Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

♱

Niragi was starting to believe the borderlands had to be the best thing to happen to him out of his 26 years on earth. Admittedly, this didn’t mean much considering how shitty his life had been so far, but the borderlands had offered him the chance he was so desperately waiting for — the chance to change.

After surviving his first game, Niragi soon realised he would not last long with the personality he’d been forced into his whole life. He was timid. He was weak. But now, more importantly than ever, he was powerless.

Although he got lucky in winning his first game, that's all it was. Luck.

The other players could've easily intimidated him to take the win in the five of Diamonds game they played, but silly and impulsive actions led to all four of them getting eliminated. The game could not continue with only one player, leaving Niragi as the automatic winner — which is where his luck comes in.

This was a desperately needed wake-up call for Niragi. A sign to reinvent himself.

The first step was to get piercings. Through word of mouth, he managed to find somebody who was a piercer in the real world and got 3. One through his eyebrow, his nose, and also his tongue. Yes, it hurt, and yes it was a pain to heal in this strange world. But it was worth it.

His plan soon worked because players immediately became wary of him and stopped messing with him in games. Niragi wasn't done there though, he had to get rid of his nerdy glasses.

Contacts were hard to find in the midst of an apocalypse, but his determination led to Niragi raiding every optician or pharmacy in Tokyo. It took 2 days of searching to find a pair that worked well enough, but it was worth it.

Deep down, Niragi knew he could never forget his old, neeky-programmer self but at least he didn't look the part now. If the stares he got from women in game arenas were anything to go off of, he was hot now. And it didn't take long to get used to.

As you can imagine, Niragi fit perfectly into his role as the second in command for the militants, and the gun he was gifted with gave him an even bigger ego boost than his new look. Nobody messed with him, everybody feared him and that's the way Niragi liked it.

Sure, at times it would give him a strange sense of déjà vu, reminding him of his days of being bullied. But that was over, he's not an outcast anymore, he liked it this way.

Niragi got to spend his days finding an excuse to shoot some “traitor”, and by night he could drink and fuck as much as his heart desired. It was easy work, his reputation meant he could intimidate anyone now without any effort, so he didn't have to use any.

♱

It's midday at the beach, the hottest part of the day, meaning the pool is buzzing with hundreds of half-naked players desperate for a chance to forget the reality that they are in. Niragi’s bored. Nothing has happened today meaning his duty has just been surveillance.

Until, Niragi sees it from the balcony, a new guy being escorted through the mob of people by a couple of his fellow militants. This wouldn't normally be anything out of the ordinary, but this new guy brings a smug aura along with him. He doesn't gawk unlike the previous newcomers — he assesses. It's as if he's already figured everybody out and this is just a piece of entertainment for him.

He is dressed in blindingly white clothes, with no speck of dirt in sight like this world isn't affecting him in the slightest. His eyes are sharp and calculated as he looked from the guards to the players with nothing more than a smirk on his face, simply dismissing the power of the most dangerous of the beach members.

This breaks how Niragi was previously only watching the crowd with detached boredom. It’s enough to convince him to get up from his lounge chair and take a lit cigarette with him to observe over the railings. Niragi watched as the blonde boy split through the crowds, showing no signs of fear. Niragi continued to watch even as it made his lip curl with disgust.

Although it may seem like it, this wasn’t fascination — it was hatred.

Niragi leaned further onto the banister to tap the ash over the ledge as he spoke, without breaking the one sided eye contact.

“So we just collecting strays now?”

This was aimed at his boss, Aguni, who had also been surveilling from the second-story balcony. “He’s smart. Hatter has his plans for him.”

This only adds fuel to the fire brewing in Niragi’s heart, what use could this man possibly serve for the beach? And how could he have the brain room to be ‘smart’ when he looked like he spends day and night solely relishing in his own pride. Now, this sounded awfully familiar to Niragi but he chose to push that idea away the second it surfaced, replacing it with pure loathing. That was the easiest way to deal with people here anyways.

“He acts like he’s better than us,” He mutters his signs of displeasure over the decision mainly to himself, but nonetheless Aguni hears it.

“Maybe he is.”

Niragi scoffs at hearing that, what had gotten into this man? Everybody knew the militants held all the power at the beach, they could overthrow whenever they pleased. A fancy degree, or critical thinking skills would never be able to top that, and Niragi assumed that was obvious. Maybe Aguni was trying to get a rise out of him, there’s no way he genuinely supports Hatter's ideas, is there?

“Nobody’s better here. Just slower to scream”. Although he said this with a slight laugh, Niragi saw no humour in the situation. The longer he stared at the newcomer, this idea developed into more of a personal challenge to him than the simple statement it was originally intended to be.

He would make it his mission to break that cocky composure.

Aguni began to leave their balcony and Niragi went to follow, but not before flicking his cigarette over the edge. It spun through the air, landing where the new guy was next about to strut. This caught his attention.

He looked up and his eyes met Niragis for the first time — this made him smile. Niragi had no idea what he could be smirking so unreadably at, but it infuriated him. He wouldn’t try to act better than Niragi too, would he? It’s fine. Obviously Niragi wouldn’t let that slide.

A spark jumped behind Niragis eyes and he grinned back before whispering, “Bet you’d taste as arrogant as you look, freak.”

He had to have been too far to hear the almost catcall, but the newcomer still held a pleased look on his face as he was escorted inside. It was as if he could tell exactly what Niragi was thinking and he didn't like that one bit. For once, Niragi had come out of an altercation feeling less superior than he normally would — maybe he finally had some competition at the beach.

He could find some entertainment in this dynamic. Expose and torture the blonde fucker until he broke and Niragi would no longer have any use for him. Then he could toss him away like the rest of the unimportant trash living in this world. It was perfect. Evil, selfish, but most importantly it was very Niragi.

Once the newcomer had disappeared from his line of sight and his plan was confirmed, Niragi snapped out of his trance of rage and turned to catch up to Aguni. Patrol would be boring, but at least Niragi had his plans for this night sorted to look forward to.

♱

Niragi didn’t need, or want, to participate in a game tonight meaning he found himself surveilling over the staff only corridor. It was late afternoon, and the sun was creeping in through the bordered up windows of the repurposed office space. The corridor was empty with only old electronics, tools and the less hazardous weapons in the beaches possession, to line the walls. 

Niragi was just pacing backwards and forwards trying to pass time, when he heard it. A small rustle. Enough to show somebody had been sneaking through the shadows as he was sure he was the only militant on patrol in this area. 

With a purposeful creak, to hopefully scare the trespasser out, Niragi pushed the door to the occupied room open. The person was clearly unbothered by Niragi’s presence and continued to rummage as if they owned the place. 

“This areas restricted y’know.” He announced out in aims of finally capturing the intruders attention.

“Huh, that’s funny. I didn’t find a lock.”

That energy felt all too familiar for Niragi’s liking. Too smooth. Too calm. Too full of himself. Yeah, it was definitely ringing some bells in Niragi’s head now. His dread was suddenly replaced with excitement as he realised the chance for entertainment he had been plotting had finally arrived. This was his chance — so he stepped further into the room. His boots echoing through the mostly empty room, which was beginning to feel smaller and smaller. 

“You looking for something? Or just planning to take whatever catches your eye first.” Niragi was now only a few steps from the newcomers back now, clutching his rifle with more aggression than before. 

“Something…” He glances over his shoulder to briefly gaze his eyes over Niragi’s rifle before retuning his attention to his face. Niragi doesn’t know what he thinks he’s seen but that same smirk creeps onto his face again — Like he finds Niragi’s intimidation to be nothing more than amusement. “…useful”

“God! Newcomer thinks he’s sooo smart”, Niragi’s irritation is written all over his face but he was already too annoyed to care now. He stepped further into the thief’s space, till only his gun separate the two of them.

This caused him to lean his face closer than Niragi had dared, “I am smart.” 

“That won’t get you anywhere, not in this place.”

Niragi’s only half lying here. Yeah, strength could take him down no matter the size of his brain, but his confidence still had Niragi feeling slightly less superior than he had gotten used to. Maybe he did just say that as a last ditch effort to try and intimidate the new guy, up he doesn’t need to know that. Once the plan finally works Niragi won’t have to resort to coming up with these stupid lies on the spot, he’ll be back to his scary persona that had became so familiar around everyone.

“I think you’re lying to me.”

Huh. Not only is he still completely unfazed by Niragi, other than the slight mocking raise in his eyebrows, he had the nerve to expose Niragi’s plan with confidence.

And be right. 

“Y’also think I won’t shoot you right now?” Niragi’s temper was running thin as he moved his rifle directly under the blonde boy’s sharp chin, it was his last attempt to let out the anger bubbling inside without putting on a show for that freak. He wouldn’t embarrass himself already.

”Is that the best you can rebuttal with?”, He pauses for a moment but loses his smirk as soon as he realises Niragi won’t respond that easily. “Fine, I think you would love to shoot me. But you won’t. You haven’t figured out if that’d be a waste yet, have you?”

The tension reaches an all time high and the room begins to feel like it’s closing in on them both. Yet neither breaks eye contact, not yet. Whether it was out of disbelief or satisfaction was unclear, but Niragi knew they both got what they wanted from the altercation. 

Entertainment.

Maybe not in the way Niragi intended, but it worked nonetheless. He couldn’t complain too much — But he obviously still would.

After a long beat Niragi dropped his gun to his side and began to leave first but not before sending one last snide remark the others way.

”Watch what you wish for, else i can figure it out faster than you’d hope.”

Niragi turns before he can see the newcomers reaction as to keep his cool during his grand exit. Some may call it storming out, but Niragi prefers the term ‘exiting while his dignity is still intact’.

Despite all this, Niragi’s original intention was lost as the other remains in the restricted area for a moment longer until he can find what he wanted — A large battery. He proudly slips it into the pocket of his swim trunks and follows through the same way Niragi had moments earlier.

Still smirking and feeling as cocky as ever, he muttered to himself before closing the door the same way he had first found it.

”Predictable.”

♱

It was the next morning and Niragi had been called into a repurposed office space at the beach for a meeting. He was lounging in a chair next to Aguni with his rifle resting across his lap, and a boot lying disrespectfully on the long, luxury, attempt-to-feel-civilised table in front of him. It was the same every week, and this routine had started to bore Niragi out of his brains already. Same people, same idiotic card rant, same lack of effectiveness.

The only reason Niragi still comes is to stay on Aguni’s good side, his boss is questionably serious over how essential Hatter claims these meetings are, despite that being an obvious lie. Niragi doesn’t know how Aguni can still let that man control him, but whatever, at least he’s on his way to get ‘employee of the month’ if that was his goal.

All of the executives and militants were here now so Niragi didn’t know what there was to wait for. Has Hatter not heard that the bar opened an hour ago? But before he could point this out the door swung open once more to make way for the one person Niragi didn’t want to see today.

He strutted in with a quiet, cat-like ease but he didn’t sit right away, he scanned everybody sat in the room — as if he could learn everything he needed to know about them through just their skeptical expressions.

His hands were lying lazily in the pockets of his half-zipped hoodie. He wasn’t even trying to make a good impression and this was made even clearer when no signs of him  attempting to apologise for his late entrance came up.

Hatter was the only one grinning, yet he kept his enthusiastic attitude to introduce the guy stood in front of them all. “Everybody meet our newest addition to the executives. Strategic genius and diamonds specialist, Chishiya!”

The name hung in the air, nobody clapped or made an effort to welcome him other than Hatter who urged him to take a seat. Mira smiled softly in an attempt to appear friendly, which Niragi supposes should be her specialty as a hearts player. The other diamond specialists only watched intrigued as he wandered to find a seat. Directly in front of Niragi. It was purposeful and provocative.

“Executive, huh? Big word for a guy who doesn’t look old enough to of graduated yet.” Niragi stared at him openly, chewing gum and using his entertainment to hide a deeper feeling.

“And that’s big talk for a guy who looks like he flunked anger management.”

The room falls still, bracing to see Niragi’s retaliation but it never comes. All that can be heard is Hatter’s distinct laugh before he goes on to explain Chishiya’s purpose at the beach.

“Chishiya here is going to help analyse the games and advise a system for more efficient card collecting.” He goes to describe this role while pacing across the room but Niragi blocks it all out.

Until he hears Hatter name him “Irreplaceable”. This makes Niragi instantly snap back to reality with a refuelled sense of anger, how could Hatter fall for the cocky persona so easily? There’s plenty of diamonds specialist, so why would this one be so special? Aguni only watches without commenting yet it’s obvious he’s internally testing Chishiya too. But Niragi doesn’t plan on following the ‘without comment’ approach.

He leans forward and with a softer but more dangerous voice, said, "You better hope your brain can save you when the game stops being about negotiation."

Mimicking Niragi's previous actions, Chishiya easily deflected the threat. "And I hope you don't run out of bullets when they start to require thinking."

Niragi's face scrunches up with pure hatred in reaction to that, giving up his attempt to appear unaffected.

Much to Niragi’s displeasure, Chishiya is consequently filled with complete satisfaction after seeing how easily baited Niragi can be by only two snide comments. He truly was easy. The meeting is soon adjourned after, and Chishiya comes out finding it surprisingly more useful than he thought — although not in the way he originally intended. He didn’t get much knowledge of the beach’s system from it yet, but there was one player he found a lot more out about than he had planned to this morning.

Maybe it’s good karma. Actually, he’s not sure what that could have been for, but he definitely feels the luck.

However, that luck soon runs out as he spots Niragi leaning against the wall of the hallway, only moments after escaping the meeting room. Niragi crossed his arms while he watched Chishiya have no choice but to approach him with an amused scowl. 

“Y’know you talk a lot for someone with no scars in sight,” It’s a basic attempt to spur anything in Chishiya, Niragi knows that, but it still feels relieving to release his anger in this way. It’d top shooting loser nobodies any day.

“You still talk a lot for someone with nothing but scars, don’t you think?”

No, he doesn’t, but he pushed off the wall to trail closely behind Chishiya’s every step, successfully invading his comfort at a perfect level to crowd his space. Niragi crouched down in order to whisper directly into Chishiya’s ear in a lower tone than his usual. “Keep mouthing off like that, and I’ll enjoy giving you some too.”

“If I cared, you know i would’ve thought to choose a louder weapon,” Chishiya said after taking a pause, he then waited once again before taking a final glance over his shoulder to observe the state he’s in, and then leaving for his room.

Niragi simply watched him leave yet didn’t let himself show any more signs of emotion than his tightened jaw — and he was going to choose to believe that he wanted to let that sign slip.

Chapter Text

🃁

It was his first morning as an executive and Chishiya was finally beginning to get an understanding of the beach. He had deduced that most players care more for partying than questioning Hatter's theory after seeing how lively the pool remained all day long.

That wasn’t all bad though, at least when Chishiya came up with an idea, there would be less competition.

Chishiya needed to find a plan to get out of this place and fast. For the moment, he was trapped in a hotel full of brainless, chaotic and fragile people, who would be content with spending the rest of their days drinking, and nights slaving away for Hatter.

He had to find quiet. There was no way he would be able to plan anything in this insane environment and there was nothing to observe here other than... human anatomy. It took a long time of, what felt like, endless walking like a fish out of water but Chishiya managed to find a less popular lounge area. No bar, dim lighting and only a vague sound of chattering.

He truly outdid himself there.

While looking for a place to sit, one person took his eye. They seemed… competent? She looked injured yet bandaged her hand with ease, skill and no complaint. She wasn't drunk or reckless, unlike how everybody else at the beach appeared, her actions were calculated and had actual thought put into them. Maybe his standards had significantly lowered since arriving in this world but Chishiya had actually found himself intrigued.

It must’ve been a sign that the only free seat in the lounge was next to her because Chishiya was now sat and still continuing to observe her every move. “Do you always fight with your non-dominant hand?”

Now, he knows it’s clear but Chishiya isn’t one for small talk so it was easy to believe that he had a plan behind this interaction, and it was simple. Subtly find her stance on the beach in case there’s a small chance she is another brainwashed cult follower, and recruit her as an ally if he is pleased. Chishiya doesn’t tend to do ‘subtle’ well though. As he has often been told, Chishiya came off very direct when there was something that he wanted so, as to not put his potential ally off, Chishiya would have to think deeply before speaking again.

”You always psychoanalyse strangers, or am I just lucky?” 

He responded with a simple shrug, “Only the useful ones.”

To Chishiya’s surprise, this made her laugh. “Has anyone ever told you how cryptic you are? I like it,” She finished wrapping her hand before extending it out to Chishiya, “My names Kuina!”

“Chishiya,” He said after accepting her hand and shaking it.

”So, you’re new aren’t you? Go on, ask what you wanted to.”

Kuina stayed cautious yet was willing to offer a detailed insight on how the hierarchy at the beach worked —  The unspoken competition between militants and executives, who to avoid and who’s trustworthy. Chishiya learnt that society at the beach was more unstable than he had originally thought, and this limited the time he had to get out even more. Kuina then began to explain her perspective on the beach and why she was here.

Chishiya sat and listened closely throughout the whole time she was talking, he took a clear mental note on any information that could serve for a greater use than simply his own curiosity. He was silently paying attention until Kuina came to the end of what she had to say, when he decided to push her further. “So, you’re not loyal to Hatter, you’re loyal to surviving.”

He was careful to not put words in her mouth over what would’ve been taken as such a large accusation here, and based his comment solely on how Kuina described her own experience. Yes, this might’ve just been Chishiya prying, but he’d say it’s important to know the opinions of someone when in a situation like theirs and the first green flag for Chishiya was that she didn’t deny the claim.

“And you’re only loyal to yourself. Don’t pretend that’s any nobler.”

It was perfect. Not only did he now know she wasn’t one of hatters blinded fans, but she was also observant. After only knowing Chishiya for a maximum of 20 minutes, she had already figured him out and that was impressive considering the society they were in. Maybe he was getting too brave now but Chishiya then offhandedly asked her why she stays knowing this.

“People like us won’t make it far alone. We’re too honest about how far we are willing to go”. It was a rare moment of rawness for Kuina, a sign that she was willing to putting trust in Chishiya through opening up. Chishiya didn’t respond immediately, it was a thought that he left buried down. After all, it was easier to believe he could stay invincible without help for anybody else as that is what he had been content with doing so far. Despite his silence, Kuina still noticed a flicker of change in his expression and that’s all the confirmation she needed to realise she was correct.

Chishiya then got up to leave, not out of anger at what Kuina had said, but because he felt fulfilled from their conversation. He had only one thing left to say, an almost warning but nonetheless it was a sign of his respect towards, what he supposes was, his new ally.

“You’re efficient, I like that. Don’t let loyalty get in between it.”

Kuina watched him walk off with pure interest, she then called out to him without getting up herself, “And don’t let arrogance get you killed!”

He didn’t turn around but still laughed audibly after hearing that, it was a fair point that he could accept without feeling any offence at Kuina’s words. Chishiya was subconsciously nodding to himself as he left the room to continue to scope out the beach and see how Kuina’s observations play out in reality.

🃁

It was late afternoon and Hatter had just called yet another meeting, Chishiya had simply been roaming around the corridors until a member of the militants scouted him down to tell him he needed to be at the meeting room as soon as he could. Something was off about that and he doubted that this would be just a regular meeting about what cards were needed. Unless the Hatter had gone completely mad, Chishiya was informed that those were usually planned in advance.

His feelings were confirmed as he entered the meeting room and was met with two main emotions: Confusion or irritation. It seemed everybody had already begrudgingly arrived leaving one empty chair for Chishiya and it happened to be opposite one player that had took his eye on the first day — Ann.

From what he had heard from Kuina, Ann was someone that could be trusted, she was a diamonds specialist that tended to keep to herself. Before coming to this "country" as Hatter calls it, she worked in the forensics department which intrigued Chishiya as he also worked closely with people in that field. At the time, Chishiya wasn't questioning how Kuina knew so much about her considering Ann didn't seem like one to open up that much. Either Kuina simply had a keen passion for gossip or they were closer than he would've originally assumed.

Ann was one of those who looked more irritated than confused, but she still discretely smiled at Chishiya as he took his seat. It would have been easy to miss if he was any less observant than he currently was but still, it was an unspoken sign of consolidation.

Maybe Kuina had spoken to her after their talk this morning, or maybe his thoughts when he first saw Ann were mutual because for a moment her cold and judgemental exterior dropped to show respect towards the newest executive. It could’ve easily been mistaken for pity but considering that he didn’t know where her opinions stood on the cult that they were trapped in — He didn’t want to get too ahead of himself. Instead, he calmly took the seat and waited to find out what Hatter had to share. Chishiya did not let any signs of weakness come through like many of the members had, alternately remaining as stoic and unreadable as he usually would.

Once Hatter was pleased with the amount of people in the room, he finally began his announcement saying, “Tonight all militants and executives will participate in a game -”. Before he could explain his reasonings, Hatter was cut off by a rush of complaints solely coming from the militants while the members of the executives chose to observe the uproar silently. Nobody really wanted to join a game when they didn’t have to no matter how cocky they seemed, so this was an inconvenience to all but nothing could get in the way of a plan from Hatter.

“I will test your worth and value together at the beach by organising you into non-negotiable groups for your games,” Hatter called out over the chatter.

If what they say about executives being the best players at the beach was true, then Chishiya should have nothing to worry about considering he finds it easy enough to survive the games alone. Another working brain on his side could never hurt. Despite this, many faces across the room still seemed concerned, did they really doubt themselves that much? Or maybe people had simply gotten too used to spending all nights at the pool, if that is the case, Hatter might actually have an effective plan.

Then Hatter began to share the teams and Chishiya had a theory that he had sorted the players by their specialty, placing Ann and Kuzuryu in a game together that would most likely be a diamond card. Mira was with two of Hatter’s henchmen that Chishiya didn’t know the names of, but they would be heading for a hearts card — Which validated his idea as Mara seemed more than well educated on hearts games. The rest of the militants and henchmen were separated into groups yet would all be directed towards spades games. 

Chishiya’s theory had lined up perfectly with the groups already made so far but it left only him, Niragi, Hatter and Aguni unsorted. Niragi seemed to realise what this meant soon after Chishiya did as he shouted out to protest instantly.

”Aguni you can’t seriously be okay with this! Make him switch me.”

”You heard me Niragi, the groupings are final, you’ll be going to car four with Chishiya,” Hatter responded in place of Aguni without turning to formally acknowledge the tantrum occurring behind him. Aguni also failed to react to Niragi’s outburst and instead, calmly watched it unfold whilst letting Hatter continue to speak for him. 

This angered Niragi even more, so when he had finally accepted his defeat after seeing that words were getting him nowhere he abruptly stormed out once he had snatched his rifle from the table in front. Niragi had humiliated himself with all of the executives as witnesses and it greatly amused Chishiya to recognise that he was the cause for it. He seemed short-tempered enough already, but to know Chishiya could trigger it so easily from only his presence filled him with pure pleasure and he knew it would be something to take advantage of later in the night.

The meeting concluded soon after Niragi’s grand exit, with Chishiya being informed that he’d be playing in a diamonds game — thankfully — and that he had slightly less than an hour before he should be ready at the fourth car to travel to their game arena.

🃁

The hour had passed meaning Chishiya was now waiting, leaning against their designated car. It was night time now and there was a steady breeze in the air but thankfully Chishiya changed into a simple white t-shirt with grey jeans before he left his room earlier that night, so he wasn’t cold. Just bored. He had to wait for Niragi to come despite not knowing if he would actually listen to Hatter’s demands and Chishiya was beginning to lose faith. He seemed pretty insistent he wouldn’t participate during the meeting before but maybe Aguni had convinced him to go.

The crowds of players trying to get to their cars was too disorganised for Chishiya to stay on look out for any sign of Niragi but just before he was planning to cut his losses and drive to the game alone, he heard the distinct stomp of boots come from behind.

”I’m driving, get in.”

Chishiya was definitely shocked when he turned around to be actually met by Niragi but he was also vaguely impressed. What could someone so stubborn have been told to convince him to go back on his own word? It seemed almost unbelievable but Chishiya’s eyes weren’t deceiving him, Niragi was stood in front of him wearing the same outfit as ever with a gun slung over his shoulder, so he deemed it accurate enough.

“You actually came? What made you change your mind?”

Niragi clearly ignored everything that left Chishiya’s mouth to open the drivers door and start their car up. Yes, it was only a basic attempt to provoke him but Chishiya still felt disappointed after not getting any entertainment from Niragi’s reaction — Although, he still had the whole car journey to try again. 

The drive was mainly silent and awkward until Chishiya finally attempted to break that. “Why do you think we got put together?”

”Do you ever stop asking questions!”

“Well, everybody else was partnered up with people who share a speciality to them, so why us?” Chishiya was actually curious but it seemed to be riling the other up more than anything. 

“You’re not the only diamonds player to grace the beach with your presence, y’know.”

”Exactly! Why didn’t Hatter put me with Ann or Kuzuryu, that would have been more logical.”

“YOU DUMBASS! I’m a diamond specialist too!” 

Chishiya almost wanted to not believe him however the more he thought, the more it was making sense. Nobody has been as mad over Chishiya’s intelligence than Niragi was when they first met, maybe his jealousy wasn’t over how smart he was, but the recognition he got. Most players at the beach had assumed Niragi was a spades player due to his tendency to tackle any problem with brute force rather than logic, but what if that was simply an act to hide his true personality. Nobody appreciated Niragi for his brains, but Chishiya had been worshipped for his since the first day he had arrived.

After coming to this realisation and deeming it true, the car fell silent yet again. The air was tense but Chishiya was left with nothing to say to break it this time so he waited till they got to the game arena.

🃁

An underground aquarium. The first room they entered had a table with 3 collars left on it, it was eerie and dark with water dripping from the ceilings making puddles on the ground, the only source of light were the flickering, florescent lamps that lined the roof. It was definitely creepy but thankfully the dark hid the goosebumps that were creeping up onto Chishiya’s arms from Niragi’s view.

Chishiya looked back to Niragi, who was too engrossed by the “No weapons” sign also at the table to notice, before picking up a collar and fitting it on himself. Niragi soon followed suit, pushing past Chishiya to enter the waiting room through the next door first. It looked like it would’ve been the aquariums canteen, there were tables and benches spread across the room with seven other players already having taken seats around them.

Chishiya took a seat at the nearest table to him, there were already two people sat there who seemed familiar with each other so Chishiya chose to mind his own business and face the other way — where he saw Niragi. He was leaning up a wall with the leg propped up on it and his arms folded, it was probably an attempt to stay intimidating without his gun but a pathetic attempt at that. Appearing so unapproachable in that way would not get him anywhere if the game happened to involve teamwork, he would be left behind in an instant — but Niragi clearly wasn’t thinking ahead like that.

It took no longer than five minutes for the final player to register and the game rules to begin to be read out on the television.  

REGISTRATION HAS NOW CLOSED.

There is a total of 10 participants,

The game will now commence.

DIFFICULTY — Six of diamonds

GAME — Floodgate.

RULES

The game is to be completed in pairs, two people per tank.

Find the solution to unlock your room before the water fills completely.

Escape in 6 minutes before the tank will run out of air.

Any players that cannot get out in the time frame, will be eliminated.

The tanks will open in 5 minutes, any players not in pairs before then will be eliminated.

CLEAR CONDITION

Solve the problems to make it out of the room before air runs out.

Pairs. Perfect. Chishiya was never great with teamwork and in a diamonds game a parter would be nothing more than a hinderance, someone to simply hold him back. It was an inconvenience to say the least but Chishiya was sure he could find someone willing to stay out of the way and not cause and distractions, that shouldn't really be too much to ask for. Chishiya was more concerned by the fact it seemed most people didn’t come alone. People were easily finding partners, not even thirty seconds had passed and there were already three pairs waiting in front of separate doors.

Chishiya looked around but it was hopeless, he could see two players already, hesitantly, approaching each other. Maybe it would have been easy to split them up and take one as his own partner but it didn’t seem worth the effort. Both were left behind for a reason, they were clearly the oldest in the room and it wouldn’t even take a diamonds player to realise the game would eventually involve swimming. Which would prove difficult for some. 

It was made clear somebody else had also realised this when Niragi began to finally push off of the wall he had been relaxed against for so long to make his way towards Chishiya. It was an idiotic idea. They both knew that, however if they really wanted a chance to survive, they knew they had no choice. All Chishiya could do from now was hope teamwork wouldn’t be the biggest focus of the game as they were both well aware of how difficult they found it to even stay in the same room, without their lives at risk.

“You comin’ then?” Niragi called out over his shoulder as he made his way to the last unoccupied tank.

Let it be known, Chishiya was reluctantly following him to what would be their tank when he began to question Niragi again, “You know now is probably a good time to confess if ‘you being a diamonds player’ was a bluff or not…”

The clock began to countdown for the final, three seconds before the game will of officially started, three, two, one.

”Ha! I guess you’ll soon find out, won’t you, genius?”

Chapter Text

♱

This is so stupid. Niragi’s stood in one half of an empty, glass tank like an animal trapped in captivity, whilst his least favourite person he’s met in this world is stood a mere three metres away, split by only a glass pane. Despite the separation, both tanks still had microphones and speaker systems for communication — Lucky Niragi…! To Niragi’s clear disapproval, the more that is revealed, the more it seems this game should be a clubs card but he can only pray he will get proven wrong once the game begins.

His chances of wanting to survive if he has to talk to Chishiya were slim to none. Niragi did his best to stay clear since their first meetings at the beach but no matter where he goes that blonde prick still manages to turn up. First his job at the beach and now his game? It was ridiculous and so damn irritating. And if the smirk he always wore on his face had anything to show for it, Chishiya noticed too.

Whatever. He had the rest of his life to dwell on that, but right now all Niragi had was a control panel decorated with an arrangement of wires, switches and a set of buttons. Maybe Niragi’s mind was elsewhere, or maybe this made no fucking sense. Why was Chishiya with him and how would he figure out how to organise these wires or which button to press?

GAME START

The second that the voice booming over the speakers cut out water began to rush in through the vents above them. Rush might’ve been an exaggeration but the countdown in front of Niragi’s face was making it harder and harder for him to stay calm. He looked over for one sign that he wasn’t alone in his panic but, not actually surprisingly, Chishiya was easily glancing around his tank whilst staying eerily calm.

Chishiya’s tank looked different. Instead of wires leading to nowhere, or buttons without labels he had a monitor. It was beginning to clear up that Chishiya would be given the logic side to a puzzle for Niragi to display out onto his control panel. The problem was, Niragi couldn’t read the monitor from his half of the tank which left them with no choice but to communicate. This only added to his panic.

Niragi banged on the glass separating them in an attempt to snap Chishiya out of his observations, focusing him on the game in front of them. “You better know what you’re fucking doing!” 

Although the glass wasn’t perfectly clear and it had already began to steam up from their body heat, Niragi was sure he saw an eye roll come from the other side. He would wait until they got out of this mess before he’d start bitching about that though.

Only a second later, the lights on Chishiya’s half began to, in some sort of sequence, change colours — the different colours of Niragi’s wires.

Red → Blue → Green → Yellow → Blue → Red

And then his monitor lit up with a hint, “Pairs lie. Patterns don’t.”

Niragi vaguely heard him mumble this to himself but his brain was already too overwhelmed to think straight. They had already lost a minute and Chishiya was yet to speak. Maybe he could press randomly to get them out of this fishbowl sooner. He believed it would’ve been worth a shot but before he had the chance to try anything, Chishiya was finally sharing his thoughts. 

“‘Pairs lie would’ mean that repeated colours are decoys… Cut green, and then yellow!”

In a state of urgency, Niragi only heard the colours and decided to ignore any logic Chishiya had applied to the instructions and ended up cutting the wires in the wrong order. It was only a minor mistake as the water still slowed down once both wires were cut but for a moment the rush of water had sped up even more than usual, leaving Niragi’s knees almost submerged. 

If he needed a wake up call that was it. Niragi wouldn’t let his stress take any control of his brain from now on.

Next, Chishiya’s monitor switched to a series of logic problems that needed to be completed. “A is true, B is false. SWITCH1: A and B, SWITCH2: A or B, SWITCH3: not A?” He clearly seemed unfamiliar with what it was asking for but to Niragi it was simple. He taught himself this shit in grade seven.

”It’s just boolean logic gates.”

Without any carefree mistakes like the last round, Niragi swiftly changed his switches to follow the pattern off, on, off and again the water slowed down. It had barely risen in the last round and was only reaching the top of his knee now. Niragi could only hope the rest of the rounds would be based on programming, he could finally put the knowledge that had gotten him beaten up daily to good use.

They still had 3 minutes left on the countdown but it was clear their (or Niragi’s) luck had soon ran out when a steaming, glowing red valve was revealed on his side of the tank. Chishiya hadn’t spoke yet but if his still stance was giving off any message, it was that the next round’s prompt had significantly rose in difficulty. The fact his water had started rising faster than normal and a countdown starting at one minute was illuminated on Chishiya’s side only further supported Niragi’s theory.

“Pressure Release Required. Partner must trigger emergency release to stabilise water flow.” The monotone sound in Chishiya’s voice didn’t pass on what this would mean for them well enough, his fate was in Niragi’s hands. Literally. Niragi would have to turn a, god-knows how hot, valve within the minute given or else the other tank will continue to flood while his water level will stay still.

Chishiya finally turned around to observe Niragi’s side, he kept up the same creepily calm attitude but his breathing had started to quicken. “You have to turn it, my side is filling up.”

“Yeah! I noticed,” Niragi’s voice was temporarily laced with a fake happiness but it didn’t take long for him to drop the bit, “Why should I, huh? For you, the one who’s constantly looking down on everybody, who doesn’t have a single selfless bone in his body?”

”This is not a good time to find your morals, Niragi.”

Niragi laughs but it is short and humourless, “No, just a good time for me to burn my damn hands off, right?” He starts to pace back and forth in the small space they have before he finally snaps, smashing his fist into the glass, “FUCK THIS AND FUCK YOU!”

”You would let me drown just to finally win the argument?” The water in Chishiya’s tank had now covered his waist and Niragi only had 35 seconds left to make his choice.

“It’s not an argument, it’s justice! If I let you live, you’ll carry on spitting on those not worthy of your intelligence.”

”Maybe. But that is hardly a crime worth the death penalty…”

Silence. ‘24… 23… 21…”

Chishiya almost looked like he had lost faith until Niragi began to take his button-up shirt off and wrap it loosely around his hand. It wasn’t much but it was all he had if he didn’t want to give Chishiya a strip show during his final moments of air. Niragi took one deep breath before he grabbed the valve — not out over fear, but an attempt to steady his composure before he lost all dignity.

“FUUCKK!” His skin started to audibly sizzle immediately, it was pain worse than he could’ve ever imagined facing and he didn’t even want to acknowledge the fact that it was for someone other than himself, let alone Chishiya. The valve only creaked at first, but eventually began to turn. After what felt like an eternity in hell, a loud clank echoed to signal the pressure had been equalised. The water had stopped rising — just below his chest.

Niragi stumbled back, still screaming, whilst cradling his blistering hand with his other arm. He was too busy to notice or care that he had collapsed still shirtless against the wall separating him from Chishiya. All his worries 20 seconds ago, about losing his dignity in front of the other had clearly all came true. He was a panting, sweating mess by the end of round three.

“You’re not as selfish as you want to be.” It sounded like Chishiya wasn’t aiming to be cleaver, just… factual.

“Don’t try getting philosophical with me now pretty boy, there’s still another round,” His mind was in a different place, okay? Niragi was sure he’d kill himself over this later but at the moment he had even less energy to waste on thinking before he spoke than normal. And that’s saying something.

He was so desperate for a break that the silence between the two didn’t feel tense for once, Niragi was too stunned to give a shit about what was on Chishiya’s mind, and Chishiya was too stunned by Niragi’s actions to come up with anything patronising to say. So this was their calm before the storm — which happened to be the two minute countdown still looming over them. But it did serve as his chance to reclaim any power and dress himself back up, also a chance to see the state of his hand without a cover.

Bad. It was definitely in a bad state. His palm was white (Niragi didn’t even know that could happen), covered in blisters and already beginning to swell. Fuck.

Someone else apparently noticed this through the glass partition as the next thing Niragi heard was, “Thank you.” It was so quiet that he almost missed it and maybe that was Chishiya’s aim, but nonetheless it was a sign of peace and respect that Niragi only had to destroy his hand to gain. So not worth it. Chishiya would have to get on his hands and knees before Niragi could ever think that that was a good idea on his part. What, obviously just to beg for his forgiveness…

It was an unspoken but mutual decision (heavily enforced by Niragi’s ‘shhhh’s sent Chishiya’s way when he tried to speak) to take a minute regaining their composures before continuing onto the last round. This left them with one minute to solve one last problem, maybe risky but mainly it seemed easy as long as no more red valves appear on Niragi’s side. It only seemed fair that this round Chishiya should be the one to suffer not just for entertainment but justice.

Wow, Niragi almost found himself wiping away tears before Chishiya had rudely interrupted the moment to read out the rules stated on his monitor for the final round, it was also around now that Niragi had noticed, thankfully not anything steaming but instead, an ordinary button.

“If both press, both die. If only one presses, they alone win. If neither press… both live.” Chishiya shared.

That was definitely interesting. Not what Niragi had been hoping for but still interesting nonetheless. He had the chance to rid his life of Chishiya once and for all at his fingertips and he couldn’t say that wasn’t anything short of extremely tempting after what he just had to do. He could press that button and leave it up to Chishiya to decide if he wanted to drag someone down with him or accept his fate, peacefully. Or technically, he could leave the button and find a different moment for justice when he won’t be too trapped to enjoy it properly.

It was clear Chishiya wouldn’t press his button, after what Niragi just went through the obvious, kind and moral option for him was to sit back and let Niragi decide this one for himself — it was just karma. 

The water was for sure rising faster than it had at any other part of the game now, and the 40 seconds left countdown was beginning to look more and more realistic. It was almost like he could hear the eternal punishments of hell until Niragi realised his ears hadn’t been submerged yet and that was in fact just Chishiya speaking up again.

”Niragi, think. this. through,” He spat every syllable out with a heavy attention on each word, “Why waste your hands hard work so soon?”

His life could be in Niragi’s hands, yet again, but he still spoke with the same boredom as ever. Chishiya hadn’t changed one bit since he first arrived at the beach, nothing has dulled the idea that he has everything planned out in his head to go in his favour and Niragi stars to wonder where that mindset came from or if he was simply born full of arrogance...

But he was still in a game and he hated to admit it but Chishiya did have a good point, he apparently wouldn’t let this game wonder away from the main theme of thinking — it was a diamonds game after all. What cause would the top 10 layers of skin on his hand go to if Chishiya ended up dead in that same tank either way. Just for an extra 60 seconds of breathing? Now unfortunately, Niragi values his own work too much to let it go to waste at the hands of whatever sick fuck put them here. 

And that’s what he told himself as he actually began to lower his hand back to his side in defeat. ‘Now wasn’t the right time’ he kept telling himself but that shouldn’t mean Chishiyas life would be so hazard-free from now on. It would’ve been fun to, maybe, get the chance to see Chishiya’s composure shatter but as Niragi thought 35 seconds ago, he could always try again later when he wasn’t locked up like a fish. 

But for now they had 20 seconds left in the tank and the water had already been covering Niragi’s nose for 15. He had never been athletic as a child or an adult as his job never required more than the movement of a wrist or finger so while this should've been a piece of cake, it was making Niragi regret not pressing that button and ending the game sooner. 

His eyes were now completely submerged too and unfortunately for him, the contact lenses he was still wearing make it extremely uncomfortable to open your eyes under water leaving Niragi with no way of knowing how long he would have to endure this for. It couldn’t be much longer though, either he was becoming increasingly dramatic or time was slowing.

All Niragi could hear was 3 muffled beeps before it sounded like his tank had finally begun to drain and when he could open his eyes again he saw that the countdown had reached 00:00 and Niragi was actually alive. Chishiya didn’t press the button. Yeah, maybe that was basic human decency but it still shocked Niragi, he wouldn’t have put Chishiya above betrayal any day.

When the water had lowered to his ankles and pressure finally allowed him to, Niragi opened the door to his side and stepped out instantly being hit by an unfamiliar but refreshing air after he had became so used to the humid nature of the tanks. Clearly the shock was universal as Niragi heard many gasps following the sound of doors opening coming from other teams. But only three, two with only half of the pair.

GAME CLEARED. There are 6 survivors.

Niragi's not sure why he’s surprised by the fact four players died considering how idiotic some people in this world were, but he still felt himself panting either out of realisation or due to the immense pain in his hand or how he suddenly felt dripping wet with his clothes clinging to every detail of his body, leaving a puddle of water wherever he steps.

Anyways. To ignore the situation he was in, Niragi snatched the six of diamonds card for Hatter’s stupid theory and his gun that he had to reluctantly leave behind before heading back to their car. While waiting for Chishiya outside of the car, the uncomfort coming from his soaked shirt only became more prominent when he didn’t have anything else to focus on.

”Fuck it,” It was dark, okay? And that was the only reason Niragi needed to strip himself from half of his clothes and throw them into the backseat, “Chishiya’s can consider himself lucky that i’m not charging…”. It was significantly colder now which left Niragi with not only goosebumps, but also the confirmation he’d be catching a cold from this game to go along with his out-of-commissioned hand.

”That can not of been necessary,” Chishiya called out when he finally made his way back to the car, with an almost laugh in his voice. This was completely hypocritical as although yeah, Chishiya was still clothed, it wasn’t doing much for him. His t-shirt was completely see through. The outline of his waist was more prominent than ever thanks to the absence of that white jacket he’s normally never seen without.

”You’re not exactly dressed like the Holy Mary anymore either,” He said, getting in the car to turn the engine on and suffer the feel of his soaked through seat, “You can stay that star struck the whole ride just get in, I gotta shower.”

♱

Niragi’s rooms a mess. The floor is completely littered with a combination of old clothes and empty liquor bottles and random supplies he pocketed before Hatter could take them ‘for the good of their society’. It never bothered Niragi, he could spend his days out of his room and nights in an unoccupied one with whoever he chose to hookup with that day, but right now? All he needed was a bandage and there seemed to be none in clear sight. Either he’d ran out or it would be buried under the filth, but what he knew for sure was that he was too tired for this shit.

And that’s how Niragi found himself wrapping his hand up with the newest shirt he had gathered, it wasn’t any gauze but it was the best he could find without having to pay Ann’s clinic a visit. She was too freaky, Niragi doesn’t think that often, believe him, but that basement she had was populated with more dead people at a time than living had ever stepped in. Sure, Niragi has killed plenty of people in games but that’s not the environment that he wants to be in if he has to admit to a weakness no matter how much it was entirely and totally Chishiya’s fault.

His hand still felt disgusting and his body was even worse considering he gave up on the idea of that shower he was so desperate for forty minutes ago when he had to sacrifice his new button up to be used as a bandage.

Shit's demoralising. 

Although, not all hope is lost as tomorrow’s meeting is one of the later scheduled ones that they have throughout the week, giving Niragi time to shower before his presence is required. Maybe he could even have some peace without a lower ranked militant banging on his door to tell him to hurry him up if his good karma will continue to live on.

But for now Niragi has stripped off his remaining wet clothes and swapped for a pair of dry pair of boxers. Comfort definitely couldn’t cure physical pain but Niragi was already starting to feel better when he decided to collapse into his bed for the night even headache-free considering he hadn’t spent his night partying. Just sacrificing himself for his enemy..

♱

His hand felt no better the next morning, which was kind of obvious considering this isn't the type of injury you can easily ignore and leave to heal on its own. Niragi realised this pretty quickly too but still his ego was too big to care, so he continued to use only a shirt to wrap it back up after his shower. Anything was better than nothing right? It surely couldn't get any more infected if his aim was to just cover his hand.

That's what he chose to believe at least, pain was nothing more than an illusion and the Niragi Suguru wouldn't allow himself to be defeated by a valve.

Maybe having a pseudo-bandage balled around his hand should've knocked his confidence down but Niragi simply slung his gun over his unaffected side and made his way to the meeting room.

Although the meeting was later than usual, it was still early for the general population at the beach, who were all more than likely suffering from hangovers yet again, so thankfully the hallways Niragi had to travel through were empty. Nobody to witness his injury, and he made a mental note to find something less obvious to use as a bandage once the meeting had ended. The dramatic patterns of every button up he owned would be setting him up to fail if the image he was going for was discrete — and it was.

It was only a five minute before Niragi found himself outside of the meeting room, he could already hear a distinct sound of chattering showing most people had arrived before him, but he couldn't of been too late if he wasn't collected by a militant. Not like he cared, obviously. The only downside to being one of the last to arrive was that there were more people to witness his temporary weakness before he could hide it under the table. 

Again, this wasn't exactly a problem as Niragi couldn't care less about what the suck-ups in the following room thought of him, it was more the possible questions that concerned him. "Where did that come from?", "What was your game?", "Do you need to get that treated?". 

Hatter was relentless when it came to being nosy there wasn't anything at the beach that he didn't know about. However, Niragi promised himself he would never give in, after all, Hatter wasn't his boss — Aguni was.

So Niragi walked in, a list of insults prepared to scare anyone away from questioning more, but that never came. Nobody spoke, only gave him different looks, which was arguably worse. Niragi couldn't tell what anybody was thinking but whatever, people get hurt in games all the time, it should be no different when he finally does. Maybe it was agitating but it didnt stop him from finding the last empty seat and slumping himself into it. 

It was purely just unlucky that that seat happened to be directly across from Chishiya, the one who got him into this mess in the first place. And it was even more unlucky that Hatter did decide to start the meeting off by asking them what their game was about.

There was no way in hell that Niragi would admit to anyone that he was only injured to save the life of the one person he swore he hated most, so he stayed quiet. If word got out that Niragi was even slightly less selfish than he appeared, his whole reputation he spent so long curating would be destroyed.

Instead of freestyling a made up game to tell Hatter as an oppose to the real story, Niragi resorted to giving Chishiya the most intimidating look he could muster up as a warning. If he spoke one thing of Niragi's injury, he wouldn't show the same amount of sympathy on him that Niragi did getting the injury. It was a temporary moment of weakness that he will never let show again, leaving there no reason for anybody else at the beach to know what happened.

"It occured at an aquarium, and we had to solve a series of puzzles before we drowned", Chishiya said, "Niragi had to burn his hand else he would have flooded his own section."

Huh. He mustve got Niragi's, pretty clear, sign to not expose the full truth, whatever, Niragi wouldn't give him too much credit considering Chishiya would be forever in his dept.

The meeting carried on pretty swiftly after that, Hatter seemed pleased with the answer he had got (and a new card for his collection), so he left that game alone and debriefed the uncollected ones. Boring would've been an understatement to describe how completely dull the rest of what Hatter had to say was. There was nothing even remotely interesting to keep Niragi awake until he saw it, out of his half-shut eye before they were to officially flutter shut.

Chishiya's staring in his direction. It wasn't with the usual amusement that normally coats his face, this time there was a slight crack in his demeanour, he almost looked concerned, but mainly judgemental. It was strange enough as it was that Chishiya was finally able to show some emotion, but even weirder that it was directed at him. What reason could he have found to belittle him now?

Niragi almost said something, in a rush of anger before he looked closer, Chishiya's eyes werent focused on his face, he was looking at his hand. What was there to be condescending about now, his hand was already destroyed and Chishiya knew that but there was nothing more they could do. The damage was already was done so he should stick to being grateful and stop bringing attention to it.

It was extremely aggravating but Niragi surprisingly chose to stay quiet and just try to get through this meeting, despite Chishiya's gaze never being broken away from his hand. At least then he'd be free from the eyes of anybody here. Unfortunately, Hatter decided to keep running through which cards were duplicates and which games we should focus on for the next fifteen minutes.

When he finally heard Hatter say, "Okay, this meeting's adjourned," with the throw of his hands in the air, Niragi went to join the crowd as everybody filed out of the room. He was at the back of the crowd but almost out of the door when a hand shot out to block him from leaving.

"What the fuck?" He muttered to himself whilst attempting to push past whoever was there. Only a second later Chishiya swung through the door way, pushing them both back into the now empty room.

"Shh, I have an offer to make."

"An offer? Why would I want anything from you? You've done enough-" Niragi started, shaking his hands in Chishiyas line of view.

"Allow me to fix your hand."

Is he serious. Niragis hand was done for, as much as he didnt want to admit it, he needed professional medical attention before it could even attempt to heal on its own. Chishiya messing around with it wouldn't do anything good for him.

"I am a surgeon. Pediatric cardiovascular, but I am medically trained."

Oh, as helpful as that knowledge is, there's nothing Chishiya could say to convince him that his intentions are pure. It's none of his business anymore, theres nothing to compel him to do this.

"I don't like owing people, let me look at it."

Niragi can't explain why he listened to Chishiya but the next thing he knew, he was taking the shirt from off his hand and moving it for Chishiya to see. The cold air stung as it hit his burnt palm causing Niragi to wince, only for a moment before he composed himself again.

"There's nothin' you can do, my hand's cooked. Literally."

Chishiya stopped examining his hand to raise an eyebrow at this, "Do you realise how dramatic you are?". Chishiya took Niragi's hand into his own to look at it closely, "I just need to remove the dead tissue here, and disinfect before re-wrapping it with something better than that ." With emphasis on his disgust towards Niragi's temporary bandage.

"And you have stuff to do that? Safely ?"

"We'll have to go to my room, I do not need Ann passing word onto Hatter that I am a doctor," It was strange to see someone so openly showing dissatisfaction to Hatter, Niragi could easily rat him out when he felt like it. How could Chishiya be that stupid to put faith in him? Obviously Niragi didn't acknowledge Hatter as his leader but rule three, death to all traitors, made this a really idiotic move on Chishiya's part.

"Are you coming then?"