Alice in Borderland: The Cycle Continues

62) Battle Plan

"Yaba was never much for mingling with the playerbase, for he saw himself as too high above them—too powerful to spend it with who he saw as peasants. It took a lot of bargaining. A lot of convincing. A lot of manipulation. But finally, I ended up convincing him to play in the Three of Hearts."

===Benkei Furetcha===
Waiter
Specialty: ♤

(Ōta Ward)

"There!" Aulia pointed towards the sky, at the two trackers.

Aulia Choi
Restaurateur
Specialty: ♧

I turned the wheel, pulling the car around a corner. "I think they're within this hotel building. This has got to be them; it just has to be."

"I really hope so..." Aulia said. "After all, who else could clear the King of Diamonds, then remain together afterwards?"

"It seems that they're on the left side of the east tower." I said, stopping the car and opening the door. "Be careful."

As Aulia opened her door, I walked around to her side, shielding her, as we moved in. However, the front door was barricaded with stacks of tables, with the inner handles tied together with rope.

"Yup... That's Zakū alright." I said, tapping my toes. "What to do..."

Aulia grabbed a stone from the flowerbed, chucking it towards some of the higher windows. "Hey!" She shouted, tossing another stone at another window. "Zakū? Maeda? It's Benkei and Aulia! We're here to collect you!"

I walked behind her, craning my neck upwards.

"Look at that window still half-covered with the newspapers." Aulia pointed. Do you think that's them?"

She passed me another rock, and I threw it at that window, then another. After a few more seconds, a figure shuffled behind the window, before it opened. It was Maeda, and she gasped, her eyes lighting up. "Zakū! It's Benkei and Aulia!"

Maeda Mihoko
High School Student
Specialty: ♡

His figure rushed forward. His mouth dropped, and he waved his hands in a wide, expressive arc. "Hey! You guys!"

Zakū Raisunei
High School Student
Specialty: ♡ → ♢

"We're going around collecting all our friends!" Aulia shouted. "We saw these two trackers at the King of Diamonds, and knew it had to be you two!"

"Hold on, we're going to move the barricades aside!" Maeda said, pulling Zakū along with her.

A moment later, noise emerged from behind the door, as the two of them pulled the tables aside. Zakū undid the rope, freeing the doors, which Maeda bolted through, pulling us into a hug.

"We thought we were the only ones left." She murmured, her head on my shoulder.

Zakū gave Aulia and I a brief hug, his face glowing with a warm smile. They both carried a backpack, and the boy held Charī's sketchbook in his hands.

"So... Who's still alive?" He asked. "And what have you all been up to?"

"We'll explain in the car, there's no time." I said, opening the back door for them to climb in. Aulia put on rock music which was turned down for background noise, and I pulled the shift, zooming away.

"Other than us two, there's Gabura, Aoyama, Niko, Judumai, Chihaya, and Ashikaga." I listed. "We don't know about Rafferty, Kazetani, Shirai, or... Or Tori. Judumai and Niko are both pretty seriously injured though."