Saturday, (10/17/XX) 3:45PM
It's been a few days since I discovered my school campus has become a school for ghouls and demons at night. Nikolas and I have stayed in contact with one another, but it's difficult for us to consistently communicate as we live polar lives. When he sleeps I'm awake and vice versa. Sometimes I wonder how his life is compared to mine. I stayed with him for one school day, but that was only a snippet of his lifestyle.
"AKIO! WATCH OUT!" Ryunosuke screamed at me.
I turned my head and nearly dodged a soccer ball flying in my direction. I sighed and felt relieved that I prevented another bloody nose at practice.
"You've been zoning out often. Are you feeling alright, Akio?" One of my teammates questioned. "Go take a break." He handed me a towel to wipe off my sweat.
I nodded and walked to the side of the field. I took out my phone and saw I got a message from Nikolas.
Can you hang out next week on Sunday?
I can!
You can invite your friends too
I don't think I would be able to handle spending time with Nikolas alone, so I was relieved he made the suggestion.
Ok! I'll see you then
For the rest of practice, I couldn't stop smiling.
Sunday (10/25/XX), 10:00AM
"..."
"..."
I cleared my throat. "Um, this is Nikolas. He's the one who had my sports equipment."
"Why the hell is he so tall?" Sen murmured to me. "He's at least 180cm."
"It's nice to meet you. Akio talked about you–” I stepped on Ryunosuke's foot and gritted my teeth.
Nikolas watched us with unwavering eyes. He wore a gray hoodie with a black graphic design on the back with black jeans. I noticed that he had piercings on his ears: a small hoop for his first holes, two silver studs on his left lobe, one silver stud on his right lobe, and a double helix on his right ear.
Despite how simple his outfit was he still looked handsome.
Ryunosuke was hopping on one foot as I turned to Nikolas. "A-anyways, why don't we start heading to the place? Our appointment is in 20 minutes."
We arrived at the Escape Room place where we were greeted by a couple of staff members. They gave us instructions and a rundown of the rules. No pets were allowed so Kazu was unable to come in, which led to him growling incessantly.
"Alright, now choose your partners. Once that's decided we'll blindfold you." The staff member stated while holding up pieces of fabric.
Sen and Ryunosuke forced me and Nikolas to be together. My right hand was then cuffed to his left. The staff blindfolded us and escorted everyone to the escape room.
The first fifteen minutes consisted of us trying to find clues. Ryunosuke had a knack for puzzles while Sen and Nikolas were good at finding clues and keys. Some places were hard to see because of the dim lights, but Nikolas walked around with confidence.
It must be his heightened senses. I concluded.
"Guys, a door opened here!" Ryunosuke called out from the other end of the room.
We all stood in front of what seemed to be an entrance to a tunnel. Everyone except Nikolas was scared.
I clenched Nikolas's sleeve nervously, grabbing his attention. His eyes watched me as he crouched down, "We'll go first."
"Wait, wait, wait, WAIT!" I pleaded, but Nikolas dragged me into the tunnel with him.
When we got out of the tunnel, there were actors locked in cages ready to scare us. I flinched at their howls and instinctively held onto Nikolas's arm. His slender eyes were glowing in the dark as he glared at the actors. They all suddenly froze.
Confused and slightly intimidated, I looked up at Nikolas, "What did you do?"
"It'll wear off in half an hour or so." He fixed his hoodie while looking around.
"Akio! Nikolas! Did you find anything?" Sen hollered from the door.
"We haven't had a chance to explore yet," I replied.
"You think the two of us can go in there too?" Ryunosuke stepped foot into the entrance.
I shook my head. "You won't fit! You have to stay there."
We walked down a short hallway into a narrow room. Nikolas found a key under a vase and gave it to the other two. I wanted to feel useful so I tried my best to look for items too. I couldn't see where I was walking and kept bumping into things. Nikolas would guide me, making sure I wouldn't hurt myself.
"Hey Nikolas, I wanted to ask you, how are you able to walk in daylight?"
Nikolas pulled open a drawer and rummaged through the items. "I wear sunscreen."
"That works?"
"It's a special sunscreen."
I guess those types of products exist now. I was curious about other things, but Sen interrupted.
"Nikolas! Akio! Do you see a necklace in there? We need it for the next puzzle." Sen yelled.
I saw a golden glimmer on a shelf. Being blessed with 166cm as my height, I stretched out my hand to grab the chain on top of the two-meter-tall shelf. I finally felt the necklace and cheered. Suddenly, I was falling backward.
"Akio!"
I winced expecting myself to be smashed by the shelf, but I felt no pain. I couldn't see where I was, but I could only see two blue orbs under me. I realized that my hands weren't pushing down on the floor and I wasn't sitting on the ground. It was Nikolas's abdomen.
"Are you alright?" His raspy voice asked.
I lifted my hands off of him and awkwardly laughed. "Y-yes I'm fine. Sorry, I fell on you."
I felt his hand move up my thigh and I flinched. He noticed my reaction, "Sorry, I'm trying to sit up." His other hand braced the floor as he sat up.
"N-no that's my bad." I got off of him and helped him up. He effortlessly put the shelf back, putting all of its items back in place.
I was too flustered to face him, so I turned my back and called out to the others. "We found the necklace!"
"Nice! You can come out now." Sen beckoned us to return.
We solved most of the puzzles, but this last puzzle took the longest for us to solve.
"How much time is left?" I asked.
"We have three minutes. I don't think that's enough time to solve this puzzle." Ryunosuke wiped the sweat off of his brow while trying to put in different passcodes in the lock.
Sen looked up at the TV in the corner of the room and waved his arms frantically. "Escape Master! Can we please get a little bit more time? This is our last puzzle!"
After a few seconds, there was a body of text: If two of you do a kiss punishment, I'll add five more minutes.
I glanced at Nikolas, but he didn't seem to take the punishment seriously. I gulped. "Ryunosuke, Sen, you two should do it."
"I AM NOT DOING IT!" Sen protested. "You and Nikolas should do it!"
My body stiffened. I slowly turned my head to Nikolas who was staring at me. "I-I rather not." I averted my eyes and put my fingers through my hair.
"Guys, we don't have much time," Ryunosuke grumbled.
Sen pushed me towards Nikolas. "KISS HIM!"
I smacked Sen on the shoulder. "YOU KISS NIKOLAS!"
"STOP FIGHTING ALREADY!" Ryunosuke roared. He yanked my shirt and smashed his face onto mine.
Sen stood there agape and Nikolas's eyes widened in shock.
The timer instantly increased by five minutes.
"There, now we can get out here," Ryunosuke muttered while returning to entering in passcodes.
I covered my mouth with my hand and stood there in disbelief.
The lock opened, and the four of us successfully escaped. The staff congratulated us while taking off our handcuffs. One of the staff members covered her mouth, but it was obvious she was grinning.
Sen and Ryunosuke walked ahead of us in the hallway. I felt Nikolas touch my hand. He looked straight into my eyes again.
"Don't worry, I'm fine! I'm just a little shocked."
Nikolas’s brows furrowed. He only nodded. "I'm taking Kazu home so I'll leave now." Nikolas held the peacefully sleeping wolf in his arms.
My friends and I said our goodbyes as he walked away.
When I could no longer see Nikolas, I pulled the hood of Ryunosuke's jacket and glared at him. "Why did you kiss me back there?!"
"Was my kiss that good? Never thought you'd want more." Ryunosuke teased puckering his lips.
"You could've kissed Sen! That was my first kiss..."
Sen began laughing. "That's what you get for not finding a girlfriend."
Ryunosuke rolled his eyes. "I did what needed to be done. Besides, I think my actions have done their purpose." A knowing smirk appeared on Ryunosuke's lips.
I blushed.
"Akio is also not my type." He put his hand on my shoulder and whispered to me, "You don't have to worry about me making a move on you."
I didn't know what Ryunosuke was thinking, but it seemed as if he knew something I didn't want him to know.154Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHHZAYoIcRZ
