Alice in Borderland ~ Chishiya

35

I can see from his face that it's important, so I walk with Chishiya without saying anything. I don't know if he thinks it's strange that I don't say anything to him, especially after how we've been getting along recently, but we both seem to sense that it's serious and there's no time for those things now. At least I thought so, but just before we step into a hallway, he glances around to make sure no one is there, before taking a step towards me, whispering: 'Hatter is dead.'

It makes no sense at all that my body is making this response, since the message doesn't exactly mean anything good, yet I feel my ear tingling from his warm breath and I can't help but just take that feeling in for a moment. Luckily, he takes it as if I'm shocked by the announcement. 'How do you know that?' I whisper back, but he doesn't reply. He nods to the hall and we walk on. 'Arisu and Usagi are there too,' he says before we get to the door. Then we go in.

I would've expected Kuina, but it's a good thing he made the announcement. Otherwise, I would probably have been surprised by the fact that Arisu and the climber from tag are also there. They look from me to Chishiya, who closes the door and steps further inside. He sits down in a chair, so I eventually follow his lead. Kuina smiles at me for a moment, before we start the meeting.

'Hatter is dead,' Chishiya comes straight to the point, 'and Aguni is the new leader.' I let his words affect me immediately. 'Aguni?' Usagi asks, not understanding. 'But I thought..' She doesn't finish her sentence and looks at Arisu, who looks at the floor and nods. Chishiya continues. 'We were at the crisis meeting this morning. Hatter's body was lying on the table.'

The leader of the Beach, the one who gave yet another speech yesterday, the one who was followed by many Beachers, is dead. And Aguni is the new leader.

'He had a hole in his chest,' Chishiya says, 'and not through his head. That means he didn't die in the game, but someone killed him.' Kuina and I don't ask questions, but Usagi does. 'If the leader of the Beach dies, won't the number two become the new leader?' Chishiya shrugs. 'Niragi.' That name causes an irritation in me. He keeps coming back and he keeps doing nasty things. 'He threatened everyone with his weapon, so they had to vote for Aguni.'

I look at Arisu, who's still looking at the floor and seems to think back to the moment. I had already heard that Usagi and he weren't received too warmly, as weren't Raiden and I, but now I can clearly see how much he dislikes the way things are done here. Now I understand why Chishiya brought them in. They're the people we must use for our plan. They're the people who'll be sacrificed. Am I okay with that? Is Kuina? I look at her, but she avoids my gaze.

'The poker cards of all the Beachers are in the safe,' Chishiya continues. I notice that he's cool-blooded, even business-like, as I saw him in the beginning. Is that the Chishiya he really is, or does he act like that because they're here? 'There's a black envelope sealed with a wax seal. This contains the code to the safe.'

'You want to steal the envelope and open it?' Usagi asks suspiciously. Obviously she doesn't trust him. Chishiya tries to suppress a sigh, but I can tell from his face that he's annoyed. 'When there's a new number one coming,' he continues as if he hadn't been interrupted, 'he opens the envelope in front of all the board members, but he's the only one who gets to see it.' Now Arisu's looking up to him, too, as if this were new information. 'The new number one puts the letter with the code on it in a new black envelope and seals it with the ring.'

I try to figure out which ring, but nothing comes to mind. I don't want to ask, because I don't want him to get annoyed by me. Fortunately my poker face is better than Usagi's, who gives him a questioning look. Chishiya now sighs and mumbles: 'The ring with "BOSS" on it, that the leader wears.' Maybe I'm vaguely aware that Hatter wore it, but I haven't seen it often.