Alice in Borderland: The Cycle Continues

80) Seventh Day of Restitution

===Benkei Furetcha===

Colored pencils of various shades were scattered across my bed. I concentrated on my drawing, arcing light strokes of mahogany around the edges of his face.

A cup of dirty paint water was on my nightstand, watercolor palettes surrounding it. My blanket was a mess of dried paint blotches. The TV was on in the background, but merely for noise.

It was a jarring adjustment at first, drawing with one eye. A bandage covered it, and I often struggled to not itch it. However, I quickly adapted, at least artistically; my depth perception and movement tracking would forever hinder my performance in any sport. Part of my brain couldn't handle that fact–I truly was permanently injured as a result of the meteor crash. But I was still alive, which was more than what most could say.

Someone knocked on my door. "Come in!" I said.

It was Tori and Judumai, and he carried a bag of food containers. "Hey! We got fast food! I know that's what you've been craving!"

"Aw, finally!" I said, collecting my colored pencils.

"Don't eat too much though, you know the doctors advised against it." Tori reminded. "So we got you just some fries and chicken nuggets."

"I'm not even the biggest fan of fast food." I said, taking the box Judumai handed me. "It's just something I've been craving like crazy. Especially since I'm sick of hospital food."

"But you get discharged tomorrow, right?" He asked.

"Yup!" I answered, opening the box. There were three chicken tenders, a large pile of fries, and a small dish of ketchup. My mouth watered, as I picked up the chicken, dipping it and biting almost half the tender at once.

The crispy texture and bold seasoning was a sharp contrast to the bland soups and soft tofu I've grown accustomed to eating. "Ugh." I groaned. "Since my diet these past seven days have been so poor! I've lost all my muscles and abs!"

Tori rolled their eyes. "Oh please, Benkei I promise you look fine, even if you've lost muscle."

"Is there a big difference?" Judumai asked. "Can I see?" I flexed my arm.

"Damn." He whistled. "Still, not bad bro."

"Yeah, but just not my ideal goal. When I feel better I'm going to start eating a bit more and get into doing some stretches. Can't afford to tear my stitches."

"Already onto your second portrait?" Tori asked, picking up my first. "Holy... Shit!"

They had started a project to memorialize the victims of the Tokyo Meteorite Disaster. There was an online bank of thousands of people, their best portraits posted by their family. Anyone could select any victim, and assign themselves to draw their portrait. All these would be embedded into plaques, then all put side by side into a massive mural.

"She's gorgeous." They said, examining the portrait.

"Her name was Erina Mebara." I said. " She was a popular model."

"I can tell." Judumai said. "Everything about her aura is stunning."

In the portrait, she had a long yellow dress, with bold red heels and a peach suede purse. She sat cross-legged on a red sofa, with diamond earrings and long brown hair cascading down. Her eyes were soft.

I finished up my fries, as Judumai examined my current drawing. "Who's this?"

"It's a man who was with the Tokyo Police Forensics Department." I said. "He was a foreigner from England named Rafferty Bucke. Rafferty Bucke."