Two of Hearts || Suguru Niragi

f o u r

A sweltering heat coated me. That was the first finger I noticed. The second was the suffocating smell of smoke. Hazily, I attempted to open my swollen eyes. It came with a bit of a struggle, but I eventually managed to open them and look around the smoke-filled room. I inhaled as I pushed myself up, the smoke burning my lungs. I coughed roughly, the burning only getting worse, as I pushed myself out of bed.

I fell to the floor as I continued to cough, gagging from the aggression. Fuck. What happened? Last I remembered, the Ten of Hearts game was going on and Niragi told me to meet him here, then... Haruka... I looked at the end of the bed at Haruka's body, his head and face nothing but mush. Another gag left me but not from coughing, and I looked away quickly.

I pulled myself out of the room, crawling on the carpet into the hallway. Bodies littered the floor, blood soaked into the carpet. God, I hoped Niragi was okay. I stood into a squatting position and ran down the stairs, trying to shield my eyes from the smoke. It hurt to move fast and breathing heavily didn't help, the burning in my lungs growing worse.

It felt like ages before I finally reached the main floor, my legs weak beneath me. I felt lightheaded, struggling to get proper breaths. Blindly, I stumbled out of the doors and into the fresh air, gasping roughly. The clean air touching my ashened lungs caused a tight, scorching sensation to flood my body. Blood came up with every few coughs, splattering onto the pavement in front of me. Goddammit.

Struggling to stand under my wobbling legs, I pulled myself down the front stairs, coughing every few steps. I didn't know how I was going to get away; I didn't know where to go. My fingernails dug into the concrete stairs and pulled me down until I reached the last few steps, my body rolling down them until I hit the parking lot. I don't know if the collision caused some of the ash to knock loose in my lungs, but I gasped and felt less of a burning sensation.

Still, I continued to cough as I forced myself to stand. I let out a strangled breath once both of my feet were firm beneath me. I looked behind me at the ablaze Beach, the fire bright and simmering against my face. Turning back, I faced the rest of Tokyo.

Where would I even go? Niragi could be anywhere, and Kyo, Rin, and Sakiko had been gone since the game first started. A feeling of abandonment washed through me and I let out a sigh, followed by a few more coughs, before I began walking toward town.

There was only one place that came to mind. It might've been stupid to want to return, to seek shelter there, but I had already set my mind on it.

Walking with the struggle I had mixed with my new breathing issues made the walk ten times longer than it usually was. It was dark out, and without the fire from The Beach surrounding me, I struggled to see. The looming apartment buildings blocked out any possible moonlight, leaving me near blind as I dragged myself down the sidewalk.

When I finally reached my apartment, I let out a thankful breath. Sluggishly, I walked into the front doors and towards the staircases. I had never been more thankful to live on a lower level, but my legs still burned when I reached my floor.

The door was unlocked and I tiredly entered, shutting and locking the door behind me. There was a lot I needed to do — change, clean the ash and blood off of me, find something to eat — but all I could do was sit on the couch with a heavy landing. The entire walk and cough-session since I left the beach wore me horribly, the lightheaded sensation replaced with a tiredness.

Sleep engulfed me after a few minutes, only letting me go when the sun was pouring through the window in the kitchen. My crusted eyes, once again, struggled to open when I sat up, and I had to use my fingers to open them.

Pushing myself off the couch, I treaded to my bedroom. I stood in front of the mirror, staring at myself. My black and brown hair was matted with blood, sweat and ash. Red and purple bruising covered my cheeks and forehead, with sections of my skin split open. Below my eyes was a deep blue and purple color and my bottom lip had a gash in it. My shirt was sticking to me and I could feel the build up of sweat coating my body.