The way back to the Beach feels like a surreal dream. Chishiya has decided for once to take the car back instead of walking, and even though Sina's body is one huge mass of pain, she manages to cuddle up on the back seat and lay her head into Chishiya's lap.

She is exhausted from the game and her injuries, and as soon as she lays down in a somewhat comfortable position, she drifts away into the world of slumbers. She won't be able to tell later what really happened and what was just a dream; the way Chishiya rests his hand on her side, carefully to not hurt her more, or the feeling of soft fingers gently caressing her hair.

What Sina doesn't remember at all is how she got into her own bed, but when she wakes up to the smell of coffee and breakfast, she recognize the paintings and other things in her room. Sina slowly opens her eyes with a mourn, and she sees the blurred shape of someone standing at the window, opening the curtains as she blinks away the sleep.

"Good morning, sweetie!" Kuina smiles at her cheerfully, opens the window to let some fresh air in and then sits down on the bed next to her.

Sina mumbles something that is supposed to be an answer and tries to sit up, but as soon as she moves, pain greets every part of her body and she lets herself drop back into the pillows again with a groan.

Guess she'll have to do it slow and easy.

"Careful there. Chishiya told me what happened in yesterday's game." Kuina takes a steaming cup of coffee from the bed table and reaches it to her.

"Oh. He… did?" Memories of the kiss fill Sina's mind and she blushes slightly as a sudden warmth spreads inside of her. She gives it another try to sit up, this time way slower and with help from Kuina.

"Yeah. Guess it's not that much fun to be buried alive by a collapsing building. And you even look much worse than last night!" She laughs and takes the cup again after Sina has taken a sip. So he hasn't told her everything.

Coffee is exactly what she needs right now, and Sina is happy to have Kuina as a friend.

"You're an angel, you know that?" She mumbles as she examines her arms. They're covered in blue and black bruises, and everywhere is dirt. Definitely worth a hot shower.

Kuina laughs, grabbing the plate for her so Sina can eat. "And your angel tells you to better avoid any looks into a mirror for the next few days if you don't want to die from a heart attack."

It's not hard to imagine that she probably looks terrible according the way she feels, but surprisingly, it doesn't bother her in any way. Sina can't help but smile while Kuina takes her own cup of coffee.

"So that's all he told you?" She asks with a full mouth as she almost lash into the breakfast. Kuina answers with high raised eyebrows as she takes s sip.

"What else would there be?" She says into the cup, and Sina's smile grows even wider.

"Well, we… I guess we kissed."

Kuina spills the coffee all over the bed as she tries to suppress the coughs and save the rest of her cup at the same time. She wipes her mouth and huge eyes stare at Sina with disbelief.

"You… WHAT? Chishiya. And you. Kissed."

Sina nods, though it's hard for her to believe it too. Now, one day later, it could all as well have just been a dream, because now that it is spoken out loud, it feels too good to be real.

"How?" Kuina just asks, placing down her cup and taking Sina's hands. She can see the excitement in her eyes, and with a squeaking sound, Kuina pulls her into a tight hug and almost starts to dance.

"Ouch. Ouch! OUCH!" The sudden touch hurts, and Kuina lets go immediately, but they both have to laugh about it.

"I… asked for it. Thought it would be over soon, and I didn't want to die without a kiss from that man."

Sina finishes her breakfast while Kuina can't stop asking questions about it, and they both giggle like high schoolers. But then Sina pauses, staring at Kuina with her eyes growing big.

"Kuina… how am I supposed to approach him now?" She didn't think about it during the game, but now that her mind is clear, the question is inevitable. Has anything changed between them? Will he look at her differently now, or will it be the same way as before? Or will it be even worse?

"At least not with an appearance like this", Kuina concludes after watching Sina from head to toe. "You better take a shower and then we'll see about the rest."

She helps her out of the bed, and for a moment, Sina is surprised how easy this seems for Kuina. But then she remembers that her mother is bed-ridden, so Kuina probably has done such things like a thousand times before.

After accompanying her to the bathroom, Kuina leaves Sina alone so she can get out of her dirty clothes and finally clean herself up. Getting undressed is hard because every move hurts, and Sina is about to call Kuina for help several times, but she somehow manages to step into the shower in the end.

It's just painful at first, but soon she gets used to it and can enjoy the warmth of the water raining down at her. Such a luxury in the Borderlands, and it's one of the things Sina doesn't want to miss ever again while being here. Though it's summer, washing herself in the rivers of Tokyo still isn't the same as taking a real shower.

Sina just stands there for an eternity before she feels ready to leave the cabin again. The bath is filled with steam, and she dries her skin oh so carefully with the softest towel she could find. And even though Kuina has told her otherwise, Sina can't help but take a look into the mirror.

The person she sees looks even more terrible than she has expected. Her face is swollen in many spots, and there's rarely a skin-colored patch left on her body. Most of it looks like a gothic-rainbow, with a mix of multiple colors. There's green, yellow, black, red and blue, and the only thing missing is that she'll start glittering as soon as she steps outside.

Sina is not sure if you should talk to Chishiya like this at all, but she wants to see him so desperately. She wants to know the current state of play between the two.

It's a miracle that she finds some clean clothes in the chaos of her room, and soon she closes the door behind her, with Kuina waiting next to her in the hallway.

"Ready?" she grins, "there's something I want to show you!"

Sina follow her through the corridor and luckily for her Kuina heads to the elevator instead of using the stairs. Every step hurts, and it might not be a bad idea to avoid too much physical endeavor right now.

"Where are we going?" She asks as Kuina leads her through the basement, and once they pass the spa area, the atmosphere changes drastically. The warm and luxurious colors make way for plain grey walls and openly visible pipelines on the ceiling, and most of the lamps don't work properly in this part of the hallway.

Kuina doesn't answer her and instead heads to a metal door, opening it with some effort.

Sina carefully steps inside what turns out to be a surveillance room, as there are dozens of monitors showing different camera positions all through the hotel.

Chishiya is there too, watching the monitors with crossed arms but he frowns as he sees them step inside.

Sina feels her heartbeat increase as she smiles at him, quickly coming closer to him as she tries to see what he's been looking at. The cameras show the great hall of the outhouse, the dining room and the pool area, but they also show the private rooms. And they show people doing things Sina never thought were possible for the human body.

Quickly covering her eyes, she cringes and wishes she'd never seen those images.

"Dammit, Chishiya! How am I supposed to ever open my eyes again?"

But Chishiya doesn't react to her. "Kuina! I told you not to bring any random people here."

Sina turns around so she doesn't have to face the monitors anymore and removes the hand from her eyes, staring at Chishiya with disbelief. That is not the greeting she had expected for sure, and Sina feels the familiar pain inside her heart again.

"Well, I'm obviously not anybody." She pouts, still waiting for Chishiya to look at her. And when he does, it's like the last night has been completely erased from his mind.

"You shouldn't be here."

He could have as well stabbed her with a knife right into the heart, the pain would have been the same. Sina knows Chishiya has secrets, and he does share some of them with Kuina. And while Sina wishes that he'd trust her the same, she is aware that it's not possible. But at least she has hoped for a tiny bit of faith and not complete rejection.

Chishiya is searching for something, and it's definitely not the weird things people do in their rooms. The cameras might show everything happening right now, but Sina is not sure if the recordings are saved somewhere or if it's just possible to watch the snapshots.

"I… I could help you. Tell me what you're searching for and I can try to keep an eye out for you."

She throw a look at Kuina, who seems to be as startled as she is. She probably expected a different outcome of this situation too, and Sina wants to collapse as Chishiya shakes his head.

"No. I can't do that."

"Why not?" She hates how her voice sounds desperate, and Sina wants to step up to him, touch his cheeks and kiss him like she did last night, but it feels like there's this invisible line again that won't even allow her to touch him at all.

Chishiya sighs and turns his eyes away from her, back to the monitors. "Because you're not the one to do this."

That's too much. Tears well up in Sina's eyes, and she feels her body being shaken by a hiccup as her mind tries to process his words.

"You think I'm not good enough." Her voice is nothing but a whisper, and it hurts to see how he doesn't show an emotion to this at all.

"That's not what I said."

"I was good enough for you yesterday, but today I'm no different than all the other pathetic humans around you! Is it that, Chishiya?" Sina doesn't want to shout, but she can't help it, as the anger inside of her is growing too quickly.

Chishiya closes his eyes for a second, and when he faces her, she's shrinking with every heartbeat passing. "Do you even listen to yourself? Maybe it's time you think with your brain once."

He lifts his hand as if he wants to touch her, but Sina pushes it away and turns around on her heels. Kuina shouts her name as Sina runs out of the surveillance room, but she doesn't stop or turn around.

She doesn't want Chishiya to see the tears that are running free now.