She shook her head wildly. "No. No no no, you can't be serious." Her voice was shaky and tears came again.
I grabbed her by the shoulders. "I'm serious, Liz. I love you. I want to spend every waking moment with you. Hell, you of all people should know that."
She gave me a warm smile and placed her hands on mine. "Arkham, I'm fine. I promise. You don't have to propose to me to-"
"Baraki."
"What?"
"My real name is Baraki Nakatsuka."
She fell into my arms and I caressed her. She was done crying. "You'd tell me your real name?"
"Of course I would."
She looked up with that same smile. "Rika Shinozaki... is my name." She blushed.
I blushed back. "You have a beautiful name... Rika-chan."
Her arms went around the back of my neck. "You're name is pretty cute too, Baraki-kun. But... let's not get married. Not yet, at least. I haven't even kissed you yet."
I brought my face to her's, until our noses were touching. "We could right now, if you'd like."
Her lips closed in on mine, but kissed my ticklish spot instead. The feeling was a mix of dread and pleasure. It was mostly the latter. She pulled back and gave me her impish smile again.
"Please don't smile like that."
"Hm? Like what?"
"You know what I mean. That devious smile you always give with your eyes lowered. It makes me blush."
"Aw, you think it's sexy, huh?"
I managed a smile through my reddened face. "Yeah. I do."
"If you don't want me doing it again, I know a way of stopping it."
"Hm?"
Incredible softness touched my lips without hesitation, making me shut my eyes. The feeling? Well, it's hard to describe a feeling like that, especially when it's your first time feeling it. I opened my eyes and saw that she needed to strain her neck to kiss me. I held her cheeks, breaking the kiss.
"What are you-"
"Smoke... I, sort of smoke, and-"
She planted her lips onto mine again. "Shh. Not now. Keep kissing." I felt her tongue explore the inside of my cheek and my face grew warm. This was probably the best feeling of my life, as cliche as it sounds. This went on for another ten seconds and I placed my hands on her shoulders when it was finished.
"Arkham... Baraki... please, don't leave me..." She wrapped her arms around my neck.
"I won't, Rika. I swear, I'll always be here."
"When I found out he liked someone else, everything fell a part for a little while. If what we have stops, I don't know if I can-"
I caressed her cheek. "Don't talk like that. I love you. There's no need to say those things."
She wiped away tears and we touched foreheads. "Okay. I'm sorry."
I decided to change the subject a bit. "Shall we finish our date?"
Her devious smile made an encore appearance. "Why don't we just head back to the shop? I'd like some alone time with you."
I took her hand. "Sure thing."
...
As we walked hand in hand, Liz (I'm going to keep calling her Liz so you don't lose track) turned to me and pouted.
"So, what was that about you smoking?"
I rubbed the back of my neck and chuckled. "Yeah... I tried my first cigarette when I was about 12 years old. I smoked on and off because I was at least smart enough to know what that stuff does to my lungs, especially at a young age."
"Apparently not smart enough to not smoke in the first place." She donned a serious expression. "When we get out of here, you're quitting. Got it?"
I gave her a thumbs up. I was thinking of quitting anyway. "Yes, ma'am."
"Wait... if we're trapped in here... that means our bodies are..." Her eyes widened. I caught my breath and we looked at each other.
Am I breathing properly? What's going on with my lungs as I lay trapped in a coma in a hospital? The thought scared me, wondering how long it would take before I stop breathing. I sighed with relief.
"We're probably all hooked up to something that helps us breathe. I'm sure I'll be fine."
"I wonder who's paying to take care of us?"
"No idea. Whatever the case, we should just be grateful that..." I squinted my eyes as I saw Liz' shop. There were to men dressed in black cloaks. "Liz, who are those guys?"
"Hm? No idea... maybe customers? Whatever the case, they should know that I'm closed..." We walked up to them, and I noticed that they were both members of Dancing Shadows.
"What are you guys doing here?" I asked. "Night patrols should be over by now and-" I noticed the grave looks on their faces.
"Arkham," one of the men said, "you've been found guilty of the murder of Joshua."
"What? The higher-ups found me innocent and placed me on suspension, why are you-"
"We have further evidence proving that you were the one who killed him."
I was infuriated. I already lost my place to stay thanks to a guild suspension, and now they were going to arrest me? I had had enough. I opened my menu.
"Screw this. I'm leaving the guild."
"If you leave the guild, then we have no choice but to label you as an enemy. We will have no choice but to execute you."
My finger froze as I browsed the menu. Liz, a panicked look on her face, did something I least expected.
She took my arm and ran.