The Aftermath

Summary: Set after the season two finale. Chishiya regains his memories and encourages Arisu to remember as well, so that he’s not alone. It doesn’t quite go how he expects
Warning(s): Spanking; spoilers for Alice in Borderland seasons one and two; references to canonical violence and character death; AU
Author’s Note: Sort of a sequel to my other two Alice in Borderland fics

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The memories were coming back.

They hadn’t returned to him all at once. If they had, they might have broken his mind. But the longer Chishiya was in the hospital for, the more his time spent on the border between life and death returned to him.

Compared to many of the others he recognised in the hospital, Chishiya’s own injuries had healed quickly and he was on the way to recovery…at least physically. Emotionally, he suspected those wounds would take a long time to heal.

The gunshot wounds he’d received in the Borderland hadn’t carried over to this world, but he remembered the pain of them. He remembered the decision he’d made, to stand in front of Usagi and take the bullet for her. There were no visible scars or marks from those injuries, but he could remember the pain and the feeling of blood loss.

There wasn’t really much privacy in the ward he was on, especially with Niragi in the bed next to him. The other man didn’t remember his time in the Borderland at all; Chishiya hadn’t had to ask many questions to come to that conclusion. He suspected Niragi didn’t want to remember, so he’d subconsciously blocked out those events.

Chishiya could have done the same thing, but allowing himself to forget would cause him to lose knowledge. And the knowledge he had, whether good or bad, was important to keep hold of. Even if all that knowledge told him was what he was truly capable of to survive.

Niragi was asleep in the next bed over, though his breathing sounded hoarse and pained. Unlike Chishiya, a lot of his injuries had carried over from the Borderland. Somehow, he’d still held on until the end of the games. Until they’d been given the choice to go back, or to stay.

Chishiya had always intended to return to this world. He hadn’t made the connection between where they’d ended up and their own world, but now that he was here, it made sense. Those who had died in the games were those who had died in the meteorite crash. Those who had survived the games, who had won the games, were those who had survived the crash.

And during the time he’d been at the hospital, Chishiya had seen more than a handful of people he knew from the Borderland. But none of them had seemed to recognise him, even though a few had given him a second look, as if they thought they knew him from somewhere, but couldn’t quite place where.

Sleep was impossible. It was a strange feeling, since he’d had no trouble sleeping in the Borderland. Even when the King of Spades had been shooting up the whole city, he’d had no trouble sleeping when he needed to.

But now that he was no longer fighting for his life, in some cases literally, Chishiya was finding it impossible to sleep.

Slowly, gritting his teeth and hating the lingering feel of weakness in his body, Chishiya pushed himself off the hospital bed. Placing his feet on the floor, he pushed up slowly and walked towards the door, heading out of the ward and into the corridor.

The lights were dim, but still sharp enough to make him wince. He was too used to natural light by this point, even though he hadn’t experienced it in a natural form. Either way, it took a few moments for his eyes to adjust…but a lot less time to realise there was someone else standing in the corridor as well.

Chishiya reacted immediately, as if it was a threat he was facing. Adrenaline coursed through his body and he jerked back towards the ward, tensing up before he forced himself to relax as he caught sight of who was standing at the other end of the corridor.

Arisu was staring at him with the same look they all had. His eyes narrowed and his head tilted to one side. He opened his mouth, as if he was going to say something.

“You’re wondering where you know me from,” Chishiya said. “It isn’t a sense of déjà vu. It’s not that we saw each other in passing.” He took a step towards Arisu. There was no sign of anyone else, whether medical staff or those who had been in the Borderland. If he wanted to awaken Arisu’s memories in the same way his own had been awakened, this was the perfect opportunity to do so.

“Then how do I know you?” Arisu frowned.

“We were fighting for our lives.” Chishiya began to advance towards the other man. “Fighting by playing games, by winning games. We were fighting to get back here, to this world.”

Arisu was staring at him, but there was no dawning realisation on his face. He wasn’t remembering. Chishiya’s words weren’t enough of a trigger. Not yet. He needed to push even more, if he wanted Arisu to remember.

Of course, he didn’t have to do that. He could easily leave things as they were and walk away. Maybe he couldn’t go back to the way things used to be, not remembering his time in the Borderland, but he didn’t have to share those memories with anyone else. He could do what he always had, work and survive alone. He could do that….

But he didn’t want to.

By this point, Chishiya was stood close enough to Arisu that it would only take one step, from either of them, for them to be touching. “We were in the Borderland. On the border between life and death. That’s why you don’t remember yet. A near death experience isn’t something that normally lingers in a person’s mind.”

Arisu looked away, a small frown passing over his face. His eyes narrowed and his forehead creased in concentration. When he looked back at Chishiya, he spoke in a voice that was filled with disbelief. “You got yourself shot.”

“No. Niragi shot me. Twice,” Chishiya replied. “The wounds didn’t carry through to our own world. I was lucky. Niragi is still burned, although he seems to be in much better shape than he was in the Borderland. Of course, since he’s no longer between life and death, he could hardly be in worse shape.”

“How?” Arisu shook his head. “How do you know it’s called the Borderland?”

“I don’t. But the name seems to fit, as the doctors here called it the border between life and death.” Chishiya shrugged. “I’m in better shape than many of those who survived. I’ve seen some I recognise. Others that I don’t. It seems the fireworks were in fact the meteor and our minds wiped out the trauma of knowing exactly what had happened to us.” He paused. “I assume, since you’re here, that you beat the final game.”

“I beat it,” Arisu confirmed. “Mira was the Queen of hearts. I assume you already guessed that.”

Chishiya nodded. “Keiichi was the King of diamonds. It wasn’t such a surprise they were both at the Beach. Hatter set up something no one else had managed to do. I expect they were curious to see how it would play out.”

“We’re the only ones who remember what happened there,” Arisu said slowly. “Can I help the others to remember? Like Usagi? Kuina? Ann?”

“Can you? Probably. But should you?” Chishiya looked at him. “That’s not a question I can give you the answer to.”

“No. But maybe there is a question you can answer for me.”

“Go on. Ask,” Chishiya said.

“Why did you take the bullet meant for Usagi?”

Chishiya paused at the question. “I told you why. Besides. If I hadn’t done that, Niragi would have killed her. Instead of asking me why, you should really be saying thank you. You’re welcome, by the way.”

Arisu took a deep breath and looked directly into Chishiya’s eyes. “You put yourself at risk to save her. You shouldn’t have done that. I know you wanted to get out of there. That you wanted to get out of the Borderland. Getting yourself killed wouldn’t have allowed you to get out.”

“I didn’t get killed.”

Arisu hesitated. He looked around the corridor and then said, quietly, “We need to talk.”

Chishiya frowned, remembering what had happened in the Borderland. Since there was no reason for them not to have a conversation here, he was reasonably sure that Arisu planned to punish him as he had before. But getting shot because he took the bullet for Usagi was different to having betrayed Arisu to get his hands on the cards Hatter had collected. “I don’t agree that’s necessary,” he replied. “And shouldn’t you be with Usagi?”

“I know where she is. And I know that she’s safe.” Arisu reached out and placed his hand on Chishiya’s shoulder. He glanced around and then began to lead Chishiya towards the janitor closet.

He could have easily pulled away. Broken Arisu’s grip. Stepped back into the hospital room. He did none of those things. Instead, he quietly followed Arisu into the janitor’s closet, once the door was opened.

The space was small and cramped, but Chishiya had been in worse places. At least he wasn’t playing a game where the end result could be him or other people getting killed or seriously injured. Once the door was closed, he glanced around and then spoke quietly. “I didn’t betray you. When we were together, I worked willingly with you. There’s no reason for you to punish me like you did before.”

Arisu took a deep breath and turned to Chishiya. “You agreed with Niragi. About us solving the conflicts between us with guns.”

“Ah.” There wasn’t anything else he could say to that. At the time, Chishiya had still been reeling emotionally from the game he’d played with Keiichi. He knew what others thought of him, even those he’d been the closest to in the Borderland. But he did feel things. Just because he pushed his emotions down to deal with the reality he’d found himself in, both in the Borderland and before ending up there, didn’t mean he felt nothing.

It seemed like Arisu didn’t see the need to add anything else. He took a look around and then propped his leg up against the wall, bending the knee slightly. Using his grip on Chishiya’s shoulder, Arisu hauled him forward and pulled him over his raised leg.

As he was pulled into place, Chishiya felt the hospital gown he wore ruck up around his waist. It left his backside bare and exposed…vulnerable to the hard smacks Arisu quickly began to deliver, covering every inch of his bottom.

Wincing, Chishiya was quickly shifting in response to the smacks that warmed his backside. He didn’t struggle or try to get away, only moved in an attempt to make sure he wouldn’t fall. Or to ‘encourage’ the smacks to land in a less sensitive spot when Arisu’s palm landed somewhere that had already received attention.

He didn’t count the smacks or the circuits. By the time Arisu paused, hand resting on his lower back, Chishiya’s bottom was stinging and there were tears in his eyes. He shifted in place as he felt the hospital gown pushed up higher, baring more of his lower body. He reached down and closed his fingers around Arisu’s ankle, holding on.

“I know you’re too smart to get yourself killed for no reason.” Arisu’s voice was low and calm. He continued to rub Chishiya’s back as he continued, “Your actions in the Borderland made it clear you stopped seeing your life as important as you had been. I know we’re not in that world anymore, that we’re no longer fighting for our lives, but you need to know that it isn’t acceptable. I couldn’t stop you from endangering yourself then, but I will now.”

“How do you intend to do that?” As much as he tried to pretend he was entirely unaffected by this, the tears in his eyes made that a lie. “Are you going to spank me into submission every time I do something you don’t agree with?”

“No,” Arisu replied. “I’ll spank you if you do something that will put yourself in danger. Or if you betray me again. But not just for the sake of it.”

Chishiya opened his mouth, but before he could say anything, Arisu was swatting again. Somehow, the short pause made the new round of smacks so much more painful and he couldn’t help whimpering, gripping Arisu’s ankle tighter.

Unlike the first time Arisu had spanked him, this was more personal. Not only was he draped over Arisu’s leg, in closer contact with him, but this time, the spanking was being given by hand. The first time, Chishiya had been easily able to ignore the emotions that could have been raised in him. This time? He was vulnerable and exposed…and Arisu was telling him he wouldn’t accept dangerous behaviour or betrayal.

He'd never had anyone care to that extent about him in the past.

Tears were running down Chishiya’s cheeks now, though he was mostly quiet. And the tears weren’t caused by the pain of the spanking, but by the emotions roiling around inside him. Emotions that he hadn’t allowed himself to feel, to experience, in so long that he’d thought he’d never had them in the first place.

A series of harder, faster smacks had Chishiya gripping Arisu’s ankle even tighter. When it was finally over, he was breathing hard, the tears making his breath hitch a little. He slowly let go of Arisu when the hospital gown was lowered again and when his shoulder was released, he pushed himself up slowly, a little unsteady on his feet.

Arisu wrapped his arms around Chishiya, who found himself leaning into the embrace. Since Arisu, he couldn’t remember the last time he’d allowed someone to get physically close to him like this. He hadn’t realised he’d missed having any physical contact or comfort until he suddenly had it now.

Was this what it was like to have a brother?

The End