Alice in Borderland: The Cycle Continues

61.3) Side Story 6 - King of Diamonds [3]

"And he, unfortunately, had his own version of the King of Hearts—Incrimination. But that won't do. So much trickery and deception, and no shot to give the remaining players a hidden trivial game."

===Nakasone Kenji===

– – – – – –

Sweat dripped down my neck, the faint, familiar buzzing of the needle grilling into my ears. The ink etched into skin, bleeding into the deep orange of a monarch butterfly.

I wiped the sweat off my forehead, going back to polish off the black. The ink shone a vivid color, the magnificent orange and midnight black contrasting each other. Leaning back, I admired the finished result, a blossoming monarch butterfly, its wings stretching over the woman's shoulder.

"Take a look." I said, smiling. She turned and admired her new tattoo in the mirror, her mouth dropping open. "Oh my god... I love it!"

"I'm glad." I beamed, smiling stretching to both sides of my face, reflecting the woman's own expression.

"Thank you so much! This is wonderful!"

"Anytime. You're very welcome."

I led her to the door, giving a slight bow as she left, before closing the door and heading to my workspace. Sitting down on an off-green stool, I began disinfecting the tools I had used.

After a few minutes though, someone entered the door.

"Rent's up again." Rokuda said, dropping off a sealed letter onto the table.

I turned away from cleaning my tools, to Rokuda, the owner of the tattoo shop. "Will we be able to manage this month?"

He let out a strained breath of air. "Yeah, but next month is unsure."

"So... This might be it. What're you going to do if this place shuts down?"

Rokua sighed again. "Well, I have my business degree to fall back on. You, though... I'm worried about you."

I shrugged, turning back to my tools. "I'll be fine."

"Nakasone, I tell this to you as someone who's mentored you for the past three years, before you even graduated high school. But quite frankly, I think you really should go to college."

Sighing, I set down my tools; it was this lecture again. "I know, I know... But..."

"I know, too." Rokuda said. "You're just afraid of the work and commitment."

"I really want to, and I know I really need to. This isn't going to be enough to keep me afloat forever, but... Well, first of all, can I even get accepted into one?"

"You had such high grades!" Rokuda exclaimed. "Of course you'd find a decent one eventually."

"Yeah... I just..." I sighed. "Part of me is just... Afraid of that change, of that commitment."

"Well, if you stay like this forever, then you have no right to complain." Rokuda said. "You can't cut yourself and wonder why you're bleeding. You have to actively prevent yourself from grief and actively shape the path that your life takes."

I nodded. "I understand. "Thank you, Rokuda."

— — — — — —

===Zakū Raisunei===

The door exiting the expansive lobby creaked, opening into the hallway we came in from. As everyone's attention was towards the doors, I leaned towards Maeda and whispered into her ear. She nodded.