Alice in Borderland

Chapter 46 - Hennessy with the hatmaker

I say goodbye to the others and tell Kuina with a glance that I will come later. I follow Aguni inside and try to keep up with his quick steps. I haven't had a private conversation with the hatmaker for a while, lately he's been either busy or distracted. Aguni walks to the presidential suite and stops at the door, not knocking. He crawls out of his military pants and holds me a small tube of ointment.

"For your ribs, tiger balm. Did I ever help at that time"

"Thank you," I say, accepting the green ointment in surprise and nodding to him again. Immediately, as if to avoid a lengthy conversation about it, he knocks on the door and opens it. I follow him into the room and recognize the hatmaker on the couch of his room. The two women with him get up and leave the room without further instruction. Danma sits on the couch in a yellow bathrobe with hummingbirds and wears his sunglasses with round glasses. He spreads his arms in greeting and Aguni nods again before leaving the room again. I drive the armchair opposite and, of course, sit on it.

"Sayuuri," he says, patting me on the shoulder as he drives towards the house bar. No one else is here, not even from the military squad for security. He cradles a bottle of whisky and comes back to the table with two clean glasses. He gives both of them to the edge and gives me one.

"Thank you," I say politely and accept it. We bump into each other, then he runs back to the couch and spreads on it. His relaxed attitude tells me that I am not in any trouble. I just hope he doesn't mention my last game or Chishiya. Ann knew I was in Chishiya's bed, but I think Chishiya can be judged to the extent that no one else in the leadership has experienced it.

"You always surprise me," he says, looking to the side, "In the spade 10 game you showed me that you are a survivor. And then I hear that you have willingly declared yourself to drown. And yet you survive again"

"I had confidence in my teammates," I say succinctly.

"You my dear, can bring it far here in the beach. I knew from the first moment I saw you that you had the potential to do so.

"Should I stick with us at the meeting last time?" I ask curiously and drink a strong sip. The alcohol burns in my neck, but it relieves the pain immensely.

"I left that to Aguni, but apparently you convinced him too"

"Am I here?"

"No. In the beach there are either people who want to acquire my power or snare to please me. You don't belong to any category"

A superficial assessment, because he doesn't really know me and I didn't tell him anything private, but it's true. I just nod and shrug my armpits before I continue drinking from my glass.

"So," he begins to redirect the theme, "What do you find missing in this room. I've been surviving for days, but it just doesn't come to mind. Oriental carpets, a disco ball"

"A tiger," I answer sarcastically but with a spark of truth. He looks at me in surprise and drives thoughtfully over his beard. Then he starts laughing loudly and looks around the room again.

"That's it"

I'm not too surprised that he likes this idea, which is why I join in his laughter. Even though he sometimes seems to me like narcissists from Greek mythology, who is in love with his own reflection, I find the hatmaker hard to find okay.

"Anything else okay with them?"

He seems slightly surprised at the question and his laughter flattens, but an honest smile steals on his face.

"I'm getting better by the day. The beach is growing with the increasing number of new arrivals and only a few cards are missing"

He avoids talking about his personal feelings. For him, only the hotel seems to count, he gradually gets lost in the idea behind the beach. I just nod and give us both back. We'll definitely think for an hour where and how to get a tiger in Borderland and keep drinking. Nothing so much that I would be drunk, but I can't deny that I feel the alcohol.

"Ann will examine you again tomorrow, after all, we want your sprain to heal well," he says as I slowly say goodbye to him for today.

"Thank you," I say, drinking my glass in a train. I get up and thank the hatmaker for the funny chat, then I walk out of the suite and after the two women from earlier, I close the door behind them. I want to run to the left to go back to Kuina and the others, but I can just prevent me from bumping into the man in front of me. I scare slightly and automatically take a step back.

"Sorry," Katsu says immediately.

"No, I just didn't see you," I reply, looking at him slightly surprised, "What are you doing here?"

"You were at the hatmaker, I thought maybe you're in trouble or something," he says, scratching his head. I look at him confused and questioning. He's here because he thought I had trouble?

"No, we only drink something every now and then and talk," I reply again, and his facial expression relaxes a little. What does he think he could have done if I had been in trouble?

"That's good, I've been worried about it already"

He keeps talking, but I only get half of what he says. My gaze falls over his shoulder at the end of the aisle where Chishiya stands. He raised his eyebrows a little and his hands in the pocket of his vest. He just stands there and models us with his put on grin.

"Katsu," I interrupt him and smile apologetically, "I'm sorry, but I still have something to do. We can continue to talk tomorrow"

I don't wait for his answer and run past him while I don't really notice him. I walk to Chishiya and he grins a little wider.

"That guy again," he says dryly, looking past me to Katsu. I notice how he looks at him and looks at him roughly.

"Yes, he thought I was in trouble because the hatmaker ordered me to himself"

He looks at him for a moment, strictly and thoughtfully, wondering what is going on in his head. But then he looks at me and his moves become a little gentler.

"The outdoor lighting starts right away, I wanted to ask if you come with me"

"You've got to ask that," I laugh and run past him to drive to the roof.