After a thorough search of the room, they eventually found the key. Again, Akashi proved his greatness in the treasure hunt. With the six keys in their possession, they reviewed the place.
"It's a dead end. There's another door but it won't open." Ritsu observed.
"Oh..."
"Does that mean we've cleared the haunted house? That makes six rooms we've crossed and we have the six keys."
Akashi remained silent for a couple of seconds, pensive. "No, there is a seventh room."
"How can you tell?"
"In the previous room, before we ran up here, I was in front of another door."
"It's probably a one-way door like the one here." From what she remembered of their itinerary, the second door in the fifth room they were currently in was certainly leading to the third room, where they had been confronted with a locked door. Seemingly, this door wasn't supposed to be opened either way. A small trap. "Besides, we have all the keys."
"That's not the case." Akashi told her while stepping her way. "We don't have the Heart key. From its name, I presume it must have a heart-shaped head or something close to it, but all I have are normal keys."
"...Then why are we having six keys?"
"Why not ask him?"
No immediate response followed. During the search, the boy had been awfully quiet. She didn't mind it until now and thought that as a staff member of the haunted house, his silence was to not spoil their fun. But at the moment, she totally lost his presence, like he just disappeared.
"The same trick won't work a third time..." Ritsu looked around, trying to sense the second boy.
"What trick?" The boy appeared out of nowhere, asking her in an oblivious manner.
"Aah! Y-You're here!"
"...? I was next to you for a while now."
Ritsu gulped, she never took notice of him.
"I need you to tell me something." Akashi went straight to business. Contrary to her, he wasn't very bothered about his non-existent presence. He couldn't possibly perceive him, right? "You actually recognize the room we are in, are you? When Asaka mentioned the dead end, you seemed to have taken notice of something."
"...Yes. There is only one room with this kind of configuration in the Haunted house.", the boy affirmed, somewhat taken aback by Akashi's sharp intuition.
"Which means you can find the exit from here."
"More or less."
"Good, we don't need to worry about finding our way any longer." Not questioning anything further, the redhead walked up to the door. "For now let's focus our efforts on the last key."
Akashi opened the door and invited the two of them to go first. The girl ushered them to the next room.
"By the way, which course did you take?"
"The lovers."
"I wasn't aware you two are..."
"Because we aren't." She laughed it off and cast a sunny glance above her shoulder, at Akashi to be precise. The boy was walking behind her, maintaining the distance they had taken on so far. Neither close nor far, just enough space to feel the other's warmth. "We're only here since Akashi-kun aims for the unique prize."
"That's very passionate."
"You think so to—"
*swoosh*
"Woooh!"
*rustle*
In the split second after her left foot stepped on a gelatinous thing, most certainly a konnyaku jelly, she tipped over and fell flat on the floor, dragging the two boys down with her. Like a perfect domino effect, their three bodies crashed to the ground, creating a brief yet loud racket in the silent darkness.
"Argh...! T-That's dangerous..." First to recover from the fall, Ritsu got up in pain, rubbing her lower back. Here's what happens when her attention was elsewhere. Fortunately, she didn't seem to have been hurt badly considering the impact...Thanks to Akashi and the other boy who cushioned her body from a greater shock. At the thought, she spun around to face them: "I...I'm so sorry! I slipped on a jelly! Are you—"
"Are you two alright?" A familiar voice she expected to hear under her came from above, as if the boy in question was standing.
"...W-Why aren't you on the floor?"
"Because I'm standing."
"That's not an answer, Akashi-kun!" She said back. "You were just behind me!"
"I just had the time to step aside, you were already on the floor."
"Well, you could have just caught me instead of stepping aside. You're quite strong despite the appearance. And that would have been very gallant of you..."
"In our current situation, there's no point in gallantry, this concept defies all logic as some of us may have either fallen unconscious or gotten injured."
Ritsu closed her eyes in defeat, he was dead serious when he said that. "To be correct, it's probably you who defies all logic, Akashi-kun..."
"...Asaka, we still haven't heard anything from the ghost."
"Ack! That's true!" Her hands inspected prone body on the cold ground. No response. Did he lose consciousness...again? Fate wouldn't allow the poor boy to leave the haunted house unharmed. "Hey, wake up. Hey."
Eventually the boy came around.
"...Ugh...Oh...I'm al...right..." He gestured in a daze.
Akashi and her weren't sure about it. His tone was tellingly weaker indicating the blow he received from the fall.
"Are you hurt anywhere?"
"No. I'm fine..." Feeling guilty, Ritsu helped him getting to his feet. The boy wobbled as she supported him before he regained his balance.
"Thank you..."
"You're really sure you're okay?"
"Yes. Rather I should be the one asking..."
"Not even a bruise thanks to you." She reassured him, touched by his concern.
"I'm glad to hear it. But I'm sorry for not being able to catch you properly."
His concern pierced her right through the heart, causing a warm turmoil within her. A mixture of embarrassment, sense of guilt and relief blended with an unknown surge of happiness that gushed straight to her cheeks. The words flew so naturally and simply out of his mouth that she had been caught off guard.
"Oh. D-Don't mention it."
"It seems like you both are fine. If so, let's proceed."
Ritsu nodded, "I'll be more careful."
Akashi resumed in their tracks, taking up the lead again.
"You're leading again?"
"For simple precaution. At this rate, we won't be able to find the Heart key without kicking the bucket."
"...Oh."
"...You don't have to say it that way." She pouted, suddenly recalling that before threatening the life of the poor ghost boy, she had also hit Akashi by accident. No matter how she looked at it, he wasn't completely wrong about her clumsiness.
"We only have to cross one room and you somehow manage to fall. You're rather clumsy."
"Wait, Akashi-kun, Asaka-san."
"Everyone would be in the dark. I'm not doing it on purpose."
"That's why I'm telling you."
"I'm already doing my best to watch my steps, but without light you can't fault me for bumping into things once or twice."
"About the Heart key..."
"I'm not."
"Your tone tells me otherwise."
"When you're being stubborn, it's really hard to make you listen." Akashi gave a faint sigh.
"You have to know that—"
"Like you're one to talk!" She countered, confounded to hear him sigh. "It's you who insisted on doing the treasure hunt despite the dark. You could have just left me behind if my clumsy side was a bother. "
"..."
"No. I'd never have imagined such clumsiness in a girl like you, it makes you rather cute."
"It has been missing."
Her lips parted slightly. He never meant to reproach her, instead he was being awfully honest all along. "...I-I didn't see that coming."
"I knew that mu—" Akashi stopped mid-sentence and turned to the forgotten boy in a swift motion. "What did you say?"
"You heard me?" Well, during their little spat, his voice did echo in the background, Ritsu kept the thought to herself, a bit embarrassed to have momentarily paid no attention to him.
"The Heart key is missing?" The red-haired boy repeated in surprise. "Can you explain?"
"My classmate lost it when he scared three visitors. The problem is that he doesn't remember where and when the key was lost. We tried to retrieve it, but without success." If there had been such a problem, why hadn't they been informed before taking the Lovers' course?, Ritsu wondered. Troubles would only pile up for them and some measure should have been taken regarding the problem.
As if reading her mind, the boy calmly continued: "Moreover, my classmates decided to not cancel it off since so far all the visitors in the Lovers course never managed to gather all the keys."
The host did say something close to it, and to be honest, this decision wasn't really a good idea. However, a detail didn't add up in the story. It was a treasure hunt, so...
"Why did your classmate have the Heart key with him?"
"He was the one in charge of the Lovers room."
"The Lovers room?"
"You obtain the Heart key there. There are eight rooms in total, but two are exclusive to the Lovers' course." The boy explained the configuration of the place. "Visitors who choose the Friend's course only have to cross six rooms while in the Lovers', it's up to eight. That is why there's two different doors at the entrance."
"We've gone through the seventh room," Even though they didn't count the very first room they stepped in as a part of the treasure hunt. "So the one we're heading to is the eighth one but can't visitors of the Friends's course go through too?"
"They can't. It's locked." Upon reaching the door to the eighth room, Akashi had pressed the handle just to test it. The door was locked from the inside.
Following that failure, Akashi and her remained silent, awaiting further explanation from the boy.
"It only opens for those in the Lovers course." He simply said.
"How does it open?"
"You have to knock three times if you possess the five keys and present them and the flashlight to my classmate inside. If we had a light, you would see all the instructions written on the door and that there's a little opening below."
Ritsu, curious, touched the door. Her finger skimmed a thick wooden sign nailed to the door, certainly where the aforementioned instructions would be given. Underneath, her hand found the little opening from which visitors were to present the keys...and the flashlight?...to the person inside.
"Why the flashlight too?"
"A colored tape is fastened around it to differentiate the two courses. Red for lovers. Green for friends."
Despite the under-mannered staff, things were thought out carefully.
"So, your classmate won't open if there's a green tape on the flashlight." Akashi summed up and the boy gave him confirmation.
"And won't ever open since Kuroko-kun is the only one here." Ritsu added, dejected. Those consecutive events of bad luck were almost a sign that told them to give up on the treasure hunt.
"And so, how did your classmate end up losing the key? From what I understand, he has to remain behind the door to welcome visitors who want to enter the room."
"Since no one has reached this level, he couldn't stand waiting and often went out of the room to scare people off with us. He said it was funnier."
"..." Akashi sighed.
In other words, because of a boy who couldn't stick to his attributed role, their adventure had to be brought short one step before their ultimate goal.
"...We no longer have a purpose here. Let's find the exit."
Ritsu glimpsed at the redhead, the latter exuded the same composure as ever; nevertheless, was it too bold of her to go on saying that a whisper of disappointment swept past his lips? Even if they had to endure being in the dark, they knew that their efforts would still pay off and light would await them. Yet, nothing went as expected.
Perhaps sentimentality distorted the facts, and Akashi actually felt no such thing. But she couldn't have imagined it either. Just because the redhead always had a taste for challenge.
"We aren't going to look for it?" Ritsu asked, suggesting an idea out loud that could have crossed his mind yet remained unspoken... or perhaps, squashed.
Akashi walked over to the door leading to the second room and opened it, as if he didn't hear her. Ritsu didn't reiterate her question and let him be.
"I thought about it." Yet, he waited quietly for the other boy and her to catch up to him before crossing the door. "However, we have wasted enough time here, and besides we can't drag him around any further for our amusement. No matter how fine he may sound, he's still injured."
"You don't have to worry about me. I'll be fine." the boy in question said politely.
"We haven't given up, we're just changing our priority, you should do the same. We still need you to lead us to the exit."
"Thank you."
Akashi's concern affected the boy to some level. His voice became subtle while that whisper reached their ears with a warm intensity.
"All right, we're going."
Once again familiar with the place, the ghost boy led them without trouble. From the konnyaku jellies to the revenants, the way to exit didn't take them long, in spite of the usual bumps and bangs filling the darkness.
"We're in the last room. The exit is just ahead."
"The exit is here?..." Ritsu mumbled. The room was the fourth one, where she had pulled a sort of rope to get the key. From what she recalled there were three doors here, excluding the one they came from : One that opened to the sheets room, one without a handle, and a last they didn't check... Suddenly realizing what that last door was, her last drop of enthusiasm vanished in the air. And to say, the exit had been right under their nose.
On her way to the exit door along with Akashi, Asaka tried her best to avoid the hanged skeletons. She had already had her fill of them the last time they checked the room. Despite her efforts, having peace in this kind of place was too much to ask. She ran into the ghost boy in front of her who had suddenly stopped, then, out of the blue, a pile of bones assaulted her from above.
*clac* *clac* *spam*
"Waah!" Surprised by the attack, she lost her balance and fell together with the skeleton. That made it twice that she found herself on the floor.
"..."
At the ruckus, Akashi turned back and walked up to the clumsy duo.
"I'm sorry, my cape got stuck."
"...I guess we're even now."
"You two pair up well together." Akashi chuckled.
"You might have made the right decision, Akashi-kun." If they had kept on searching for the Heart key, the nurse would certainly have been their next destination.
The ghost boy moved the skeleton aside while Akashi helped her stand up again.
*cling*
"...?...!"
Back on her feet, she realised the ghost boy was still crouched. "Is something the matter?"
"No, nothing."
After the excitement and the deception came the comfort. A small one compared to their bad fortune. All three stood in front of the door, Akashi seized and pressed the handle, the next second the door decided to up put some resistance. It was locked.
"I forget to tell you that you need a key to open it."
They would not leave this Haunted house without trouble!
At this point, they had to admit their patience ran quite low with all the mishaps.
"Y-You should have mentioned it earlier..."
The soft rustles of a bag filled Akashi's silence, deliberately prolonged as to pressure the boy in giving one last explanation. The latter felt the push and went on in his even voice.
"You have to solve the riddle that is written next to the door and this leads you to the exit key."
His explanation went straight to the point and didn't betray a single quaver because of the faint pressure, which could have implied a long task or simply annoyance. Rather, his tone went up along a breath of hope and subdued assurance, as though as of now everything would go well for the two of them.
"But you won't have to do that." The boy earned the surprise of the duo. "Asaka-san, you mentioned earlier, after our encounter, that you two already found six keys. Did you find a key here?"
"Huh? Yes, after pulling a small rope." The exact instant prompted in her mind, she answered. " You mean we had the exit key all along with us?"
"Yes. In both courses, you have to find five keys, but the sixth key is not mentioned for surprise."
To summarize things briefly, six keys were to be found in the Friends' course and seven in the Lovers including the Heart key. Despite the lack of energy and enthusiasm weighting on her body due to bad fortune and darkness, a warm sentiment of wonder sparked deep inside.
She already had stated it earlier and wouldn't mind to reaffirm it again; but this haunted house was thought out with care. And maybe it was because of those small and ordinary details that Akashi and her still had fun, regardless of all their bad luck.
"We really had our lot of surprises here!" She laughed, now realising that their adventure would come to an end.
"It sure is an event I will remember." Spoke Akashi with the same light-heartedness. "Moments that only happened once are those we cherish for a lifetime."
The boy inserted the key in the lock and clicked the door. They came out on a small corridor, similar to the entrance. A faint and thin shaft of light at the end guided their way. She cracked a distant smile, both happy and sad to put this adventure behind her, while Akashi gradually invited the light into the corridor.
One step before the light, she turned her head back as to check on the ghost boy who had been their small glow amidst darkness. A soft hand tightened around her wrist, stopping her for a second and the next moment, she felt a cold sensation in her palm.
"Akashi-kun, Asaka-san. Thank you very much for your help. And congratulations on being the very first to have beaten the Haunted house."
As he thanked them, he remained in the darkness just like a shadow while they rejoined the light. He shut the door behind them in a quiet motion, leaving the duo that suddenly lost their voices after such parting words.
Outside, the sunlight burned her eyes. After being locked in the darkness for such long time, she couldn't stand the radiant and lively scenery before her that brimmed with the merry and loud confusion of the festival. The silence that hung in the air for so long gave way to chatters and laughter. Under such ordinary radiance, the light whipped her body with warmth, awakening her senses fallen in lethargy. Ritsu was rubbing her eyes. When she reopened them, white little stains blurred her sight due to the aggressive intensity of daylight, and then she blinked. Once her vision allowed defining clear shapes, a peculiar one put a smile on her lips. The fleeting picture of Akashi bathed in sunlight seized her heart with a velvet grip, the feeling was so warm that it stroke up an unknown melody, and so gentle that those rhythmic notes set a quiet harmony inside her. Truthfully, she had missed his stern yet full-of-passion face.
"Congratulations you two!" The host skittered their way and threw some confetti that rained on the duo, while joyful claps from a girl sitting at a desk next to the exit praised their accomplishments. "Phew~ I was getting worried. You were in there for pretty long and no sign of you two. Here I thought you'd clear the house in a flash. Unless..."
His mind illuminated by some mischievous thoughts, he drew closer to them.
"Everything has worked out for you two." Then he winked and whispered to Akashi. "...if you know what I mean!"
Ritsu, who didn't hear the last part exchanged between the two fellows, responded in a rather serious tone compared to the host's.
"No, it was horrible...Things didn't go well for us at all down the line."
The host gave a suspicious look to Akashi, curious to know the story but, the important detail that aroused his curiosity turned to be Akashi's way of dealing with girls, which sounded awfully bad by the way.
"W-What happened inside?" the boy stammered, looking forward to hear some naughty details of their wild adventure.
"I'll remember that experience." The host held his breath. Incoming gossip material ahead! "We took so much time because of—"
When she was about to pass the flashlight in her left hand to the right, her eyes flew open at the cold sensation felt minutes ago.
"And what next? Don't stop there!" The boy said excitedly, as she interrupted herself at the most important moment.
"Huh?...AH!"
What was in her hand was the Heart key.
"...WOOOH! THE HEART KEY!" He cried out, affected by the same surprise. "Y-You found it! I thought it was lost! "
"Us too!" She sent an inquiring look at Akashi who seemed as astounded as her.
"How did you manage that?...Ah?! How do you even know we lost it?"
"It was the ghost!"
It was him, no doubt about it. He gave it to her just before they got out of the Haunted house. But why and when did he actually find it?
"The ghost?!"
"Let me clarify the situation." Akashi spoke up, as their conversation began to be very confusing. "During our hunt, we met one of your classmates inside and he told us about the Heart key missing."
"But you can't talk to extras! That's against the rules!"
Akashi shrugged it off. "We didn't have any choice, our flashlight was defective and we were locked inside. We needed help and he was the only one we could ask."
At a stupefying piece of information, the boy gasped. "Don't tell me you did the treasure hunt in the dark?"
"We did." He said with connivance, his red eyes reflecting a kind attention toward Ritsu. "With great success, as it seems."
"You can't be serious!" The boy didn't believe his ears and exchanged a look with the girl at the desk whose silence spoke of her surprise.
"Also, concerning your classmate, you should check on him and bring him to the nurse office. According to Asaka, he was in a rather pitiful state." Akashi didn't forget about their mysterious encounter and actually cared for him. Well, this ghost boy sure had his own way to give first impressions.
The host raised his eyebrow "Something happened to him?"
"He told us he had been hit by accident by a group of visitors and momentarily passed out." Ritsu replied.
"You should go, Matsuda." The girl threw a flashlight at him.
"Yep." The boy opened the exit door and disappeared soon after. "Hey, Kuroko! You still alive? Your hero has come!"
"So~" Forgetting about her classmate, the girl clasped her hands and examined the two challengers. "I bet you have all the keys!"
"You guess ri—"
"WAAAH―!" The host's shout pierced the walls of the haunted house.
It seemed that their ghost also had found light again. Akashi and Ritsu exchanged connived smiles.
Then, the redhead put all the keys on the table, followed by Ritsu who placed the Heart key beside the others.
"You two are completely crazy!"
She bent down and searched the items in all the cardboxes. After a full minute of search, she stood up again while displaying their lots. Akashi smirked at the sight, his pupils were dilating again in happiness as they strangely managed to win all the prizes. If it weren't for the missing Heart key that reappeared miraculously when they had given up on it. That was truly a stroke of luck...
A stroke of luck named «Kuroko».
"You're the very first ones who obtained the six keys!"
She held out the first lot of prizes to Ritsu. Gladly accepting it, she looked into it. There were three envelopes containing a limited card for a month of free meals at the cafeteria, a ticket for free snacks at various food stalls and a free pass for some attractions of the festival respectively; and the rest was a cute ghost key chain and a pumpkin notebook.
Akashi also inspected his prizes, his faint smile stretched into a bright one, exposing his happiness in full display. His usual stern face had his traits mellowed by a soft brush of innocence during the short lapse of time his eyes were focused on the winning prizes. This picture of him simply smiling was so perfect to her eyes.
"Now then, stretch out your arms."
Both of them extended their right arms on which the girl fastened a silver chain bracelet where two thin bands entwined over the metal, one was silver and the other band was red for her and blue for Akashi.
"A proof of your love. That's the ultimate prize of the Lovers course."
This prize really paid off for their efforts because...
"Like it or not, now you are bonded!" the girl declared and leaned towards them. "Isn't that the best prize ever?"
"It seems you'll have to cope with me for a very long time, Akashi-kun."
"Likely. But it is not a bad prospect."
...Had they never been lost in this dark maze, they would have never been this close to each other. They created a simple bond between them.
Besides, there was nothing more satisfying than sharing a happy moment after hardships.