Chapter Text
After watching the message from Mira on the next stage of the games, they left the abandoned monitoring room in the metro station and climbed the stairs to the street level. Chishiya was surprised that he was the first to reach the top and turned around to watch the group slowly climbing behind him.
Kuina was wincing with each step she took and was awkwardly trying to balance her weight forward. Further back, Arisu was lagging slightly behind with his brows furrowed in pain and was leaning part of his weight on Usagi.
He had seen the blood on Kuina’s feet earlier, and although he didn’t know what the wounds were, they had to be bad if Kuina was straining to shift as much weight off of her feet as possible. As for Arisu, he had seen the evidence of the beating he took before the Beach was destroyed and had a good idea of what kind of injuries he was trying to hide.
“We should find a place to lay low for a while,” Chishiya said when the group reached the top. “People will be scrambling to prepare for tomorrow, so we should stay away from the main areas.”
“I know a place,” Usagi said as she shifted Arisu’s weight so that she could support him better. “You’re probably not going to like it though.”
“As long as it’s safe and away from people, it doesn’t really matter,” Chishiya said.
“It’s not too far, is it?” Kuina asked.
“No, it’s just a mile or so this way.” Usagi motioned with her free hand. “Follow me.”
As they walked, Chishiya kept an eye on their surroundings, checking that they weren’t being followed and making a mental note of the useful buildings he could revisit later. At one point, they stopped by a department store where Usagi had him help grab various pieces of camping equipment, and he finally understood what she meant earlier about not liking their new resting place.
They brought the equipment to the edge of the city where the woods started and set down the equipment about a hundred feet or so in. Usagi had Arisu sit down and quickly got to work setting up camp.
“I see,” Chishiya said. “This is where you were staying before joining the Beach. It’s a clever way to stay away from the people in the city.”
“It’s common sense,” Usagi replied, not looking up from her work. “Most people just don’t want to do it.”
Chishiya gave a small hum in acknowledgment before turning to leave.
“Hey,” Kuina called out before he made it more than a few steps. “You’re not leaving, are you?”
Everyone’s attention immediately turned to him at Kuina’s words. Arisu especially looked upset, and Chishiya couldn’t figure out why he of all people would be the most distressed at him leaving.
“Chishiya…” Arisu started.
“I’m not leaving,” Chishiya said, feeling an unexpected need to reassure them. He casually put his hands in his pockets and felt comfort at the familiar warmth. “I’m just going on a supply run. I’ll be back shortly.”
“Oh,” Arisu said, looking relieved. “I’ll come with you then.” He made a move to get up but Chishiya stopped him.
“Don’t. It’s only a few blocks back. You’ll only slow me down and put us both in danger if you come.”
He leaned back and waited for Arisu or Usagi to get angry at him. People were always easily offended by what he said even if it was just the plain truth without the useless coddling, but instead Arisu just sent him a worried look.
“We’ll come looking for you if you’re gone too long, alright?” Arisu said.
Chishiya barely stopped himself from rolling his eyes and turned and left, heading back into the city. They barely knew each other and Arisu was acting like they were friends or something. He truly didn’t understand how Arisu was still so kind-hearted, welcoming someone like him so easily into his group. He couldn’t tell how he felt about it either, feelings of warmth and annoyance conflicted within him when Arisu said things like that.
Chishiya turned his attention to his surroundings as he retraced his steps through the city and found the last pharmacy they had passed along the way to their camp. He checked through the windows first and then cautiously entered, making sure no one else was inside before he went behind the counter to search through the medication.
He grabbed some plastic bags that sat near the registers and started going through the shelves. Most of the place had been ransacked by now, but there was still a lot laying around that people had overlooked. He worked quickly to gather everything he could use from scattered first aid supplies to lesser known painkillers and antiseptics. As he moved to the back to check the last few shelves, he heard the front door open and unfamiliar voices drift in.
Chishiya swiftly moved behind the shelves and ducked down out of sight. He heard the people move behind the counter to search through the same shelves as he had done earlier. While they were preoccupied, Chishiya quietly moved further back, searching for a back door he could use to get out before they saw him.
“I don’t know what most of these are,” someone from the unknown group said.
“Just grab whatever looks right,” another said. “I’m sure there’s something here we can use, otherwise Akari will die if we don't find something. There’s only two days left on our visas and if she isn’t able to play by then…”
“How is it so hard to find a doctor in this place,” the first person said. “Out of the hundreds of people we’ve asked, not even one—”
Chishiya found the door he had been looking for and despite his careful handling, it squeaked loudly when it opened.
“Did you hear—”
He let the door close slowly behind him and jogged down the back alley away from the pharmacy building. He took a few turns so that he was out of the line of sight before he slowed down to a walk. He occasionally glanced over his shoulder and only relaxed when nothing followed after a few more turns. That had been a little too close for comfort. He would be more prepared next time.
He made one more stop before returning to the campsite. There was a convenience store just before the woods started so he went in to grab some food and water for that night. They would have to figure something else out for tomorrow though.
By the time he got back, the campsite was completely set up. Two tents were standing a little ways from the center where a fire was going and the rest of the group was gathered. He purposefully made his footsteps loud so that they could hear him approach.
Arisu was tense when he looked over but relaxed when he saw him, a bright smile spread across his face.
“Chishiya!” Arisu said.
“What?” Chishiya said. “I said I’d be back shortly.”
“I know,” Arisu said. “It’s just that you went alone so we were worried.”
“‘We?’” He asked.
“What do you have there?” Kuina interrupted. “Something good to eat, I hope.”
Chishiya handed her the food bag so she could look through it and set the medical supplies aside for himself to go through. He saw Usagi give the bags he had kept a pointed stare but he just tilted his head and stared back at her. She eventually looked away and whispered something to Arisu. Chishiya ignored her and grabbed his own food.
It was quiet while they ate. Neither Chishiya nor Usagi were inclined to make small talk and Arisu and Kuina were too exhausted to make an effort. When it looked like Kuina was done eating, he grabbed the bag of supplies and pulled out the first aid tools.
“Okay,” Chishiya said, breaking the silence. “Let's get this over with.”
“Huh?” Kuina said intelligently.
Chishiya held up the first aid supplies to show her.
“Oh.” She glanced down at her feet, uncertain.
“You don’t have to show me,” Chishiya said, leaning back and holding up his hands in emphasis. “But if you drag down the team you may be left behind.”
Kuina scoffed but took off her shoes anyway. He kneeled in front of her to use the fire’s light since daylight was already rapidly fading and took her foot into his hands. Right away he could see the pieces of glass stuck in her skin, so he grabbed the tweezers and began pulling them out. He could feel Arisu’s and Usagi’s inquisitive gaze on him as he worked but he ignored it.
“Ow…uh Chishiya…ow!” Kuina occasionally jerked her leg when he pulled out a large piece of glass. “Can’t you be a bit more gentle?”
“Perhaps you won’t walk barefoot on glass next time.” Chishiya continued to work until he couldn’t see any more pieces and then wiped the area down with an antiseptic.
“Ow!” Kuina complained, but he ignored her and wrapped a bandage around the soles.
“Try to keep the wound clean and you’ll be fine,” Chishiya said. He heard Kuina mumble an ‘okay’ when he turned to look at Arisu.
“Uh, me next?” Arisu looked stunned.
Chishiya walked over and sat down next to him. He gently grabbed Arisu’s chin and turned him toward the fire so that he could see him clearly. Despite the other’s surprise, he didn’t protest and let him do what he wanted. There was noticeable bruising on his face and a shallow cut on his cheek but those would be easy to handle. He lightly probed around Arisu’s nose to feel for any breaks, and determined that it was just bruised and luckily didn’t really need any treatment besides time to heal.
“You seem to know what you’re doing,” Arisu commented lightly.
“Not really,” Chishiya deflected. “I just watched a movie about it once.”
Arisu let out a soft laugh but continued. “Really? You’re pretty skilled for learning from a movie.”
Chishiya intentionally pressed a bruise on Arisu’s face.
“Ow,” Arisu said.
“My bad.”
Arisu gave a quiet huff but didn’t say anything more about it. Since Chishiya was done checking his face, he motioned to Arisu’s shirt.
“Can I see?” He asked.
At Arisu’s nod he lifted the shirt and glanced down at the heavy bruising around his ribs. He prodded carefully and found no broken bones again, just lots of painful bruising.
“You’ll be fine.” Chishiya let Arisu’s shirt back down and sat back. “Some rest and you’ll be better in no time. If it’s painful you can take some painkillers in the meantime.”
Arisu still looked like he wanted to ask more questions, but Chishiya had already returned to Kuina’s side. It was dark out now and everyone was tired, so they began to get ready for sleep.
“Will you two be alright sharing together?” Usagi asked. “Arisu and I usually share so it would be you two in the other tent.”
Chishiya looked to Kuina for confirmation.
“Yeah, we’re fine,” Kuina said. “See you guys in the morning then.”
Usagi nodded and went into her tent with Arisu while Chishiya followed Kuina into theirs. Wanting to give Kuina space, he laid down as close to the edge of the tent as possible. He saw Kuina hesitate when he picked his spot but she laid down shortly after.
Chishiya didn’t know how long he spent staring at the dark ceiling of their tent. The events of the past day kept flashing through his mind. The Beach, the witch hunt, his confrontation with Niragi, Mira, all of it refused to let his mind calm down enough to fall asleep.
After a while, he heard Kuina roll over and lay closer to him.
“Chishiya,” she said quietly. “Are you awake?”
“Hn.”
“Thank you. For earlier.”
“I’m just improving our chances of survival, that’s all,” he said. “We have the face cards next, so we need to be prepared.”
“I’ve never seen you go so far out of your way to help someone before, especially Arisu.” Even in the dark he could tell that she was smiling as she said it.
“It would defeat the purpose of having allies if they died before the games even began,” Chishiya said nonchalantly.
“Okay, if you say so.” The amusement was still evident in her voice, but Chishiya really couldn’t understand what was so funny.
Kuina rolled back over and settled in.
“Goodnight, Chishiya.”
“...Goodnight.”