wash || alice in borderland

viii. pool of tears

the next few days for the pair were spent kissing, planning with kuina, and kissing even more. they hadn't put a strict label on their relationship but reiko didn't mind. with all that was going on, she could wait a little longer before asking him out. she was thinking of a garden as their first date. she had seen the loveliest one in kyoto online.

unfortunately, planning to steal the cards left not so much time for romance as she would have hoped. and more time at the beach meant she had to disregard her street clothes in exchange for beachwear. she paired a simple purple bikini top with low rise shorts and converse. while she knew converse weren't exactly beachwear, there was no way she was walking around in a death game world without sneakers. she'd rather be prepared.

the two were sitting together on the chair in her room, reiko settled peacefully on chishiya's lap, when a horn blared through the entire hotel. it seemed she was right about her choice to wear converse.

reiko sighed, lifting her head up from chishiya's shoulder. "guess it's game time, literally." she pouted, listening as she heard the other residents of the beach cheering and gathering toward the main room.

the white haired boy smiled and brought her head down to place a soft kiss on her forehead. "come on, let's go." he took reiko off his lap and went to zip up his white jacket.

"bleh," reiko stuck her tongue out at him. "you're no fun." she jogged a little to catch up with him at the door, making sure to intertwine her hand with his as they walked out. the closer they got to the main room, the louder the cheers became.

"HATTER! HATTER! HATTER!"

chishiya and reiko didn't bother going to the ground floor, opting to stay on one of the higher levels with fewer people. they brushed past people to get to a more secluded spot, each being handed a slip of paper. chishiya leaned back against one of the columns while reiko stood next to him. their clasped hands hidden carefully behind chishiya's back.

the hatter and the rest of the executives stood in front of everybody on the second floor where the balcony protrude outside of the regular shape. hatter held his hands out and everyone immediately silenced their cheering.

"comrades! tonight brings us a new challenge. and my soldiers neve back down from one." he leaned against the railing to look down on everyone. "this challenge is a war against your own fear. individually, each of you has the courage within to play. to battle and to win. and when you stand united as one nothing can stand in your way!"

reiko narrowed her eyes at hatter, suddenly feeling hyper aware of her wristband. she wasn't truly as trusting of him and the executives as they may have thought her to be. while she liked anne for her cold attitude, the rest of the executives she had no real regard for. looking down she surveyed the crowd of cheering people before her eyes wandered on two familiar people.

ah, she smirked, so you've made it?

"together," hatter continued, "we will get the cards we need to return us to our old world. i know," he raised his hands triumphantly, "that you will get there!"

the crowd broke out into more cheers, louder than they had been before hatter's speech. many holding up their fists in celebration.

kuina came up behind them. "what's wrong?" she leaned on the column as well, looking out to the crowd where chishiya's gaze was set.

"we were together in the last game."

reiko followed his vision to see he was also looking at the two players from the tag game.

"who?" kuina leaned in a bit, trying to see who chishiya was looking at. "those two?"

"yeah." reiko spoke up. "the cute climber girl and the messy haired one. i didn't think they'd stick together after that game." she mused. she didn't mention anything about the other man she had seen him with. knowing this world, they had either split up, or he died. reiko was willing to bet on the second option.