Her. (Chishiya Shuntaro)

19

Game: Bridge
Difficulty: Jack of Spades

Rule: Cross to the other building before the time limit.

The voice announced through a huge builder placed on one if the buildings. Aika gazed at the building on the other side, it was a few meters away from hers. There was a bridge connecting both buildings, but waiting on the other side was a man carrying two blades. Katanas. She could only assume he was the Jack of Spades.

Aika took out the Katana, gazing deeply at Jack.

The game will now commence. You are given 10 minutes to cross to the other side. Step beyond the red line before the time limit to clear the game.

A timer appeared on the billboard, and while Aika just stood there analyzing the situation, the rest had mindlessly advanced. She could only watch them get sliced by the Jack of Spades.

Aika momentarily closed her eyes, taking a deep long breath in the process. Before, she hated how her mother made her join fitness programs, decathlons, and martial arts classes while she wouldn't even let her draw in her self built studio. She remembered how once, her mother threw a fit and destroyed all her artworks because she wouldn't attend her karate class.

It was necessary for the face of their hospital that she was fit, her mother said.  When she was a teenager, Aika would appear on billboards, modeling for the fitness programs of her parents who were both renowned doctors. She hated how they sold their own clueless daughter out, and while it was not a good memory, she was at least relieved that she had brought some skills she learned, which she needed to win the game.

Realizing no one else has been left but her, she decided to cut off the bridge, until the only thing left of it was a fragile rope. The Jack was startled from the other side of the building, but he was able to hang on to the rope.

Aika bit her lips, she had decided to bet her life in that thin fragile rope connecting both buildings. She took off her shirt, leaving her wearing nothing but a sports bra. And then without hesitation, she wrapped her shirt on the rope and hanged on tightly as she glided to the the other side of the building.

She kicked the Jack of Spades, and they were both thrown into the building. While the Jack was down, Aika didn't waste time and did her best to crawl towards the red line. However, her movement was halted by a sharp pain in her leg. She cried in distress, for the Jack had just stabbed her on her right leg. As the pain immobilized her, the Jack of Spades pulled her by her hair.

"Just give up and die beautifully before I amputate you, Doll." He spat near her ear, gripping tightly on her hair.

"Shut up!" She growled at him, kicking him on his groin. She did her best to stand up, while the Jack fell to the ground from the pain. "You're just a weaker, pathetic version of the King of Spades." She taunted, stealing one of his katana from him. "Man, had you used a gun, you would have won this game."

The Jack smirked, standing up as if the blow wasn't as painful as intended to be. "You're pretty complacent for someone with a bleeding legs"

"I'm not complacent, I'm confident." She muttered, and then lunged forward to attack him. The Jack did the same, and they both managed to slash one another. The Jack on Aika's right arm, and her on the jack's left leg.

Not minding the stinging pain, Aika did her best to dodge all the Jack's attack. She was able to dodge many of the blows, still she couldn't avoid getting slashed on the side of her stomach, her other leg, and other parts of the body. Until the only thing keeping her standing was adrenaline.

"Give up, Doll. You really think you can beat a Jack all by yourself?"

Ignoring him, she ducked, sliding forward and mildly slashing the Jack's leg. It immobilized him for a while, which gave her enough time reach out to her pocket. To her surprise, there was a mini taser hidden inside it. A pained smile formed on her lips, her heart melting at how Chishiya was still looking out for her even when he was away. He must have put the taser secretly inside. "Thank you..." she whispered.

With her last ounce of strength, she tased the Jack on the neck and kicked his sword away. While he was still dealing with the shock's damage on his body, huddled on the ground, Aika limped towards the red line and hopped beyond it before the Jack could even recover.

Player wins.

She looked at the Jack coldly. "You were wrong. I was never alone."

The Jack only glared at her, and then his head got hit by the laser from beyond. His dead body ended up falling off from the building.

And when the blimp has crashed, her adrenaline subsided, making her feel how extremely painful her wounds truly were.

Aika calculated she had only a few minutes before she would have completely lost a deadly amount of blood. And so in those few minutes, she did her best to search for a first aid kit. Luckily, she found a huge emergency bag with loads of bandage and alcohol.

Without hesitation, she bathed herself with alcohol, and she yelled in pain every time she felt her wounds sting. Breathing heavily, Aika did her best to wrap a bandage around her limbs and her stomach to cover all the slashes. The most painful was her stab wound on her leg, and when she checked how bad it was, tears fell from the corner of her eyes. The skin around the wound had already turned dark purple. That means she needed to accept she might not be able to walk properly again.