Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Hiro Akiba recently entered his second high school year. Yet another year he’ll spend in the same class as his childhood friend, Keitaro Nagame. Sigh, ah, Keitaro. For as long as he remembered, Hiro would let his heart be lovingly in awe for the best friend he’s ever had. But … for what sins was he so dense?

“Oh, I see! That’s interesting. Have you been doing any other thing too, or just this?”

A clear voice stood out to the orange-haired boy. It’s Keitaro, sitting accross the classroom. One might think he doesn’t look the type to be popular, but his cheerful and passionate nature easily granted him with a group of friends. And all sort of people to that. From a shy recluse like Hunter Springfield, to a kind workaholic like Natsumi Hamasaki, currently engaging a conversation around his desk. And there was of course Hiro the food connoisseur, himself.

But, that is not even all … During break, the fabulous gossip appreciator that is Eduard Fitzpatrick, yet another aquaintance, approached Keitaro with a curious face. “Keitaro, has there been any news?”he questioned.

“Ah, no” Keitaro slouched his head. “I can’t believe it’s been a year … And still nothing.”

“No way, really? How has noone filed a report for him?”

“Now, now, Eduard…” Natsumi intervened, uncomfortable on Keitaro’s behalf. He noticed these emerald eyes getting gloomy.

“But he dated Yoichi, didn’t he? Ah, how lousy. Truth be told, it’s the scoutmasters’ fault that none of this case is progressing. Especially scoutmaster Yoshinori.”

“No, please, don’t be harsh on scoutmaster Yoshi. He’s been doing he’s best too.” Natsumi defended. “I understand. We all miss Yoichi, but saying things like this won’t solve anything.”

“Ah … You’re right.” Eduard gestured towards Keitaro. “I’m sorry. It’s just weird to not hear the hot purplette’s banter anymore. I miss the daily eye-candy …”

“You have strange priorities, Eduard...” Hunter said, rolling his eyes.

“Hah! Everyone copes in different ways!” the creamy-blonde retorted.

Yoichi Yukimura.

Hiro hasn’t heard that name in a while.

The group of friends happened to meet a while ago at a summer camp, Camp Buddy. And then the batch all happened to meet again, when back to their school campus. Such a happy coincidence. Especially for Keitaro, who has bonded with Yoichi during the term. That bond was also confirmed later, when both opened up about dating eachother. Which didn’t please Hiro at all.

I really don’t see the point of bringing Wolf-boy in the picture, Hiro sighed.

‘Wolf-boy’ isn’t exactly an affection-ridden nickname, since Hiro passive-agressively gave it to him in return for his pranks. In fact, how dare they bring this prick back into Keitaro’s consciousness, when he’s the one who broke things off. For unclear reasons too, as the brunette told him …

I don’t get the ‘bad boy’ appeal, Keitaro. You deserve someone so much better than him. Hiro stood up from his chair, slightly agitated.

Suddenly, his stomach very subtly growled, snapping him back to more relevant preoccupations. He approached the group discussing around Keitaro’s desk, while focusing his gaze on his best friend.

“Ah, Hiro” Keitaro’s eyes lightened.

“I’m going to fetch a snack.”

“Still hungry?” Natsumi chuckled, glad that the subject was finally changed.

“Haha, yeah. Should I get you guys something?” Hiro asked, smiling.

The group politely nodded that it’s all good. Keitaro pondered for a few seconds as Hiro was turning away, resulting in a delayed response.

“I’ll have whatever you’re having.”

“Ok, ok ! Ok! But first, before you go-” Eduard exclaimed with determination, stopping Hiro once again in his track. “I’d like to veto for a group hug for Keitaro.”

Noone questioned it and, in a blink of an eye, Keitaro was surrounded by his friends’ warm embrace. Hiro’s was first and strongest of them all, as if making sure his best friend’s mood is bettered. Eduard apologised again, assuring he’ll make effort to be more tactful next time.

The orange-haired boy reached the vending machines downstairs. There were plenty at school, even on the floor he got down from, yet a little jog on the stairs felt refreshing to do. His hands rummaged through his uniforms’ pockets. The coins clattered inside the machine, and two milk chocolate with hazelnut bars fell out.

“Ah, my guilty pleasure” he thought out loud. “On second thought, all best food is a guilty pleasure. Hm.”

He smiled to himself, and almost jumped with joy on his way back to the classroom. On a whim, he decided to take the long way by walking through a row of vacant or old abandoned lockers. Any other corridor was tidy and properly illuminated thanks to the sunlight reaching it, where as here some lights tended to flicker while the rest wasn’t even functional.

A spot so detached is almost too convenient for trouble.

“Hey. Can you please tell your friend to stop crying over spilled milk?” a voice called out in his direction.

“What?”

“Seeing this dweeb weep about the meat head being gone is just … annoying as all hell.”

A flame-like hairstyle accompanied these fiery word. To Hiro, it was still wild how Keitaro found a some sort of consensus ground with a brute like Taiga Akatora. It made sense for his minions, Eduard and Lee, because they were just trying to stick up for their leader. But Taiga, especially during their stay at camp, proved to be a perpetual conflict magnet. It’s strange that he’s displaying cheap hostility right now. Did he learn nothing from the camera incident after all?

“Says you? Man with serious anger issues” Hiro mocked.

“You, you will have serious issues in general if you don’t comply.”

A blond boy stepped in … Ichiru Yanai.

He’s from some rich family and, from what Hiro observed, his caprices would always be satisfied. He made sure of it. He could skip classes or insult his teachers without repercussions. He’s involved in some arranged marriage drama as well, appparently, but Hiro wasn’t interested enough to dig deeper into that.

“Kei-chan’s adorable, but his sob story litterally makes me sick. I don’t care why Yoichi decided to ditch him. Good riddance of this edgy guy and his ‘humor’.”

“You know what? You’re--”

“Anyway, give me your chocolate bar.” Ichiru cut through. “I just happen to be hungry.”

“… No way. You’re just salty a guy with a bag of crass jokes got to date, but not you!” Hiro snarkily replied, simultaneously irked up that he made a compliment to Yoichi in a sense. “You can’t even get your crush’s name right, not once!”

“Listen, you idiot. Noone, LITTERALLY NOONE asked your opinion. So shut your damn mouth up, and give me your chocolate bar!”

Ichiru’s nerve was definitly hit, even Taiga was surprised. In a swift motion, his hands got ahold of Hiro’s collar. He had a good grip, so firm in fact Hiro heels were slightly lifted from the ground, but it’s a given when being part of the school’s baseball team.

“Ichiru, this is a little excessive--” Taiga got ahold of his shoulder, then, as if attempting compromise, whispered something to Ichiru’s ear.

“Heh, fine. Whatever” Ichiru complied and tossed a struggling Hiro to the ground. “You’ll regret insulting me, Hiro Akiba” he announced with a too polite stoic grin.

The two left, Ichiru casually letting go of his want of a snack.

This encounter didn’t seem uncharacteristic, yet them being so angry of Keitaro’s and Yoichi’s relationship raised suspiscion. Obviously, Taiga knew, he was there when the relationship unfolded at camp. But what was it to a rich brat like Ichiru? He had too much pride too look into a relationship that somewhat worked.

Hiro decided to brush this away, though. It has to be just a display of antagonistic demeanor of these two hot heads. Keitaro is, well … worried regardless, since Yoichi dissappeared shortly after their break up.

When evening came, Hiro was on his way home along with Keitaro. The sun felt pleasant on their faces, it illuminated them with a cozy warm glow.

“Poor Yoichi. I hope he’s alright …”

“Keitaro, don’t worry, I’m sure he’s fine” Hiro encouraged. “You remember how he was at camp? He’s strong--” Hiro bit his tongue from saying ‘despite being a doofus’. “And he knows how to defend himself. I’m sure he’d want you to be more optimistic.”

“He’d say something along the lines of ‘eww, that’s so mushy’ if he heard you” Keitaro laughed. “You know what, Hiro? You’re right.”

“Of course I’m right, I’m your best friend.”

“In fact … Are you free tomorow? We could meet and do something, I guess.”

Indeed, there wasn’t much they had to do during the weekend ahead. Keitaro enumerated some of the places they could go, such as an amusement park, a gaming arcade, and so on. If this isn’t the smell of an opportunity, then Hiro didn’t know what else it could be. Of course! This just so might be the perfect time. I’ve waited long enough, and Keitaro deserves a change of pace. I have no reason to not, at least, try.

Motivated, Hiro rummaged through his pockets.

Puzzled, he also searched his backpack.

“What’s wrong?” Keitaro asked.

“My … my phone is gone.”

“That’s strange. But, I have some post-its so let me write some ideas down for you--”

“It’s still early, so I still have a chance to go back and find it.”

Keitaro immediately volunteered “I’ll come with you!”

“No, it’s ok” Hiro retorted.

Much to Keitaro’s surprise, Hiro also hugged him, burrying his face into his friend’s hood.

“Just go home. I’ll let you know when I’ll retrieve it. It’ll be before you know it! See you tomorrow!”

Hiro waved him and ran back to school, a promise all ready in mind.

He swiftly passed through the entrance, and climbed up the stairs, as a crowd of students climbed down. The confrontation with Ichiru and Taiga distracted him, so that corridor must be where he dropped it.

He was once again walking next to the locker rows. At this time of the day, this unkept spot was mildly unsettling.

He paced around, observing his surrondings cautiously. The phone is vivid orange, so there is no way he would miss the sight of his favorite color. Not to mention a very distinct plushie raccoon tail is attached to its’ right side.

His mind trailed off. Now that he thought so, these lockers, that are abandoned, aren’t even locked. And among them was Yoichi’s. Checking it out wouldn’t be prying, would it? This place is mostly deserted, anyway. Noone will know.

He opened up the door. The inside wasn’t what he expected. Only Yoichi’s purple scout scarf hanged on the side, and two photographs were plastered onto the back. Two polaroids taken by Keitaro during his first time at Camp Buddy. The brunette was featured in one of the pictures, being all goofy with Yoichi. While the other one featured the latter with his dog, Yuki.

“Pfft, oh Wolfboy. Really?” Hiro rolled his eyes. I’d totally out you for being so emotional, just like the rest of us all, and that you call lame for being so. But there’s no point if you aren’t here, huh? In his pondering, he set his eyes on the bottom of the locker.

Wait … why is this here?

Unbeknownst to him, a figured approached him from behind and, in a brutal push, he was shoved into the locker.

“Ugh, what …” Hiro’s eyes finally opened. He recollected himself, on what exactly just happened. I must have fainted. Hmm .. these lockers are bigger than I imagined. His first natural reflex was to squeeze around to face the locker door and to shake the contraption system that maintained it closed.

It barely budged.

Hiro banged on the metal door. “Hey! Hello?!”

No response.

“Ichiru! Taiga! Being a coward isn’t a good look!” he shouted. Gosh, what time even is it? He lifted his phone from the bottom with his foot and glanced at it.

No response from pressing the button on the device either.

“What?! I’m already out of battery? Damn it!”

Just when he thought it couldn’t get worse, the lights turned off.

“Ok, so there’s officially nobody in school anymore. The place is completely dark. I’m stuck in a locker against my will.” It took him a dozen of minutes of trying to figure out his options. He wasn’t held down by chains, and still had his belongings, so there had to be something he could do.

“Aw, come on! I’m packing muscles from all the amazing meals I make!” He attempted to press his entire weight, this time with more confidence.

The door hinges snapped. Success!

He got up from busting the door open. The hallway was in a hue of deep blue, and the moonlight illuminated the edges of each object. What caught Hiro’s attention first is how most of the moon rays shined onto a door right behind him. Ominously.

“This door wasn’t between the lockers before. What is … What is this?” Morbidly curious, he decided to go through it. “Haha, ridiculous! I’ve heard enough horror stories and played enough horror games to know where this is going.” He continued his rambling with a joke : “Knock, knock, who’s there? It’s my sleep paralysis d--”

On the other side was the Camp Buddy mess hall. The layout of the place seemed somewhat blended with his school cafeteria. The long wooden tables were there, but the walls were tiled. The floor was of a dark wood that appeared colder than it should be. Such an off ambience, considering Hiro knew both locations as usually so lively.

“… Screw this. Let’s just loot the place” he decided and exhaled, as the door slammed behind him. “A jumpscare? Bah! Try again!” He disregarded and nonchalantly marched behind the counter, where he would eagerly help his favorite scoutmaster, Aiden Flynn, with cooking. The boy knew the craft itself besides appreciating the food.

He opened all cupboards and shelves, and there it was.

“Oh, a frying pan! That’s perfect!”

The piece of metal was a black-colored piece of scrap. The reddish spots were those of paint that chipped off, much long ago. It quite ressembles a pan that he used for making crêpes and pancakes. Or, at least this is what it looked like from a distance. The item was located on top of other ones, inside of a cupboard above the counter.

Hiro dropped his backpack to the floor and climbed on the wooden furniture. He reached out to grab the pan’s handle.

“Argh! Who even organised this pile of junk? That’s a kitchen crime!” he couldn’t help but comment as he struggled

Eventually, he got it out, but at the cost of the rest of it and himself falling on the ground, thus making a huge rattle. Worth it, Hiro smiled with satisfaction, flipping the pan in mid air. That is, until the entryway got slammed back open. One piercing cracking noise indicated door damage, and a softer one betrayed steps that are way too heavy for these of a human being.

Hiro’s instincts prompted him to crouch near the counter.

The steps grew closer.

And closer.

He heard a very hoarse grunt. The shadow he perceived before his feet suddenly split in half, like a pair of scissors. Are these jaws? And then, a few drops trinkled down on the dark brown flooring. Saliva, maybe?

Hiro silently gasped for air. He tried to control his heart rate.

Thankfully, a distant noise lead the creature to step back to where it has come from. When it was finally quiet enough, Hiro stood up, his face covered in sweat and ventured outside the replica of the tangled Camp Buddy mess hall with the school cafeteria, via a door on the opposite side. Holding the frying pan tightly, he now knew this item will come in handy.

So many wrongs happened in the span of a few hours, and being alone in this odd location was the cherry on top. While whatever that dreadful thing Hiro almost encountered in the room prior was the excess sugar in the cake.

“I must absolutely keep my cool” Hiro, declared to himself, and his stomach growled. “Ah, just what I needed.” He has no choice but try to contain the beast for now. Let’s just focus on something else.

The hallways strangely enough reeked of humidity. This isn’t a matter of a single unkept spot in the school. It’s almost as if everything was being slowly flaked with mold. The abundance of water puddles on the ground suggested leakage, in which the slowly descending particles melted like snowflakes. Gosh, his fellow gamer friend Seto would find this set up thrilling on screen, even as small as a PnesP’s. And so would he himself. All that was missing was some ambient background music.

Spurt.

Well, at least the anxiety inducing sound effects are included in this experience … Hiro’s foot just landed into a rather slimy substance. Sticky even, like a thick snot. It hanged onto his shoe sole.

Squish … Squish …

“This place keeps getting worse…!” the boy’s nose wrinkled, but continued walking. The corridor was progressively covered more and more with white goo. It spread accross the walls like oversized spiderwebs. Ironically so, this squishing sound unnerved him more than the changing environment. This was likely due to his experience with fictional scenarios of the sort.

Squish, squish … Squish, squish …

Hiro didn’t accelerate his walk in any way, so that made this double sound confusing. Or … wait. Could it be--

Splurt!

Some goo suddenly landed on Hiro’s face.

In disgust and stupor, he turned around only to realise he has been stalked by a massive antropomorphic being. It sported two oddly placed eyes, one bigger than the other. Its’ entire body was like translucent white jello, from which blobs were dripping down. It was also leaving a trail behind, like the mucus a snail left on the pavement during a summer day.

A giant melting candle, but with limbs, elasticity and one goal. One that Hiro didn’t want to know.

He shouted in defiance, and flung his metal device onto the white slimy torso of the creature. An effective move at first, as goo splattered on the ground, stunning the creature. Though, it was still standing. Its’ claws launched at Hiro, effectively grabbing him.

Fortunatly, a pair of hands got ahold of the creature’s face, choking it until it bursted like a water balloon. The slimy body fell, revealing another.

“Wow, uh … Thank you” Hiro exhaled.

“Don’t thank me dumbass, next time think when you aim.”

This voice!

“No way!”

Chapter Text

“No way!”

The purple hair and magenta eyes. The scar on the face and the sportsy mittens. The same black school uniform with red accents on the sleeves, just like the Yakyusha Highschool one Hiro is wearing, with both sleeves rolled up to the elbows like a delinquent. And, of course, this overly confident, almost too annoying feral grin.

“Wolf-boy?!”

“Hah? Torch-head? What are you doing here?!”

“What am I? What are YOU!?” Hiro pointed his index at him, shocked.

“Ugh, who cares anyway. I thought I’d be trekking in stealth as usual, but a certain someone had to act stupid. This nasty shit is all over me again.” Yoichi shook his entire body to get rid of the excess liquidy substance, like a dog. Or a wolf, rather.

Hiro got up, wiping away some of the suspicious goo aswell.

And thus, they were walking through the corridor together. Relunctantly so. Many questions flooded Hiro’s mind, but had no idea where to start. How can any of this be real ? Just what is happening here …

“Hey … how is everyone?” Yoichi eventually, yet somewhat hesitantly, broke the silence.

“You want to know?” Hiro teased, intrigued that Yoichi would be interested in such a thing.

“Nah, actually, let me guess. Sheriff Brokeback is getting dry from daily crying, while Buttcheeks and Crazy Lady console him. Right?”

“Ahh, huh. How accurate.” Hiro looked at him with a serious face. “Scoutmaster Yoshi is unconsolable. To quote him :

My poor baby son,

he’s lost who knows where.

I can’t stand the thought

that he could be in danger.

Thank god missus Yuri was there. I kinda liked that she told him that, if it weren’t for scoutmaster Nomoru senior, she’d have liked to have a father like Yoshinori, with how caring he is and all.” Hiro explained.

Yoichi snorted, frowning. “Poor Crazy Lady. If only she knew she kinda already does. Haha!”

Hiro blinked, his eyelids clasping rather loudly, prompting Yoichi to continue his self-proclaimed fun fact.

“Nothing in particular ever EVER happens during the off season. I walk around the place, minding my business, and just when I assume I’ll once again be bored to death from watching the snow slowly cover the grass, I witness Sheriff Brokeback french El Wrinkly Gramps in the cabin.”

Hiro blinks again, in the same fashion.

“… Haha, good one, Wolfboy, you and your crazy humor, amiright?”

“I wish.”

Yoichi exhaled in displeasure to a speechless, wide-eyed Hiro.

“Ugh! Don’t be so shocked. That’s not even the worse part.” Yoichi took on a high and gaga voice “Oh Shcoutmaster-sempai, I’ve liked you since forever, wawawa!” then went on with a comically deeper one “And you hath always been myneth favorite scout, Yoshi-kun!’’

Hiro’s expression remained unchanged, with a nervous smile so stiff it could be engraved on time during a wood carving workshop they attended at camp.

“Eww, there’s no way I’m going into details. The gist already makes my skin crawl.” And with this, Yoichi added “Ask Dynamite or whatever ! I’m not desensitised enough to talk about this crap.“

“Taiga?! And what does he have to do with this?”

“He happened to come by for some paper stuff and became a fellow witness. Serves the caramel carambar stick right for calling me a funny furry.”

Hiro bursted out in laughter. He held onto his stomach, bending his entire figure. He shed litteral tears.

“Phahah! And he was right, how rare!” he exclaimed, wiping the salty stream from his face. “This furry is funny and makes decent nicknames when he actually tries.”

“Well, mashed pumpkin brain. How about you shut--”

A stomach growls.

The laughter halts.

“Shut your mouth.” Yoichi finished his sentence, slightly thrown off.

He never heard Hiro’s stomach do demanding sounds. He just presumed Torchhead picked up on hunger before this kind of signal kicked in, because he would stuff himself with food regularly. Camp Buddy’s very own embodiment of Gluttony. Crossing his arms, he smirked in an smug yet unusually silent judgy manner.

“You talk about caramel, and then pumpkin, did you expect me to not get hungry?” Hiro blurted out, embarassed.

“Hah!” Yoichi pointed at him. Seems he was about to throw something back at the other boy, yet his stomach intervened. He didn’t realise how hungry he was, either.

“I guess it’s been a while now. Not even you noticed.” Hiro laughed.

“Hm … I guess.” Yoichi rubbed his nose with the cloth of his fingerless gloves. He then took a deep whiff of the air. “Don’t fret, my amazing nose found food for all the time I’ve been here. Should take more time to find the double of that, but ain’t impossible for me.”

And then it hit the orange-haired boy.

“Do you … do you have any idea how long you’ve been here, Wolfboy?”

“A couple weeks, maybe a month …? Again, Brokeback is always stressing out over so little. I’m not a kid anymore. And he better be feeding the puppies properly.”

“Actually ...”

“What?”

Hiro swallowed his saliva in anticipation. Yoichi likely thought it’s better to assume he has been in this place for a short period and just survived as he usually does. It’s probably better to not jinx emotions that could go out of control.

“Three months. It’s been three months.”

“Torchhead! You’re fucking with me, right?!” the magenta eyes appeared full of wrath, as the muscular arms grabbed Hiro’s shoulder while placating his back the wall.

Hiro, stunned by this outburst, clenched his fists in courage. “Listen, Wolfboy. Scoutmaster Yoshi takes great care of the puppies” Hiro reassured. “I get that you’re angry, scared …”

Yoichi frowned, then bumped his forhead against Hiro’s in defiance “Not scared.”

“Argh, besides the point! What matters is that I have an idea how we could get out. We just need to watch out from, you know …”

“Monsters.” Yoichi filled the blank in compliance. He gradually let go of Hiro, still heavy breathing and kicked a locker, making the entire row tumble down like dominos.

“That was so extra” Hiro frowned.

“Extra awesome, I know!” Yoichi corrected, after a eager heavy breath. “Three months, though? I have survived much younger in the urban wild and for much longer, but holy shit are things different when I have a pack of puppies to look out after.”

Hiro then proceeded to explain in detail his horror video games hobby, as a matter of brightening the mood, while inciting Yoichi to proceed further on a staircase to their right. There the power was out, so Hiro grabbed the railing to guide himself, while Yoichi casually walked right next to him with his arms crossed behind his head.

“Usually, when there’s a multiple characters party, the player has to take advantage of every character’s quirk.”

“Mm-hm.”

“For an escort mission, you have to strategise to maintain your partner in safety as much as you can. And for a solo survival mission? Well, the weapon management is especially important. Melee and ranged weapons come into into play, and other items that allow you to progress.”

“Torchhead, sweet nerd talk, but there are zero weapons here. At all.”

Hiro presented him the loot in his bag. “Cool pan, right?”

“Oh, hm. You could cook the damn walking sour condensed milk zombies, or learn to aim properly.

“Yeah! Which is all the more exciting to be honest!” Hiro ignored the joke made at his own expense. When they reached the next floor, he messed up the purple locks as he nudged the top of Yoichi’s head with his palm. “Cheer up! I’m here now!”

“Ahh, I was not serious! Stop it! Or I’ll smack this stupid grin off your face!”

Hiro let go off him without question. Good, at least he’s back to his usual self after that outburst.

Hiro was glad he decided to about to hold back for this one. Just how worse would Wolfboy’s reaction be if he knew the real duration of him going missing? A whole year? Keitaro was also sad that you have vanished without a trace. But there’s no way he would tell him that.

“Do I have to brace myself for more four-eye-ing?”

“Yeah, no, you’re making shit up, I do not sound like Lee”

“How to double the annoyance, one o’ one” Yoichi groaned.

Not the best company, but I know I’ll go insane without the presence of another living being. Hiro looked behind on him, as he pushed the door foreward, and smiled. “I’m happy too, that I won’t be by myself, Wolfboy.”

They were walking in a hallway again, also full of these rusted, creeky lockers. It was all bathing in a cold blue, and the moolight was selective yet overly bright. It’s a full moon to boot, which makes it all the more ominous. And while the corridors and rooms seemed endless. The wind sometimes chimed in, prompting Hiro to a thought.

That white monster, it didn’t feel like the creature from the mess hall. This one was a blob of goo, that other oner seemed more … defined in structure, far sturdier. Does Yoichi know about it too? But what even are these monsters? Not to mention that wasn’t exactly the camp mess hall, but an eerie and univiting amalgamation of the latter and the highschool’s cafeteria. Surreal, but could it really explain how both me and him got here ?

Hiro’s stomach grew more and more impatient. So much for trying to ignore a basic need. Yoichi was walking forward, as if he somewhat knew where to go.

“I smell meat. The room should be close by.” He annouced, not looking back at Hiro. “This is weird.” Yoichi suddenly stopped, as he sensed something off in the way his foot weight.

“What is?” Hiro asked.

“It’s the school. It’s like it’s … taller?”

Yoichi stuffed his hands in the pants’ pockets, evaluating a situation. He then went for a window and placated his face against it. The sky was charcoal black, the stars are nothing but distant bright and scarce dots. It’s hard to tell where this location was, as nothing but some sort of unnaturally huge deep olive green pine trees surrounded it. Some grey clouds were oddly low in the sky too, like a some sort of fog.

“But there are like three floors.” Hiro looked in Yoichi’s direction. “Why? Are you afraid of heights?”

“Nah” Yoichi replied dryly “Come over here and see.”

As Hiro leaned, he realised Yoichi’s senses didn’t lie. This wasn’t a school building anymore, but a tower. A torture dungeon for lack of a better word, as that only means Hiro had to contain his frustations with Yoichi no matter what. Going their seperate ways was not gonna be an option. These corridors were extremely repetitive in layout, rendering them hard to navigate.They have to make progress together.

“Ohh, I got it”, Yoichi blatantly opened a door near the end of the hall way, in a dark corner.

He inhaled. Inside that room wer rows of fridges and freezers. The walls were of a uniform color, probably grey or even pastel yellow, just covered in dust. It was hard to tell with the small lightbulbs barely shedding light on this sterile environment. This semblance of a storage room reminded Hiro of the time he went with his mom to shop to renew kitchen gear. Only this time …

“Get a load of this annoyance.”

“A maze, huh?”

“Yeah, and I hate it. Such a chore, but it’s the only place I consistently found food in”

Hiro proceeded in first. He was so eager to loot that he didn't realise Yoichi struggled to follow him.

“Torch-head, not so fast. This stuff, it keeps moving when you go ahead like that.”

Hiro looked back at him “A shifting maze? Now that’s awesome” and pulled a thumb up at him. “Oh! One of frigdes is open! Just keep moving as you do.”

Yoichi angrily kept on hopping over the moving freezers.

“Damn it, there better be something good in there-- ” he arrived to the spot, only to realise Hiro was looting the next one. “Calm down for a minute!”

In such pace they arrived to the end of the room, at an exit door.

“Damn it” Yoichi breathed out.

“After exercise, your reward!” Hiro teased aloud with his full backpack, while his stomac whined, as though to echo Yoichi’s.

“‘Exercise’?” Yoichi breathed out. “I do plenty, Torch-head. Get these eyes checked when we get out, oh my god-”

This commotion, however, attracted the attention of an audience ready to ambush them right above said door. Two white slimy creatures jumped right behind Yoichi, making him slightly jump and stumble on Hiro, who gasped upon what is happening.

“Run!”