01 - Holding hands
"Are you sure about this?"
"Yeah, of course. Why wouldn't I be?"
"Don't you just think that this is gonna be, like...a bad idea?"
"Lighten up, Ayumu!" Rin chirped. "You're acting like you've never seen a haunted manor on the edge of a cliff before!"
The inventor sighed. "Unless you count horror movies, I haven't."
The house was almost directly ripped from a horror movie. It was in shambles, with the paint beginning to wear off and peel in places. The photos that Rin had shown Ayumu suggested that at some point it had been a rather nice shade of navy blue, but at this point it just looked grey with the slightest blue tint. One of the towers was missing a large chunk, and the wrought-iron gates were bent open in one spot from years of people like Rin trying to get in and investigate.
Of course, Rin had also chosen the perfect day to explore such a...nice location. It was raining bullets - the entire house was drenched. Unlike Rin, who had thought to bring a poncho, Ayumu was drenched. His shirt clung to his frame like...well, like wet fabric clung to skin.
The wind was also impressive - it had torn the umbrella from Rin's arms and into Ayumu's stomach when they had first left. After lengthy deliberation they decided that protection from the rain was not as important as reducing their chances of accidentally recreating the 1978 Umbrella Murder. At least most of Rin's gear was waterproof, and the rest was stowed under her poncho.
The waves crashed hard against the cliffs as Ayumu and Rin moved in towards the house. It was rather ominous, Ayumu admitted. Rin had chosen this day specifically for the weather, as it set the mood. Mood was important, Rin liked to say ("I like to set a proper ghost-hunting atmosphere, unlike those losers over at PHANTA5M").
"Soooooo, if you're done with your inner monologuing can we go in already? Or are you just gonna stand out here and be a pansy?"
Ayumu was slightly taken aback by her comment. "I'm not a pansy! No rational person wants to go into a haunted house that can actually kill you!"
"Hey, normal haunted houses can kill you!" Rin pouted. "I mean, if you're really too scared that's fine. You won't get to see a ghost, though."
At this, Ayumu sighed. As much as every logical cell in his body was screaming to turn back, he really wanted to see a ghost. "Fine, then."
Rin giggled and slipped her hand into his. "Come on, then! Let's go!"
As they climbed into the gap in the fence and lightning flashed in the distance Ayumu had a strange feeling he wouldn't be letting go of her hand for a while.
A/N: Lime here. So, yep, I wasn't lying when I said I was going to do the 30 Day OTP Challenge. It starts today (August 1) and will end August 30. Chapters WILL be uploaded every day. AFoFD will continue to update as scheduled.
Also, please check out the sister stories to this challenge:
SDproductions' Mile High Club OTP Challenge
Penumbro's XiangxFaen OTP Challenge
A Dingus With Sweet Shades' Tessa OTP Challenge
Captain Quackin's HidekAsh OTP Challenge
CrimsonSkyTamer's AyumuxNicol OTP Challenge
A note: Ayumu and Rin are both OCs from a story called Dawn Rider by CrimsonSkyTamer. I highly suggest anyone reading this gives it a look-see. It's pretty great.
Ayumu Umemoto, SHSL Inventor belongs to SDproductions
Rin Kazehaya, SHSL Paranormal Investigator belongs to me