All For A Few Cards ➺ Alice in Borderland

episode 14 || sleepless nights follow

•°~Aria's POV~°•

I ran up the stairs to the roof. I made it to the floor and slammed the door behind me, running over to the corner of the roof. I rested my elbows on the railing and covered my face from embarrassment as I began to quietly sob.

I wasn't going to let Chishiya see me like this. I was weak, filled with rage and sorrow. I heard the roof door open. I quickly turned my head and whipped my tears.

I closed my eyes and pinched my nose to prevent my sobs from escaping. He stood a few feet from me, staring out into the open. I breathed through my mouth until breathing became easier and I began to calm down.

I un-pinched my nose and crossed my arms to rest on the railing. Chishiya remained silent the entire time. We didn't speak for a long time. The waves soothed me, so I paid attention to them instead.

Finally, he spoke. "You played?" His voice was soft and quiet. My anger had dissolved. "Yes." I muttered, unable to look him in his eyes. He wasn't staring at me either. "But we just finished a game three days ago." He said. "I know." I answered sternly.

Silence again. I was praying he wouldn't ask anything stupid again. I'd either start yelling, or I'd start bawling my eyes out. There was no in between. Both of them were bad.

"How's your leg feeling?" He asked awkwardly. "Fine." I replied dryly. "Did it bother you while playing?" He asked. "No." I sniffed. I saw him nod slightly.

I hesitated before opening my mouth again. "Why'd you do it?" I asked him faintly. "Do what?" He questioned, although he knew exactly what I was talking about. I thought my answer through before I responded. "Not...let us die."

"It's a nice night tonight."
"Answer my question."

He sighed softly and looked at me. "If I answer your question...will you answer the one I'll ask you?" He asked. "That depends on what the question is." I say. He hesitated with his responds. "I had a change of heart." He told me.

"How does that happen?" I smirked teasingly. "I answered the question. Now it's your turn to answer mine," he turned to look at me. "No, you never answered my question." I protested. "What happend in your game tonight?" He asked me either ways.

"I'm not telling you anything." I glared at him and looked away. "I answered your question," he repated. "You don't have a change of heart out of nowhere." I said. "Well, I did." He said. "Liar." I whispered.

"How would you know if I'm lying or not?" He frowned a bit. "I've had experience with liars before. And it's clear that you fit in perfectly with them." I said. He scoffed and turned from me. "I don't know why I did it. It was an instinc. I just..." He sighed, unable to speak his thoughts.

"That's not good enough." I told him. "When is it ever good enough for you?" He sounded a bit angry now. "Only the best are good enough for me. And clearly, your answer isn't the best." I said, returning his tone of voice.

He took a deep breath, calming himself down. "I answered the best I could." He said. "If that's your best, then I guess you'll never find out what happened tonight." I said. "I guess not." He sighed. I shrugged.

We went quite for a long time. There was too much tension between us. He wasn't going to give me a better answer. And he wasn't going to find out about tonight. Not that I was going to tell him, either ways. That's going to stay private with me.

The wind whispered into my ears. They were telling me to leave. To go to bed. To try and sleep. But I knew I wasn't going to be able to. Especially not tonight. I don't think I'll ever be able to sleep sound again. Not even if I finally leave this shithole.

I began walking away. "Where're you going?" Chishiya spoke softly. "To bed." I answered, continuing to walk. "We're not done talking, though." He said. "There's nothing else to be said." I responded. Once I got to the door, I opened it and took a step out.

"Hold on," Chishiya said. I stopped and looked back at him. He was turned to face me, his hand on the railing. "You weren't with Niragi before bumping into me, were you?" He asked. "No." I said.

"Then who was that in his room?" He questioned. I shrugged. "Probably another one of his one-night stands." I answered. "You already knew?" He asked. "I'm not clueless, Chishiya." I scoffed. "So you're not bothered he's sleeping with other people?"

"Why would I be? It's not like I don't do the same." I said. "You-" he didn't finish his sentence. He didn't need to ask to know the answer. I simply rose my eyebrows, giving him an obvious look. His face began to fall into anger. Jealousy, was it?

"Of course you do. I wouldn't be suprised if you already have STDS." He sneered, his eyes flaring up all sorts of mad and disgusted emotions. But I merely shrugged. "Me neither."

I took another step out. "Wait." But he stopped me again. And I turned to face him, again. "Why are you still with him, anyways?" He asked me. "You're cheating on each other. What's the point in dating?"

"What's it matter to you?" My lips twitched up slightly. "It doesn't. But...he's sleeping with other girls." He stated, as if it was any of my concern.

"Right, but I honestly don't care who he's hooking up with. Because in the end, he'll always come back to me."

•°♤♡◇♧°•

As I had guessed, I didn't get any sleep last night. I tried tonight, since Niragi was away from a game (part of me hoping he wouldn't return), but I was just not tierd.

That's not true. I was tierd. I was exhausted. And to tell you truth, I was scared of falling alseep. Because everytime I did, I dreamt the same nightmare over and over again.

It was the same night Sakura died. The same night that kept coming back to me in my sleep. A gun going out. Sakura falling from her feet, blood gushing from her chest. And my bloodshot shriek.

I've woken up at least five times tonight from the nightmare, my clothes drenched from sweat. And five times have I checked the clock. It was currently 9:12 p.m. It's not very late. Niragi should be done with his game by now. If he didn't die, of course.

I got up from bed and left my room. I walked across the level and made it to Niragis room in no time. His door was closed. All I need now is for some girl to be with him. But I couldn't hear anything from behind the door.

I creaked the door open a bit. I peaked through, but didn't see any girl. Although I did see Niragi. He was bent down to a drawer under the TV. He dug in his pocket and took out a...a card?

A playing card. I wasn't able to see which one it was, but I was certain it was the one he won tonight. He placed it inside the drawer and closed some safe door. He stood up and admired it.

I pulled away from the door, shocked. Huh. Turns out not even one of the most powerful militants is uncapable of staying loyal to Hatter.

•°♤♡◇♧°•

❝ [ɴᴇxᴛ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ] ❞

𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘮 𝘴𝘶𝘥𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘨𝘰𝘵 𝘩𝘰𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘶𝘴𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘨𝘰𝘵 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘺 𝘦𝘢𝘳. "𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘢 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘢 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘵?" 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘦. "𝘛𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘮𝘦." 𝘐 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬, 𝘮𝘺 𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘤𝘬𝘴 𝘧𝘭𝘶𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘳𝘦𝘥.

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