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pockyteau · 1 year

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JUST LIKE ICARUS

✩ a chishiya x reader where the sun is a lot closer to him than he realised.

"Do you know the story of Icarus?"

The question catches Chishiya off guard. He turns to you inquisitively, but you are already looking elsewhere; you stretch your arms out behind your head lazily, leaning back against the side of your bed. The sunlight that filled the room was enough to make one drowsy with all its warmth, little specks of light scuttling across the ground like golden ants.

It's always weirdly sunny, when you're around.

"I'm familiar with it, yes." Chishiya says mildly. He briefly wonders whether he should've admitted to it - while it was true he had read the book, it had been completely unintentional. He'd picked up an old paperback of the book in a library once, under the impression that the gold lettering on the cover meant the book held a multitude of literary treasures. On that day, Chishiya learnt two things: that Icarus was an idiot, and that he should never trust the gold lettering on books.

He had come to dislike the story since.

"Really? You know it?" You look at him with wide eyes, your earlier drowsiness thrown off. The expression you are making is glowing with excitement, and he feels as if he should de-escalate the situation before you get any ideas.

"I didn't like it much," he warns. Much to Chishiya's distaste, he had come to know that you were a lover of storybooks, of which he never had much patience for. You blink, falling back against your bed with an audible thump.

"But why not?" You ask, tilting your head to the side. From your lips the question sounds incredulous; it's almost as if you had, in fact, greatly enjoyed the story of Icarus.

Chishiya frowns. He had initially expected you to dislike it too, since the story ended in Icarus' death and you were the greatest lover of happy endings he'd ever met. After tuning many of them out, he had come to know that your personal favourite tales were the ones about love - sappy ones of sweetness and longing that spanned over many lifetimes. He didn't care much for them either, though they wouldn't have bothered him nearly as much if you didn't insist on telling him every single one. So, with that in mind, what reason could you have for liking this tale?

"Icarus dug his own grave," Chishiya shrugs. "If he'd just been careful, he would've lived. He should've listened to the advice he was given."

You snort. "That's why you don't like it? You and Icarus are one in the same, then," you point out. "You never listen either."

It appears you've noticed him tuning you out.

"Well," Chishiya muses, "I can afford not to." He turns his head to shoot you a lazy grin. "The same cannot be said for Icarus."

You press your lips together. "Wow, you are awful," you comment, though Chishiya can tell by the way your shoulders shake gently that you are trying not to laugh. Your attempt to stifle your laughter ends up in vain when your voice disappears towards the end of your statement, dipping your head forward to conceal the grin adorning your face.

Chishiya finds he is smiling before he can stop himself - it's easy to make you laugh. He knows that if you lifted your head, he would see the crinkles under your eyes.

He allows you a moment to compose yourself before asking a question of his own. "But why do you like it?" he says, careful to keep the curiosity out of his voice. You raise your head when he speaks, traces of laughter still painting your lips. "The Icarus story, I mean. Since he dies in the end, I would've thought you'd hate it."

The question seems to surprise you. You frown, your brows drawing together. "Well, I wouldn't say that I like it, exactly," you say thoughtfully. "But it does have its charm. Icarus was happy for a little while." You muse. "Maybe being careless was worth it for him."

"That's ridiculous," Chishiya snorts. Icarus was happy for no less than what, five seconds? No form of death could be worth that. Now he doesn't know why he asked in the first place, because of course you would supply him with an answer like that. "He still died."

"Hey, what've you got against Icarus?" You tease, arms folded as you lean back against the side of your bed. "To be honest, I think his story is a little sad. He was just glad to be in the sun."

"Mm," Chishiya makes a noncommittal noise in response, knowing that if he were to give a full answer it would probably be rather scathing. You smile at this, giving him a little nudge.

"Okay, not a fan of Icarus," you say. Your voice is soft, tinted with amusement. Huh. Chishiya feels a small ache hatch in the centre of his chest - it pricked him in a strange way to see your smile as you spoke. You carry on, unaware of the sudden pain in his chest, that same smile still on your face. "Got it. Ah! Do you know Psyche and Eros? You have to have heard of them! Their love story is unrivaled."

Chishiya is vaguely aware of how he shakes his head, which causes you to clutch at your chest in mock horror. You then launch into your rendition of Psyche and Eros' romance, eyes shining. It seemed that unlike Icarus, Psyche and Eros got their happy ever after; their love was free to last forever, unbound by the constraints of mortal life once Psyche was immortalised.

Of course, this was the ringer for you - a love that lasted forever. Chishiya doesn't believe in forever; he knows everything must eventually come to an end. Perhaps that was where the two of you differed the most; you firmly believed in forever, simply because you insisted that things such as love could transcend all boundaries, resist the tests of time.

He supposes this should only be expected from someone who pitied Icarus, for whom Chishiya has no sympathy for. Despite how careless he may seem to you, him and the boy with the wax wings are nothing alike, because Chishiya is careful. He takes care not to let his mind wander when he sets his gaze on the sparkle in your eyes, the curve of your lips. He takes care not to let the sunlit vision of you sink too deep beneath the surface of his mind. Chishiya is careful, always careful. He knows that the repercussions of getting comfortable with you could cost him everything.

Even without you telling him, he knows the story of Icarus, who flew too close to the sun.

Today you are telling him about something new - probably another love story, judging by the delight in your voice.

It's sunny again. Chishiya is sitting with his back against the wall of your room, basking in the golden sunlight that streams through your window. The atmosphere is peaceful, calm. The way Chishiya likes it.

He leans his head forward slightly to stretch the stiffness out of it; he had long since stopped listening to you, and was now trying to figure out how to a rig a flamethrower. And every other step to making a flamethrower, really. It would be a lot easier to dance that risky line between life and death with one, and Chishiya intends to use it as his ticket out of this poolside hotel. He dreams of somewhere he doesn't have to attend meetings on the whim of an obnoxious man in sunglasses.

But where would he get the materials? If he were to ask someone like Ann for spare flamethrowing parts, he would most likely be bombarded with questions. Ann was terrifying in her own right, with her ability to speak so fast. It's a dilemma, certainly. Perhaps he could ask the handyman, Tatta, instead.

He doesn't seem like the type to ask what Chishiya would use them for, and Chishiya believes that is a quality more people should have.

"Chishiya?"

He lifts his head at your mention of his name. "Hm?"

You grin. Chishiya feels that little ache between his ribs again, filling in the empty space between his heart and his bones. It seems to be spreading, which he tries not to find concerning.

It's probably nothing.

"You weren't listening again, were you?" you chide, but you don't seem to mind. The teasing look on your face makes that plain enough.

Chishiya sees no need to lie. "I was not."

"Of course not," you sigh dramatically, flopping down to sit next to him. He smirks at you, knowing that you would roll your eyes in response. He knows you, predicting the way your head tilts away from him slightly, covering a quiet laugh. "Actually, I don't know why I'm surprised. Do you even listen to all those executive meetings you go to?"

Chishiya grins, which means the obvious answer is no - it's a close call between who he respects less, the Hatter or the mournful looking worm he'd spotted on his way back from a game. In fact, he might've even lent the worm an ear if it had deigned to speak - it probably had more worthwhile things to say than the Beach's number one.

You seem to be able to follow his train of thought. "I guess not," you say, a small laugh escaping your lips.

He finds himself thinking that the sound of it is rather nice.

Without warning you lean in closer to Chishiya and for a moment his mind goes blank, but all you do is reach out a hand to tuck a strand of hair behind his ear. "Here," your fingers brush lightly against the side of his face as you do so, the warmth of your skin lingering on his jaw even though the touch was only a brief one. "Now you'll be able to hear me better, hm?"

Chishiya snorts. His eyes flick over to you, that smile he wished wouldn't affect him so much dancing on your lips. Perhaps he should untuck the strand of hair from behind his ear again, just to annoy you. "There's a difference between wanting to listen and being able to listen."

"Hey-" you open your mouth to protest, but close it just as quickly. Chishiya is all but ready to give you a smug look, anticipating the way you would groan and pretend not to laugh - but then you lean in even closer, inspecting his face with curious eyes. He raises his brows in question. He doesn't like how your eyes have widened, mystified, as they rest just below his own eye level.

"What is it?" He frowns.

"You have a beauty mark!" You say, a delighted smile spreading across your lips. "I never noticed! Why didn't you tell me?"

Chishiya's brow furrows. He has to stifle the sudden urge to reach up and cover the little mark below his left eye. Why would he tell you? Perhaps he had fallen into the fool's trap of assuming you had working eyes, since the mark was, you know, on his face. "It must have slipped my mind," he says dryly.

Unfortunately, you take no notice of his wry tone. "It's so cute!" you exclaim. You look dangerously close to clapping your hands in joy, and you are still much too close to Chishiya. He feels the warmth on his skin beginning to burn as you reach out a finger to lightly tap the mark under his eye. "Oh! that reminds me - did I ever tell you the story? Beauty marks are where you were kissed the most in your past life."

Chishiya brushes your hand away from his face. "I can't say I've heard that one before," he says, keeping his tone even. He hopes it will be enough to stop the liquid gold in his chest from spreading.

"I thought as much," you hum, reaching out to poke the mark under his eye again, grinning when he swats you away. "Hey, that means you were kissed there a lot. Isn't that so sweet? You must have been really loved in your past life."

Chishiya's frown deepens. Here is your precious everlasting love again.

It's no secret that he doesn't believe in things like this; he knew better than most that human hearts were feeble things, easily stopped. As the vessel of love, didn't that show how not even the greatest love could last longer than the average human lifespan?

"Is that so." He says flatly. The mark below his eye was merely a fixation of his face, nothing more.

Your eyes dart over his unsmiling expression, the corners of your lips still turned up. "It's okay, I know you don't believe in things like that," you say mildly, eyes sparkling. Chishiya's gaze flickers; he didn't realise you had become so apt at predicting his thoughts.

"You're right. I don't."

You merely hum again in response before falling silent, as if in thought. In the hush Chishiya allows his gaze to wander to you momentarily; it comes to rest on the pensive crease in your forehead, angling lower to where golden shapes are being cast over your face by the sunlight coming through the window.

He's not sure if he can remember a time where you haven't been touched by light.

"Ah!" You do clap your hands now, and Chishiya eyes you in apprehension. That can't mean anything good. "Alright. Why don't we test something out?"

"Test?" Chishiya squints at you for a moment to accentuate his reluctance. "And what would that be?"

"Well...why don't we give you a new beauty mark?" You smile. "You don't believe me, so I'll prove you wrong."

Chishiya has to bite back his immediate scorn. What purpose would that serve? It's not as if you would be able to check if your theory worked, anyway. Even if you were right, neither of you would know what had conspired in this room, dappled in sunlight, in your next life.

He's already forming the word "no" in his throat, well aware that he shouldn't indulge you - but there are little crinkles under your eyes, the look of pure joy you usually wear when telling him your precious stories. Why were you so happy about his beauty mark, he wonders, and why hasn't the ache stopped by now? He should shut you down now, before this gets out of hand.

It is with these resolute thoughts that for some unfathomable, fanatical reason, Chishiya opens his mouth to find the words "do whatever you want," escaping off the tip of his tongue.

Just like that, the precarious nature he had built up around you is dealt its first blow when your face lights up with a pleasant surprise.

"Really?" you say, so tentatively that the pull in his chest becomes so strong it almost hurts. Chishiya has to pull himself together to shrug in indifference. But it's fine. This is but a small allowance, one he will only let slide once.

He still has to be careful.

You delicately put both hands on either side of the blonde's face, turning it this way and that as if inspecting it. He looks at you, unimpressed, as you gently poke his right cheek, designating it as the spot for his next beauty mark. "Is here okay?"

Chishiya shrugs again with his face still in your hands, your hold on him causing a slight difficulty for him to do so properly. "It's your test, isn't it?"

"Okayy, here it is, then."

You lean in and place a gentle kiss on his cheek, then another, and another. The touch of your lips is sweet and light - Chishiya's soft chuckle is audible when you kiss him a fourth time, and he loses count of the ones that follow after you can't seem to help but kiss him once on the lips.

Chishiya knows he shouldn't. He is aware that the wax wings fixed to his back are loosening by the day.

But no matter how hard he tries to ignore it, he is compelled to push open the door to your room in his free time, the daylight hours before he leaves for a game. Where he is enveloped by golden sunlight the second he steps in, the way your face brightens like heaven is on earth there with him etching itself into the very corners of his mind. He listens silently to your stories, the lull of your voice. You've begun to kiss him on his right cheek regularly, like a habit, and he can't bring himself to stop you.

He does his best to ignore the thought that perhaps he doesn't even want to stop you.

Chishiya knows that this is temporary. He has to be careful, make sure he doesn't forget. That no matter how many times you kiss him, he cannot stay. He is already flying much to close to the sun - the sudden warmth that consumes him as he does so is so immense that it scares him. Because every time you kiss him like that, he wonders what it would be like to sit there and listen to you tell stories forever.

And Chishiya knows forever doesn't exist.

Chishiya declines citizenship in the Borderlands.

Even after playing Kuzuryuu, he had honestly considered staying. No matter where he was, forever still would not exist; he would eventually die in either world. It would be interesting to see what the future held for him here, in any case. Perhaps he could run the Diamond games - there's no question of him being able to take the crown of the King of Diamonds with his intellect. And after all, if he stayed, he wouldn't have to return to the tedious problems of the real world.

But in the end, he finds that something inside him has changed.

Maybe it's because he's slowly bleeding out, which probably doesn't bode well for him. Maybe it's because he's slumped against a car and it's less than comfortable. Maybe Kuzuryuu got through to him after all.

But maybe it's also how you find him there, hidden behind the car, worry painting your usually so sunny face as you rush over to kneel beside him.

"Chishiya?" you whisper urgently. "Are you okay?"

He feels a gentle weight on his shoulder where you hand has immediately come to rest, like it's the most natural thing in the world. You don't even think twice about it; it surprises Chishiya that such a simple movement could feel so comforting, safe. He's gotten used to your touch, no matter how hard he'd tried not to. You're checking his wounds, eyes widening when you realise his hoodie is soaked in blood. "What happened to you? Oh my god, have you been shot? How bad is it?"

Chishiya manages a weak chuckle, even as you begin desperately searching for the bullet wound. You're worried, really worried, whispering something about putting pressure on the wound. Should he tell you he's been shot more than once?

His eyes roam over your face, cast in deep shadow by the darkening sky. Where are the crinkles in your eyes? The look of unobtainable joy that never left your face? It's so strange - ridiculous, even - that all he can think of is that stupid story you'd told him so long ago, the one about the beauty marks. He aches to see you smile again, like you did then, and the all-consuming feeling almost outweighs the blood seeping from his wounds.

"Are you laughing?" you say tearfully. Another laugh forces itself out of Chishiya's chest even as he winces slightly, although whether he laughs out of amusement or exasperation he can't really tell. You give him an incredulous stare, eyes shining with perspiration, before you finally crack a small smile of your own.

That's all it takes for the dam to break and you exhale in relief, the panic leaving your body in the form of a heavy breath. Your whole body relaxes and your hand slips a bit on his shoulder as you slump down beside him. "Chishiya," you breathe his name like it's the only thing keeping you alive, burying your face in your hands. "I was so worried about you."

Chishiya's broken laughter subsides into a grin. He leans back against the car, closing his eyes for a moment, although his look of amusement still lingers over his features. It's almost ironic - you seem more concerned about his own life than he is. And while Chishiya's concern usually reaches the brilliant heights of almost zero, he suddenly thinks that surviving his multiple bullet wounds wouldn't be so bad.

"Why?" he says, opening his eyes slightly to peer at you through half-lids. "If I died, we could test out your beauty mark theory."

You groan, but the sound is half-laugh-half-exasperation. "I can't believe you." Your head falls forward to rest on his shoulder, the fabric of his hoodie muffling your voice. You sound weak, as if you had spent some time calling out his name, trying to find him. He exhales a soft laugh. it was always your voice that gave you away, but now Chishiya only finds it endearing rather than a weakness. Despite the situation he finds himself relaxing.

He could get used to this.

And that's when it hits him.

That Chishiya has already become Icarus, the fool.

He breathes out. No, he's been a fool from the very start. He wants your head on his shoulder, just like it is now. He wants the warmth of your touch. He wants forever, full of your dancing eyes and your buoyant smile. He wants too much, has flown right against the sun so that his wax wings have melted away and he's plummeted into the ocean. Look at where being careful had gotten him; everything he's ever believed to be true is lost in the deep water.

But then you raise your head to graze a kiss on his right cheek between murmurs, your own cheeks slightly wet with tears, and Chishiya finds he doesn't care. He's willing to indulge in the idea of forever, no matter how unlikely it might be that it actually exists. He'll sink deeper into the ocean as long as you're holding on to him.

Fireworks explode around the two of you, marking the end of the world he'd met you in, and Chishiya makes his choice.

"I don't want citizenship," he says, and his eyes slide over to you as the words leave his mouth. He can admit, if only to himself, that he's looking forward to your reaction. "I think."

Your astonished face is illuminated in the light before it splits into that beaming smile.

"I thought you would stay," you whisper, but you're smiling so hard even as glittering tears are sliding down your cheeks again that Chishiya can't help but laugh once more. You reach for his hand and clasp it tightly, intertwining your fingers and his in a way that can only be described as tender and sweet, and he knows he's made the right choice.

"Let's go home," you say, eyes shining, and Chishiya is falling, falling. He wants to go back and live in a world with you, where a love that outlasts even the two of your beating hearts is more likely to be possible. Because even though he doesn't believe in forever, you do.

And Chishiya has never wanted so badly, with all of the heart he thought he didn't have, for it to be true.

Chishiya couldn't shake the feeling that something was strange.

He knew exactly where he was before he even fully woke up - the beep of the heart monitor, the sharp scent of sterilisation, the coolness of the pillow behind his head. From all the time he'd spent in residency, the atmosphere of the hospital was unmistakable.

He opens his eyes slowly to ease his transition into the waking world. His body aches with injury, and there is a stinging pain in his abdomen. The thoughts in his head are sluggish, bleary. He's still gaining his bearings, trying to figure out what happened.

A sudden jolt of urgency shoots through him and he almost bolts upright; he is met with the resistance of the tightly tucked in hospital bedsheets, and has to slowly push himself up instead. He looks around, scanning the other beds in the room. There is a strange new ache blooming rapidly in his chest, but he doesn't think it's related to his injuries. Where is...

He blinks. Where is what?

He frowns, freeing one of his arms from the linen sheets to rub his forehead. He tries to summon the thought up again, but it's like grasping at sand. Where is...? He attempts to close his fist over the question, but it slips through his fingers like the grains of an hourglass. What was he so desperate to find just now?

He just can't seem to recall.

The curtain around his bed is drawn with the slight scrape of metal, revealing a nurse with a clipboard. Chishiya is momentarily distracted from his thoughts when the nurse looks surprised to see him awake, her mouth forming a little 'o' of astonishment.

"Oh! you're awake," her expression quickly eases into a professional smile. Chishiya dips his head slightly in acknowledgement, but he is still unsettled. It's the strangest thing. It feels he's missing something, but he just can't figure out what.

The nurse begins to check his vitals, scribbling something down on a clipboard with a ballpoint pen. To Chishiya's newly awoken mind, the scratch of pen against paper is louder than it should be. As she writes she tells Chishiya what happened - the tragedy of the meteorite, how he was one of many victims of the crash.

"Your heart stopped for a full minute," she says, "you went into cardiac arrest. The same thing actually happened to a lot of the other patients here who were injured by the meteorite crash..."

Chishiya stops listening there. The nurse continues to talk, but his mind is already is elsewhere. His heart stopped for a full minute. He wonders, briefly, why it even bothered starting back up again. Perhaps he had some underlying will to live that even he didn't know about.

Human hearts were strange things.

It turns out that Chishiya has to stay at the hospital for a while before he can be discharged. He's familiar with the procedures - although his injuries aren't as severe as the man in the bed next to him, who is bandaged from head to toe, it'll still take a while before he makes a full recovery. Though Chishiya isn't too happy about this, he supposes there's nothing much he can do about it. And while the man stationed beside him is rather boisterous at times he does talk to Chishiya on the occasion, and it's not too irritating. In fact, he thinks they might even be a little bit alike in some ways.

But even as his injuries slowly heal, the ache he'd woken up with still lingers. It's such a strange, implacable feeling. Something inside him yearns for a specific kind warmth, the gold of sunlight that filters through windows. The hospital wards are too silent, too dull. Since when did he begin to long for company? But it's not even that - the room he's been staying in is full of people, yet he still feels as if someone is missing from his side. It's endlessly frustrating.

If his heart was going to torture him like this for surviving, maybe it shouldn't have yanked him back from cardiac arrest after all.

Chishiya's hospital days blur together with the utter sameness of them all. He goes through the motions, the scans, the checkups, all without a second thought.

Until, that is, he catches a proper glimpse of his reflection in the chipped bathroom mirror.

He stops in his tracks, leaning in closer to check whether it was just a speck of dust on the mirror, but no - it's really there. He frowns. That's weird.

He has a new beauty mark.

Has it always been there? There had always been one, just below his left eye. He had never paid it any heed. It was simply there, an affixation of his face. But he finds that there is now another mark, sitting on his right cheek. If it had been there all his life, he certainly didn't remember it. How had he never noticed it before?

He raises a hand to brush the new mark in confusion, his fingertips grazing the skin. As he does this, he recalls something odd - in the very back of his mind, it's almost as if he can feel the gentle press of someone's lips against his cheek.

Chishiya is finally going to be discharged from the hospital today.

He will not miss this place. In fact, his parting from the bed he'd known for the last month or so was joyful, to say the least. The ache he had woken up with still hasn't disappeared, but maybe the unsettling feeling that he'd forgotten something would fade once he left.

The sooner, the better.

He is just making his way to reception, having bid an amused farewell to the boisterous man in the bed beside him. Unlike the others in his room, neither of them had had any visitors, so he supposed the least he could do was be civil to the guy.

For once, there is silence in the hospital's white-walled corridors; visiting hours had not yet begun, and while Chishiya had grown to find complete silence somewhat unnerving he welcomes the change. There are no families weeping in the grey couches, no nervous chatter as they waited to be given updates on their loved ones' condition. There is even an abundance of sunlight, drifting in through the windows. It's peaceful, calm. The way Chishiya likes it.

Except when the receptionist's desk is finally in sight he finds someone else is already there, talking to the receptionist. By the looks of it, it's another patient - probably another crash victim, like him. Chishiya slows down, not particularly wanting to wait around for the conversation to finish. He stuffs his hands into his pockets, turning to look at the grey visitor's couches and then back at the receptionist. The patient is filling out forms now, blue ballpoint pen in hand. He spots the receptionist holding a rather thick stack of papers in her hand and frowns.

This may take a while.

Chishiya resigns himself to the grey couches, sinking into the soft fabric of the furniture. At least there's plenty of sunlight, streaming in through the rectangular glass pane overhead. He shoots another glance over at the counter, where the receptionist's stack of paper has diminished by about two sheets. He wonders if he would be chased if he just walked out of the hospital without signing the discharge documents.

With a sigh he leans back into the couch, turning his head to the side. With a note of surprise, he realises that there is a book lying open-faced a few inches away from him - judging by how it's been left open, someone must have left it there in the middle of reading it. With nothing else to do he lets curiosity take over, reaching over to pick the book up by its spine.

The book is a thin copy of an old story, battered and clearly well-read. He frowns slightly when he reads the title, bringing it closer to him to make out the words - gold lettering, the font of deceit. It's the story of Icarus; who wanted too much, giddy upon his taste of the heavens, and paid the price for it. Chishiya had always held contempt for that particular tale. If the fool had just been a little more careful, perhaps he would've lived.

"Oh! You know the story of Icarus?"

The question catches Chishiya off guard. He looks up from the book to see someone standing in front of him, smiling. It's that patient, the one who had been talking to the receptionist, silhouette dappled golden in the sunlight trickling into the room. That must mean the receptionist's desk is free now - but for some reason, he can't seem to tear his eyes away from the patient's expression; sparkling eyes, lips curved sweetly. Those bright eyes study him as he feels a familiar pull in his chest, the ache growing stronger by the second. And then, he hears the soft words:

"You have lovely beauty marks."

And it's so strange, because suddenly he feels a tug at the back of his mind. He feels as if he's heard something like that before, in another room dappled in sunlight. Where he felt warmer, safer than anywhere he had ever known.

Chishiya feels the smile come to his lips before he can stop himself. Perhaps his admin papers could wait a little longer. "Is that so."

#chishiya x reader #chishiya shuntaro x reader #chishiya #alice in borderland #aib #chishiya shuntaro #chishiya shuntaro x you #chishiya x y/n #chishiya oneshot #chishiya shuntaro x y/n #icarus #aib chishiya

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life-is-more-than-just-a-game · 3 months

Text

♠️ Being found in the Borderlands all by your own. ♠️

Summary: You have already been in the Borderlands for a few days and are familiar with the essential components. After a game, you've lost everyone you had a good bond with. You are the only one who was able to survive. Physically and mentally injured, you sit on the side of the road in the middle of the destroyed and desolate Shibuya district. Ready to drop everything - ready to give up - you'll be found by new players who may or may not have the willingness to help you back up when you've fallen so far.

Characters: Arisu, Chishiya & Niragi.

POV: gn!reader

Warnings: Threats, Weapon (Gun)

A r i s u

The sight of you reminds him a little of himself. He knows the look on your face when you stare in the middle of the void and don't make any effort to move from the spot, even though you know exactly how dangerous it is to just stay in one place and do nothing. When Arisu finds you, he immediately knows what's going on inside you, which is why he's already determined to help you in some way. The problem is that he doesn't know how to help you, considering he doesn't even know how to help himself.

And yet he dares to come to you after a moment's hesitation. Slowly, so you don't think he's trying to hurt you, but… even that wouldn't matter to you at that moment.

At least you don't even dare to look at him. You could say that your self-protection mechanism has left you completely. You're not afraid. No grief. Just… well, what do you feel? Nothing. Actually, it's just an oppressive void.

"I like to be part of someone else's suffering."

With these words, Arisu manages to draw your attention to him. He may get a confused, almost bewildered look from you, but it's worth it to him right now.

"All right, you don't have to say anything. Let's just… let's just sit here together for a little while and look into the distance. And if you need someone to talk to, then ... I'll be here."

What a strange guy, you think.

Still ... it's quite nice gesture, of course.

C h i s h i y a

Just on the way to the next game, Chishiya meets you. He actually had better things to do than take care of you, which is why he didn't want to pay attention to you at all, but he finds it strange that you don't respond to anything.

He's just a few feet in front of you and you're looking right at him. His gaze is focused on you, you don't react. He speaks to you with a "Hard Game Finished?" but you sit silently on your spot and don't even make the slightest attempt to give him an answer. Nonsense. Apparently, you didn't even hear him. What if he waves? You're still not moving.

That eventually makes him come over to you, just to see if you're at least reacting to it. It's sad to say nothing's happening here either. Only when he squats in front of you and looks straight into your eyes, do you at least give the reaction of you to move your eyes so that you don't look straight into his. Eye contact has never been your strength.

"Pale. Slight tremor. Indifference."

He doesn't care if you listen to him at all, but the fact is, he's going to have to give up the upcoming game after all.

"A slight shock, it looks like."

Without thinking about it, he sits down on the stony, cold floor, inspecting the wound in your face while keeping a healthy distance from you.

"I can stitch the wound when you come back to reality."

Why is he even telling you this? He'll have to start smiling about it himself. There won't be any feedback from you either way.

"It's okay", he says, "I have time."

N i r a g i

Most people who know him know how impulsive and violent Niragi can be, but as far as you're concerned, you have absolutely no clue. You didn't even mean for him to trip over your legs. You just sit on the floor and try to deal with the straightforward experience somehow. Forget the pictures of your comrades being brutally murdered. But now you are being prevented from doing so by being all the time riddled with a psycho, one might say, whom you have never even seen before in your life.

Normally, you'd apologize for what happened. I don't care if it was really your fault or not. As long as they leave you alone and go back on their way. And if there weren't any excuses, you'd at least take your legs and just walk away to get out of the situation.

Today, however, it is different. You let the curse and the provocation come upon you. Insults pass you by and don't interest you in the slightest. This, however, makes everything feel even worse. Don't you always say you shouldn't get involved with people like that? That you should just ignore them because then they'd stop harassing you? After all, it should be boring to just give monologues at some point, right? Not with Niragi, who will eventually point his gun at you, threatening to kill you if you continue to ignore him.

"Do it," you whisper softly to yourself, which is more than just serious. "Kill me," you continue, "there's nothing keeping me here any more…"

That's where you finally turn to the unknown, whom you have taken out of concept with these words.

He lowers his gun slowly and only looks at you with irritation. Did you really just say that? Did you really just give him permission to kill you with his own hands? To shoot you down?

"Wow."

Even him makes this speechless.

"Looks like someone's already done with their life."

Without saying anything else, he looks down at you in disgust, holding the gun loosely with both of his hands again, before only a bored "Hm" comes over him.

"Freak", he says, leaving you alone from now on.

Luck in unhappiness, you think ...

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fireofjudgement · 1 year

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Kind of a spoiler ask, but in the hospital reader is kind of roaming about. She keeps being drawn to one room so she finally goes inside. She sees niragi and chishiya. They see her. There’s this feeling like deja vu, but none of them can place it.

Reader and niragi kind of stare at each other for a minute. Reader starts feeling emotional but doesn’t show it, maybe her eyes get shiny with tears slightly.

She apologizes for bursting into their room and excuses herself

Bestie, I liked that idea so much, I had to write a little something. For some reason I kinda made it a Niragi pov, I hope that's okay.

Other places, familiar faces

Warnings: swearing, some angst, gn!reader

Word count: 804

"So, what's your plan?" He finally decided to break the silence. Afterall, they were most likely about to spend multiple days stuck in a small room together. They might as well get to know each other. Or at least pretend to - just one of these circumstantial interactions that only last for a specific amount of time and never turn into anything substantial. Although Niragi would lie if he said the man didn't intrigue him, something about him seemed so familiar, despite Chishiya being a complete stranger. Maybe it was their shared experience? Yeah, that had to be it. "You know, turning your life around, becoming a better person, and all that bullshit."

"I don't have one." The man answered in a calm tone. Niragi still wasn't sure whether he found it soothing or annoying. Or maybe, somehow, both. "I'm not even sure if you can really plan to become a good person."

"Well, I certainly didn't plan to become a villain either." He wasn't really sure why, but for some reason Chishiya's answer disappointed him. It almost felt like an attack on him specifically. "And yet everyone I've ever met thought they were better than me, and that they can treat me like shit because of it."

"I don't-"

Chishiya didn't get to finish his thought, distracted by something, or rather someone, outside of the room. He couldn't see very well, but they didn't look like anyone he'd know. Not that he had people who'd care about his well-being anyway.

"What is it?"

"I'm not sure. I think someone's trying to get in here. I wonder what's stopping them. The door isn't even locked."

"Why do you care anyway? You don't look like someone who's got a lot of friends. And I sure as hell don't either."

"Maybe. But that doesn't change the fact that someone's there. Maybe one of us has a secret admirer." Chishiya couldn't help but make the last part sound extra ironic. The thought of either of the men having someone so interested in them that they got shy even trying to face them was rather laughable. But he was willing to entertain it, admittedly curious as to why, out of all the rooms available, that poor soul chose theirs.

After what seemed like an eternity, the door finally opened. Slowly, quietly. If it wasn't for Chishiya, Niragi would probably not even notice your presence, you didn't even try to make up an excuse for why you entered the room. Truth be told, you didn't really know yourself. Something was drawing you to that specific part of the hospital, a quiet, yet persistent, voice telling you to go explore. You spent hours fighting yourself, part of you curious about the two strangers, part of you embarrassed by invading their privacy like that, especially given the circumstances. All of that inner turmoil made it impossible for you to move, or even say anything, your emotions so visible, your face like an open book for them to read.

The two men didn't react immediately either, only prolonging the awkward silence. None of you said it out loud, but this wasn't the first time you met, that much was obvious. You didn't know how or why, when or where, you couldn't recall any memory of talking to either of them, and neither could they. But the longer you stood there, the more overwhelming it all became. Looking at the dark-haired man was especially painful, and, unbeknownst to you, he felt quite uncomfortable as well. He wasn't used to feeling like that. Like he cared about someone other than himself.

Niragi wanted to say something, solve the mystery and keep you from leaving but, after mere seconds, or maybe a few years? you excused yourself, your words barely a whisper, and ran out of the room. He could swear he saw tears running down your face as you were leaving.

"That your ex or something?" As soon as you disappeared, he was forced back into reality by Chishiya's question. The man was trying to act as unbothered as possible, but he wasn't fooling anyone - Niragi could see that he, too, was more upset at the sudden intrusion than he was willing to admit.

"No, I don't.." He sighed, feeling a headache slowly creeping up on him. That topic has always been awkward for him. "I'm not like that."

"It's okay." Chishiya chuckled, clearly not surprised by Niragi's answer, but amused nonetheless. "I've never cared for relationships either."

"Well, then I guess we have one thing in common."

He didn't answer immediately, still pondering your visit in their room, trying to figure out why it affected both of them so much in the first place.

"You know.." He finally spoke, still deep in his thoughts. "We might have more in common than you think."

#thanks for your ideas they're always amazing #alice in borderland #aibspoilers #i guess #aib #niragi suguru #chishiya shuntaro

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triggerhappymilitant · 11 months

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Can you list the romantic and/or sexual relationships with other muses and tell us something about about why are you shipping with them and how does this relationship look like? :)

I am 100% going to forget people. Mun is currently sick, so I apologize if I do. It doesn't mean I don't love our babies, it just means I'm slowly dying.

@hoodedchishiya is finally his goddamn boyfriend. This one had to be first, because this mf is the reason I created my Niragi account in the first place. Chishiya and Niragi absolutely love to antagonize each other, and even when they've done things to imply clear enough that they have deeper feelings for each other, their soft moments are still rare. However, when they are vulnerable with each other, you could just melt into the floor. These two babies have such amazing chemistry, and they're perfect for each other.

I've also got two other Nishiya ships, with @chishiya-the-cat and @chishiya-of-diamonds — Both are very undefined. With Diamonds, they've at least agreed that they're sexually attracted to each other. Cat, they haven't so much as admitted to it, as they've acted on it and keep telling themselves it's a one-time thing, but they constantly end up in each other's beds. There's an attraction there, a draw, but neither can figure out exactly what it is.

@daikichixkarube is another boyfriend. Niragi felt an immediate attraction towards meeting Karube (look, he has a thing for blonds, okay?) He was able to show the new guy around, and the flirting was pretty immediate. I think, to an extent, there's something in Karube that recognizes the part of Niragi that he wants to hide the most. Niragi has been willing to open up about the bullshit he went through with him, something I don't think he's truly been able to do with anyone else. They're very cute together, but also happy to roll around in bed together.

@aggwaseon Jihoon is a recently turned boyfriend of Niragi's. Despite the age difference, the two get along great. There's a big sexual drive there, but there are also feelings involved (having told each other they love each other.) Niragi is protective of him in a way he isn't with most; something entirely unnecessary given the age, job, and abs on Ji, but it's more of an emotional protectiveness. He wants Ji to feel nothing but happiness.

@your-sweet-cookie this man finally has a girlfriend. And we're also back to the blonds (I know, its silver/grey/etc. He likes people with very little color in his hair.) Niragi wasn't sure what to make of her at first. He always found her attractive, but he wasn't used to romance. Still, he quickly started developing feelings for her and wanted to spend all his time around her.

@yuzuhastrength While we haven't done anything with them recently, I will definitely still be adding her to my list. It's very undefined. There is an attraction there, despite their past. Niragi enjoys her company, her fiery nature, and the fact she can hold her own. And, of course, he finds her ridiculously attractive.

Not as active here on Tumblr, but I'm still shouting out @heartsking since we write a shit ton on Discord and they're my favorite person in the world. The first person I ever wrote Nishiya with - the person who watched me go from "eh, I could see it maybe being sexual" to "I will go down with this ship." And is happy to appease me for it. They're the most open with their feelings, and Niragi is a bit of a teddy bear with Chishiya. With have multiple universes, so it's hard to comment on all of them.

There are some that are sexual and/or just super blurry and undefined what they are. Again, I'll probably miss some, but some honorable mentions are @arisuthegamer (Niragi wants this man, badly. Arisu has actually admitted to having a crush, but they haven't done much with it yet.) @thebandanightmare (chaotic, sexy. Where's the "I ship it" Thor meme?) @spade-0-chan - they're flirty, unsure what's really going on with them, and I don't think they know either. @twentyfourhourtitts pretty strictly FWB. Put two attractive people with high sex drives together and boom, you've got these two. @k-y-u-m-a-clubs - Niragi adores this man endlessly. It's blurry as to what all exactly is going on with people, but Niragi enjoys his company nevertheless.

Again, I'm sorry if I missed anyone. I tried checking my following list to avoid it, but I'm sure I still probably did. You're free to yell at me.

#Anonymous

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aceofspadegrass · 3 years

Text

Hair Day

Characters: Niragi Suguru, Chishiya Shuntaro, Hatter, Last Boss

Genre: Crack. Niragi stole Chishiya's hair.

1.7k words

I did it. I have made a fic based on the cursed Niragi pic. It's.... very chaotic, @niragis-right-hand-rabbit.

Do I know how hair works? Barely, but hey, it's gotta work somehow.

Also look, I did it. Yes I had to slap normal bean on top of cat bean but I tried. A real shame the strand is on the wrong side though I forgot to edit it out and it's too late for me to put it on the correct side.

Oh yeah, and there's a little hint of sleep drugging. Just a tad.

Niragi stares at the empty container with pure disdain in his eyes, hair loose after a couple of days without his beloved hair gel. Sure, it’s left his hair decently soft enough and nobody has really noticed the distinct lack of shine when he pulls his hair up every morning, but he missed the smell and feel.

He runs his hand through his hair, still a little knotted after he slept, but nothing a brush couldn’t handle. Niragi squints at himself in the mirror, his hair falling in front of his face and framing it in a way that reminded Niragi of a certain someone. He tries to tuck one side out of the way, but it falls back inevitably like a stubborn thorn in his cheek. Pausing, Niragi stares at himself in the mirror, thinking to himself as he leaned closer before he got a rather ridiculous idea.

Standing up proud and straight, he ties it back as he always did, making sure to brush extra well so no hairs would fall out of his bun, even sliding a few pins in the back to properly secure it. With a pleased grin, he leaves the bathroom and grabs his rifle from where he left it on the bed, positioning it over his shoulder and heading out for the day for a quick patrol.

The hallways themselves were fairly empty, with the only real instances of noises being from within a few rooms, but Niragi didn’t bother to check inside every single one. He makes it down to the stairs and heads down with a whistle, flashing a smirk at a pair of women who were chatting in the stairwell. The girls stepped out of his way as he made his way down, their conversation halting until Niragi was at the bottom, their whispers rampant and echoing from above.

Niragi walks around until he makes it to the cafeteria, people already grabbing and eating breakfast. He doesn’t bother with sitting by any of the residing militants however today, his mind on something else. He instead grabs a bottle of strawberry milk from the fridge and some rice balls that one of the current kitchen workers handed him before rushing out with a sort of excited fire in his eyes.

Niragi slips into the medical bay whilst cramming a rice ball into his mouth, ignoring the nurse on duty as he goes towards the medicine cabinet. Sliding it open, he pushes aside bottles until he finds what he was looking for, shoving it into his pocket and running out, nearly knocking over the same nurse without so much as an apology.

Niragi shoves yet another rice ball into his mouth as he walked back to his room, pill bottle and milk in one hand and rice balls in the other. He sets the bottles down on the nightstand and takes a brief break to finish breakfast before starting on his silly little switcheroo mission.

Niragi quietly hums to himself as he makes his way to Chishiya’s room, hoping the man was still in there. If he wasn’t, Niragi would just hunt him down anyways and drag him back in here whether the fried egg wanted to or not. Opening the door, he peeks inside.

Bingo.

Chishiya was sitting at his desk, with the only sounds being the scratching of pencil on paper. Niragi slips inside and shuts the door, coming over to the desk and setting the perfectly innocuous bottle of milk on the corner of Chishiya’s desk. The man barely even acknowledges him, Niragi staring at Chishiya in silence. One glance to the paper only showed Chishiya drawing a bunch of squares in a distorted array, with exactly one circle inside in red pen. “ What the fuck is that.”

“ Why are you in my room.”

“ Why do you care, hm?”

Chishiya slowly turns his head and shoulders to look up at Niragi blankly, and Niragi really wanted to just say fuck it with the drink and choke the little bitch until he was unconscious by his own hands.

“ ….. Do you need something?”

“ Yeah. Drink this.” Niragi taps the cap to the milk, Chishiya not even taking a single glance.

“ And if I don’t?” Chishiya blinks, cracking a lazy smirk. Niragi leans down and turns Chishiya’s whole body around until their noses and legs were nearly touching, Niragi licking the top of his lip as he grins.

“ Then I’m gonna make you drink it by force. So how about you use your brain and figure it out.” Niragi responds, Chishiya staring directly into his eyes without so much as a flinch. Chishiya clicks his tongue and flicks Niragi’s forehead, Niragi recoiling as Chishiya takes the bottle and inspects it, letting a small puff of air through his nose.

“ Strawberry, how quaint.” Chishiya twists the cap, the safety lock cracking without an issue. Chishiya looks back up at Niragi, who was watching him now with a blank expression, and toasts to nothing before turning back around in his chair and taking slow ample sips. Niragi backs away and heads into Chishiya’s connected bathroom, digging through his cabinets as he hears a soft thunk noise from the main room. Niragi preens internally with his plan working as he pulls a box out from the cabinet and sets them on the sink bench, along with a second box that he was hiding behind his back. Sure, it was now warm because of Niragi, but he didn’t think it would affect anything.

The local blackberry heads out and comes over to the table, Chishiya slumped over the desk unconscious. Never the wiser really, Niragi hoisting him out from the chair with not too much trouble as he drags him into the bathroom. Niragi leaves him in the bathtub and stares at his prone form for three whole seconds maximum before going back to rummage through Chishiya’s bathroom cabinets.

He finds a sizable plastic bag rolled up under the sink, as well as scissors and gloves, Niragi pleased that Chishiya kept them in reach so he didn’t have to go anywhere else.

Turning to the unconscious cat, Niragi’s grin grows wider as he approached with the bag.

The man dutifully makes sure to leave the surfaces decently cleaned despite no real reason to do so, his hair covered in aluminum foils and plastic wrap. Chishiya remained completely and utterly unconscious in the bathroom, a plain plastic bag tied over his hair as the dye set in.

Niragi didn’t feel like staying around, itching to go take his shower and tone his hair as soon as he could. He slips out of the room without a sound and makes his way down the hall to his own room, not caring who saw him. The path was thankfully empty the entire way, Niragi ducking in and heading to the showers.

By the time he got out, put toner, waited got back in to finish, and got back out again, Niragi could tell Chishiya was probably going to find him sometimes soon. He’d be ready of course, Niragi quietly humming as he checked his hair in the mirror before leaving.

He passes by a few of the other militants, who stare at him in confusion. Niragi glances over at them and sticks his tongue out with a proud smile, striding past them before they could even get a word in, back on his mission to Chishiya’s room.

That is, until Last Boss approached him from buttfuck nowhere and dragged his now blond ass to the meeting room.

“ Hey what’s the rush?!”

Last Boss doesn’t bother with a response as he pushes the doors open, Hatter standing there as Chishiya slowly turns to Niragi with eyes of murder. Hatter, who apparently was dragged into this at some point, claps his hands together. “ Oh, I see now! Well then, if I may be so inclined to ask: What in the bright fuck is this.”

Niragi just runs his fingers through his hair, which he managed to style somewhat close to Chishiya’s normal hairstyle. “ I stole Chishiya’s hair because I ran out of hair gel.”

Hatter slowly nods, and Chishiya continued to stare directly at Niragi. Last Boss had dipped out completely the moment he completed his mission. Hatter turns to Chishiya, and brushes a finger through the shortcake’s newly blackened hair. “ And this?”

“ I stole Chishiya’s hair.” Niragi repeats. It wasn’t that hard to understand, really.

“…. I see. Well then, it certainly is something! If you had just told me I may have been willing to help, but the job here is rather phenomenal.” Hatter muses, then looks back to Niragi. “ Do you have a tie?”

Chishiya was already trying to move away when he knew something was up, but Niragi and Hatter were faster as Niragi tosses him a hairband, Hatter grabbing Chishiya’s shoulders and forcing him still, his other hand reaching up and brushing Chishiya’s hair back. Chishiya continues to look directly at a now grinning Niragi as Hatter tied Chishiya’s upper hair into a bun, and then patting said bun once he finished.

“ There you go you! You look…. better, in a way!” Hatter chirps

“ So! Chishiya, what where you doing with him, huh? Were you trying to complain to the manager?”

“ Don’t word it like that. And no, I was merely talking to him when he mentioned my apparently sudden hair change. So, Niragi, how did you do it.”

Niragi slowly rolls his head to the other side, repositioning his weight onto the other leg. “ Do… what.”

“ You slipped something into that milk, didn’t you.”

Niragi scoffs, rolling his eyes. “ Course I did.”

“ Yet the bottle was unopened.”

“ I’m not stupid, stupid. I have thoughts. I can problem solve.”

“ Sometimes.”

“ Oi, you take that back!”

Hatter chuckles, and puts a hand on Chishiya’s shoulder, pushing him forward until he reaches Niragi. Putting a hand on his shoulder as well, he pushes the both of them out of the meeting room. “ Ladies, ladies, no fighting~ If you need to, take it outside, maybe have a good martini or whatever. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to mentally process this look. Okay byyyyye!” Hatter shuts the door on the both of them, Niragi and Chishiya continuing to stare at each other.

“ You give me my hair back or else.” Chishiya whispers.

“ Or else…. what.” Niragi leans forwards, smirking. Chishiya just smirks back, eyes narrowing. “ You’ll see.”

#aib #alice in borderland #aib fanfic #alice in borderland fanfic #niragi suguru #chishiya shuntaro #hatter #takeru danma #last boss #takatora samura #ah yes fresh chaos #niragi really took one look in the mirror and decide to steal a man's hairstyle good golly #in case anyone is wondering niragi inserted sleeping drug through a syringe and poked a tiny hole into the milk #last boss just so happened to oversee chishiya talking to hatter and thought niragi would want to see it #niragi really went all out #i like watching them bully each other using absolutely trivial methods it's hilarious #i like to think niragi has practice dying hair for reasons unknown #i don't know what chishiya was drawing either

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