Arcade Game | Chishiya x Reader ¹

49

The silence from around the street had been caused by both the emptiness of life and also the awkwardness that hung around Chishiya and I.

Thankfully, he had been silently trailing behind Kuina and I working on his unspoken project diligently even as we walked through the streets of Tokyo aimlessly looking for something to simply do. I never realised how occupied I was in The Beach, there was always some unusual rumour or gossip and the every day occurrence of Tatta delivering me every single ounce of conversation with my name involved.

Kuina glanced to me, I'd felt her eyes pin over my frame and I couldn't ignore the way she'd been silently watching me for a moment after speaking so cheerfully about the jeans she'd stolen from the store and how much she believed she suited them.

"What is it?" I whispered softly, looking towards her almost timidly still disheartened by the previous conversation Chishiya and I had. Chishiya probably decided against glancing towards us both in his concentrated state and a part of me wished his silence came from his regret.

"Chishiya is being quiet" She said, offering me a light smile, a playful look of hopefulness. "What happened between you both whilst I was gone?"

Her words sparked up an unfortunate reminder of what had been shared in that dull technology store between us both- a memory I would much rather forget- all too suddenly I'd wished I decided to bite my tongue and allow the question to torment my mind; it would be incomparable to the current mental pain I were experiencing.

As we trailed through the streets I couldn't help but nod halfheartedly to the words Kuina spoke and offer a smile not entirely true (I wondered if she could see straight through my fake smiles) because my mind was plagued with the recollection of Chishiya and I upon entering this world and the words he'd said to me.

What ones were the lies and what ones had been the truth?

I'd, without realisation, clenched the paper stuffed in my palm, and for some reason I'd held that unusual drawing - still unidentifiable to both Chishiya and I but also Kuina - supposing it were now a memento to the scene in which Chishiya said such upsetting words to me.

All too suddenly had that small folded piece of paper represented the words he said, the way I'd felt, the way he'd treated me in the past instead of the memory I'd previously attached to it cooped up in The Beach trying to make sense of the drawing.

"Nothing" I responded, that was a lie. In fact a significant amount had happened between between us both during her absence.

Kuina had clearly thought that physically we'd gotten closer, however, it was the complete opposite; Instead, we had mentally been more distant than ever and that mental distance had now been mirrored physically.

Kuina chuckled softly, obviously she hadn't believed my words at all and I supposed I'd looked more suspicious due to my decision not to hold her eyes but to look at the floor beneath our feet. I'd barley been able to deal with it mentally and having to speak about it aloud would undoubtedly cloud my vision in tears. Yet, she'd nudged me gently clearly unable to understand the dispute Chishiya and I had. "You can tell me you know!"

I hummed lightly, offering her another one of my halfhearted smiles I suppose she didn't particularly realise weren't all true for her excitement was clearly heightened and I'd wondered when her interest in Chishiya and I had begun.

Yet as I lingered on Kuina and I's conversations regarding Chishiya in the past I realised she had a lot more interest than I'd truly realised.

"It's okay" I muttered gently, nodding in her direction.

Despite the fact I trusted Kuina something so major would have only fractured the way she felt about him too, creating distrust within our small group would have only made problems that could possibly affect us within games, I didn't want to make the atmosphere awkward between Kuina and Chishiya because they were so close.