monolith - alice in borderland oneshots

warning : attempt suicide 

It had been forever since you felt like any emotion could reach you.Your body moved like a puppet—one that had already been torn apart, stitched together, and tossed into the chaos of this godforsaken place. The Borderlands had taken everything: your will to live, your hopes, and your sanity. Deaths, betrayals, and constant games-it truly was an unlucky charm that never left.

Riara had been the one who'd suffered most. She was kind, soft-hearted, and too delicate for a place like this. She gave her life for yours, not because she was strong enough to keep fighting, but because she loved you that much. She was letting you know that you still had something to live for. But you really didn't care anymore.

Standing at the edge of the roof, you could feel the wind on your skin. It sounded for all the world like the promise of respite, of vicarious locomotion. You had already lost your place in this world. The weight of it all crushed you, whereby jumping was about the only way to do anything with the pain. 

You were so close to letting go; your body was leaning forward, with your toes just hanging over the very edge-when you heard footsteps. They were quiet, hesitant, but unmistakable. A shadow appeared in your peripheral vision.

It was him. Arisu. The one guy who'd merely been a bystander in your life, but somehow, he'd made himself evident at this very moment. You hadn't expected him to show up-not in general, not today, not when you were trying to end your life. 

You turned slightly, surprised to find him standing there, looking at you with a mix of hesitation and concern. His calm demeanor had turned into something deeper. Something softer.

"Hey," he said softly. "What are you doing?"

You didn't even have the energy to deny it. You didn't even have the will to make any attempt in that direction. The words stuck to your lips, leaving with an effort that bore witness to your exhaustion. "I'm done, Arisu. I can't do this anymore."

He took a couple of steps forward. His voice was now barely above a whisper. "You don't have to do this."

His softly spoken words did something to you that you hadn't felt for a really long time. But it didn't matter. Nothing mattered anymore. "You don't understand," you whispered, your voice shaking. "I've seen too much. Everybody dies. It doesn't matter."

Arisu stopped right in front of you, close enough that you could almost feel the warmth radiating from him. You were surprised by how different he felt from everyone else. While others tried to hurt or save themselves, Arisu was just there. He wasn't trying to fix you. There were no strings attached; he wasn't trying to make you conform to societal norms. He was simply being present for you.

"You're wrong," he said softly, reaching his hand toward you with caution as if you might recoil. His fingers softly brushed against your arm, like an intimation of a promise. "I don't care what's happened in the past. I care about you. You aren't going anywhere."

There was a tether connecting you in the darkness. Some kind of a spark, something unexplainable yet urgent enough to want to hold on to. His fingers on your wrist tightened, pulling you back from what seemed like an endless fall, the brink of despair.

"Why?" you asked, your voice cracking.

"Because I don't want to lose you," Arisu confessed with eyes that pierced through to yours, so intent upon the moment yet enigmatic. "You're not alone in this. I will stick by you. I'll keep you safe."

Your breath shallowed in your throat. The thought of being saved—the thought of being cared for—seemed so far out of reach that you couldn't even comprehend it. Strangely, his words were now offering you that very thing.

You hadn't expected this. Certainly not from Arisu. And certainly not here. He had been an anonymous stranger in a brief encounter with you, a brief encounter at an abandoned convenience store, just another face in the chaos. And now he was here. And somehow, his presence felt like the only thing you could hold on to.

"I... I don't know how to do this anymore," you whispered, finally allowing your tears to flow.

Arisu's hand slid to your shoulder, gentlest touch of his thumb on your skin anchoring you. "You don't have to figure everything out right now. I'm with you. I'll help you. Just... let me."

It was so simple. His words. His vow. But it sounded like a lifeline you didn't know you needed.

For the first time in ages, you took a shaky breath, feeling something within you begin to stir for the first time in so long. Maybe it wasn't the end. Maybe it was just the beginning.

And as Arisu pulled you into his arms, holding you tightly as though you were the most important thing to him in this shattered world, it dawned on you that, maybe, just maybe, you could survive this chaos.