When the game was over we were released back into freedom. We had finally served our prison sentence. And again I was faced with the same eternal question:
What next?

Silently we watched as the oversized zeppelin overhead burst into flames and the debris covered the prison in ash.

Another game was done and I wondered, not for the first time, how many more would follow. After all, there were still enough picture cards left. At the moment, however, my biggest worry was the King of Spades, who was still wreaking havoc in the city. Two of my friends had already lost their lives when they were caught ice-cold by a grenade during a massacre. And it almost killed me too.

As I let my eyes wander, I saw that Banda and Yaba were already moving away from the action. Chishiya stood beside me for a while longer, watching in awe as the building in front of us burst into flames, almost as if he was watching an impressive fireworks display.

"So that's it then," I said, not moving from the spot. Not because I was so keen to witness the spectacle, but more because I didn't know what to do with myself.

"That's it," Chishiya replied almost wistfully.

"Admit it. You're just mourning the biscuits," I said, unable to stifle a slight grin.

"Well, they were pretty good."

With those words, he turned and sauntered away in his nonchalant manner. I watched him go for a while, but then an inexplicable inner panic overcame me. I started moving too and followed him with hesitant steps, careful to leave as much distance between us as possible. After a few minutes, Chishiya stopped, but without turning to me.

"Why are you following me?" he asked. Motionless, I remained standing.

"I'm not. I happen to be going in the same direction. It's not my fault."

Now he turned completely to face me and came straight at me, but consistently walked past me and then headed straight in the opposite direction. Irritated, I looked after him. I quickly realised that he was just testing my reaction, yet I followed him again, trying to catch up with him with quick steps.

"What is it? Why are you stalking me?" he asked suddenly, wheeling around. A little startled, I stared at him.

"Well....I just wanted to say. You really rocked this game." I held my thumb up and grinned a little awkwardly.

Chishiya raised an eyebrow in surprise. Then his mouth twisted into a smug smile.

"Oh how lovely. Thank you." , he made in an exaggeratedly condescending tone, coming up to me and patting my head briefly as if I were a dog who had just successfully sat for the first time.

I pushed my lower lip forward a little defiantly.

"I'm serious about this. I've never seen anyone so calculated and calm in a game of life and death."

He still looked unimpressed.

"I know, I'm just awesome. But I also need some peace from my fans. I'm sure you understand that."

He put his hands back in his jacket pockets and then looked at me in a strangely amused way.
I rolled my eyes in annoyance.

"Yeah, you're super smart, but you definitely lack modesty."

"Modesty is for people with no self-awareness," he retorted, unimpressed, and then just walked past me, back in the original direction, but this time at a brisker pace than before. Panicked, I hurried after him.

"Are you just going to run away now?" I shouted after him, hoping to catch up. He turned around again, this time visibly annoyed.

"I'm not your babysitter. Go away!" He raised his hand in an exaggerated gesture. "Shoo."

Slowly, this guy was pissing me off.

"And I'm not a baby."

He sighed.

"Then you should stop acting like one."

Inwardly I agreed with him and I knew there was no point in arguing it any longer, so I just decided to be honest.

"Please. I...don't know where to go," I mumbled softly. Chishiya frowned.

"Don't you have any friends or something?"

My look became more contrite.

"Yes, but...I lost them," I said in a lowered voice.

"Then go find them."

"No, I mean...they're dead. All of them."

A stretched silence fell between us, something that could have filled books. Chishiya's expression was still as impenetrable as the prison walls we had just left behind. What was he thinking?

"That went really badly for you, of course. But that's hardly my problem. You'll have to deal with that on your own."

His cold words were a stab in the heart. What did I expect when I asked someone like him for help? Inwardly, I scolded myself for my naivety, but still thought about how I could change his mind.

"I just don't want to be alone here. That's all. And... I know that may not be an argument, but at least I've proven that you can trust me."

"You're right," he finally said. "That's not an argument."

I groaned inwardly, realising that he probably wouldn't back down no matter what I said. We weren't friends, after all. Just casual acquaintances.

"It's okay," I said, trying hard not to sound too disappointed about it. "I can't force my presence on you. That would be presumptuous of me."

Another long grinding silence.

"Right," he said eventually. "So good luck."

Chishiya turned away from me with a last quick wave and continued on his way alone. I watched him go for quite a while, but no longer followed. Instead, I just stood there. Desultory and lost. With difficulty I was able to suppress a tear. I had to pull myself together. This was not the end of the world. I may have been completely alone and on my own now, but somehow I kept going. Maybe I would meet someone else who would take me in. Someone to keep me company in this sick world so I wouldn't completely lose my mind.

Just as I was about to avert my gaze from Chishiya, he stopped abruptly and paused for a considerable time. He looked up at the sky and briefly turned back to the direction we had come from. I followed his gaze and also turned to look up. My heart almost stopped at the sight. The King of Spades' airship was coming right at us. I gave a little yelp and stumbled backwards.

Chishiya, meanwhile, continued to stand quietly, watching the silver flying object come closer and closer. It was still far enough away from us, but that could change quickly if we stayed behind. After a few interminable seconds, I heard him sigh behind me.

"Fine, just come with me," he finally said. I turned back to him and stared at him, stunned.

"Really?", I asked in disbelief.

"I don't care, but don't get on my nerves, understand?" My face brightened a little. "For now, we should get out of here."

I nodded, smiling. He turned away again, almost indifferently, and I walked lightly after him.

"I promise not to be a burden to you," I fluted when I finally caught up with him.

"Yeah, that's what they all say."

I was so happy that I was almost about to do an aerial leap, but managed to control myself in time. We walked side by side for quite a while without saying anything to each other. There was something about Chishiya that sometimes made it difficult for me to have a normal conversation with him. He had this mysterious aura that surrounded him and automatically kept everyone else at a distance. At some point I decided to break the somewhat uncomfortable silence between us.

"So where are we going?", I asked hesitantly, but also a little curious.

"To my safe house."

"Ah I see."

I sensed he wasn't really comfortable with my presence. But then why had he consented in the first place? With anyone else, my guess would probably have been pity, but with Chishiya? Certainly not.

Once again we lapsed into silence. I felt I had a thousand questions for him, but I was probably afraid of saying something stupid in his presence and getting on his nerves. After all, he could change his mind at any time and leave me here to be thrown to the King of Spades.

"My name is Izumi Tsuki, by the way," I introduced myself when the silence eventually became too unbearable and also to distract myself from the thought of the king of spades following us.

"I know your name. It was on the monitor."

"Right. And you are Chishiya Shuntarō. You may not remember, but we know each other from Beach."

He suddenly stopped abruptly and then looked at me, visibly amused.

"So you're really stalking me. Well, that's a surprise."

Dumbfounded, I stared at him.

"I've only seen you there once or twice. That's all," I defended myself, though it was definitely more than twice.

"And still you couldn't forget about me. I must have really made an impression on you."

It didn't usually happen that often that I blushed with embarrassment, but this time I did.

"Call it what you want. But I'm certainly not a stalker," I chided him.

"Then I wonder why, of all things, you set yourself on my heels."

"Well, you told me the right symbol, which means you didn't want to kill me and you also trusted me. Is that enough of a reason?", I asked snappishly, staring at him with a probing look. Chishiya returned my gaze only briefly before turning away from me again and walking on unperturbed. One thing was already clear to me. It would be anything but easy with him. But for now, I was just grateful not to have to be alone.