Two Sides Of The Same Feather

B3 Part Four

Hajime instantly stiffens under my grip on my shoulders and my face on his. While he's distracted, I shove him against the wall, push past him, and take off down the hall. Getting out of the dead end is my top priority, no?

"What the hell?!" I hear him spit from behind me as I move further away from him.

I spend a few minutes simply running, not allowing myself to stop before there's a wide berth of distance between Hajime and I.

Eventually I find a decent-enough hiding spot and settle in to wait out the remaining time, hoping not to encounter Hajime before time runs out.

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"And...that's twenty minutes! You've beaten my second game! Hajime, beloved, I hope you're feeling better! If you have any injuries, I'll kiss them better!~"

And with those annoying comments, Chiaki signs off. Well, that's good, one more game and we can leave. But I believe Hajime was hoping to kill Chiaki hhhh.

I stand up from my hiding spot with a heavy sigh and begin making my way out of the maze.

When I emerge, I see Hajime leaning against the wall curled into himself, clutching his head, emitting various loud groans.

I approach him cautiously, and kneel next to him. I rub the back of his back soothingly. In response, he looks up and over at me, and sighs.

"Are you feeling any better?" I ask. He shrugs.

"You mean less murderous? Then yes. Good job surviving by the way." He responds wearily. I laugh awkwardly.

"Well yes, but it was a close call when you had me cornered back then..." I reply nervously. He frowns.

"I cornered you?" He questions. I cock my head.

"You don't...remember anything?"

He shakes his head. "Nothing of the past twenty minutes. I guess that drug had some sort of memory-loss effect...stupid bitch." He mumbles.

Ah. So, he doesn't remember how I kissed him as a distraction? Well, I suppose that's for the best after all.

"You basically acted how you did when we first met," I supply, "how is your shoulder?"

"Achy. Sore. And my head is killing." He responds.

"I'm sorry, Hajime."

"Whatever, let's just move on. I wanna get out of here." He sighs, stumbling to his feet. I immediately hop up next to him, ready to catch him if he falls.

"Hajime, I really think you should rest. There's no time limits or anything. You should really rest before we face the final game." I urge. He shakes me off.

"No, I'm fine. Let's go, Ko." He insists, brushing past me on his way out of the room. I hurry to catch up to him.

I find him standing in front of the door to the final game.

"I really think we should rest and recover first," I reiterate, "if this is anything like the last two games, this'll be nothing but trouble."

"Shut up!" He snaps, twisting the door knob.

We enter what appears to be an old warehouse. Large wooden crates are all around the perimeter of the room, covered in dust.

Standing in the middle of the room, is Chiaki herself. She holds a long, shiny silver sword in one hand and a remote control switch in the other.