"Hey Kenji, wanna know some gossip I heard from the maidens?" Prosper whispered into his friend's space with a cheerful smile. He always caught up with the latest gossip in his family and would always tell Kenji most of it.
Kenji quickly nodded in response, saying in addition, "I'm always up for your gossip, Prosper! Yes!"
A chuckle let out of Prosper's mouth before he could say the gossip. He checked both ways to make sure none of the butlers, maidens, or any of his family members were around.
"I heard that the maidens were talking about a story, which was pretty weird from what they usually talk about. The story was about a large boat that traveled across the world for three days but right after the third night, it disappeared! It was said that something strange happened on that large boat. And it's said that one of my family members had been on that boat!"
"Uh-huh, and did that member come back like...ever?"
"No! He disappeared along with the boat!"
Giggling, the two continued their conversation while the crowd cheered and resumed their talk. This cruise was already setting sail to its desired destination, probably somewhere in the vast ocean. It'll take either three or four days until it reaches its destination.
In the middle of the conversation, a loud grumble came from Kenji's stomach, a sign of hunger. The boy scratches the back of his head, smiling awkwardly, "Uh, Prosper? I think I'm getting hungry. No, I am hungry."
"You don't say..." Prosper responded, looking up at the large stairs right across from them, "my parents reserved my room in advance. Would you like to wait there while we order food?"
"Yeah man, let's go! I might die with no food in my stomach," Kenji grabbed Prosper's arm and dragged him through the crowd, receiving apologies or complaints from the well-dressed people as they pushed past. After the two got it through, they both ran up the steps, attempting to regain their breath from sprinting.
They passed the raven-haired boy who remained to observe from below while they cheerfully grinned as they ran into the elevator. Of course, the two had no idea who he was and simply saw him as a stranger, just like any other.
When Kenji and Prosper arrived at the elevator doors, they entered and proceeded to the second part of the fourth floor. It didn't take long to come up with it. It went by quickly.
Ding!
Prosper, being the first to leave, shot a curious glance both ways. Despite how many people showed up, there wasn't anyone on the floor. Perhaps this meant Kenji and he had the entire floor to themselves for the time being.
Kenji approached Prosper and quickly looked left to right before yawning. "Okay Prosper, where's the room?" he asked, "It's not going to look like the rest of these dorms, right?"
"It should be at the end of this corridor," Prosper responded, pointing to the end of the long hallway filled with ancient paintings or items, "if I remember correctly, the room number was 150."
....
Suddenly, Kenji rolled up his dark blue sleeves bravely, a cheeky grin on his face. He exaggeratedly cleared his throat and exclaimed, "Hey, Prosper! Do you want to race down to the room? The loser owes the other a slice of pizza!"
"...I'm sure you'll be the loser. When we do things like this, you always lose..." Prosper responded by circling his arm in circles and stretching his legs as if warming up.
Kenji scoffed under his breath and got in a running position. So what if Kenji failed practically every challenge he and Prosper had? The majority of them weren't races, so this could be his chance to win. Kenji could show him wrong.
Black laced boots got in position as well but not exactly like Kenji's. Prosper stood there and patiently waited with a smile on his face until Kenji counted down from three to one.
He peeked from the corner of his eye, sneaking one glance at Prosper before counting. "One...two–"
Dash!
Kenji intentionally skipped counting to three before sprinting out to gain a head start. He left Prosper behind, confident that he could win the race. As he ran to the end of the hallway, he thought pleasantly to himself, Hah! I'm sure he had no idea I wasn't going to continue counting! Now I have a chance to at least win one of our challenges!
He raced away, abandoning the fancy-dressed boy. Prosper stood there with a little groan before his smile shifted as if he were in a different mood. From a cheerful, patient grin to a competitive, serious grin. Prosper took a step back and giggled under his breath before running.
Whoosh!
It made no difference if Prosper was far behind Kenji. Because the room they were running to was still far ahead, Prosper had plenty of time to catch up and win. He didn't take a single breath as his legs continued to surge ahead, determined to win.
It took Prosper 20 seconds to catch up to Kenji. He was racing alongside him, a cheeky, arrogant grin on his face. Kenji was already catching his breath as his legs struggled to keep up with him. His thighs, too, felt like they were going to burst. And before he knew it, Prosper had pulled ahead of him.
What kind of air is Prosper breathing?! Kenji thought loudly as he pushed his legs forward to catch up to Prosper. He was only about six feet away from his friend until he caught up with him. But before he could return his cocky grin, the bursting thigh pain was too intense for him to bear—
Crash!
—and he fell flat on his face.
Being completely deaf, Prosper didn't turn back to check up on Kenji. Instead, he continued to race down the hallway until he reached the reserved room.
"Haha! I made it first! I won!" Prosper slammed his hand on the smooth, golden tag, which bore the room number platinumed in a black outline. He looked back before reaching for the key to unlock the room door and saw Kenji on the ground after tripping on his leg. There was only a brief moment of silence before Prosper burst out laughing.
"Oh my god–" He held his stomach while throwing his head back, still laughing hysterically, "Kenji! Did you seriously–fall?!" The boy continued to cackle out loud as Kenji pulled himself up, groaning in embarrassment.
After causing himself such pain, the boy scratched his forehead. It felt like a large bump was rising from his brow, which it could be. And he hoped Prosper wouldn't call it out because it would make them laugh even harder. Kenji shook his head from side to side in denial, clearing his throat.
"Look, Prosper. You may have–ow–...won, but one day I will win the challenges that we have! I stand by my word!"
"Yeah yeah, whatever," Prosper unlocked the room, widely opening the door, "Let's go in now and eat. Don't forget you owe me a slice of pizza."
YOU ARE READING
STRANGERS FOR YEARS, THREE NIGHTS AS FRIENDS
Misterio / Suspenso#01 . | A special event was hosted on Lumina's most popular cruise: St. Lousia. Even better, the event was hosted by Lumina's wealthiest family, the Audonia's. Famous for their movie productions, the event on the cruise had all aspects scored to abs...
