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Eventually, the lights flickered back on but Tristan had yet to return. (Y/n) was pretty sure he would and she really didn't want to stay obediently in the gymnasium waiting for him. Did she have a plan? No, not exactly, but if she did, it was going to involve a lot of window breaking and parkour.

But logically, it was still better than running off and getting lost, and then thrown over some caveman's shoulder and locked back up. Besides, they still had their bet. She wanted her laptop even though the bet obviously wasn't leaning in her favor.

Tristan returned a few seconds later. His collar was undone and his sleeves rolled up. He clapped the nonexistent dust off his hands and picked the ball off the floor.

"Let's get back to it, shall we?" He said, spinning the ball between his hands. "How about we change the rules. If you can get seven baskets before I get twenty, you win. It'll give you more opportunities to win."

He wants me to score five more times? (Y/n) pondered her options carefully. But I guess if it's not he's going to win. He's at nine and I'm at two.

"Fine. You can even shoot first."

That was probably a dumb idea, especially when they were taking turns shooting the ball instead of playing a one on one.

He shrugged, not really caring. "Suit yourself."

Her attempts at sabotage weren't exactly the best, she had to admit, but you had to understand her options were limited. She couldn't exactly pull out the rest of the balls from the storage and throw them at him, could she?

Oh wait, she could. They weren't locked up, were they? That meant she could help herself.

When it came for her to shoot, she stood as close to the basket as she could and threw a volleyball up into it. He never specified it had to be a basketball, did he?

Tristan watched with raised eyebrows as the ball bounced off the rim of the basket. "Setting aside the fact you're cheating, you still couldn't make it in?"

"T-that was a warmup," she argued, trying to cover up her embarrassment. "This is the real one."

"Yeah?" He took a step back, crossing his arms. "Don't mind me; go on."

(Y/n) fought the urge to swear at him as she took another step closer to the hoop and narrowed her eyes. Stupid basket. I'm going to get it in this time. Just you watch. Summoning her inner Michael Jordon—he'd shake his head if he saw this—she threw the volleyball with all her might.

It got stuck in one of those ceiling rafter things.

Huzzah.

"I meant to do that," she cleared her throat. "See? Told you I'd win. That should be five points right there."

"The gods of basketball will strike you down."

She stared at him. He looked away. "Was that a joke?"

The blue-haired male cleared his throat, looking awfully embarrassed despite it only being a small action. An action unlike him but a small action nonetheless. "P-perhaps. What's it to you?"

"You'd be a great actor."

He tilted his head with a frown. "What?"

"That was a joke."

His mouth opened and closed like a fish as whatever he was trying to say refused to come out. He coughed into a fist to regain his composure and spun around, his back facing her. "Anyway, I really got to be going. I still have paperwork to catch up on—Kim has made me lose out on a lot of that."

She had to break into a steady jog to catch up to him. "Does this mean I win the bet?" Then with a wide grin, "This counts as forfeiting, right?"

"I—" This word caught in his throat before he sighed reluctantly. "Fine. You'll have a brand new laptop delivered to your room by the end of today."

Yes! She hid her victorious grin behind her hand. "Can I also—"

"No."

"I didn't even say anything yet!"

Tristan ignored her, choosing to increase his pace out of the gymnasium. "You have legs. You can make it back to your room by yourself."

"What a great host you are," (Y/n) scowled, throwing a basketball in his direction which of course, landed nowhere near him. When his figure disappeared down the hallway, she couldn't help but let a smile break out across her face. Giving a laptop to a hacker? That would be one of the dumbest decisions anyone could make.

Of course, she didn't expect the building's security system to be easily breached. From what she got when "getting lost" in the hallways, the windows and doors weren't only locked with lock and key. There were cameras and shutters. Bars and shutters like the ones over her window in "her room" that came down automatically. After all, why would a couple of rich kids bother to install the bars manually every time they kidnap someone when they could do it automatically?

Freaky.

First, she had to pretend she wasn't going to struggle anymore. Do her best to comply with their wishes. Act like she could be trusted. Then she'd determine the location of Reese's cell's key from Tristan—it probably wasn't in his pocket anymore but she'd be damned if it was—and after she turned off the cameras, she'd steal it and free Reese. Lastly, she'd open all the shutters and then rely on Reese's "godly guns" to kick down the doors.

(Y/n) wasn't too convinced on the last part. She'd settle with getting the four to trust her enough to let her outside. Yeah, that's a better idea. Sorry not sorry Reese.

She couldn't wait for the laptop to arrive. She could only hope Tristan didn't install some kind of spyware on it. She had considered adding that condition in the bet but she didn't want to arouse his suspicions. The plan rode entirely on their trust levels—if they didn't trust her, everything was over.

This is really going to suck, (Y/n) groaned as she pushed open the door of "her room" and flopped into the bed. When am I going to have the time to sleep? I guess sleeping is expendable. What was it Reese used to say? "Sleep is for the weak" or something like that.

"God, this is annoying..." she said out loud with a louder groan. "So tired..."

"I'm pretty good at massages if I say so myself. Want one?"

"What the—" (Y/n) scrambled back so fast she nearly fell off the bed. Her eyes fell up to meet a pair of laughing golden ones. Her face fell immediately. "Oh, it's you."

"What do you mean, 'it's just me?'" Kieran rolled onto his side, looking like a cat that's just woken up from its nap. "Shouldn't it be 'oh my god, it's you!' Where's the screaming? Where's the fainting?"

"You want screaming and fainting? Sure, I'll give you that. C'mere."

"Ooh, do you finally realize what you're missing out on—OW, NOT THE HAIR, LOVE!"

Kieran groaned, massaging his scalp with his hands while (Y/n) looked on with a self-satisfied smirk. "If you were into that kind of thing, you could've warned me," he whined.

"I have the strangest fetish for pulling out the hair of arrogant turds who think it's a good idea to crash my bed," she deadpanned. "I really don't want to see your face first thing in the morning."

"Hmm? But I'm giving you your daily dose of beauty. I mean, just look at this face." He made a 'v' with his fingers under his chin. "Do you feel your eyes being purified yet?"

"If I needed to be purified I'd get holy water. Speaking of holy water, I really need it now. I've looked at you too long."

"My heart hurts from your rejection, love."

She fixed a flat stare on him. "Good. You can leave now."

Kieran pouted, rolling over on the bed to lie on his back right in front of her. He looked up at the unimpressed (h/c)-haired girl, his face splitting into a roguish grin. "And if I say no?"

"I'll just have to get rid of your old man roots—"

"Hey, don't insult my hair. I've been told white looks better on me than the time when I dyed it black to match Leo-chan."

(Y/n) swatted his hand that was getting awfully close to her leg away. "Are you and z—Leon...um, a thing?"

His expression made her cackle and fall off the bed for real this time. "What—you—no!" Kieran spluttered, sitting straight up. "That is just—no! Don't even suggest that!" To his credit, he was looking a little green in the face when he said that. "I don't mind fooling around with guys as well but Leo-chan?" He wrinkled his nose. "Him, Trish-chan, and Jay are the three people I'd never lay my hands on."

"That makes you sound like a pedo—"

"Do you have any compliment for me?" He sulked. "My self-esteem's been on a downwards rollercoaster ride since I've met you."

"Impossible," (Y/n) scoffed. "Your ego would break the ride. But, uh, I guess...you have eyes?"

He plastered a fake smile on his face. "What was that? I didn't hear you."

"I said you have eyes."

"I think I still have water in my ears from swimming yesterday. Say that again?"

"I'm going to shove you into a volcano."

"Ooh, that's a new one. Are you implying your love for me is as hot as a volcano?"

"You—you could hear me after all!"

"Hmm? What was that?"

(Y/n) gave him a dark glare and got off the floor, ignoring his taunting smirk. Then she remembered something. Turning back to Kieran, "Did you see a dog in here when you came in?"

The male shrugged, his smirk pure evil but his eyes wide and innocent, the mixture only making (Y/n) more annoyed. "Leo-chan's rooms aren't in this wing."

"No," she frowned. "I meant a dog. An actual dog. And did you just call z—um, Leon a dog?"

His smile didn't change. "Did you say something?"

Two can play that game. She chose to ignore him instead. A look around her room told her the dog was probably hiding. Or Leon took it back. But she highly doubted the latter was true. Why climb into her window to give her a dog and take it back the next day?

(Y/n) lifted up her carpet. "Helloooo?" Nothing.

"Leo-chan can't fit under there, you know," Kieran said with a chuckle. "What, are you going to look under a cup next?"

She gave him her most serious look. "Yes, of course. How did you know?"

His smile faltered. "Love, are you alright in the head? Should I get you a psychiatrist?"

"No, you."

"So we're playing doctors and nurses now? Mhm, kinky—"

"I'll smack you to Venus, you overgrown mite." (Y/n) ripped a mug off the table and pointedly glared into it just to spite him. "Oh look, I found your brain cells. No wonder."

"Ouch." He placed a hand on his chest. "That stung."

"Spit on it."

He watched her with amusement clear in his eyes as she disappeared into the closet. "Are you offering?"

"Fat chance, Chad." (Y/n) turned a full circle around in the closet. Rows and rows of dresses, blouses, pants—any clothes she could think of met her eyes. There was a little table by the corner with a remote control on it. She clicked one of the buttons randomly and a drawer slid out, startling her before her mouth fell open.

There, lying on a purple cushion was a whole assortment of jewels. Rings, necklaces, bracelets, chokers...all made from precious metals and studded with sparkling diamonds, rubies, amethysts, and a whole bunch of other gems she didn't know the name of. Sparkly green rock. Oh yeah, that's an emerald.

The price tags on those things must be greater than her net worth. She gulped and closed the drawer with the remote control. Her hands felt sweaty. If I touched them, they might make me pay for it, which I can't. Yep, no more exploring.

She was about to give up and step outside until she heard a little whine come from behind her. She stopped. Did I just hear...?

It came again a few seconds later. (Y/n) crouched down and lifted the hem of the dresses up a little. There was the Samoyed, its head resting on its little paws and its dark eyes wide and doleful. It perked up at the sight of the (h/c)-haired girl before shrinking back again.

"Hey there," she said softly as to not scare the creature. She held out her hands for it to sniff. "What are you doing there?" She knew Samoyeds to be energetic and friendly creatures. She's never seen one so frightened before. What was scaring it?

Her mind went towards the white-haired male just outside the closet. Then she shook her head. Kieran Fujikawa was insufferable and pain in the donkey but he wasn't scary. He was that one guy who would laugh every time he went into a haunted house. Whether at the haunted house itself or his partner's fears, that was debatable.

The dog sniffed her fingers before creeping forward slightly. She smiled reassuringly. "That's it, come on. It can't be too comfortable under there, can it?"

"Yeah," a voice from over her shoulder agreed. "I don't think both of us can fit there."

"Stop doing that Kieran!" (Y/n) jumped in surprise and then swore under her breath as her elbow hit the wall painfully. The dog squeaked and huddled closer to the wall and further away from the two. "See what you did? You scared the poor guy!"

"Sorry," Kieran said, his smile completely unapologetic. He directed his gaze to the shaking creature. "You alright down there, little guy?"

The Samoyed whimpered, flinching away at his voice. The male made no move to reach for it, simply watching it shake with idle curiosity written across his face.

"You're really being hated," (Y/n) observed, watching the dog with a raised eyebrow. "No wonder you don't raise dogs."

"What, are you interested in me?" Kieran teased, resting an arm on his knee. He laid his head on it as he grinned at her. "Doing background checks on me, are you? Stalker~"

"No, Leon told me. Who'd want to stalk you?"

"I've gotten stalked plenty of times. Want to hear the story?"

In all honesty, she was a little curious, not that she'd ever admit it. "No, not really."

But he went on anyway. "The most recent one was just two years ago," he said. "It was this girl who was a year older than me. I don't remember who she was, but she was probably a Fortuna student."

"No, really. I didn't ask," (Y/n) tried to say, but he ignored her.

"It was innocent at first. Following me around, scaring off the girls around me—I thought it was just jealousy from another girl who didn't understand what a 'one-time thing' meant. So I didn't really care."

"Great, because I don't either—"

"But then she broke into our dorm. Trish-chan wasn't happy with that at all so he filed a restraining order on her. It was funny watching her break down in our living room while he didn't react at all. But then a few weeks later she came back. We didn't realize at first under Jay suddenly disappeared. Now that I think about it, I don't think she was smart enough to lure us to her using Jay. She probably was trying to kidnap me but her hired men f*cked up."

"You got a great teacher, alright," (Y/n) muttered bitterly.

"So we went, hell broke loose, Trish-chan sent the girl to Australia or something, end of story."

She blinked in surprise. "That's it?"

"There was one where this guy kept stealing my underwear and another where this girl tried some voodoo sh*t to get me to fall in love with her, but storytime's over." He grinned at her and she couldn't help but feel a sinking feeling in her stomach. "I told you a story. Now it's your turn."

"Wait, that wasn't free?"

"Nothing's free in this world, love."

Gosh darn you too. "I didn't even ask for it though."

"But you still heard it. Why didn't you cover your ears?"

Kieran was almost more annoying than Reese when he's high on sugar. (Y/n) growled in frustration and rolled her eyes. "What do you want to know?"

"Hmm...let me think—"

"You have five seconds, starting now. Five...four..."

"You're into computers, right?" He interrupted hastily. "Heard it from Trish-chan. It was funny seeing him so worked up over it. How did you get into it?"

"Oh, that?" Her shoulders sagged with relief. At least it wasn't a prying question. "I think it was my mom. I mean, my mom's friend that she took me to meet when I was a kid. I don't remember who she was anymore but she was an avid gamer. She was the one who taught me how to build the perfect gaming PC and well, everything went up from there, I guess."

His gaze was thoughtful and searching as he watched her. Something in his eyes gave her the chills. "Oh yeah?" He said finally. "When was that?"

"Maybe when I was six of seven?" She shrugged. "I don't really remember. It was in the countryside, I'm pretty sure. I was really surprised she had good wifi there. Wait"—something rose up from the murky depths called her memories—"I think she had a kid. I used to play with him a few times. Hide and seek or something." The Game is basically like a giant hide and seek game, she mused, a pang of sadness hitting her. But with many seekers.

He shifted closer to her, leaning with one hand on the tiled floor and the other by his side. Genuine interest filled up his face as he hung onto her words like she was selling gold, or fools gold. Either way, he didn't seem to care. It was strange, she thought, a little taken aback. He never seemed to care about anything before. It was like he lived in his own world, a black cage decorated with fantastical illusions and fantasies he was more than happy to drag people into. If she was to listen to the rumors, he'd take them into a quote-unquote "world of pleasure" before tossing them down a pit of ruin.

Kieran didn't care what others thought. It was always one emotion with him. All the times she'd spoken to him, it was like he was listening but not really listening. He was physically there but not mentally there. Hearing but not registering. So what changed? Why was he so interested now?

(Y/n) cleared her throat and shook her head to free herself of those thoughts when she realized the man in question was still awaiting her continuation. People say adults are complex? She mused dryly. High schoolers are a whole new species.

"I think he was around my age," she told him. "But I guess it's not that important. To this story, I guess. Anyway, what about you?" She directed the conversation to another topic before things took a turn for a path she didn't want to walk on. "Any hobbies?"

Surprise filled his face before he wiped it away in an instant. "Hobbies...hmm?" He seemed to be genuinely considering the question as a faraway look entered his eyes. A mischievous grin danced on his lips. "Why, did you want to join? I wouldn't mind having another person in~"

She let out an annoyed huff. "Hooking up with people doesn't count. I meant like recreational activities. Z—uh, Leon likes music, Jay likes art, and Tristan does whatever the hell he does. What about you? You're probably the person I know the least about."

"You want...to know more about me?"

His flirty tone was gone. In its place was unmistakable confusion and surprise. She furrowed her brow. Is wanting to know what he's into weird or something?

"I guess," she shrugged. "Just making small talk. Totally not trying to get you off my back or anything. You don't have to tell me if you don't want to. I'm just the crazy ol' (Y/n) after all."

"No...I don't mind," he said slowly, his eyes flitting from side to side, not knowing where to look. "I...well, I'm not sure. There's not much that catches my interest. And even if it does, I lose interest pretty quickly."

Her eyebrows shot up in incredulity. "Not one? Zilch, nada? Seriously?"

"Yeah," he admitted. "There's nothing really."

Damn, this kid's got no life, she thought, throwing him a sympathetic look. Then again I spend more than half my life sleeping and the only language I speak is sarcasm so I'm the last person to talk.

"What were you interested in, then?" She asked. "Or maybe as a kid. I don't know what kids like—Legos? Fortnite? Never do that, by the way. Fortnite is cancer."

"I'll keep that in mind," Kieran chuckled. "But I guess...I took on dancing as a kid? Mostly ballroom for the gatherings my family would drag me to but I dabbed in some hip hop here and there."

"And you lost interest?"

"Yeah, it got too easy. There was nothing else for me to learn."

"Wow. All the dance students in the world must hate you right now."

"Me?" He pointed a finger at himself. "Take another look, love. I don't think you know what you're talking about."

"Do you see any other senior citizen overgrown mite with a carrot nose in a Yeti suit here?"

"That was four different insults in one. When I told you your insults were lacking I didn't mean to make them more, well, unique."

"No can do buddy. Take it or leave it."

The two settled into an almost comfortable silence as (Y/n) resumed her attempts in trying to get the puppy to come out from the shadows. Kieran rested back on his hands, not quite looking at her as he seemed to be deep in thought.

Finally, the dog crept into her arms though keeping a wary eye on the white-haired individual. Is it scared of Kieran? She whispered calming nothings into its ears while stroking its fur the way Leon taught her. It seemed to like it, melting under her touch into a puddle of cotton candy. A few clumps of fur loosened from its body and floated onto the otherwise spotless floor.

Kieran finally snapped back to reality. His eyes shifted to her and the dog in her arms. The animal flinched at his gaze and shrunk closer to the girl.

"Stop doing that," (Y/n) scowled, turning away so the dog didn't have to see him.

He looked surprised. "Doing what?"

"Doing whatever you're doing. You're scaring him."

"Well..." Kieran offered it a smile. "Is this good—"

The dog barked furiously before whimpering in fear and pulling as far away from the male as it could. Soon its nerves got the best of it and it escaped out of her grip and sped out of the closet, its nails clicking on the polished floor.

"And here I thought I was bad with animals," (Y/n) snorted. "That's one profession you shouldn't go into."

"Maybe it noticed I'm a cat person," Kieran shrugged helplessly. "I've never been fond of mutts."

"You just called Leon a dog though."

"Mhm, he's fun to annoy, don't you agree? His reactions are way too interesting~"

She remembered the last time she saw the two interact. It had ended with Leon throwing a punch towards the white-haired male. "Not sure if I agree with that but you do you." She gave him a thumbs-up. "Just know I'll bring you carrots at your funeral. If I remember the date, that is."

"Carrots? Why carrots?"

"Your n—"

"My nose is perfect, thank you for asking."

"No, I—"

"Yes, I know. I'm perfect. Keep the compliments coming."



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A/N: Check out this really cool fanart from TeardropButterflies! I feel like I should be putting all the art in one chapter but oh well.



Here's two from zzCistheNamezz! This is so cute omg and it's so cool to see part of my story in comic form (Entry #32 was totally not inspired by BokuAka).