but i set fire to the rain

by bxnnyb0y

Summary:

Kuzuryū starts to realize how short life is but Mira’s there so everything is okay.

i hate ts so much bro

Notes:

my first fanfic so it aint perfect
there’s not much romance in this chapter ngl
please comment suggestions and crap they really help

Chapter 1

Keiichi Kuzuryū followed the crowd as soon as the game was announced: the Ten of Hearts—the last pip card game before the Second Stage. He didn’t dread the Second Stage, although he knew that he would have to die if everyone else was to survive. Trailing behind the confused members of the Beach, he entered the lobby and immediately caught sight of Momoka.

 

Kuzuryū knew what would happen. She told him that she would do it, but it was still a shock seeing the girl that he had seen as a daughter with a knife stabbed into her heart. It was… morbid.

 

He stood in the crowd, his dark eyes fixed on Inoue Momoka just like everyone else. He pushed up his glasses before turning his head to look at Kano Mira. Mira was also staring down at the body, intrigue blanketing her face like an elegant veil. Her undying curiosity never died down. Kuzuryū looked back up as the congregation started murmuring about what they could do. Kuzuryū didn’t care to listen.

 

Everyone seemed to be on edge because of the rules of this game that they were put in involuntarily. Find the murderer of Momoka and burn them in the “Fire of Judgment" in only two hours. 

 

No one made any efforts to solve anything. Some people were angry that they were trapped in the game venue so suddenly. Others were afraid of the possible outcomes of the game: if they would find the Witch in time, or if everyone were to be killed because they were not fast enough in determining the identity of the Witch. The lobby was full of the chaotic chatter of the disoriented Beach members.

 

The brutal Militants; on the other hand, presented a horrifying solution; they would throw everyone into the fire until the Witch was found.

 

Kuzuryū knew this was wrong—very wrong—but he had no authority to stop it. After all, he had been unfairly denied the spot as “King of the Beach” by the Executives. He had no say in the matter (or any matter).

 

His concern for speaking up was justified. The people who decided to oppose the Militants’ brutal tactics were shot dead on the spot.

 

As soon as an implied dismissal was given and the crowd started to scatter, he turned his head towards Mira, who was standing tall in her heels, her arms politely folded in front over her. She seemed slightly annoyed at the circumstances she was in. Her pale hands were grasped around the mobile phone every player is given before continuing on with a game. She turned to face him too, her void-like gaze scanning his expression. Would she decide to hide as well?

 

A throng of escaping people got shot down. Kuzuryū whipped his head toward the noise, stepping back in reaction to every gunshot and edging his way toward the wall.

 

Why did I ever decide to stay here? 

 

Kuzuryū made his way up a flight of stairs. 

 

I should’ve faked my death when I had the chance and escaped this hellhole.

 

He adjusted his glasses once he got to a hallway, glancing up and down the corridor with caution before he started to hear the pounding of footsteps approaching. He darted onto the next stairwell as gunshots and slamming bodies echoed around him. 

 

This is so unnecessary.

 

More gunshots rang out in the corridors. Many people fearfully scrambled into rooms—many more failing at hiding and getting shot. Kuzuryū was done with this absolute madness. He just needed to find an unoccupied room to hide in until the game was cleared. If it wasn’t cleared, however, he would be screwed.

 

I knew I should have never agreed to Hatter when he told me about this stupid place.

 

Kuzuryū panted as he reached the fifth and final floor. It was vacant—either people didn’t care to climb up that high or they were shot in the process. He had to fight the minuscule urge to help, knowing that there was nothing that he could do. 

 

I shouldn’t have brought Mira here.

 

He braced himself on the wall, catching his breath, keeping his eyes alert for any possible trouble or signs of danger. He considered heading up to the roof and staying there, but he realized that it was much too exposed and left him an easy target for the Militants. 

 

After a few moments of recollection, Kuzuryū started to slowly make his way down the hallway toward the opposite wall. The wall was lined with doors—he just needed to figure out which door would be the best one to take shelter in.

 

Before he could even begin to pointlessly analyze the doors, a gunshot cracked from around the corner. Kuzuryū jolted backwards, instinctively pushing up his glasses that were sliding down the bridge of his nose with his knuckle. He placed his hand on the doorknob of the nearest door as he heard footsteps rounding the corner.

 

The door Kuzuryū rested his hand on was flung open and he was pulled into the room roughly by hands clutching his shirt. It slammed and locked behind him with a soft grunt from his savior.

 

He blinked in surprise, trying to take in the details of dark room. He took notice of a singular lamp in the corner of the room, the faint blaze of the lightbulb weakly illuminating the surrounding wall behind it. The only other light source in the room was the white glow of the screen of the phone in his hand. He turned his head back to the person just as she started to speak.

 

“Keiichi!” Kuzuryū realized that the whisper came from Mira, “What were you doing? Why were you just standing there?”

 

He stammered in confusion, his stoic demeanor cracking for a moment, “Mira? How did you even know it was me?”

 

 She widened her eyes in the slightest motion, her voice calming into a soft reply, “I’ve known you long enough to distinguish your footsteps from everyone else’s, my dear.”

 

Kuzuryū nodded, still slightly confused but refusing to respond. He cleared his throat, pushing up his glasses yet again. He looked down and noticed her pale hands still grasping his shirt, remaining silent and waiting for her to eventually take them off.

 

It took a few moments, but Mira soon realized the position she was in and gently removed her hands from the blue fabric of his shirt. She giggled a small giggle in her usual bubbly facade.

 

Kuzuryū was definitely flustered, but his expression refused to show it.

 

Both Kuzuryū and Mira turned their attention to the door. The sounds of what seemed to be two or three Beach members sprinting down the corridor just before being shot down by the maniacs that the Militants stupidly supplied with guns and orders rang out from behind it. They then made their way over the bodies and down the rest of the hallway, their footsteps disappearing as they turned around the next corner.

 

They looked back at each other before Mira turned to the main living space of the room. It seemed to be lived in quite well: the bed was ruffled and disheveled, a pile of someone’s belongings sat on a nightstand that then sat by the bed. Kuzuryū turned his attention to a trash can, which was close to overflowing with indescribable debris.

 

She walked towards the center of the room and sat elegantly on the bed that was in the middle of the room. She placed her chin in her palms, her eyes staring at nothing, but Kuzuryū could tell her mind was racing with the many feelings one could feel in the situation. Fear, anger, confusion—her expression showed a concoction of each one of them. He flipped on a light switch, which lit up the room more efficiently than the singular lamp did. He did not move from his position, simply leaning on the wall and waiting for her to say something.

 

“They’re all going to go crazy trying to find the Witch.” Mira stated, shifting her gaze to Kuzuryū.

 

He sighed, shrugging his shoulders, “Those brutes don’t know how to act.”

 

She fixed her posture, sitting up straighter but still leaning slightly forward to inquire, “Who do you think the Witch actually is?”

 

Kuzuryū did not answer for a while. He knew who it was. He knew how she did it. He could not decide whether he wanted to tell her or not.

 

“Well?”

 

“No,” he shook his head, refusing to meet her eyes, “I don’t.”

 

Mira hummed in response, relaxing her shoulders and leaning back on her hands which she had placed behind her to support herself. He could tell by the look on her face that she did not believe him as much as he wanted her to.

 

“You’re a bad liar, dear.” She smiled warmly, “You can tell me if you know.”

 

“Fine.” Kuzuryū sighed, slightly rattled by her remark but keeping his eyes serious, “Momoka killed herself.”

 

Mira sat up in curiosity, “Oh?”

 

“She told me. She said that she would take her own life. Take on the role of the Witch.” His voice quivered slightly as he said it.

 

Mira nodded, shifting her position before saying, “I bet they’ll burn everyone else but Momoka.”

 

Kuzuryū nodded, “They won’t beat it.”

 

She replied, “I feel it would be common sense to burn everybody. They’re bound to figure it out sometime.”

 

“Those bastards are too ruthless to think, Mira. They wouldn’t figure that out.”

 

Mira only nodded, standing up and fixing her skirt. Kuzuryū watched intently as she whisked around the large bed and towards the large window, her black stilettos clacking against the ground. She opened the curtain to look outside of the glass. Kuzuryū hesitantly walked to the window as well, curious as to what she could have been seeing.

 

“Looks like they’re already burning people.” Kuzuryū said as he observed the Fire of Judgment raging on the ground outside of the building. He frowned as bodies were being thrown into the flames.

 

“Yep.” Mira nodded.

 

“But, they are distracted. We could escape through some secret exit that was placed for us citizens. There’s bound to be one.”

 

“No.” Mira turned to look at him, wide-eyed, “I want to know what the outcome will be. How they’ll decide to clear this game.”

 

Kuzuryū opened his mouth in preparation to protest, but decided against it, saying, “Alright. That’s fine.”

 

She smiled warmly at him, her eyes gleaming with satisfaction. She turned away from the curtain and made her way to the nightstand that stood by the bed. Kuzuryū heard her rummaging through some drawers. He thought she seemed antsy, but he could not blame her. Everyone else in the Beach had the chance to kill everyone in the venue with a simple display of stupidity.

 

He continued to look out the window at the fire. His eyebrows furrowed as he watched more and more people being thrown into the blaze. It was not fair that innocent people were being burned all because the higher-ups at the Beach were too ruthless to sit and think about who the Witch could be instead of choosing the “easier” way out.

 

“Keiichi,” she called from her spot by the nightstand, “I wish to hear your input on an idea I have.”

 

He turned to face her, closing the curtain and momentarily pushing the fire out of his mind, “Yeah? What is it?”

 

“What do you think we should do?” she inquired, stepping closer, “Should we stay here for the next hour and some minutes, or should we leave?”

 

“Well,” Kuzuryū started, “it depends on what you’re looking for. If you want to get a closer look at the chaos like you suggested, we can leave. But, if you want to stay safe and sound without risking death by assault rifle, we can stay.”

 

She giggled, “That’s what I expected to hear. You’re always so predictable, dear.”

 

He smirked at her for a short moment before reverting to a stoic expression, “We could leave.” he said, “We just need to be careful about it.”

 

“Alright!” Mira’s face lit up, grabbing the phone she had placed on the sheets of the bed and wiping dust off of her dress, “We can head out—“

 

“Safely.” Kuzuryū interrupted, moving away from the curtain to walk to the door.

 

Mira chuckled, “Yes, safely.”

 

“We could possibly head to the roof.” He directly contradicted the thoughts he had before being saved. He finally arrived at the door, placing his left hand on the locked handle and waiting for her response as he squeezed the phone in his right hand slightly.

 

“You’re right,” she agreed, “That way we can watch from afar.”

 

Kuzuryū nodded, unlocking the door, “Let’s go then.”

 

The door opened with a creak, thudding as it hit a bleeding body.

 

“Oh. That’s not good.” Mira peeked out of the room, murmuring softly.

 

Kuzuryū said nothing in return, frowning again as he walked out of the room and stepped over a growing pool of blood. His eyes trailed to the two bodies on the ground–two innocent people.

 

Mira stepped beside him, seeming to somehow have read his expression perfectly, “It’s alright. We’re alive, and that’s all that matters right now.”

 

He nodded, locking eyes with her. She had a sort of beautiful warmth in her gaze that he could never reciprocate. He turned his head back to the stairs that were in front of them, walking towards it and starting to make his way up the steps. He was utterly relieved to hear Mira’s heels clacking behind him.

Chapter 2

Notes:

i feel like i worded this awkward af LMAOOO
anyway enjoy

After cautiously walking up the rest of the stairs, Kuzuryū and Mira made their way to the rooftop of the building. The first thing that noticed was the cool nighttime breeze whipping at his ruffled hair. He folded his arms close to his torso in an attempt to warm himself, glancing over at Mira, who seemed perfectly fine with the chilling wind.

 

Kuzuryū, upon arriving at the edge of the roof, leaned on the barrier and watched as the fire lapped at the surrounding air. Occasionally, the flames grew stronger ephemerally in response to a body being thrown into it. The smell was not pleasant.

 

Although the fire was morbid, it comforted Kuzuryū. It reminded him of his time as a player in the Borderlands—when he actually wanted to return to the original world.

 

---

 

The stars faintly glimmered over Tokyo; a rare occurrence considering the light pollution that occurred in the densely populated urban area. Kuzuryū had lost track of how long he had been in sojourn. The only days he were keeping track of were the amount of days left on his visa.

 

He sat on a log in the park where he, Mira, and two other friends—Kyuma and Shirabi—always met. It was at least one in the morning; Kyuma and Shirabi had already gone to whatever “home” they could have had, He had decided to stay the night with Mira in the log-surrounded area.

 

A bonfire crackled and snapped in the middle of the logs. Earlier, Kyuma had sung songs by the firelight in celebration of completing a game, and Kuzuryū was starting to get used to the strumming of his acoustic guitar.

 

“Keiichi,” Mira sat close to Kuzuryū, sharing the warmth of the flames with her companion, “what do you think these lands are?”

 

He hummed. “Though I can’t tell you for certain, what I can tell you is that we can’t be stuck here forever.”

 

“Interesting,” She chirped, “So are you saying we could leave this place?”

 

“Possibly,” he stated. “Or we’ll die. Either way, we’ll leave this place.”

 

Mira nodded, unfazed by the grim nature of his statement. “That’s another reason to push through,” she looked over to Kuzuryū, whose eyes were fixed on the golden flames, “even if you don’t have a reason to live. It’s still good to try.”

 

---

 

“This reminds me of those nights,” Kuzuryū sighed, “when we would sit in front of the bonfire in the park. After Kyuma had finished his songs and both he and Shirabi had fallen asleep. And you would ask me questions—questions about basically anything—about humanity, or life, or any of that other stuff.”

 

“And you answered every single one.” He could feel Mira’s presence beside him. She was standing straight up, watching the fire with curious eyes. “Even the ones that were unanswerable.”

 

He only frowned. “Everything about these Borderlands will go unanswered.”

 

She stepped forward and joined Kuzuryū by the barrier. After a few moments she remarked, “This is the last pip card game.”

 

“I know.” Kuzuryū replied softly. “If it’s like what happened during our time as players, we’ll never see each other again.”

 

Mira’s gaze darkened with an emotion he couldn’t read, a wistful smile still lingering on her face. “You’re right.”

 

He scanned Mira’s expression before standing up from the barrier to face her. She blinked away the sadness in her eyes and giggled under her breath. “Death is inevitable anyway. It’s alright.”

 

Kuzuryū furrowed his brows, then huffed in slight regret, leaning back down to rest his weight on the barrier. He fingered at the scar on his top lip—the one he got during the only spade game he made the mistake of joining.. Mira sighed and turned toward the fire. He could tell that she was distraught by the knowledge that they would both die.

 

The two spent several minutes in silence, just watching the flames. It was as if they were hypnotized by its scarlet glow or by its overbearing heat that radiated even at their distance. Kuzuryū broke the silence with sudden urgency. “We’ll have to get out of here soon.”

 

“How come?” Mira asked.

 

He replied, “I already know that this won’t end up well.”

 

She smiled. “We should stay for a few moments more.”

 

“Alright.” he agreed reluctantly, his posture tense and his brows creased in anxiety. He always wondered why she always suggested seemingly pointless activities over logical, safer options.

 

“You baffle me, Mira.” he said, still tense.

 

She chuckled, “Why?”

 

“Well, I’ve always been… baffled by your unwavering curiosity. You will always take a hard route if it will satisfy your need for discovery.” His face flushed slightly; he refused to look at her.

 

“Do you really feel that way?” Mira gazed at him with warm eyes.

 

He nodded, rocking on his heels slightly. The fire casted an orange light on Mira’s face. She was smiling widely, watching the chaos below with rueful eyes that looked ready to flood with tears. Bodies continued to be thrown into the fire, sending embers flying and smoke rising higher than the roof.

 

She suddenly turned to face him, her heels clacking on the concrete as she ambled towards Kuzuryū. “You don’t have to be so tense all the time, my love.” She kissed his cheek gently as she passed by. “Now let’s go—Like you said.”

 

Though he felt immature for it, his face grew hotter than the fire below.

Chapter 3

Notes:

sorry for the late and not great update!! D:

They had met at the park for the final time before the Second Stage. Before they both had to depart for their game venues. Mira’s stomach flipped with the knowledge of her and Kuzuryū’s impending deaths, but he had an inscrutable mask over his expression that even she could not read.

 

They sat beside each other on the surprisingly pristine white bench that had remained in the park since even when they were players all of that time ago. No sounds uttered from either of their mouths, the silence hanging heavily in the air.

 

Mira sighed, the silence immediately dissipating with her chirps, “I wish this would last forever.”

 

Kuzuryū hummed in response as if he did not hear what she said.

 

“Just you and me, in the quiet.” she beamed subtly, eyes gazing over to Kuzuryū with a loving stare. “It’s very peaceful. Comforting.”

 

“Nothing lasts forever.” a gleam of dread cast over his eyes for a short moment before his gaze darkened into a cold stare once more.

 

She sighed, “I know. We all have dreams.”

 

“Dreams always end in you waking up.”

 

Mira remained silent. Maybe this could have been a dream all along.

 

“Maybe,” a weak smile lingered on her face, “maybe we’re just in a dream. This isn’t real–maybe ‘death’ is just us waking up.”

 

“This would be… quite the realistic dream, no?” Kuzuryū responded, still.

 

She replied, “I’ve had very vivid dreams before.”

 

“Not as vivid as this.” his glasses glared with the white sunlight as he gazed up.

 

Mira looked at him, her dark eyes gleaming in somberness. She did not say anything for a while before sighing and turning her head back forward.

 

“We’d better get going soon.” Kuzuryū stated seriously, standing and holding his hand out to help Mira up (which was oddly humane of him.) She frowned slightly before smiling and taking the invitation, her heels echoing soft clicks around the empty clearing.

 

Mira nodded, “You’re right.”

 

They stared at each other for what seemed like eternity–why is he staring at me?

 

“I’ll miss you.” he smirked slightly, his calculated gaze still cold with despondency but showing potential to crack.

 

Her eyes widened, not expecting this from the Kuzuryū, “I’ll… miss you too.”

 

They stared at each other for another period of stillness before Mira frowned and pulled him into a tight embrace, tears welling in her eyes but refusing to fall. She would never let go.

 

Mira had to let go at some point. It was impossible to not fulfill her responsibilities as a citizen, but she wished that she could stay in that park forever. She knew that the old world she used to love had to have been gone and that park was the only “home” she had left: the only sense of familiarity there was in this place.

 

Her eyes scanned the Tokyo skyline from the high rooftop of Shibuya Scramble Square, her gaze catching on the air ships that hung ominously in the sky. She had already seen multiple ships go down, leaving a harsh feeling of anxiety in her stomach about both her fate and Kuzuryū’s fate. One of them was bound to be next.

 

Standing tall, she continued to gaze out into the city with somber eyes, many reflections rushing through her mind. I can lie to myself and tell myself that I’m content with death. Maybe I’m just content with the idea of it. The peace. Maybe… Kuzuryū is fine with it as well?

 

At least, she hoped he was. She knew that she could never read minds, even with the fake status she held in these hellish lands. She could only guess.

 

She took in a harsh but deep inhale as a sudden urge to cry came upon her. Maybe it was because this could have been the last time she would ever see Tokyo like this, and even with its unrecognizable state it brought her a sense of comfort. 

 

She continued to watch the oddly quiet city, the faintest breeze lapping at her neatly groomed hair and ruffling her intricate dress. She smiled at the tranquility—at the memories.

 

All of the memories came flooding back to her as a deafening blast reverberated through the landscape, splitting the once peaceful air and seemingly pausing the breeze. She knew exactly whose it was when the ship she was subconsciously staring at exploded into a blazing ball of fire.

 

The tears fell right as the ship did—when all that was left of her dear Kuzuryū was a dissipating cloud of smoke.