All For A Few Cards ➺ Alice in Borderland

episode 25 || phase two

You might be thinking I've forgotten all about my plan. I haven't. It just hasn't been going as I planned. It should've been Niragi instead of Chishiya. But I couldn't help myself.

It's time to start again. I've completed step one. Get Niragi on my side. He's become possessive of me. Which is perfect. Exactly what I need for my plan to succeed.

It's time to move on to phase two. Tell Kuina. I thought it'd be risky at first, but now I think it'll work out. Kuina's loyal. She won't tell. And if she does, it'll only be to Chishiya. I dont have much to lose.

I'm still debating whether to tell Chishiya myself, though. The only reason my plan has been delayed is because of him. I wasn't expecting to stay this long. But things happen.

But just how do I tell Kuina? She's been dying to know since I first got here. Let's just hope she doesn't want to come with me. Either ways, I won't bring her along. It'll burn me out.

And I need her. I need her for the final step. She's the most important part. Without her, I won't be able to escape. Unless, of course, I use Chishiya. But Kuina would be better. I have more trust in her.

But how exactly to tell her, I'm not sure. I dont know how I know many things, but not this. I don't know how to tell her. I'm not coming up with a plan this time. I'm just going to tell her. It'll seem more casual like that.

I wasnt going to go looking for her, like how I do for Niragi. She'll come to me. She always does. That I'm sure of. So I sat back in a chair by the pool and thought.

What ifs' are stupid. I don't usually think of them, but I couldn't help myself just now. Because what if this doesn't work? I'd die. I would literally get shot. By Niragi possibly.

"What're you thinking about?" And just as I imagined, Kuina was at my side. "I need to tell you something." I told her. "Oh?" She smirked. "You finally gonna admit your sexual relationship with Chishiya?"

"Not yet. But.." I looked around at the people. "But what?" She asked. "Let's go up to your room." I said. "Oh. Okay?" She watched me get up and lead the way.

We went inside and made our way up the stairs. "Why my room? Why not yours?" She asked me. "Someone could walk in on us. Like Niragi. Or Chishiya." I muttered the last part. "Chishiya? Why would he walk in?"

"Doesn't matter. Come on." I continued to lead the way. Once we were in front of her door, I opened it and pushed her inside, closing it behind us.

"What's this about? You look tease. You never look tense." She pointed out. "I'm not tense." I frowned and sat on the bed. She sat next to me. "What then? Were you some huge serial killer in the real world, or something?"

I sneered with amusement. "No...I wanted to tell you what I had in mind." I said. "About time!" She beamed. "It's about the plan. Remember?"

She nodded eagerly. "Yeah. You needed Niragi for it." She said. "Need. And I also need you." I told her. "What? Are you gonna sacrifice me?" She teased. I chuckled. "Umm...something like that?"

She gasped dramatically. "I'm kidding!" I quickly remarked. We both laugh as she slapped my thigh playfully. "Start from the beginning." She said, which I nodded to.

"Its not long. It's a plan to escape the Beach," I started. "Wait...what?" She frowned, her expression turning serious. "Yeah.."

"Ari, do you have any idea how dangerous that is?" She said. "I know." I said. "Especially now since you're dating Niragi!" She expressed. "I know." I repeated.

"Let me keep going. The first step was to get Niragi on my side. The second is to tell you. The third is the most dangerous." I said. "Which is escaping?" She asked me.

I shook my head. "That won't be hard." I said. "Then what is it?" She asked me. "Steal Niragis cards." I said. She sat silently, staring at me with disbelief. "What?"

"He keeps his playing cards in a safe in his room." I explained. "You're crazy!" She had other no words. I shurgged. "The fourth step is to join a game with you. We'll wait till the end of the game to leave, in case somebody sees me. Then you'll go to Niragi and tell him I died in the game." I said.

"That's stupid! What if someone sees you in another game! They'll immediately tell Niragi!" She said. I sighed. "That's what I was worried about." I said.

"It won't work, Aria. Besides, why do you even want to leave? It's better here. We'll have each other!" She said. My thoughts wandered to Sakura and I went quite.

She did too before opening her mouth. "When are you leaving?" She asked. "I was planning next week." I said. She went quite again. But then she spoke. "I'm coming with you."

"No. You can't." I said firmly. "Why not?" She asked. "People will find it suspicious." I said. "Oh, right." She mumbled. "Besides, I dont want your life getting risked because of me."

She shook her head and held my hand. "If I want to join you, it's on me. Not you." She said. I shurgged and looked away.

She sighed. "Your plan sounds a lot like Chishiyas." She said. My head turned back to her. "What?" I frowned. "He hasn't told you yet?" She asked. "Tell me what?" My eyes narrowed.

"Oh..." she went quiet and pulled her hand away from mine. "Tell me what?" I repeated. "Forget it. Its nothing." She said and stood up from the bed. "Tell me, Kuina." I ordered. She looked over at the door in hesitation.

"Um...well, Chishiya was also planning on escaping. But he wants to steal all the cards." Kuina said. "What?!" And he hasn't told me yet. Was he planning on leaving without informing me? But then again, it's not like I was going to tell him of my plan either.

"And you're calling me crazy," I scoffed. "Yeah. Well, that's why he wanted me to talk to Arisu and Usagi. He wants Arisu in on the plan." She told me. "Why him?" I asked her. "He says he has potential." Kuina shurgged.

I clenched my jaw. It shouldn't be getting on my nerve he's kept this from me. But it still bothers me. Why, though? It's not like we're dating.

"When was he planning to leave?" I asked. "He wants Arisu to steal the cards for him. But...I forgot when." She confessed. "Great." I tightened my lips together. "But don't tell him I told you! He told me not to tell you specifically."

"Did he?" My anger was getting hard to contain now. She bit her bottom lip with worryness. The door opened just then.

"Have you seen-- Aria." We made eye contact. I looked away, trying my best to look unbothered. But it didn't work. "Why didn't you knock!" Kuina scolded him. But I felt his eyes stay on me as he kept silent.

"I was looking for you." He told me. "Okay." I said dryly, looking back at him. "What were you two doing?" He asked casually as he entered the room. "Um..." Kuina looked over at me.

"Nothing." I stood up from the bed. "Girl stuff." Kuina said. He frowned slightly in suspicion. I walked over to Kuina with my hands in my pockets, acting normal. "Not a word." I whispered before turning towards the door. I made sure to hit Chishiyas shoulder as I made my way out of the room.

I walked down the hallway in anger and frustration. Why wouldn't he tell me? It bothered me. I didn't want it to, but it did and I couldn't deny that. I tried to forget about it.

But before I knew it, I heard footsteps behind me. I rolled my eyes in anger, knowing exactly who it was and what they were going to say.

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❝ [ɴᴇxᴛ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ] ❞

"𝘉𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦," 𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦. "𝘐 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶. 𝘐 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶. 𝘐 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰...𝘧𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘪𝘯 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦."

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