"I feel like I'm going to have a heart attack," Ia whispered, walking down the grimy street in complete darkness; a young girl by herself heading to an unknown, unsavory place.
She felt like she was on a long, pitch black walk to her doom. That was, if she didn't get abducted on her way there. No, Ia mustn't think things like that, she wouldn't have the strength to bust One out of her cage when the journey was finally over. Or just starting, but she couldn't take the mental torment if she thought too hard about what kind of questionable people awaited Ia's arrival.
"I'm scared..."
Not a single soul was loitering outside the house. When she came closer after her hellish walk was finally coming to a close, the light blonde almost doubted it was the right place. That was, until her thoughts stopped drowning out the trashy party music... how vulgar, she thought. She guessed it made sense the party goers would be inside, listening to the sexual lyrics with a beer in hand (not that Ia could make out the inaudible lyrics). Just picturing it made Ia shutter.
"What do I do? Do I just walk in? Do I knock?" she thought, her mind racing and her heart beating hundreds of miles per hour. Sweat drenched her entire petite body, and her arms rapidly trembled as she reached for the doorknob. Ia couldn't draw attention to herself. She would be okay as long as no one looked at her, as long as she fit in she would be okay... she tried to comfort herself. It didn't really work, of course; at times like these, she wished she had a parental figure of her own telling her what the right choice was. Or at least a fluffy, preferably pink security blanket.
As she was reminded of nighttime necessities, she glanced down at her outfit, meeting eyes with her pajamas. "I should have gotten dressed," she cried. Ia shook her head in reply. She couldn't psych herself out any further.
Open the door, find One, go home. Ia went over her mission in her head. At its core, it really was a simple plan. The execution on the other hand... was infinite times harder.
She cracked the home's door open and took a peek, revealing flashy, colored lights, music, TVs running over the music, cans full of... god knows what. And most importantly, so many people in the room it looked like a packed can of sardines. How was she going to not be noticed by at least one person? Her anxiety and stress started to flare up more instantly, she didn't know... but she had to.
Run in. Find One. Run out. Run in. Find One. Run out. Run in- "Hey! I've never seen you around here, what's your name, cutie?" a foreign man called out, locking eyes with a shaking, nervous, uncomfortable, exasperated Ia. She really wished One and her were anywhere else right now... how could her sister stand such a gross environment?
"I- I really- um, I-I," she struggled to find the right words to respond with, but it didn't help that she barely had any social skills to begin with. What could she say that would dismiss him but not upset him? It was like a bad game of the floor is lava… except, seemingly, there were no non-lava options. It was a bizarre situation, Ia thought - a gathering for the sake of meeting and conversing with strangers was foreign. Why anyone found it appealing, she would never know.
"C'mon, don't be like that, should I get you a drink so you can calm down? You're trembling like you're on something," he laughed at his own in poor taste joke, reaching over to grab a brown glass bottle.
Soon, someone noticed this exchange out of the corner of her eye. "Ah, crap, y'all play this round without me, 'kay?" Maki popped up from the girls' game of spin the bottle, seconds before the couple was about to be selected. "Looks like one of those dreaded weirdos got into your party, Yukarin. That girl looks really uncomfortable... I'm gonna go help her and get one of my friends to kick him out with me," the blonde said, making her way over to the supposed stranger.
"Ew, not one of those disgusting boys again," Sasara gagged.
"Woooo! Queen Maki defending the lesbian squad! Let's all cheer for Queen Maki!" Yukari beamed, pumping her fist in delight as she sang an interesting original song. "Thanks, Mak- oh, she's already gone."
One would have replied properly if her tummy wasn't chalked to the brim with butterflies, so she just nodded as a response. No matter what, she couldn't stop staring at that fast bottle... how long had it been spinning now?
"N-No, I r-really-"
Maki stood next to the stuttering Ia, proudly in her defense as she gave a passionate death glare to the weirdo. "That's enough, ya asshole. Read the room, she doesn't want you, dude," she hissed as she approached him, her eyes glowing red in anger as venom poured out of her every word. "Fukase! Come kick him out!" she yelled to her previously mentioned friend, pointing to the perpetrator. The blonde threw her arm around Ia's shoulders as an act of protection, escorting her away from both men in case... things weren't pretty. "Are you here alone?" Maki asked as they continued walking.
There goes Ia's 'fly under the radar' mentality. It seemed so bulletproof just a couple of minutes ago, but she had no choice to let it go. That was okay, she could still find One and make it out of there in the next few minutes... if it wasn't for this kind girl, it would have most likely taken her way longer, so she had at least one thing to be thankful about. "U-Uh, yes, thank you... for doing that, I mean... it was very brave, I-I really appreciate it," Ia tried her best to express her gratitude towards the stranger, but a basic task was surprisingly difficult when she was totally out of her comfort zone and had too much on her mind. She just hoped the girl could pick up on that, and not take her less than perfect reply as rude. Ia still had her guard held high though, and nothing as simple as this experience was going to make her trust this group of less than classy people. At least, that was what Ia saw them as.
"Ya are? That guy probably picked up on that. I swear, those dudes have super powers when it comes to their creepiness," Maki trailed off. "Be more careful next time, 'kay? You're safe here, ya don't have to hang out alone," she turned to Ia and flashed a genuine, toothy grin. "Say, how about ya come hang out with our lil' friend group? It'll be lotsa fun!" the perky blonde brightly exclaimed.
Ia gave an awkward, mildly forced smile back, her hands still trembling as she really didn't feel like making friends right now. "Y-You're nice, but I have to find my s-sis-" And before she could fully spit out the word 'sister,' there she was.
One, locking lips with Sasara - a girl that Ia hardly knew, if it was justified to say she knew her at all. If it wasn't for Ia going through her sister's chat log, she would not have even known of the brunette's existence. If that was the girl she referred to in her texts, at least.
God, Ia really didn't know One, did she?
"Your sis?" Maki asked confused, oblivious to the sight she was about to witness.
"ONE!" Ia screamed at the top of her lungs, running up to the pair and roughly dragging them apart in a final act of desperation. Her voice mimicked a demon crawling out of hell, which alerted the other party goers as they began to stare with puzzled expressions, their eyes glued to the dramatic scene. "Don't you know how dangerous this is? Sneaking out to this seedy, inappropriate party, drinking WHO KNOWS what, and kissing someone you don't even know?" she yelled over the ongoing music, gripping the younger girl by her thin arm. It was only the beginning of the hurt, terrified, vulnerable sister's scolding; in that moment, Ia felt like she could cry out for hours and still not make a dent in what she wanted to say.
That was, until One interrupted her. "Ia, let me go! You're crazy!" she screeched back, the gaudy music becoming the quietest thing there. "How are you even here?" she squirmed, a visible look of emotional pain and embarrassment painting itself across her hurt, dainty face.
"Whoever the hell you are, you're not making my kid feel like that," Yukari powerfully and intimidatingly shoved through a crowd of people that formed to watch the show - her voice low, menacing, and threatening. It was the plan for Yukari to stand up right before the bottle stopped to ensure the love birds would get their first kiss, and it pained the lavender girl to know if she didn't leave One in that moment, she could have prevented this. It hurt. It hurt everyone, for different reasons. "No way, you've got to be kidding me! It's the insane chick from my street performance, what made you brave enough to show your face here?" she approached a weak Ia like a stray cat trying to trap a bird for its dinner. The lavender girl was inches away from Ia, their noses were practically going to bump into each other!
No! No! No! This was the worst thing that could have happened! The plan was to not make a scene! The plan was... to not see Yukari! Ia... she just couldn't! She can't! What was that lavender girl going to do to her? Cuss her out? Fight her? Kiss her? Yukari was unpredictable and acted on impulse, and she knew that. Ia's hand dropped One's arm in fear instinctually, her mind entertaining every little thought that popped into her brain as a possibility. Now think of a solution!
QUICK OR YOU'LL DIE!
"Yukarin!" a familiar voice screamed, praying to reach the feuding girls. "I don't mean to interrupt, but Fukase got into a fist fight with that guy and someone called the police!" It was Sasara - immense distress and worry leaking out of her words and mannerisms. "We have to make a run for it, if the cops aren't here right now they'll be here any minute!"
The first second the word 'police' hit the unsuspecting ears of the attendees, a mass group of people crowded the front door begging to escape. They looked like zombies in a horror movie, stumbling, falling and shoving others out of the way to make sure they were the sole ones who made it out unscathed. "WHAT?!" Yukari questioned in desperate disbelief, her violet eyes bugging out of her skull as she was still trying to process Sasara's sentences. "Sasara, grab One and run out! Don't worry about me, I'll figure something out," she ordered. "Don't just stand there and look at me, go!"
"R-Right! One, give me your hand!" the brunette stuck out her sweaty hand, which the light blonde gladly took. In fear of what would happen if they didn't, the girls both followed what they were told and darted for the exit.
"Shit! What am I going to do?!" Yukari held her throbbing, overwhelmed head, whimpering harshly as she panicked; the cop cars' lights revealing themselves through the cheap glass windows. The clock ticked down unforgivingly - make one wrong move and someone was getting incarcerated. Yukari knew that, it was the only thing she could possibly think about at that moment. She knew that better than anyone else. "What are you still doing here?!" When she lifted her head - the same one that was splitting in two from extreme stress - she met orbs with Ia, who stood in her cute nightgown, dumbfounded.
"I-I...!" Ia looked down at herself, unsure as to why she was frozen in place. No matter how bad her heart longed to escape with One and Sasara, she was too terrified to make her dream a reality. Her feet felt like they were sinking in concrete, it would be pointless to move them, as they wouldn't budge. She was too scared. She was seeing her life flash before her cerulean eyes.
"Come with me and don't do anything careless," Yukari firmly stated in a hushed tone, grabbing Ia's skinny wrist tightly and very seriously guiding her to an unknown location. They headed down a hallway that grew eerie and more ominous as the cheerful party lights became distant, Yukari staring at the ground ahead of her and Ia staring at Yukari. What other choice did she have?
"Wh-Where are you taking me?" Ia questioned, her damp cheeks illuminating a pale, ghastly complexion. She couldn't bear breaking out in a cold sweat due to the uncertainty of the situation, if she was visibly freaked out that would just make whatever happened next a million times worse.
There was a pesky, funky floorboard that seemed to be installed incorrectly as their long (seeming endless) walk continued, making one slightly more elevated than the others - which Ia inevitably stumbled on. But before the light blonde could even think about falling face first, a warm, nurturing touch locked around her waist. It was Yukari. She held onto the timid girl firmly yet gently, with an immense amount of consideration. Her body heat transferred to Ia's middle, while Yukari's baby soft skin tenderly caressed her even through the cloth of her clothing. "You'll see. Be more careful next time," the purplette stated stoically. It was quite the benevolent act not many would do for a person they actively disliked.
Ia silently nodded in agreement, unable to squeak out a reply. Yukari eventually let go once Ia regained her balance, but why did it feel like their bodies made contact for an eternity? Why did Ia's heart rate speed up when Yukari touched her, why did it slow down when she stopped, and why did it beat so intensely when she thought of the moment again? She got nervous just thinking about when their eyes would meet once more... her hot blush showed no signs of dying down anytime soon, if it didn't get worse second by second. How could she look at Yukari in such a disheveled state? Ia felt like she was the most flustered she had ever been, all because Yukari touched her waist; an innocent place. It wasn't an intimate moment, it was the logical thing to do so she wouldn't make a loud noise when she fell. It would be bad if someone knew they were still in the house, it was only because of that one sole reason.
Ia desperately tried to justify - she didn't know how to interpret her own feelings. She was working herself up the most she had ever in her life, which was saying something since she struggled with social anxiety.
Why did she...
Kind of...
Maybe...
Like it?
Just a little.
She felt sad when she felt Yukari's tight, almost squeezing grasp leave her, but at the same time, she was almost relieved it wasn't happening anymore. It was so confusing.
"Are you coming or what?" Ia's ocean eyes snapped wide open at the sound of the lavender girl's irritated voice. Apparently, Yukari had been holding a door open for her for quite some time, and due to Ia being in such a daze, she failed to notice.
"I'm sorry..." Ia hung her head like a heart broken puppy getting sent to the dog house, quickly making her way into the room full of darkness. She stared at the - well, darkness, as the door was shut quietly behind her as Yukari joined. Gosh, Ia really couldn't make out any pieces of furniture nor interior, there could have been ancient artifacts in there for all she knew.
Then, there was silence. Complete unnerving silence.
Should Ia speak up? Should she be quiet? Were the police here? Where was she exactly? Was this all one big set up to play a cruel prank on her and humiliate her? Too many questions swirled in her brain. It gave her a migraine as her nervousness made her a hair away from bawling... if Ia could make out an outline of a chair, she would sit on it right now.
"This... isn't my house," Yukari almost inaudibly trailed off. It was such a foreign voice to Ia, that she practically didn't recognize it as the lavender girl she knew and... knew. It was faint, soft, sweet, and a string away from being timid.
"What…?" Ia delicately asked in a quiet voice. She was caught off guard by the sudden cryptic sentence.
"You might've heard that this is my house from some random person, but the truth is, it's not. This is an empty house that's been on the market for years, no one lives her." Ia didn't let out a peep - she genuinely wanted to hear the docile Yukari talk, as she gently continued. "I'm sure you're wondering why I'm telling you this, huh? Well, we'll be safe because of it. Legally, this house doesn't have my name on it. These 'wild' teen parties are nothing more than a mild inconvenience to those lazy pigs, no way they'd go out of their way to look through every single room. We'll... we'll be okay."
Somehow, even though Ia was blind in the darkness, she felt a kind, beautiful smile creep up on Yukari's rosy lips. She knew it was there... she just wished she could see it.
"You... really didn't have to tell me that, i-if it made you uncomfortable and you didn't want to, that is," Ia fumbled as she tried to find the right words. "But thank you... so much for doing it. It really... means a lot," she smiled brightly, hoping the other girl could spiritually sense her grin. Ia and Yukari might have had their differences... but if Ia could say one thing about her sudden-pitch-black-room-partner, is that her words were genuine. So, she could put them aside for this dire circumstance, and be happy about that.
Ia wasn't going to ask why Yukari was throwing a party in an abandoned house. She wasn't going to question Yukari's own living arrangements. Nor her family, or the life she lived. But she was vulnerable with her, and something about the tough, rough rock and roller opening up like that was comforting. It almost made her forget about the horrifying situation they were in.
Almost.
Yukari giggled in reply. "You're such a dork," Yukari's girly giggling turned into a more in character chuckle, as she brushed a piece of soft hair behind her ear. "You're smiling so big, I can see every one of your molars." Ia instinctually closed her mouth. "I didn't say you had to stop," she let out a 'pfft' sound. "You just looked really freaked out, so I wanted to help you a bit. That's all."
"W-Wait, you can see me? I can't see you at all, how is that possible?" Ia replied, puzzled.
"Uh, I guess I have better eyesight than you? I dunno," the purplette shrugged nonchalantly. She wasn't showing it, but somewhere, deep down, she cared about the world more than she led on. She did that to make Ia feel better… it was compassionate and sweet, something two best friends would do, nothing like how Ia originally pictured her. It made her cheeks heat up all over again, her heart race, and a new addition: her legs getting all wobbly. The frail girl had been walking way too much, she couldn't remember the last time she sat down... and it wasn't like she properly worked out outside of P.E. class. This felt so strange, for so many different reasons...
"You okay?" Yukari noticed.
"My legs are... just tired," Ia sighed, exhausted. She didn't even mention how she awoke in the middle of the night, and was now running around at an hour she would normally be asleep for.
BUZZ!
Yukari immediately jerked her phone out of her pocket, reading the new text message in what seemed like milliseconds. She must have really been anticipating something at the pace she went. "It's Maki- ah, that blonde girl you briefly met," she interrupted herself to clarify. "Wait right here, alright? I have to check something." And before Ia could ask 'what?,' all she saw was a flash of lavender. Yukari was way too fast for no good reason, she was already gone.
For some reason, unknown to even her... Ia trusted Yukari to come back, and waited patiently for her return. Now would be the perfect time for her eyesight to get better so she could sit on a chair, or a bed, or- screw it, the floor was fine too.
The minutes felt like hours, as Ia's small sense of ease slowly turned into panic. Did she... leave her here? Did Yukari... get arrested? Was Ia going to be arrested? Her years of working hard on every last page of homework, gone to waste in a blink of an eye... One never learned how to use the rice cooker, how is her little sister going to survive without her?! "Don't think like that, you'll go mad..." she muttered quietly to herself.
Then, the moment she began to doubt finally came. "Maki's text said she drove by the house to check for police and there weren't any. I was checking around to make sure, and it seems like we're all good. So, long story short, you're free to go," Yukari uttered, cracking open the door and staring at an Ia on the hardwood floor.
Ia jumped in surprise, popping up and dusting off her clothes. Yuck, the floor was sort of dirty... "O-Oh, thank you very much for telling me," she slightly bowed at the girl's kindness - she could have left Ia all alone, but she didn't, so she was mildly high on life right now. She went through a life or death situation and lived... ah, she was so happy...
Yukari looked at her own shoes, a listless look painting itself across her face and body language. It was hard to tell exactly what that meant... was she depressed? Ia assumed it was normal, after such an 'exciting' night. "So... bye, I guess..." she spoke softly, her boots' slight heels clacking on the ground as she began to make her way towards the exit.
"Wait!" Ia called out through the crack of the old door, hoping to catch Yukari's attention one last time before they parted for... who knew how long. "When... when will we meet again?" she faintly and timidly squeaked out, tears threatening to spill from her blue eyes. Why did she ask that? Why was it so embarrassing? Why was it so goddamn hard to tell how she really felt about Yukari? She regretted her impulsive sentence, but at the same time, she would never take it back... Ia wanted her to hear, more than anything at that moment. "Please, Yuzuki... I have to know... so tell me," her words began to quiver.
There was no reply.
Yukari had already left.
And Ia had to as well.