"Arataki Itto, Oni King. Pleasure meetin' ya." His smirk grew when the blond's face faltered, breaking the composed state it was in. "K-King?"
'THAT'S the identity he's going with?! He used his real name! What's more impressive is that he actually believed him!'
Unfortunately, I am forced to roll with it. I hooked my arm around Arataki's and nodded, "That's right. The Crimson Oni King of Hanamizaka. Ever heard of him?" I cocked my head to the side while smiling "sweetly" at the man, though my smile was anything but sweet.
"No-" "Of course you haven't. It's not often people walk away unscathed after disrespecting His Highness. He tends to introduce himself only when he feels that a lesson should be taught after." There was a dark undertone in my voice and he began to grow nervous though he tried not to show it. He wasn't sure if we were lying but he couldn't take the chance if it were truly the case.
"Consider this a warning." Arataki added, a scowl present on his face as he glared down at the man though his actual thoughts were on where I was touching him. Blondie readjusted and smoothed down his vest, trying to regain whatever composure he had.
"Apologies for my friend here." I didn't even notice when another man showed up and snaked a hand onto the blond's shoulder. "Was he causing you trouble?" He wore a similar suit as his friend but had lilac coloured hair and chocolate brown eyes.
"You see, it's his first time at an event like this so please forgive his rudeness." He leaned closer to his friend and whispered something that made his eyes widen even more. "M-my sincerest apologies." He bowed his head slightly, fueling Arataki's ego. The charming facade he wore before was completely gone, replaced with anxiety and fear. Was it from Itto or whatever that guy just told him?
"We shall take our leave then. Wouldn't want to bother you two any more than we already have. Farewell, for now." They left, but the one with lilac hair sent me a ghost of a smile as he disappeared into the crowd with the blond.
Slightly creeped out, I pulled a face. "Weirdo... Wait, 'for now'? What did he mean by that?" Arataki wasn't listening, he continued to glare in the direction of where the two left. I didn't forget that I was still latched onto his arm.
"We're moving to the second floor." I told Arataki after I released my hand, unfortunate for him. "Okay." He simply answered and his gaze lingered on the arm I had hugged. I looked up and had to stifle a laugh when I saw that there were crumbs on his face. The whole time he was intimidating those two, he had food on his face!
I sighed hopelessly, "Leave some food for the rest of us, dammit." I reached up and wiped his mouth. He was too distracted with his arm that he didn't see me approach and was therefore startled by my action. I turned away to lead as if nothing happened and he froze for a moment, but quickly caught up to where I was ascending the staircase.
* * *
"This place is huge... Who needs this much space?" Arataki asked and opened a random door in the hallway, poking his head inside. "This room is almost empty! Even the owner doesn't know what to do with the space!" He shut the door in irritation.
"Focus. We're on a mission, remember?" He straightened his back like he only just recalled. "Right! Priestess lady!" I face-palmed and we continued down the hallway until we reached another area with tables and chairs, people gathered and chatting amongst themselves in the more dimly lit room. "So if you wanna rest, you gotta climb a bunch of steps to sit down?" I also thought that was strange now that he mentioned it. Though there was a small stage in the corner with a jazz band playing a mellow tune.
I felt this odd chill run up my spine and immediately scanned the crowd without moving my head. "Shortie?" He noticed how tense I was all of a sudden. He felt that he, too, should put up his guard.
"I had this weird feeling... I think someone might be watching us." He wanted to look around but I quickly grabbed his sleeve to get his attention. "Don't. They'll know we're onto them. Just act natural." He nodded, relaxing his shoulders and casually letting his eyes scan the people that were sat in their chairs.
I hooked our arms again, much to Arataki's delight, and began to walk towards the next hallway that led to the east wing. "I think they're following." I whispered and he gave a subtle nod to indicate he heard. I slowed down only a little, hopefully going unnoticed by the pursuer.
We turned the corner and when I knew we were out of sight, we spun around to face the mystery person.
I raised my fists and Arataki did the same, ready to attack. I was shocked when a woman turned the corner.
To be continued...
—————————— The festival was fun (≧▽≦) my boy nearly died tho
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