Alice in Borderland ~ Chishiya

16

'I think it would be helpful if we split ourselves up in our next game, so we might learn more about the Swimsuits. What do you think?' Raiden avoids my gaze, but takes the cup of tea from me. 'I think you go too far in it,' he replies. 'And I don't think so,' I retort. I put a tea bag in my own cup and dip it in the water several times. 'I saw you looking at them curiously. I could also hear it in your voice when you asked them about the pool party.'

'Fine, Sherlock,' he sighs. 'Since you seem to be so obsessed with those Swimsuits: feel free to talk about them.' I take the bag out of my cup and throw it on the floor. 'Jesus, what have you got?' I ask in exasperation. 'Are you going to be that cranky every time we clear a game?'

'Well, if I haven't done anything myself and let others do the work for me, then, yes.' He looks at his mug thoughtfully. 'Don't be so mad,' I mumble in reply. 'Sometimes you help me and sometimes it's the other way around. What difference does it make?' He gives out an exasperated laugh. 'Oh, yeah? When did I help you? If I remember correctly, you were the one who saved me from those mascots and who withhold me from shooting myself in the head.'

I don't feel like arguing with him. I want to talk about the Swimsuits and how we should act to find out more about it. But I can see that it's important to him. He's really concerned that if I hadn't stopped him, he would be dead right now.

'You helped me, too, Raiden,' I say honestly. 'Do you know how much pain and acidity I felt in my arms? Do you know how close I was to giving in and falling all the way down again? But your annoying comments distracted me and kept me going a little longer every time.' I can see surprise on his face. He looks as if he had never realized before that his presence at the human elevator was an added value for me, instead of just the other way around.

'Good to know I can only make stupid comments and not add anything else.' For a moment, it seems as if he wants to get up and walk away, but then he realizes that today, he wants to lean on his foot as little as possible. He looks.. captivated. Whether that is because he can't move fully or because he's not quite well mentally at the moment, I don't know.

'Raiden, you don't think you're weak, do you? Hey,' I say when he doesn't look up at me. 'You really don't have to worry about me thinking that or anything. If you were weak, you would've been lying on the ground with a crushed body during our first game together. Then you wouldn't have stuck around. It took a lot of strength and perseverance. And I know what I'm talking about.'

At first he looks a bit uncertain, but when he sees that I meant it, he seems to be a little more relaxed about it. 'I just don't want to slow you down,' he sighs. 'First my ankle,' he says, nodding at his foot, 'and then I almost shoot myself in the head, because I don't think any further.'

'It was only natural that we all thought that the game could only be played like that, at first,' I reply. 'Everyone thought that. What fool comes to the theory to delve deeper into the rules and try something different?' I shrug. 'Can't we just agree that we're happy with how things turned out and that we'll look further from now on, instead of keeping track of which of us helped the other?'

I can see that he appreciates me thinking about him as a value to this alliance, still. But that's not all: I also value who he is as a person. 'Very well,' he agrees. 'Before we move on to those Swimsuits of yours, I just want to thank you for keeping me from shooting myself in the head.' I smile at him slightly. 'You're welcome.'

Slowly, I bring my mug to my mouth and take a sip. 'So,' I continue, 'the Swimsuits.' Raiden nods. 'Yes, the Swimsuits.' I think about what we already know about them. 'So we know that they wear swimsuits and a wristband with a number on it. There's someone called Hatter who apparently decides about the position they have at this "Beach", as they talked about being promoted a number. They have access to a car, because they drove away.'