chishiya's opinion. Who had decided that Niragi had the right to have an answer to his question and Chishiya would get the shit kicked out of him every time? He was far too patient for that bullshit. 

With a detached look, Chishiya shrugged his shoulders indifferently. He didn't mind spending the next few minutes in silence, if it wasn't for the slight curiosity that was eating away at him. He was one of those people who remained indifferent to the mysteries of this world, despite the frantic desire to leave it. However, he couldn't face the mystery that was the relationship you had with this guy who he considered far too proud for you. 

"And so what's your specialty?" Chishiya asked calmly and this time he really rolled his eyes at the new accusing look Niragi was giving him. "I'm just trying to make conversation, don't get carried away. We might be here for a long time. The other team doesn't seem to me to be a close-knit group like we are... so I don't imagine they'll be coming to attack us anytime soon."

The sarcastic tone in his voice could almost have made Niragi smile if he wasn't so annoyed. He didn't understand what Chishiya meant by 'specialty' though, and for fear of betraying his confusion, he preferred not to answer. Silence was better than a rough answer. 

"I see," Chishiya continued after a heavy silence and a chilling look from Niragi, "You're giving me the silent treatment now." 

Just as Niragi glanced at his watch, the robotic, feminine voice of the game's dealer announced excitedly, "Naomi Kazuko, you have been captured. Please surrender yourself to the red prison." 

With a smile of contentment, Chishiya continued, "Looks like the girls make a good team, don't you think?" 

Niragi knew that if Chishiya kept talking about nothing, he would end up really sticking his fist in his face. It was annoying to hear the deep, gravelly voice of the other man who seemed to be analyzing every little move Niragi made. As if he was taking mental notes of every breath, every hair that moved with his movements. 

"So? Mmh, I think you'd make a great heart player," Chishiya thought before affirming his position with a nod and a pout on his face. 

"What the hell are you talking about?" 

Chishiya nodded his head to the side, as if he was suddenly trying to understand why Niragi didn't understand what he was saying. Could it be that...? "No, don't tell me this is your first game anyway?" 

"It's not my first game, okay?" 

"Ah, fine, you send me reassured." Chishiya offered a smile and Niragi frowned, "I would have been very worried about trusting my life to a newbie." 

"Who are you calling a 'newbie' now?" Niragi resumed his threatening tone as he approached the blond's figure again, who still remained unmoved by the intimidation. And now, Niragi was really, really close to stick his fist in the arrogant face of Chishiya who continued to look at him with almost bored eyes. 

A second time, he shrugged his hands in front of his chest, as if to surrender to the danger before him. "No one, since this isn't your first game. Right?" 

Humming from the tip of his lips, Niragi's jaw was so tight that it would surely break if he continued to clench it so tightly. The frown on his face didn't go away and the sun came crashing down on their silhouette again. "Me thinks you'd make a good club player," he announced without really knowing the definition behind his words. 

He didn't know what the other was talking about, but if he wanted to know more about this world without admitting that he didn't know anything about it yet, he had to bluff. Chishiya then stared at him, his eyes still planted in those of the other. 

"Oh no, my specialty is diamonds." Chishiya confided in all honesty, "Thinking and logic games are my favorite. On the other hand," he paused briefly, "games of the heart... psychology, manipulation... the law of the strongest... I think it's a game that fits you like a glove." 

Niragi had a new insult on the edge of his lips. He was ready to trash this blond boy who kept trying to put him down. It was too much, he had to hit him to make him understand that nobody was authorized to speak to him like that. This guy didn't know anything about him, nothing about his life or his past, he didn't know where he came from, how he got there and to be judged, almost insulted like that was something Niragi would not tolerate any longer. He had already been far too patient. 

The game of hearts. So like that, the games had themes. The psychology and manipulation of the scarlet color intrigued Niragi, only the weight of ignorance was heavier to bear than his curiosity. If the diamond was therefore focused on logic and reflection, it greatly explained the game of seven he had played with you the day before, even if he didn't quite see the connection with the dares he had to complete.

As for the spade, it was still a little unclear, but in all consideration, he would have bet that it had to do with a sporting and physical game. All that remained was to know what the club was and he would have already answered some questions that were still wandering around in his head.

"The red team's flag has been stolen. The advantage goes to the blue team." 

Okay so, the people of Tumblr and ao3 have voted; this won't be a triangular love story with Chishiya HOWEVER he will still have an important role in the story which will kindaaaaaa anger Niragi a lot bc who doesn't love jealous Niragi to the bone?

[bts-story]

Hi,I'm Alexis Sanchez from Europe. I'm a big fan of BTS. I want to see their show and also their faces, I want to be part of BlackPink but I don't know if they will like to see me as they're team,and also I want the same. Thank you for your time, God bless you

Hi! So glad to meet you 😊

I’m admin Nageoire, though I’m the only one here around for a little while now 😅

I’m sure both BTS and BP would be thrilled to meet you!

Take care, have a nice day! ❤️

- Nageoire

[bts-story]

LOVE IS CHAOS

masterlist / previous chapters

Chapter six - Eight of clubs

The night had not been very pleasant. The mattress was so thin that you could feel every slat digging into your back, the sheets were so dusty that you felt like you were sleeping on a whole population of dust mites (and even shaking them as hard as you could, the dust seemed to be embedded in the fabric). You weren't the type to be scared easily, but you were expecting to have a night full of nightmares due to this new world you were now in. 

Fortunately for you, in the end, it was a night without dreams or nightmares, or rather a night with so little sleep that you wondered if it was wise to find a new arena and play a new game today. 

On the other side of the bed you had heard Niragi tossing and turning several times and if neither of you said the first word, you knew the other was awake, probably for the same reasons. 

Finding breakfast was just as difficult as finding sleep. Cans of ravioli were dueling on the highest shelf in the abandoned kitchen, and it was a miracle to find a can of Mitsumame in the cupboard under the sink, because a fruit salad, even canned, was ten times better than ravioli or ratatouille for breakfast. 

There were only a few pieces to share, and even though Niragi had insisted that you eat his share under the pretext that he wasn't really hungry, you knew that was just a lie to camouflage the fact that he wanted you to be the one to gain strength. He needed it just as much, but it was his own kind of love language and just for that, you finish those little pieces of lychee, a knot in your stomach. 

Having to play a new again today made you nervous. It could be anything, on any topic, any theme or difficulty. You knew so little about this world that it was absolutely impossible to predict what you were getting into. 

The sun had been up for a few dozen minutes already and it had painted the sky a pink-orange color that made it look fantastic. And as you watched the yellow ball sneak up behind some buildings in the distance, you couldn't help but wonder if there were games all day, or if it was only at a certain time. 

Either way, it didn't make much of a difference.

"We should go get some supplies before the next game," Niragi commented as he dusted off a backpack he had found in the bedroom closet. His hands were still wrapped in the bandages you had carefully treated the day before and as he stretched his fingers with difficulty, an almost unnoticeable grimace appeared on his face. 

Food was just as hard to come by as it had been the day before, and you wondered how to survive in this world without food. Surviving the games was one thing, but the lack of supplies was something else that the game masters should have thought about more seriously. 

"Baby, look," you pointed to a small bush that seemed to vibrate with the sound of your footsteps. You thought you had imagined it as the grass stood still for a few seconds, then finally, right in the middle of that cobblestone street, you made out a rabbit snooping around on either side looking for the same food you were. It was all white and dirty from nature, but its furry face raised its head at the sound of your voice, before escaping and disappearing under a car, a little further. 

The nature of flowers and trees littered the ground and began to gain ground on the buildings. It was a rather apocalyptic vision, like the end of the world in an American movie. 

Niragi shrugged his shoulders and if he had a weapon at hand, whatever it was, he would have been happy to hunt the animal down for a good lunch. The hardest part would be lighting a fire and figuring out how to cook the animal on the coals. But with a defeatist insult, he kicked a rock and headed back the other way. 

"Babe," you called a second time as you made out something in the distance that merited a challenge. 

"Yes, I saw your damn rabbit, princess, can we get some food now?" Niragi mumbled over your shoulder as he walked further and further away. 

"Damn it, Niragi, I told you, look!" 

Pointing straight ahead in the distance, between the column of buildings that lined up perfectly, a new giant screen lit up the shadow that the sun didn't reach. On this white screen, written in black letters, you could read:

Game starts in fifteen minutes.  Please register at the Sakashitamon Gate. 

Here we go again. 

"Sakashitamon Gate?" Niragi repeated as he took another drag on the end of his cigarette, one hand in his pants pocket and his gaze fixed on the giant screen in front of you. "That's at the Royal Palace Gardens, right?" 

Indeed. 

So the next game would take place in the emperor's gardens. It was a vast and voluminous forest, and it was very easy to get lost if you didn't know the place well. They were huge gardens, full of flowers and famous for their beauty, but only open to the public twice a year. As much as to say that no one would have the advantage of knowing every corner of this forest more than another. 

"Well, let's go." you commented as you watched Niragi throw the butt of his cigarette on the ground without taking the time to put it out. In the real world you would have grumbled at his actions, that you didn't tolerate pollution so easily but in a world like this you wondered what good it would do. 

"We're on an empty stomach, it's not a good idea to go now." He was right. In all honesty, it would be much smarter to wait until the next game, once your stomachs were full and well-fed. 

"If anything, we could win some food if we survive the game. How about a nice Donburi ?" It was highly unlikely that you would win a reward at the end of the game, let alone food. However, you thought it would be quite a victory to be able to eat a nice hot dish, and cooked with so much good culinary skill, that just imagining the dish, you could feel the smell caressing your nostrils and tantalizing your taste buds. 

With a grunt of complaint and shuffling towards the playing arena, Niragi still insisted how bad an idea it was to play without eating. And even though he wasn't doing much to convince you otherwise, he still kept looking around on the way if a supermarket didn't miraculously appear.

The hard tar was heating up quickly thanks to the sun beating down hard against your heads. It was a cloudless sky and a windless atmosphere, and you knew it was going to be very hot today. It would usually have been a day of lounging by a pool with a cocktail in your hands and music blasting in your ears. And you sighed absentmindedly at the thought as you made your way to the bridge that led to the doors. 

Before that bridge, in a shady corner, there was the same table as in the lobby of the building before the first game. There were three phones that had not yet been taken, and the same sign that said, ' One per person .' 

Facial recognition in progress. Niragi Suguru.  Welcome. 

As you took the phone in your hands, the same message appeared, with your name. Even though both of you were wondering what this game was, what it would be and how difficult it would be, neither of you spoke. Maybe it was a way to focus, or just a way to keep the pressure off each other while the danger of death remained the main concern in this world. 

Instead, you walked next to each other, your fingers almost close enough to touch from time to time. In the distance, you could make out exactly seven other players waiting patiently under the blazing sun. There was a man with matted skin, a stranger with frizzy hair and crystal clear eyes. There was an old man who was over sixty years old, with a bad back and a creaking hip. Two teenage girls were trying to fan themselves with their hands, one with short, bright blue colored hair and the other with a long braid and a skirt that was way too short to call it decent. A man in sportswear was the only one sitting on the floor, muscular and athletic and with a prominent beard, he was just ogling the young woman with sunglasses and a short bob, dressed in jean shorts and a shirt tied at the waist. The last person was a short man in his forties, frail and shy, like a house of cards about to collapse and a backpack on his back. 

When you arrived, and as at the first game, eyes turned to you, ogling from head to toe, but nobody said a word. As if it was bad luck to say something. 

You didn't know how much time was left before the game started, but the sun that kept beating down on your head was already starting to make you dizzy. After a few minutes, a person appeared under the bridge, and if the math was right, this was the last player missing to start the game. 

He had a small figure, face hidden under the hood of a light gray sweatshirt that made you frown at the surrounding heat. A few long blond locks were sticking out of his hood and as he walked towards you, a feeling of deja-vu ran through your body. 

You recognized that walk and that nonchalant air under the impassive face of Chishiya Shuntaro. Your eyes widened and as if frozen in time, you couldn't look away as he offered an astonished smile when he laid his own eyes on your figure. "[Y/N], what a surprise to find you here..." he said in a soft, clear voice. He turned to Niragi and, provided with empty eyes and without much emotion, he bowed his head in respect. 

"Who is that one?" Niragi spat aggressively as he stared at Chishiya's figure walking away to stand next to the woman with the sunglasses. 

"A former... a former patient..." you explained softly, your eyes still fixed on the blond man's figure. 

It was absolutely strange to run into Chishiya Shuntaro in this world, it was a chance in a million and you doubted the odds were ridiculous enough to really fall on that. A strange feeling was felt throughout your body and it was as unsettling as it was unexpected. Being stuck here with Niragi was one thing, but seeing someone you knew, and having to play life and death games was something that stirred your whole stomach. 

"Why is he calling you by your first name?" Niragi kept asking, and he was right to ask so many questions. He had felt your body stiffen at the sight of the other man, he knew you well enough to manage to decipher the expressions on your face and if Niragi was a jealous man, then the world would end in ashes. 

He still had insults stuck to the corner of his mouth, eyebrows locked in an eternal frown and if he even suspected for a second that this Chishiya was interested in you, you knew he could kill him without even blinking. 

"I don't know... what's the point of calling me 'doctor' in this world?" You were trying to justify yourself as best you could, and while that explanation more or less made sense, Niragi was now staring at you with doubt written in his eyes and a promise that he would look further into it once the game was over. 

But for now, the game had to start. 

Registration closed.  The game will now begin.  

With one last insistent look, Niragi's jaw tensed as he looked away from Chishiya once more. You knew that from then on, Chishiya's life would be in danger, more than what this game could bring. He now had the pressure of Niragi's eyes stabbing invisible knives into his face. 

From a distance, Chishiya was waving his hand, and he had a kind of arrogant look plastered on his face that caused Niragi to growl an insult under his breath. 

Game: Capture the flag.  Difficulty: Eight of clubs.  

Exchanging a look with Niragi, you listened attentively to what the voice announced. You were right, there were other difficulties than diamonds, and it was surely necessary to start playing games that would also be clubs or hearts.

We will now be explaining the rules.  Each player is placed in a team of 5 people. Each team is assigned a flag that it must keep and protect at all costs. It's GAME CLEAR for the first team that manages to capture the other team's flag and bring it back safely to its base camp.  It's GAME OVER for the defeated team. 

You had an advantage. You knew the game very well, having spent your childhood playing it with the other kids in the neighborhood. Of course, the playing field was much smaller than this one, but the strategy was the same. 

One team can capture a member of the other team and bring him back to the prison of his base. You can choose your team.  It is forbidden to change the location of your flag. It will be game over for the players who are in prison, even if they are on the winning team.  

That was a lot of rules compared to the other game. But this one was a physical game. It was a game of strategy and skill, and before you even start this game, the most important thing would be to pick your team. The tragedy was beginning now, and as the players began to argue their own opinions on the matter, you had already chosen who you needed on your team. The hardest part would be getting the other players to listen. 

Time limit to pick teams: 3 minutes.  Time start.  

"Excuse me," the old man said as he slowly approached the sportsman, "could I join your team?" 

The man in the sportswear looked him up and down, with a maddening urge to blow him off. In a game of life and death, he would be crazy to accept an old gimp to defend a sporting activity. The two teenage girls also exclaimed, the blue-haired one singing in a soft voice, "Oh yes, sir, can we join your team too?" 

Niragi rolled his eyes as he approached the woman with sunglasses. "You there," the woman turned as he approached and stiffened her back as if she was about to have to defend herself from some threat coming her way. "What team are you on?" 

She looked him up and down, red lipstick fizzing on her lips as she relaxed her shoulders. "What would make you say I want to go on your team?" 

Niragi chuckled thickly, and you wondered what he was getting at. "Oh there, easy, sweetheart, I never said I was inviting you..." 

You pinched your lips at the nickname, but the woman answered before you could even think about it. "Then why are you talking to me? And I'm not your sweetheart, okay?" 

Niragi smiled at this answer. He liked women who were tough, he liked women of character and for a second you wondered if this was a little personal revenge against Chishiya's coming that had very obviously disturbed you. 

But just as he was about to respond with a more or less well-placed insult, Chishiya's figure intruded into the discussion, a small smirk perched on his lips as he circled the woman's arms. "I think what An means by that is that we'd love to be a part of your team." 

You frowned at the words. Niragi had invited him even less and you knew it would take very little more to make him understand. However, you were surprised that Niragi didn't say anything and somehow you were relieved. It would have been awful to have to face Chishiya and even though having him on your own team would have shot you in the foot, you just hoped that he wouldn't really have the chance to argue with Niragi.

The woman named An said nothing but shook her shoulders to free Chishiya's hands and as he offered another smile, Niragi stared at her as if he had the power to understand where they knew each other from. You would have liked to find out yourself, but the only thing that betrayed their mystery was the small bracelet around both of their wrists that had a chain with a number on it. 

It looked a lot like the bracelets you find at the local swimming pool to keep your locker key. Chishiya wore number eleven while An wore number six. Perhaps they were together? Maybe they were two souls who had met in a previous game and decided to team up, or maybe they just happened to be staying at the same place? But then, you didn't understand the point of keeping that bracelet around their wrists. It was strange. Very strange indeed. 

"Well, then we only have one more person to complete our team." An then threw out in a voice that was just as disinterested as it was annoyed. 

Time until team registration closes: 1 minute.  

A few feet away, the other six participants had noticed that they were one too many on their team. The man in the tracksuit found himself overwhelmed by all these players, some of whom he could have done without. After all, what could he possibly do with an old man and two teenage girls? The other two men didn't seem to be in good shape, but it was better than nothing. 

No one wanted to volunteer to join your team and it was true that from an outside perspective, you didn't look like much. But at least you were young and fit and you would bet a hundred times more on your team than on theirs. 

But time was running out and someone had to step up sooner or later. You didn't know what the consequences would be if the teams didn't form before the deadline, and you weren't really in a rush to find out. 

Time until team registration closed: 30 seconds.  

"I... I... I'll go with them then," the man in his thirties stammered, and his frail, small body then moved towards you, his gaze darkened by the weight of the world's misery that seemed to weigh down his shoulders. 

Well, it wasn't a gift, that one. If you had to choose, you would have much preferred to have the sportsman with you, but whatever. 

The time is up. Closing of team registration.  Congratulations, both teams are now formed. Team number one, please head to your base camp located in the east of the park. Name of the base camp: Ninomaru Garden.  Team number two, please head to your base camp located in the western part of the park. Name of the base camp: The Imperial Residence.  The game will start when all players are gathered around their flag.  Good luck. 

All right, this meant that the time to get to the base would be the only time available to set a strategy. If the game was going to start the moment all five of you were gathered around your flag, then you had to start thinking about how to steal the other team's flag and how to get it back safely to your side. 

The two teams split up and instinctively the other team went to the right and you went to the left. Everyone gave a bit of their opinion and you were surprised to see that no one was trying to disregard the other's plan and every opinion was carefully listened to. An had proposed a strategy in which there would be two teams of two attacking the other side to maximize the chances of capture, and the fifth player would be used to guard the flag. 

But it was too dangerous to let only one person be the guard if the opposing team was also attacking in multiples. 

Chishiya proposed that two players guard the flag, another player guard the jail in case a player from the other team got trapped, and the two remaining players would attack the other base. 

But this would mean losing the advantage of a player stuck at the jail if he had no prisoners to guard.

Each proposed plan had flaws and weaknesses that could cost you the victory in case of mistake. You had confidence in your team, if not for the fragile man who answered to the name of Jun Masahashi who was indeed the weak link of the team. An seemed to be quite athletic, you knew Chishiya well enough to judge his intellectual abilities and Niragi, well there was not much to say except that you could trust him with your life. 

Time limit: none.  Game start.  

The strategy had been voted. You were proud to think that the plan you came up with was the one that worked the best, and who would have thought that those endless hours spent playing that game as a kid would do any good now. 

An was at your side and she had good stamina. Her breathing was steady and regular and she had finally dropped her sunglasses that showed a pretty, virtuous face. The sound of branches cracking under your feet echoed with each step you took, you had to dodge the leaves and step over the trunks of the trees to avoid tripping over the roots.

The man named Jun was already dragging his feet a few feet away, and you had to shake him up a bit to make him understand that this was no time to slow you down. Lives were at stake, and you wouldn't let a guy you didn't even know take away your chance to win. 

First you had to get through the forest before you could get to the river, and once you got there, you had to find a way to cross it discretely. 

No one knew the area, and despite the fact that the gardens were only open two days a year, not one of you had ever visited the emperor's gardens before. It usually attracted thousands of visitors from all over the country, but none of you seemed interested. This was something of a regret now. 

Arriving at the flag a few minutes earlier, the vastness of the imperial residence had taken your breath away. It was neither modest, nor sober, nor modern, but a carnival of wealth and beauty. It looked like an old Japanese temple that was often seen in movies, and the red and gold colors adorned the walls and floors in a bewitching way. 

The flag was perched on top of a small stick, planted in the middle of the courtyard, which was surrounded by exotic flowers and colorful bushes. Huge rocks barricaded the north and east entrances, and small paths allowed the other team to sneak in unnoticed. The western entrance was open and immediately you thought it would be difficult to watch that side. 

Standing in front of the red flag, which was barely fluttering in the almost non-existent breeze, was a white table with several objects delicately placed on it. First, five one-liter bottles of water that were already making your mouth water under the stifling heat; then, three hunting knives, two watches, a map and finally, a compass. 

This same compass that you were now holding in your hands to look for the northwest. The little needle turned in all directions before stabilizing on your right. The race began again and the man didn't even have time to catch his breath, hands on his knees as you and An had already left. 

"I... can we... can we take a break?" 

The sun was easily sneaking through all those tree branches, and the softness of the shade was welcome. You tried to focus on the path, trying to think as little as possible about the two men who had stayed behind at base camp to protect the flag. You kept telling yourself over and over again that there was absolutely no reason for them to talk about you at such a crucial time, so there was no chance of Niragi trying to figure out how you and Chishiya knew each other. 

"I have a side point... please... I'm not going to... I'm not going to hold!" 

But after all, they were alone and it was going to be a long time until a threat appeared. Even though you didn't doubt for a second Niragi's associable skills that competed strongly with Chishiya's, one of them would most likely speak up at some point. And talking about the good weather wasn't going to keep them going for several hours, or however long it took you to get that fucking flag back to base camp. 

"Girls !"

"What the fuck?" Tu stopped and An did the same. With his breath short and his ribcage rippling with each breath, the man was close to collapsing on the ground littered with dead leaves. He put his hands back on his knees, desperately trying to catch his breath. Drops of sweat trickled down his temple, a pleading look written all over his face as An looked up in exasperation.

She looked just as annoyed as you did, and despite her nonchalance, you decided you liked her. She tucked a lock of hair behind her ear, and wrinkling her nose, she took a few steps around as if to determine how much further you had to go. She snatched the compass from your hands and without really paying that much attention to it, you shifted your attention to the man who was struggling to breathe. 

"If you can't run with us, we're going to have to leave you behind," you bluffed with a dry, authoritative tone, even though it wasn't true. You needed him, and he was part of the plan, whether you liked it or not. He belonged in this world just as much as you did, and you had to do everything you could to make sure that everyone came out of this unscathed. At least for the time being. 

"No, no, please, I just... I just need a minute," the man was almost sobbing, and if he didn't have such a pathetic look plastered on his face, you could have almost helped him regain his composure with some of the breathing exercises you'd learned in your medicinal tenure. 

"It's been ten minutes since the game started and you're already crying," An commented in a blank voice as she glanced at the watch around her wrist. She looked like a villain under her raven-black hair and flashing lipstick, and you were just as annoyed as she was, but pointing out the man's clumsiness and misery wouldn't help his condition. With a sigh, she continued, "I'm coming back, don't move." 

She commanded like a team leader and not that you minded, she seemed to take this game much more to heart than anyone else here. It was as if the weight of death affected her especially, much more than the others. She took a few steps and disappeared around a tree. It was still hard to trust people you didn't know and had just met, but you were a team and that insisted that for now you had to trust her.

//////// / ////// /////// / / / ////

Entry of An and Chishiyaaaaaaaa

I was wondering if my readers would be ok with a love triangle with Chishiya or if you prefer a story really focused ONLY on Niragi...

Please tell me what you want!

Nageoire

[bts-story]

next part of love is chaos plzzzzzz I am HOOKED!! <3

YES OMG

I'll update this as soon as I can, I promise!!

Hopefully it won't be long

Nageoire