The borderlands... and him || Alice In Borderland

They'll be back... I'm sure of it.

Chota 'picks me up' from school, after a debate competition. By that i mean he insisted that it isn't safe to walk alone at night and invited himself to walk with me.

As we stroll in a peaceful silence, his phone buzzes. Multiple times. I glance at his pocket,

"You can check that you know?" He shakes his head,

"I'm sure that it's not important, don't worry about it."

"It could be a work thing." He had just gotten a full time job, after multiple part time ones while he was in high school.

"No I doubt it is, it's probably just Arisu and Karube."

"Just check your phone then. You know I don't care and I love them as much as I love you." Chota looks at me and sighs, smiling before taking out his phone.

"Oh... they want me to meet them at the bar. Do you want me to walk you ho-"

"I'll come with." I'll find time for my homework. I haven't seen the others in a while anyways. Chota smiles and we change direction, walking towards the bar.

We're the only ones instore. It closed ages ago but Karube had a pair of keys and he told us that he'd sneaked in before. He hates his boss but doesn't leave this job because it pays well and his boss doesn't notice anything. 

Arisu and Chota are talking about high school. Karube had dropped out of school when he was 15 and the others graduated last year. I listen to them talk about the arcade next to school that had been demolished before I'd even gotten into the school. They don't pay attention to me as I smile at how Arisu had stood there cried when they'd shut it down. 

"You know Arisu," Karube says, "i have a dream. I wanna buy a huge farm in Australia. I'll invite you guys over, and we'll drink beer all day." And then, as an afterthought, "Kamiko would drink apple juice though." I fake offence,

"I- what! I'll be eighteen by then for sure! If you give me apple juice I'll... I'll steal your beer!" We all laugh at that. "I mean it, there'll be none left when I'm done with it."

It's gotten to that part in the conversation where everything is a joke or some amazing fake scenario that will never happen. 

We're all high on "what if's".

"That sounds so nice!" Chota says, "Then I'll deliver the highest quality beef steak to you through drone delivery! The drone will be fully automated, I'll make an app for it!"

"Alright then," Arisu chuckles, "cheers to our future!"

"Cheers to our future!" We all clink our drinks, theirs beer, mine apple juice, and take a sip. Everyone laughs and and smiles at each other after drinking. 

"You better keep to your promise!" Karube says, lightly punching Chota in the shoulder. Chota laughs but rubs his shoulder. 

We hang out for the rest of the night, laughing every two seconds, betting on who will fall asleep first, creating inside jokes that will be used for years to come. 

That night will forever be a core memory. 

I don't want to wake up. But the bright light shining onto my eyelids forces me to open my eyes and sit up. I should have checked if the windows were closed, with curtains covering them, last night. If they were, then I'd have gotten a few more hours of sleep maybe. I'd have gotten to live inside that memory a little longer.
Then I remember. Where's the clock?! What's the time... 8:30. Why aren't they back yet? They're dead. Your 'nightmare' was real. No. I refuse to believe that they're gone. Karube promised he'd be back. That they'd be back. I should make some food. I go to the bathroom and then come back and grab 5 cups of cup noodles. Wait... water. I think the kettle has none left. Do I have to walk all the way to a river to- oh. Right. I'm in a shopping centre. There's bottled water everywhere. I smack myself on the forehead. Why am I being so dumb today? I really hope they're back soon. They will be back, they will be. I boil the water and set up all the cups of noodles. Once the water is ready I pour it into each of the cups, and put the cover on. I walk into the bookstore and grab a novel, then decide to grab the whole series. I grab my cup of noodles and some cookies. I leave everything else on the table. When they're back they'll be hungry I'm sure. I have nothing to be worried about, like Chota had said, Karube and Arisu had come back the morning after the game, so surely it happens quite a bit. I'll surprise them, I think. I go into another store and find a corner to sit in. I put my things down and start to read. When I hear them come back I'll jump up and it'll be funny to see them scared. I just... don't think about them for now. Invest completely and utterly in this fictional world. You know that they're dead. Block out all your thoughts. Don't think about how they could be rotting every second you're reading...

I read for what feels like a long time. After I finish the 5 book series, I get up and check the clock. Why aren't they back? I can't have read that fast right? The noodles on the table have stopped steaming. I look at the clock. 5 in the afternoon.

You've known since they were about to leave. They were gonna die. Why did you ignore all the signs? All the bad feelings and the psychic nightmare?

I guess they're really gone.

Karube... he broke his promise.