Chapter V

Entwined

Samejima has a grave semblance, his astute eyes switch between Daitokuji and Chronos who debate over the best way to settle the matter with the two Osiris students, a deep sigh as he looks at the boys sitting across from him. He clears his throat loudly so both teachers pay attention to him.

"So, professor Chronos, you believe the solution is to send them straight home and Daitokuji-kun, you believe we should give them a chance by either suspending them for a week and educate them with an intensive course about the school's rules or settle it with a different approach that does not involve expulsion…"

"Principal, the rules are clear, not only the dropo- I mean, Judai Yuki went to an off-limit zone, he also did it during the night, breaking many rules, if he can't follow the rules like other students, this will have a bad impact on the image of our academy and, consequently also in his life as a duelist with compromise in being bound by rules."

"We were just-" Shou speaks, but a hand lands on his shoulder, Daitokuji prevents him from continuing.

"Professor Chronos, it's true they broke the rules, but it's also known in the academy by rumors that other students tried this before, your obelisk students included, despite none of them being caught." His seriousness leaves both Shou and Judai in awe, Chronos jumps back at the remark " What you're saying is to use those boys as an example to instil fear in others who did this before unfairly expelling them while many others were left unpunished. If we were to expel all of them, I'm sure the names of your dear obelisk students would also appear in a proper list made with a full effort investigation and it hurts me to think that only the students of the Osiris red are being punished, because they happened to get caught. Do you understand my worries?"

"W-well…" he staggers, sweating nervously and his eyes narrowing irritated at the same time, he can't help but compliment internally the perspicacity of that argument.

"I see you both will not give in to the other. That said, professor Chronos, I agree with Daitokuji-kun here that it would be unfair to treat the boys with expulsion with a single time they broke the rules, you know our school works with 3 warnings, causing expulsion in the last one if the previous warnings were given, but ignored or disrespected. While I do understand the gravity of the situation and do not condone such behaviors from our students, it would be a waste of talent to not give them the chance to fend for their place here, don't you agree?"

"Mista. Do you have an idea in mind, principal?" He asks reluctantly, the other man just smiles somewhat victoriously.

"Yes. How about you two participate in a tag duel?" His closed eyes and gentle smile strikes the boys with certain puzzlement as they exchange a glance, waiting for him to proceed "I propose that if you two win in a tag duel against an opponent of our school's choice, you two can stay in the school, however, if you lose, you'll need to pack your things. There's no better way for a duelist to prove their worth and intentions than through a duel, don't you agree?"

"Are you sure, principal?" Judai stands up from his chair excitedly.

"What do you think, Daitokuji-kun? Professor Chronos?"

The frown on Daitokuji's expression alleviates, a smile finally opening in his lips after securing his students a chance of comeback and to give them amnesty for their offenses.

"A duel? Heh, belle, that's a marvelous choice. I will take care of choosing their opponents, then." He smirks shrewdly.

"Sure." The director nods, allowing him a try, the sooner they prove to him they're duelist worth of the academy, the sooner Chronos will stop bugging them.

Chronos' conviction and smirk send a chill through Shou's spine, fearful of which people he will come up with to defeat them. He's sure the professor wants to humiliate them publicly, and he has the impression this is due to his friend winning on the entrance exams day. Their hands are tied up in the matter and all they can do is accept if they want to keep going as duelists here.

"We accept it! Right, Shou?"

"Y-yes…"

His insecurity is stamped on his face in contrast with his friend's euphoria. Sometimes he wonders how Judai can be so positive regardless of good or bad times, he doesn't have this strength neither this capacity and most likely, this is because he isn't as good of a duelist as Judai. A deep sigh escapes his lips as they leave the director's office with the proposal accepted.

All eyes are on them and word spreads fast about their tag duel, people are divided between agreeing on the fairness of the challenge and disagreeing they should have a chance, the latter coming from the elitist students who wouldn't care less if an Osiris is expelled.

Under the attention, Shou's stress aggravates, sweating profusely and his heart pumping anxiously, trapped in this maze of not knowing what to do and not believing himself. Also, something else bothers him… His brother.

On the other hand, Judai talks non-stop about trivial things and dueling while walking with him towards their dorm. He is such a free spirit, he envies his friend for being able to be so relaxed in those tense moments.

"Man, professor Daitokuji really saved our neck there, he was so cool with that argument, professor Chronos was sweating bullets and completely speechless!" He guffaws, but stops after noticing his friend halted in the middle of the way "Hey, Shou, are you not coming to the dorm now?"

"I have some things to settle, so you can go on ahead!" He scratches his head clumsily, lying to his friend.

"Sure thing! See you later!"

They wave their hands at each other, the blue-haired teen goes to the coast alone, standing near the precipice, the sound of the waves helping him think.

Many years ago…

Shou is much younger than the current time, six or maybe seven, his brother is also a lot younger, they both sit on the couch, a disorganized bunch of cards strewn over the center table in front of them. He happily shows a card to his older sibling that smiles faintly.

"You can only use the effect of this card during the end phase, Shou. It won't work in the middle of the battle phase."

"Huh…" he skims through the text of the card confusedly, drops of a nervous sweat spurting from his head "I don't get the text… Brother, you're so smart."

"It will be easier to understand when you know how to read better." He ruffles his younger sibling's hair gently, receiving a smile back as a response.

"Not even I can understand what this means."

A female voice comes from behind, they shiver before recognizing that person, their mother. She has crossed arms and an uninterested expression, her work outfit has a coffee stain that appears to be almost wiped out unsuccessfully leaving a faint brown color as proof, but she smells like the cigarette that is still lit in her mouth.

"Mom!" They both rejoice in unison.

"Kyouko, we talked about this, no smoking inside the house and especially not in front of the kids."

Yet another person talks behind them, they all watch as a average heighted man comes closer, his hair is the same color as Shou's but much shorter, his bangs falling over his eyebrows a bit; and his eyes are round, but smaller than Shou's having an undefined color between grey and blue, his clothes consist on a casual garment and he dries his wet hands on the apron he wears. He smiles with his whole face, his eyes closing and he kindly pulls out the cigarette from the mouth of his wife without any ceremony, ceasing its fuming on the ashtray placed on the kitchen table nearby.

"But Ellis, I just arrived, I wasn't-" she contests. He is faster.

"I was baking a cake, I'm surprised you didn't just walk straight up."

"I was just checking the kids." She pouts, folding her arms with some contempt, avoiding to look at her husband "Boys, I understand you're really into dueling lately, but have you even done your homework?"

"W-we did!" Ryou uses his arms unconsciously to help him straighten up as he justifies himself "Dad never let us play before doing it."

"You heard him." Her husband casts a side glance as if he won that battle, the kids are on his side.

"Even so… Don't you want to be astronauts, airplane pilots or something? You've been spending an awful lot of time reading cards and playing with it. Do you not have fun with your other toys?" She bends over the back of the couch, trying to make a deal with them "Tell me which toys you want, I'll buy it for you."

"But mommy, dueling is fun." The younger one states looking at her with some expectancy she will understand those words.

"Yes and dad says it also helps us learn how to read." Ryou complements, knowing their education has always been an argument whenever the topic of dueling was involved.

She recoils, a drop of sweat rolling down her face and a subtly bothered curl on her eyebrows. Her orbs are fixed the longest on Ryou's face, as if she sees a part of herself in there and she doesn't like it. Since when did her kid become smart enough to make such points to defend his stance? She might have troubles with this one later in life.

"You can play however you want, sweeties, but don't spend too much time on it, will ya? Have fun with other things too and try out different toys and games."

"Kyouko, why don't you go up and have a shower?" Her husband intervenes, timing the moment as usual, she has a crossed stare at him, it's because he's always defending their wishes they're growing too fond of duels and not thinking about anything else is what was written all over her expression.

"You might end up spoiling them too much, you know?" She snarls before getting out of the room and vanishing into the upper floor of the house.

The kids exchange a concerned glance, kneeling on the couch and supporting their hands at the back of it, raising their heads to look at the father.

"Is she angry at us, dad?"

"Why does mommy not like when we duel?"

"Ah, no, no, please, she isn't angry." He chuckles gently, lowering himself to be at the height of the kids "Let me tell you a secret: your mother doesn't know how fun dueling can be because she never dueled in her whole life."

They gasp as if that was the most shocking truth they've learned in their short existence, wondering how it can even be possible, after exchanging a glance, they again gaze at their father.

"But don't worry, if she doesn't know how fun it is, I will soften her to let you two duel, okay? And…" he brings his head even closer, ascertain no one else is around and whispering to make more suspense "Don't tell your mother, but we can go to that card store today while she's napping and you can get ice cream to go with that cake I'm baking on the way back."

They hop enthusiastically, oozing cheerfulness, thrilled about how their day would be, their father just laughs enjoying the cute reaction of them both as they drive over each other's words making theories on the cards they could get and ideas for decks.

Back to the present, Shou ponders about all that happened in the last days, he sees an image of his brother in his mind, but an younger version of Ryou that smiles at him, as that version grows, the gap between them increases, he stretches his hand to reach out, but the smile on his brother's face disappears and his expression becomes indifferent just like their mother's, then, Ryou simply turns his face away and walks off alone.

Shou's hand falls down with hopelessness, his head flopping to the front as he bites his lips, his bangs casting shadow on his eyes. Since when did he stop having fun while dueling? It used to be so different as a kid, he can barely remember how it felt to just sit with his brother and spend hours talking about duel monster, strategies and cards. Now…

Now he feels they're so far apart it would be awkward and not right of him to do that anymore. They're not kids, he should be able to devise his own strategies and read on his own. His brother has improved so much, he would probably be ashamed of him right now. He didn't grow a single bit as a duelist compared to back then, did he?

Maybe their mother was right and he shouldn't have spent so much time with this. Perhaps, he should've listened and given up as a duelist. Is it too late? He will be expelled anyways, so may be able to still do something else for his life. This is what his mind yells at him, but deep down, he knows this is not true. If he could duel, even if it's just a tiny bit longer…

His fists clench on their own, trembling as he bites his lips, his eyes wobbling with tears, he wipes them out by rubbing his arm on his face, staring gloomly at the vast sea. Accordingly to the agreement, professor Chronos will announce their opponent tomorrow, he is not eager to find out about their opponent, though. A distressed sigh comes out of his lips. What will life throw at him next?

Later at night, that same day

Most of the students sleep quietly, the sound of the outside bugs and animals are the only noise in the air. Shou couldn't bat an eye anxious about the opponents while Judai snores on the side, the blankets barely covering him.

Rie looks out of the window of the female obelisk dorms from her room, she didn't see Asuka going out this time. She doesn't fully grasp Ryou's, Asuka's or Edo's personality, but she figured they wouldn't be spreading rumors about her going out at night given they were also involved and she could use the argument against them, they're smarter than that.

Her steps make soft plops on the ground when she walks from one side to the other of the floorboard, thinking how to best solve the situation. The note from the mysterious sender states they should meet in the woods at night and that she should come alone in front of the place known as the witch's hut. It goes without saying how shady it all is, but she has no choice if they indeed know she left the dorms.

Putting a hand on her pocket, she takes out the amulet, her eyes widen in surprise after taking a good look at it, the green gem carved there is cracked. With a dry gulp, she tucks it back in her pocket.

"I don't like this… But… I should use it to wipe their memories out…" the thought alone pains her bosom.

Determined, she leaves the room as silently as possible, double-checking if anyone is following her and making sure this time she won't be seen. The place really exists on the location they directed her to, it's a small wooden hut, built over short pillars not taller than a meter above ground, some of the rooftop tiles are missing and a chimney can be seen on the top left corner of it.

There is only one door that has seen better days, and it has two thick planks nailed into it that can be used as some sort of mechanism to close the door shut from outside, there are attachments on the wall to support both. A few stone steps form a stairway to the door, some parts are already crumbling and a few rock shards have fallen out on the vicinity of the steps; The walls are taken by the ivies that established a kingdom there and there is one window, but it seems blocked with metal plates from inside.

The unappealing state of the hut explains well how people believed it belongs to a witch, the air around smells old and dusty, a freezing breeze blows past her, she rubs her own arms in seek of some warmth, waiting with an alerted gaze. Little do those students know that hut belongs to…

There's a movement on some bushes nearby, her eyes instinctively flash towards the place, her posture hardening and preparing to react in time, before she knows, there's someone behind, she turns around just to see a wooden log right in front of her eyes, her head is hit hard.

It was a trap, a distraction from the front while the real danger was behind. Her vision fades to black before she can fully see the face of the culprit, she can only see their shoes and white socks.

"A girl…?"

Her consciousness dwindles, her head aching a second before she can feel nothing else. The girl who hit her is Ayako, holding a thick and short log of wood she used as a weapon to knock Rie out, an expression bordering panic as she sweats coldly. The realization she actually hurt someone makes her hands tremble and lose the grip on the log.

"Oh my gosh, I did it, I-"

Another person approaches from her front, it's Izanami with a devious smirk. She takes off her backpack and kneels, checking Rie's condition.

"Don't worry, she's just sleeping. Now, come here help me, we need to take her in…"

"B-but…"

"Quick! We don't want her to wake up and see our faces!"

They check her pockets, taking out both her student PDA, the note she crumples immediately and a strange sort of amulet.

"What a creep, is she always carrying this thing around?" She snorts, grossed out by the object.

"What do we do with all this?" Her friend still seems astounded with the adrenaline of hurting someone.

"Let's just throw it to the side!" She concludes, tossing the objects to the left of the entrance of the hut, it drops inside some unkempt grass and twigs "Now, let's take care of her… You see the planks outside the door? I don't know who had the idea to hammer it there, but they're perfect to close the door from outside if you want to keep someone trapped, not that we will need it for our naughty little play..."

Her silhouette casts a shadow over Rie's body as she grins evilly with her plan put into motion. At the same time, at the lighthouse…

"I didn't expect we would be seen, even more by…"

"We will keep an eye on them, you take care of Rie's side and I'll watch out for Edo."

"To think all this time there were clues inside the abandoned dorms and we missed it before… But now we know. Do you…" she stops, not finding the words to say it "Hm… The shadow duels… You don't believe this could have anything to do with Fubuki's…"

"I don't know anymore… All I can say is that we can't discard any possibility. Regardless, if there are shadow duels involved, the same that great people like Yugi Muto and his companions were said to have taken part into… This might be more serious than we expected…"

He talks out loud following his own processing of the facts, noticing a tad too late the distraught expression on Asuka's face. He regrets instantly and facepalms himself very silently, bathing his face in aloofness again:

"It's fine either way, we will find him and bring him back somehow." His exacerbated confidence was more a way to calm her down than his actual belief.

"Ryou… That's right. We've never been this close. Just a bit more and we may find out where he is…" she confirms in a brighter mood "Talking about clues… have you heard the rumors about the 'witch's hut'? I've heard many girls talking a lot about it lately, apparently some students went there and said there was something 'arcane' about the air in there."

"No, I haven't heard." He glances briefly at her.

"Maybe we could check that place too…"

"I think we should stop here today, Asuka… With how hectic everything was in school and how Judai and Shou were caught, we may need to be more discreet for at least a few days, until the flames are gone. Then, we can check this hut you talk about."

"Hm." She nods "I will be going first then."

"I should walk you-"

"You don't need to. I will be careful." She beckons swiftly, entering the path to the girls' dorm.

He stands a few minutes longer, the wind coming from the ocean blowing coldly on his face, he's not sure of what could have happened to Fubuki, but he dislikes the idea of supernatural forces being involved.

A somewhat demotivated node forming on his brows as he walks back, drifting inside his own mind, his steps halt, his eyes sharpening. Indeed he told Asuka they should check the hut later, but that was a lie, he's curious to know whether the place in fact is as shady as rumors goes, without endangering her again. If something happened to her while they search for Fubuki, he'd never be able to face his friend again or the father of the Tenjouin siblings.

A noise of branches crackling disrupts his immersion, could it be somebody's really there? He treads carefully, sneaking behind the trees, from afar he sees an obelisk boy walking furtively towards some sort of small hut.

"So this is it…? Despite walking everywhere, it seems we really don't know everything around, only today I heard such a house existed on the island…" He saves those disappointed thoughts to himself. "What is an obelisk student doing here?" His eyes narrow in distrust, he would rather not be caught, but the situation demands some action.

A few minutes earlier

Ayako taps her feet impatiently on the ground, every fiber of her body moving, incapable of letting peace enter her interior. Izanami rolls her eyes around, tired of seeing how fussy the other one became.

"Can you pipe down your shoe dancing, please? He'll come in no time, you should've seen his lecherous eyes, such a moron would never lose a good opportunity like this."

As soon as she finishes the sentence, they can see a shadow coming out of the forest, the full dark-blue uniform stands out amidst all the greenery, he blushes upon seeing they're really there waiting for him.

"Welcome, she's already waiting for you in there." Izanami stretches her arm showing the few stone steps forming a stairway to the door.

"I-is she really in there?!" He almost jolts back, not believing his ears.

"Of course!" Ayako exchanges a naughty glance with the friend and they grin.

"Holy shit…" he sweats aplenty, his eyes wavering just by looking at the place, his skin becoming as red as an apple.

"Well, we don't want to bother you two, so we will be leaving now…" Ayako steps back, willing to take her leave.

"Yeah, don't forget to not tell anyone that we helped you two, right? We will let you lovebirds have fun!" she winks.

Izanami gives the final touches and they both walk away, holding back to not show how much of a farce they're putting up. He stares at them confusedly and still dazed by the situation.

It doesn't take a second they're into the forest for them to break into laughter, their plan seems to have worked. Ayako lets out a heavy breath, covering her mouth, her eyes bulging out in excitement.

"What do we do now, Iza-chan?"

"Well, we can go back to the dorms and let the magic happen." Her dim sense of irony makes her laugh at herself "All we need to do now is wait until morning comes and tell the teachers we think we saw Rie's message scheduling a meetup with a boy here…"

"Oh, and they'll find out very fast."

They burst into laughter again and trail their way back to the obelisk female dorm uncaring about the results of their actions and clueless to what was yet to happen.

At this moment, Raizou gulps in front of the hut, he is there standing at the doorstep, his hand reaches out for the doorknob, it creaks while opening a bit, more than his ears would like to listen.

"If I do this, Taiyou will finally stop bothering me, and even Manjoume-san will respect me as a man!" He fills his chest with a silly sense of pride.

His nostrils let out hot fumes as he confidently pushes the door open to enter the place, his feet sliding a step in until he hears a voice call out:

"Hey! What are you doing?!"

The grave, strict tone gives him goosebumps, his whole brain crying out loud to him "trouble", making him a nervous wreck. He whirls around his lips quivering in despair as he gets a full sight of the person slowly and heavily coming his way.

"K-Kaiser Ryo?" His tone comes out a bit more hoarse and failed than he intended to, he gulps under the sharp and threatening glare cast unto him.

Those eyes seem to surround him like in a terrifying nightmare in which he's lost and being watched by them and they're bigger than his whole body while he is but a small ant compared to it.

"You shouldn't be out here at night, do you not know students went missing in the academy before?!"

His shout elicits a small jump back on the boy, he's scared to death, but his eyes switch nervously from the Kaiser to the side, to the open door of the hut. It's so painfully obvious he is hiding something, Ryou shakes his head off in a disapproving movement.

"What is in there for you to be so uptight?" He pressures.

There is a moment of silence, the boy's eyes widening more, if that was feasible. He traces the words back until he understands that was a question directed to him, Ryou simply scowls to make himself more clear that he's been waiting for a plausible answer.

"I-I think I saw someone in there…"

He resorts to the last tactic, if the Kaiser Ryou tells he was out here after curfew, his neck will be rolling next morning, and with how the older one is the favorite student, it's not hard to imagine he'll be escaping the tightrope with ease.

"Someone…?" He is awestruck, his eyes darting to the hut puzzled at the idea. "Who?"

"I-I don't know… That's what I wanted to check!"

The lie comes in a hoarse voice. The blue-haired teen approaches, Raizou walks a step away from the path letting the blue-haired teen pass by. Ryou's fists clench, his gaze demonstrated certain hopefulness as he enters into the hut.

He barely crosses the threshold, a step into the house to notice how dark it is inside, the moonlight coming only from the entrance at his back, his shadow cast inside mingling with the darkness of the ambience, his orbs walking the entire walls of house for him, amused that such a place exist on the island.

On the outside, the younger boy shivers, he doesn't want to be expelled, much less denounced by the honor student, with a desperate glance at how the Kaiser is distractedly touring inside, oblivious to the secret date he was supposed to have, he takes his final decision and musters courage for his cowardly acts.

In a blink of an eye, he slams the door sealed, Ryou only has time to spin back, hasting to the entrance, however, Raizou closes both planks to block the door from outside, leaving him trapped in there.

"Open the door!" He beats the wood with both hands, his voice in a mix of authority and annoyance. "Open this door right now!"

"I-I'm sorry! Forget I exist!"

His feet skid back in a reflex, frightened by what he just did and in how furious the boy on the other end must be right now. Squeezing his eyes tight, he turns away and runs off, cursing himself mentally for being weak and wasting such an opportunity to be with a girl and for letting himself get caught, hoping that the Kaiser will not remember his face by daybreak.

Ryou beats the door more strongly with the side of his angrily tightened fists, his irritation growing by the minute as he shouts to open up. He grinds his teeth and steps back, dashing and striking the door with his shoulder, it shakes but the planks on the other side are still solid, he is the one bounced back with the impact, he tries a couple times until his shoulder bone cries in pain and he has to give up.

His fists are bright red from the amount of times he used them to hit the wood, despite that, he hits it one more time out of frustration, lashing out his wrath it.

"Crap… He escaped and left me behind…" he expires air for a long second, covering his eyes with a hand, in part ashamed of being careless and in part, indignant with the boy's demeanor. "I should've predicted this…"

His posture tenses up as he looks around, it's even darker now, but there are some thin, almost translucent beams of moonlight coming from the crevices in between the metallic planks hammered on the window on the left wall. Which sort of person would build a house this closed and for what? He starts questioning.

His arms fold unconsciously as he ponders, checking every millimeter he can see, his eyes already got used to the almost non-existent light. There is a bed behind him that has rags for bedsheets; a completely empty shelf on the wall on the right that is adorned with a layer of pure dust and a fireplace beside it that has ashes and ancient coal pieces; the air feels cramped inside and smells old, certainly not many people have been here in a long time.

The only window is blocked from inside, he can do only as much as peek from the openings between the irregularly placed planks, but nothing else. There is also a chair near the bed, albeit its seat is only a frame missing its cushion or whatever was there before.

He lowers his head in a trance, closing his eyes for a short moment to gather his thoughts. There has to be a way to find help. In a blink of eye, he figures a plan, taking out his PDA from the inner chest pocket of his obelisk coat, he checks the signal.

"No internet and no signal even for normal calls…? What are those walls made of? Lead?"

His connection with the outside world is lost, while the signal should cover most of the island if not all of it, it seems this specific spot on the map is not receiving anything. He can see the thin particles of dust floating in the faint moonlight from the window, how long until someone notices he never came back to the dorms?

A sound startles him, his posture changing to awareness, it was a soft crawl as if there is something inside that eerie hut with him, he whirls back looking around there is nothing but the furniture. His eyes widen as he reminds the words of the boy about someone being in there, he thought it was all part of the trick.

His feet move cautiously and slowly around the left side of the bed until his vision can define who is in there, his orbs wavering slightly as he gapes in a worried and perplexed way. It's Rie, she is thrown on the ground, which is how he couldn't see her before he came closer. Her hair spread on the floor as if she's unconscious, a blindfold covering her eyes and her hands seem to be tied on her back. Did someone kidnap her and bring her here? But why?

His mind runs a kilometer trying to decipher what it all means, however it's not hard to link the dots, she's here alone and tied up and a boy was coming to this same hut. He doesn't know who did it, but this sick prank went way too far, it turns his stomach upside down.

Without a word he steps closer, there's no reaction from her, which just flames more his concern over her state, he kneels down, supporting her back and sitting her, leaning her back on the bed frame.

He has to free her up first, then ask what happened. Her hair partially flaps over the black cloth used as a blindfold, his hand hesitates for a second before he moves away the pink strand on his way to the knot tied behind her head, it slithers easily on his fingers and it's very smooth.

He scolds himself at his own analysis, this is not the time for that, as soon as he tries to pull a side of the knot to undo it, he notices it's stuck when her head comes along. At this point he reproaches himself mentally, but he needs to do it albeit considering it improper, his other hand lands on her face, holding it in place, close to his chest so he can more properly pull off the blindfold, her skin is so cold, as if it absorbed the temperature of the ground. Which animal would do this to a girl? The moment he thinks that to himself, a reaction spurs, an instinctive act, he is stared at by her for a second through the piece of cloth, as if she can see him.

His lips move to form a sentence, but before he can think of one, she bites the hand that had been on her face.

"Ouch! Rie! It's me, Ryou!"

He can't help but let out a grunt of pain, grimacing at it, in a quick line of thought, he takes the chance to fully undo the blindfold, the cloth drops from her eyes and her mouth finally lets go of his hand when she gawks at him, not without leaving a visible mark.

He drops down to his bottom, taking some distance and supporting both hands on the ground. Her eyes flicker in bewilderment, looking around, not understanding anything of what's going on.

"I didn't mean to hurt you…" he says holding his breath "I just wanted to free you…"

The words stun her, as if noticing for the first time she is tied, she scuffles while trying to get rid of the ropes. He lets out that breath he has been holding. What is happening here, is this serious?

"Wait. I can help you out."

Her eyes waver subtly, a hint of distrust in them as she squints it, turning around, but always looking over her shoulder to watch over his gestures and moves. He tries to be as swift as possible, when her hands are free, he can see the shape of the rope tattooed on her wrists, who would be so violent to a girl? He huffs annoyedly, getting up.

She mimics his action, he merely crosses his arms and averts his gaze to the side, his mind lost in a world of his own until he speaks with irony to lighten the mood:

"And here I thought only my fangirls wanted to bite off a piece of me… It seems you also do, a bit too literally." He raises a brow peeking at the wound, she did a number there. Then he touches on his head remembering the time at the library when a book dropped on his head "You really have a knack for hurting people."

There's not a single answer or physical response, he turns his orbs at her, she's just staring at him blankly, dazed by the whole situation until she understand his sentence, he can see the red color spreading from bottom to top, she slaps her face, hiding it on both hands, bending apologetically.

"That was a joke." She could hardly see that in his stoic tone and expression as she looks at him, abashed and feeling bad for her own mistake. "I'm not angry at you. I understand you did it in self-defense, don't worry." He clears his throat awkwardly, ashamed of the failure in cutting the dense mood, changing the subject with haste "So, can you tell me why you are here, Rie?"

Her lips unseal and she takes in air, making an effort to pronounce words, but ultimately she gives up, her head lowering in a depressed stance as she entangles her fingers together, twiddling them shyly, his arms uncrossing immediately, his blood rushing faster than he'd wish to. She's probably scared and shocked, but he's not very good with sensible people, he'd wish about now he was more cheerful and easygoing like Fubuki.

"Is there something wrong? Was it what I said? I didn't-"

She swings both hands shaking her head to indicate that's not it, instead she shows him, by pulling the pockets of her skirt out, they're empty. It's a long second before he replies puzzled:

"Ah… Right. I forgot you need your communicator. Hm…" he rummages through his own pocket "Here. This will do, right?"

He offers his student PDA. She stares at him bemused for a moment, wondering if it was fine to accept, he just pushes it closer until she takes it, her eyes linger on the object foggily as she holds it with both hands.

"There's no internet signal unfortunately. But it should be enough to write messages. I can't vouch for the battery, though."

His standoff semblance gives a calm vibe, she envied his composure, but started weaving a text.

"What are you doing here, Kaiser Ryou?"

"Me? There is no need to call me Kaiser. And you should know that both me and Asuka are searching for her brother every night… I didn't expect you of all people to be here after the talk we had. Didn't we all agree it's dangerous and-"

He stops himself middle-way upon hearing the clacking noise of the keys typed at an inhumane speed, waiting for her to finish the text, a drop of sweat trickling down his face by hearing her intense typing.

"There was a note in my locker saying they'd know what I was doing. Since Judai and Shou were caught, I thought they knew about me and all of us, so I… I came to the place they agreed to meet, but… Someone knocked me out at the entrance of a hut…"

"Someone knocked you out? What was the exact content of the note? To me, it just looks like someone tricked you… Did you not think for a moment it was a prank?"

Now that he mentions, the content was rather general, there was nothing specified besides the time and place to meet. Was it a trap from the beginning? Her brows curl up consternated. If she had nothing to hide, she'd have ignored it, but exactly because of her role here in the school as a spy for her uncle and her latest night adventure, she couldn't just dismiss it. Of course, she also couldn't tell him all the little details like the fact she knows exactly what this hut is and what it's used for.

His stern gaze is not judgmental, but she feels scolded by it, averting her eyes, his lips open a tiny bit, he closes his eyes continuing:

"I understand what they did to you has gone far beyond any joke, but you also need to be careful. We warned you, Rie, students have gone missing and…" he is reluctant to bring out the topic "The hate letters too…"

She flinches at the mention, unwilling to comment about the subject, her lips curving down as she begrudgingly types a new message:

"You don't think it was…?"

"Did you not see their face or how many were there?"

"Not much." She reinforces with her head "I was watching out for my surroundings, but one of them came from behind and hit my head, then all I remember is that there was another person… I think… They were both girls, but I'm not sure… I fainted before taking a good look at them… Maybe there were more…"

"Girls…? This doesn't make sense, the one I saw was an obelisk male student… Why…?"

He voices in his mind, then, in a second everything enlaces together, his eyes widening at the truth he unravels internally, the girls, the boy, the hut and the intricacies of their plan.

His hands clutch his arms stronger than necessary at the story, his lips also sourly curving down, his gaze cast to the ground. If this was really a scheme of some girls, he is to blame for this. To think his fans would go as far as to hit a girl and let her for… After a silent minute, he speaks again, his tone a tad graver than normal.

"If they were girls, it's very likely they were the same who sent you all the hate letters, in other words, probably my fans."

There is some self-contempt imbued in his voice, if he hadn't come instead, that boy would have… Taken advantage of her. His head aches with the mention alone, he can't even stomach the possibility of…

He listens to a gasp from the side, her fingers forming a new message speedily, he hears her steps heavily stomping closer, the screen displayed right in front of his eyes, blocking the sight to her face.

"No, it's not your fault. You can't be held responsible for other people's actions." She tilts her head to the side, to show herself a bit, a saddened gleam abiding in her eyes, is she worried about him now? Even though she should be worrying more about herself?

"That's what I have been telling myself and look where it got me." He scoffs at himself "Now we're both stuck here." He trails off to the distance, his eyes trying to reach what's beyond those walls.

He disrupts his own drifting from reality upon noticing the quietness and lack of reply from her, directing his attention to her again. Her head is down, her bangs casting a short shade over her afflicted eyes, her shoulders slumped, it looked as if his PDA could slide off from her hand at any moment.

It took him this to read the room and understand this might not have been the best time to be negative, he berates himself inwardly, his hands fidgeting a bit before he recomposes his collectedness:

"We can't stand still, we have to find a way out, Rie. Let's try looking around."

He attempts to sound hopeful, but there was no confidence in the nod she gave as an answer, it was more a resigned nod of having no choice in the matter. His brows wrinkled up in pity and half regretful for making it worse on her, he's really bad at this comforting stuff, but he has to settle this straight.

"The door won't budge… I think it was blocked from outside…" he massages his shoulder that still hurts from the previous attempts of breaking out "But we can check the walls, furniture, fireplace and window…"

She agrees, they take a side of the hut each, he touches everywhere on the shelves and chair and walls, but there doesn't seem to exist any sort of contraption or secondary exit.

They both gather in the middle of the room again in dismay, she checked the metallic planks, but they're far too hammered in the walls and heavy to be taken out of the window.

"The chimney is too narrow for us to try entering it, only a small kid would fit in that space…" he finishes his report on his side.

They sigh in unison, his expression is indifferent, but she can sense bother in his discreetly crooked brow. Her fingers hover on the keys of the PDA before she decides to risk a question that they both might not want to think about:

"Ryou, what do we do? We can't… Get out of here alone, can we?"

His scowl accentuates, his fists clenching unnaturally tight, flustered at the predicament. True he was known for his cleverness too, but right now he has absolutely no idea of what to do.

"I don't know…" he answers bitterly at the defeat.

Her eyes widen astounded at his admission, perhaps it was also wrong of her to assume he could do anything and pressure him more. They both stand quietly, each one with their own thoughts, skimming through the facts, finding solace in that they at least are not alone in this.

Rie fears what will happen, she can't contact her uncle or anyone, there's no signal and she knows well there is no other exit besides the door, her amulet and PDA are gone, plus, if he finds out what this house is used for… Her eyes take a peek at his face, uneasiness flowing inside her.

He's been standing with this cold stone expression, as if thinking about life, his intense orbs meet hers when he suddenly lifts them, feeling stared at. She jolts in place averting her eyes instantly, sweating hectically, her cheeks reddening faintly, she must not, in any circumstance, let him find out her plans or the involvement of her uncle with this hut.

What can they do to get out of there? And what if they can't? For how long will they be trapped before someone notices and what happens after someone does…? A mutual feeling is shared between them: this night will be the longest of their lives.