Diamond Heart [Chishiya x OC reader]

9. Sweet encounter

I had mentally counted the passing days since the rejection. 19 days missed out on any interaction between Chishiya and me. The only tiny sign of interaction were the accidental eye meetings – that didn’t even last long. For more than two weeks I have been walking around with a cold hole in my heart. Without my intention, it had affected Kuina as well. It was quite clear that this tension between Chishiya and me put her in an uncomfortable position. Nevertheless, Kuina still told me about Chishiya’s plan to steal Hatter’s cards and leave the Beach. Apparently that involved two new Beach members. After Kuina explained their capabilities, I had a suspicion that those two were participants in my first game.

Another night, another game. I left my room and unfurnished drawing after hearing the raucous downstairs. I went straight to the number container without meeting up with Kuina and Chishiya – mirroring the last few days. It was unknown to me whether or not Chishiya was also avoiding any word-sharing with me, because I tried to ignore his presence to the best of my abilities. But in full contrast, when he was no longer in my vision, I searched for his figure and secretly wished he was in view.

After receiving my number I went to my car with forced tunnel vision to prevent bumping into someone familiar. I recognised one of my team mates for tonight as the athletic climber girl from the tag game. After briefly introducing myself, the nickname ‘climber girl’ changed to Usagi. She didn’t really make much conversation with me – which I didn’t take personally, because I wasn’t much of a social butterfly myself.

Our arena seemed to be an empty building without any windows, owning just one door : the entrance. Fortunately it was revealed as a clubs game, which I could benefit from since I discovered that my specialties were clubs and diamonds during my stay in the borderland. Although the difficulty was 10 and we had to find numbers in 25 different rooms to complete a bingo row, column or diagonal. The rooms were pitch black and each participant received 9 matches as a light source. If you were to use up all your matches before completing the bingo challenge, it would be game over for you.

I displayed a Chishiya smirk on my lips as the memory of me testing how long I can uphold the tiny fire on one single match, came to mind. The game proceeded with Usagi and me as a team helping each other out. Throughout the whole game we had cupped our hands around our precious source of survival. Our fingers had faint burnt marks on the tips from letting the fire spread on the matches until there was half an inch of wood left. In the end, Usagi and me were the only champions left.

After returning to the Beach, I immediately went to the cafeteria getting myself a cup of coffee. I surprised myself when my feet took me to the pool where main centre of noise was. From a distance I saw Usagi and Arisu searching for one another through the thick crowd of figures. I glanced at Kuina who just joined my side.

“I played a game with Arisu tonight. He has some smart braincells.”

I nodded, “Yeah. I played with the girl sitting next to him, Usagi.”

Kuina removed the chewed stick from her mouth, “Do you think they’re dating?”

I laughed through my throat, “Well, if they are, then that is one awkward relationship.”

Kuina left my side without a word and went to Usagi and Arisu, taking a seat in between them on the sun lounger. I laughed to myself and took the last sip of my coffee. She probably bluntly asked if they were a couple because I could see Usagi getting uncomfortable. After throwing the polystyrene cup in the nearest bin, I took the risk of being thrown in the pool by sitting on its edge with my feet in the water. It was a nice cool down after the steaming hot caffeine drink. From a distance I watched Kuina looking at her chewing stick still talking to the non-couple, probably telling them about her attempt to quit smoking for health reasons.