Killing Game Quarter

Chapter 6: The Sleepless and The Broken Part 8

“Women? As in, multiple?” My very stupid sounding question got a small chuckle out of Liam, before he continued.

“Ah, yes, I did not mention this previously. I was raised by two very capable mothers, who loved me almost as much as each other.” He explained, smiling more as I finished my bandaging job.

“Were they given a sperm donation to have you?” I continued my questions, putting away the bandages and taking another sip of my coffee.

“They were not. I was chosen by them in an adoption facility, and we all connected very quickly.” He continued his backstory, relaxing on the bed, “They were very supportive of my goals and aspirations, and were always around to help.”

“They sound like incredible people.” I admitted, leaning against the wall on the bed. “I’m glad you were able to grow up with them.”

“As am I. Unfortunately, they were much older than you would normally expect a pair of parents to be, so they required my assistance physically for things once I had reached my tenth birthday.” Liam went on, getting a much solemner look, “And now that I am here, I will not be able to help them.”

“Aw, Liam.” I scooted myself over, patting him on the back, “They’ll be fine. Your video wasn’t about them, so there’s nothing to worry about.” 

“You...are right.” He replied, letting out a sigh, and relaxing his body once more. “What about your family Aka?”

“...” My body stiffened, and my back on Liam’s back suddenly clenched, catching Liam’s attention.

“...I see. I apologize for asking.” He replied, placing his hand on my arm, “However, if you do require someone to talk to about them, or any situation they have found themselves in, I am always available.”

I sat there for a moment, thinking about opening up to Liam. telling him about my realization about the videos, and how his could still be in effect as well. I thought about telling him about my parents, and the trouble they were in. However, I looked over to Liam, who was smiling at me, and I found myself incapable of forcing the traumatic knowledge onto him.

“Thank you Liam, but it’s nothing worth talking about, “ I lied, resting my hand on his shoulder, “But know that you can open up to me too if you need to, ok?”

“Of course Ms. Aka. I trust you as a friend here, not as an acquaintance.” Liam replied, before turning his body around to face me. “I do have a question, however.”

“What would that be?” I inquired, drinking more coffee.

“Would you happen to know of the legendary comic issue number four one five?” Liam’s face had lightened up, and was staring at me in anticipation. I could tell that I was in for a treat, so I took a final swig of my coffee, before responding with a no.

The rest of that morning, Liam taught me of these legendary comic books, and their basic plots, trying to get me invested in them. It was interesting to see Liam lighten up and loosen up a bit, acting like an excited nerd rather than a composed historian. It was a nice change of pace for him, and something I was looking forward to seeing more.

Once our comic book history lesson was finished, I realized that I had ran out of coffee, and that my brain was starting to slow down. So, I said my goodbyes to Liam, and dragged myself to go grab more coffee from the cafeteria, so I could think of who to hang out with next, while collecting, and chugging, my next cup.

. . .

Once my cup was empty, I decided to spend some more time with Akira, getting my sixth cup of coffee that day, and heading out to hang out with her. I found her hanging around the library, as she seemed to be searching around the place. I made my way up to her, and started my talk with her.

“What are you looking for?” I questioned, sounding a lot drier than I would’ve hoped.

“Oh, hey Aka! I was just looking around for something in here.” She responded, barely even turning to look at me while she looked around. I approached her as she came to one of the tables, searching around and under all of the chairs and tables.

“What is that something? That was my first question you know.” I asked again, a bit agitated at her lack of full hearing.

“Oh, well, it’s more so two things.” She started, staying still enough to explain, “I was looking for that blowtorch from earlier, alongside any signs of blood around here.”

“Why?” I shot back, confused at her motivations for this.

“Well, I have my reasons for the blowtorch, but for the blood, I’m trying to find where Risa cut her ankle before.” Akira responded, getting down and looking at the ground carefully.

“Ok…” I answered, approaching her at the tables, “Why are you looking for where she cut herself?”

“Well, think about it like this,” Akira retorted, standing up and sitting in a chair, pretending to be Risa, “Imagine I’m Risa here, relaxing and having a grand ol time. I got up from my chair, and suddenly cut my leg on something. What could that something have been?”

“That's...a good point,” I admitted, glancing at the chair legs, “Those don’t seem sharp enough to cut.”

We then spent a good while going back and forth, thinking of what could have cut Risa’s leg, eventually landing on the idea that Joseph had planted a razor into the chair, so that she would cut herself, and leave a way to frame her.

“Gotta hand it to the guy, that’s pretty well planned out,” Akira complimented, “Can’t say I blame him either.”

“What do you mean?” I questioned, as Akira leaned back in her chair.

“Well, like, he’s got people to come back to, and he wants to help them out, no matter what he has to do.” She explained, her tone growing quieter, “I can kinda understand that.”

“You’ve got people to get back to outside of here?” I continued my interrogation, sipping my coffee.

“Well, yeah kinda,” She responded, letting her chair fall back into place, “Obviously I’ve got a job, and other people that I’ve been with...But it’s just weird to think about.”

“How so?” I asked back.

“Well, ever since I got my job as a sports commentator, before I got my talent, I never really got time to settle down and just relax anywhere at any time,” 

“That must have been stressful.” I admitted, drinking more as she continued.

“Well that’s what I thought, and even back then, I had been going around with different people when I could, doing different, not so safe for work, things, just to try and distract myself from my problems.” Akira opened up like an egg, and her thoughts spilled out to me quickly, “So, waking up here, and being forced to stay in one place, doing whatever I want...it feels weirdly good.”

“So in an ironic way, this game has given you more freedom that previously?” I suggested, leading to Akira nodding.

“Although, if I had my memories back, and knew that I was able to relax and settle down with people outside of here, I’d be helping you guys escape however I could...besides the obvious.” She finished, laying all of her cards on the table.

“I see. Do you like talking about your job?” I inquired, trying to sway the conversation to be more lighthearted.

“Oh, well duh, it was and still is my passion dude. Did you wanna hear some stories?” She suggested, getting a nod from me as I continued to drink my brewed cup.

“Well, there was this one time…” The rest of that afternoon, I listened to Akira ramble on about multiple stories of her work as a sports commentator. Stories of her tearing her throat screaming, stories of underdog victories, and all sorts of other interesting tales.

I tried my best to listen to all of them, and to ration my remaining coffee, but just as she started to tell another story, I realized I had ran out, and that I would need to get more soon. Thankfully, her story was short, and afterwards, I recommended that we get some dinner together.