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prologue part 2: trapdoors, taffy and threads

( ✷          ASTRY'S NOTES :
me writing 3k words for part 1 and barely half for part 2 lolz
those of u who aren't in this chapter are def in the next dw 🤭 )

Taro

I'm sitting on the stairs eating taffy, as any person should. Apple taffy, to be precise, because that's the best flavour of anything. Apple soda, apple pie, apple juice...see what I mean? And taffy's a good thing to eat when you're bored, because it's so chewy that it's hard to think of anything else anyway. I've gone through a couple of them while waiting for somebody to come by.

It's been, like, three hours since I got here. At first, I was really worried about being late, so I set an alarm for eight AM and made it here by twelve. But am I early?! It doesn't seem right. The owner of this place should've been here by now, I think.

But this place is huuuuge, so maybe the owner doesn't even know I'm here. There are these huge stained glass windows in huge mahogany doors with huge brass handles, and the floors are carpeted super nicely. So nicely that I'm almost scared to walk around on them! I've been tiptoeing around since I entered even though my shoes aren't even that dirty.

I unwrap another taffy and take a bite out of it. I can't lie, I'm a little bored. I explored only a small section of the manor before I got too tired to continue, so I'm reluctant to venture off into the unknown to find the host. What if I don't find them, and I'm just wandering around the halls like a ghost? I don't wanna get lost! And besides, I'm too tired to lug around my suitcases. I only packed enough supplies to last me until tomorrow evening, but my bags still weigh a ton and were a total pain to drag around with me. It's probably because I packed all my streaming kit too, but you can't even blame me for that! This is a perfect opportunity to film a video! 'Exploring an Old Mansion for a Million Yen!' Even the title sounds good.

I told my fans that I'd be going on a short trip a few days ago, but would still try to get a video out. I could've filmed my journey, but A: it was pretty boring and one heck of a pain, and B: most of the footage would be of me crying out when I rolled over my foot with my bag. Because seriously, the journey here sucked! I paid for a taxi, but got dropped off before we'd even driven for an hour. Which made no sense because I'd paid enough money for a full trip! But the taxi driver seemed totally spooked by the journey here, and I felt pretty bad to see him all shaken up, so I'd given him a taffy and said my farewells.

Before I can bust open another pack of candy, a door towards the end of the corridor bursts open. BANG! I jump slightly, sending a couple of taffies tumbling out of the bag and down the stairs. Aw, no! I can't be littering in a rich person's house!

As I'm picking up my taffies from the bottom of the stairs, a blur of black and red comes hurtling towards me. Like, it's super super quick. My idea at the last nanosecond is to duck out of the way before it crashes into me, so I leap to the edge of the hallway as it passes me and collides with the bannister.

"Ow, fuck!"

Wait, it's a person?! Oh God!

It's- they're sprawled out on the floor in a heap of important-looking documents, papers fluttering over them like feathers as they groan weakly. It's almost funny, but worry clouds my sense of humour. I crouch down beside them and brush their tie from their face. It's a girl, and she looks pretty young, too young to be the host. Maybe she's 19? Ooh, she'd be the same age as me! Fun!

"Are you OK? That was a pretty bad fall!"

She blinks long lashes at me. "What the-  shit!"

All of a sudden, she's sitting bolt-upright. She hastily brushes off her clothes and extends her hand to me. "Hi! I'm Ismasu Ryota, criminal defence lawyer and amateur rollerskater!" She wiggles her legs. Turns out she's wearing two pairs of bright red rollerskates, which explains the nasty tumble. "They do say that wheels are faster than feet!"