16

Interference

Niragi

They spent most of the car ride in silence. Niragi itched to question Chishiya, seated to his left, to find out what he'd seen this morning, what he knew. But with Kentaro and Yori squatting in the backseat, Niragi didn't dare drop his monstrous act. So instead he focused his attention onto the road, weaving in and out of abandoned vehicles, scattered around Tokyo's streets. As with most things, Niragi soon grew bored of racing along the street, so instead he decided to share his plan of action.

"So, here's the plan. We will drop you two boys off at the first hospital, while Chishiya and I head to the next one. That way we cover more ground, and can hopefully get this bullshit done and over with quickly. We'll keep in contact over the radios. Understood?"

"Yessir," the two boys in the backseat mumbled in unison.

"Um... about that..." Yori began shyly.

"What?" Niragi growled, bracing for Yori's impending revelation.

"I... sort of forgot... the um... my... radio... when I went to the bathroom," Yori admitted nervously.

"You what!?" Niragi snarled in outrage, his head snapping toward Yori, to glare at him over his shoulder.

"Eyes on the road," Chishiya warned, who abruptly snatched the steering wheel, causing the car to swerve. A furious growl immediately resonated from deep within Niragi's chest, when he shifted his attention back to the road, only to witness them narrowly missing an abandoned car, thanks to Chishiya's quick intervention.

"We'll give you the car's radio," Chishiya cut in, before Niragi could verbally abuse Yori. "We will collect you at ten. It is almost six now, that ensures we each have sufficient time to gather our supplies. In the off chance, that we don't show up at the agreed time, assume we've run into complications and report back to the Beach. They will send someone out to extract you."

"Give them our radio? Are you nuts? Yori screwed up so he should suffer the consequences not us!" Niragi objected, his voice filled with rage and hate.

"We have the car," Chishiya replied calmly but firmly, his hands now buried back in his pockets.

"So? If we run into trouble, we're fucked without comms," Niragi growled, his hands gripping the steering wheel so hard, his knuckles turned bone white.

"Then we'll just have to get creative. Pretend it's a game," Chishiya insisted impassively.

Pretend it's a game? That I can do, Niragi thought, a smirk slowly carving his lips. He adored playing the Borderlands' games. There was something about walking the edge between life and death, that made Niragi feel truly alive, made him feel excited. After all, games existed to be enjoyed, to be fun. And since Niragi had worked as a game designer in the real world, he knew all there was to know about games. They had always been his escape from the horrors that lurked in all corners of reality.

"Fine," Niragi finally conceded, dropping his evil smirk as quickly as it had formed. "You're lucky I'm driving, otherwise my rifle would be out on a date with Yori's head right now." Niragi had to bite the insides of his cheeks and focus on the pain to control his wrath.

"We're almost there," Chishiya informed nonchalantly.

"Finally," Niragi muttered in annoyance. He was already over this trip, ready to abort and head back to the Beach, prepared to dish up whatever lie he needed, to dodge punishment. Niragi despised supply runs. He couldn't care less about the members of the Beach, didn't give a shit about anyone's life but his own. Though here he was, ordered to gather medical supplies for those worthless low lives. If an injury, you were too slow-witted to prevent, caused your death, then that was simply natural selection, that's how Niragi saw it. Besides, only those strong-willed enough to survive, no matter the cost, deserved to live in the first place.

"This is it," Chishiya's calm voice soon broke the heavy silence. Niragi promptly hit the brakes, forcing the car to a screeching halt.

"I suggest you hurry. And remember, rendezvous at ten," Chishiya uttered before Niragi could throw further insults at the militants heads. He handed Kentaro their only radio, before both boys clambered out of the car with haste, and were soon swallowed by the shadows residing at the hospitals entrance. The trees lining the walkway from the entrance to the road, swayed in the light breeze, casting eerie shadows, resembling demonic beasts, dancing in the pale moonlight.

"So where to now?" Niragi drummed his fingers on the steering wheel impatiently. His head had mildly begun throbbing before they'd embarked on their little adventure. But now the pain intensified with every passing minute, making it difficult to focus and to control his temper.

"Perhaps I should drive," Chishiya suggested patiently.

Niragi regarded him for a moment, locking onto his intelligent, brown eyes, that were studying him in return. Always studying, always calculating, as if Niragi's every move was part of a predictable equation. For some reason, it bothered him how Chishiya always managed to read him like an open book, how he constantly peered through Niragi's carefully crafted facade.

It didn't bother you yesterday, so why are you pissed at him now? Niragi didn't know. Perhaps it was his increasingly painful headache, or the exhaustion from staying up all night. Or perhaps it was because of the overall godawful day he'd experienced today. Maybe it was all of those things combined. The fact of the matter was, that he was in an exceptionally foul mood, and too tired to keep his emotions leashed.

"Just tell me where next," he growled, turning his head to stare at the road ahead of them. He heard Chishiya sigh beside him, as Niragi resumed drumming with his fingers on the steering wheel, waiting for an answer.

"West, to the edge of Setagaya."

"The border? It's nothing but wilderness." What could Chishiya possibly hope of finding there? Niragi knew his tone had carried a demeaning note with his words, though at this point, with the way his head was pounding, he couldn't have given any less fucks.

"The border," Chishiya confirmed, his voice still remaining calm, gentle. The way Chishiya kept his cool like this in any situation, made Niragi want to test his boundaries, made him wonder what might make him crack. It seemed like nothing could ever get him flustered, make him falter.

Because he doesn't allow himself to feel anything, idiot, his inner voice reminded him. Right. Of course. Where Niragi had forced himself to become a cruel, cunning, psychopath in order to protect himself from being hurt, Chishiya had forced himself to detach from his emotions completely, allowing him to view the world and the living with an analytical mind.

They both sat beside each other, hiding behind their masks, both aware of the fact, and yet neither of them dropped their act.

"Border it is then," Niragi muttered under his breath and hit the gas, sending the car shooting forward, engine roaring. Sensitive on the gas, indeed, Niragi thought.

For most of the remaining trip, both stayed silent, except for Chishiya's occasional instruction for directions and Niragi's repetitive yawning.

As they got closer to the border of Tokyo's twenty-three wards, the landscape gradually changed. Out here, nature had taken back what rightfully belonged to her. Buildings lay in ruins, their remains swallowed by twisting vines. Trees and shrubs grew through various cracks in the road, forcing Niragi to slow down, so he could weave past. Unlike the abandoned vehicles in the city's centre, these cars here had deteriorated entirely. Covered in rust, vines and mould, they withered away, forgotten like the dead in their final resting place. A graveyard for steel and stone, the remnants of humanity's ingenuity. And yet nature had reclaimed it all without difficulty.

"I'd much rather be at a game, than in this hell hole," Niragi finally grumbled in annoyance.

"The feeling is mutual," Chishiya responded, shooting a glance at Niragi, who was fighting with another yawn. "Why were you up all night?"

Niragi tensed, his hand tightly gripping the steering wheel and his jaw subtly clenching and unclenching several times, before he began, "I was up all night because..." Niragi took a deep breath in an attempt to gather his thoughts. "I was up all night because I dreaded the feeling of loneliness, of feeling trapped alone in that hotel room. I... I'm so sick and tired of being alone."

"I understand. Turn right here," Chishiya instructed.

"How come you know your way around here anyway?" Niragi asked as he steered the car to the right. He hadn't seen Chishiya carry a map with him, nor had he spotted him studying one earlier.

"You could say I grew up around here," Chishiya answered coldly, now staring outside through his window.

Niragi contemplated digging deeper, but decided he was too exhausted to bother and instead remained silent.

As Niragi sped down the deserted street, the oppressive silence was suddenly shattered by a deafening explosion. A plume of fire and smoke erupted from a nearby building, sending debris flying into the air. The shockwave rattled the car, and Niragi instinctively tightened his grip on the steering wheel, his heart pounding.

"What the hell was that?" Niragi growled, his eyes darting to Chishiya.

"Game over," Chishiya replied calmly, peering out the window. "Someone just lost."

Before Niragi could respond, a group of wild boars, spooked by the explosion, burst out from the underbrush. Their frantic squeals and the thundering of their hooves filled the air as they charged across the road, directly in the car's path.

"Watch out!" Chishiya shouted, his hand gripping the edge of his seat.

Niragi's reflexes kicked in, and he swerved the car violently to avoid the animals. The tires screeched in protest as the vehicle skidded sideways. He narrowly missed the boars, but the sudden manoeuvre sent the car careening out of control.

"Hold on!" Niragi yelled, wrestling with the steering wheel. The car veered off the road, crashing through a thicket of trees. Branches scraped against the windows, and the car jolted violently as it struck a ditch, flipping onto its side before coming to a grinding halt.

Silence descended, broken only by the ticking of the cooling engine and the distant cries of the boars. Niragi groaned, blood trickling from a cut on his forehead. He glanced over at Chishiya, who was already unbuckling his seatbelt, seemingly unscathed.

"Are you alright?" Chishiya asked, his voice steady as ever.

"Just peachy," Niragi muttered, wincing as he freed himself from the wreckage, climbing out first. "Could've warned me sooner, you know."

Chishiya raised an eyebrow. "Be glad I did at all."

Niragi scowled, but the pain in his head and the frustration of the crash sapped his desire to argue. Instead, he focused on their immediate predicament. They were stranded near the border, surrounded by wilderness, and without the car, or a radio their mission had just become a lot more complicated.

"We need to move," Chishiya said, surveying the area. "The explosion might attract unwanted attention."

Niragi nodded reluctantly and helped Chishiya climb out of the wrecked car. "Yeah, yeah. Let's just get this over with."

Niragi then stepped back and studied the scene before him. "Well, cars fucked. It'd be bloody great if we had a radio wouldn't it?" He spat, fighting the urge to strangle Chishiya for his decision to let Yori have their radio.

"We'll just have to rely on Yori and Kentaro now," Chishiya replied matter of factly.

"Those are a lot of words for saying we're screwed."

"We'll be just fine. Help me get the boot open," Chishiya ordered.

Niragi rolled his eyes but quickly moved to help Chishiya. Once they'd managed to force the boot open, Chishiya retrieved a backpack, checked it's contents and then strapped it to his back. "Let's go."

"One sec," Niragi interrupted, as he rummaged through the back of the car. "Ah there she is," Niragi pulled out his rifle with a smirk and slung it over his shoulder. "After you."

The moonlight cast eerie shadows through the trees as they started walking. After a few minutes, the outline of a crumbling building emerged from the darkness. It looked exactly like all the other run down buildings lining the road and yet the sight of it made Chishiya pause, his usual composure faltering for a moment.

"What's wrong?" Niragi asked, noticing the change in Chishiya's demeanour.

"The orphanage," Chishiya replied quietly. "This is where I lived after..." Chishiya's voice trailed off.

Niragi raised an eyebrow, glancing at the dilapidated structure. The walls were covered in ivy, and the roof had partially caved in. It looked like it had been abandoned for years, yet there was a lingering sense of history and emotion in the air.

"This is where you lived? That's why you know your way around here." Niragi asked, his voice softer than usual.

"Yes," Chishiya said, his eyes fixed on the ruins. "A long time ago."

For a moment, the two stood in silence, the past and present colliding in the shadows of the orphanage. The explosion, the boars, and the crash seemed distant as they both contemplated the remnants of Chishiya's childhood.

"We should keep moving," Chishiya said finally, breaking the silence.

"Right," Niragi agreed, his tone unusually respectful. They turned away from the ruins and continued their journey, the sense of danger still present but now accompanied by an unspoken understanding between them.