VIII (Aoi Kurashiki x Reader)

XVI

Seven wandered over to one of the large gears in the room. "A gold gear..." He huffed.

"It doesn't look like it's always been this way." (Y/N) ran a finger along the dusty gear, little flecks of gold peeling off along the way. "It was probably painted for this game." Further to the left, another gear lay implanted in the ground. This time it was painted bronze. (Y/N) sighed, looking farther into the room. "Man, this room is huge. I guess this ship would need something this big to power it."

"Nah," Seven had followed her deeper into the room. "I doubt a boiler this size could move a ship like this at any reasonable speed. You'd need about four more rooms of this sort."

"Wow..."

Finally reaching the last tunnel on the left, (Y/N) was disappointed to see another gear. Silver, and just as cheaply painted. "You think it's made of pure silver?" The gruff voice startled her. "Sorry." Santa shrugged, leaning against the gear. Her blank face shifted into a frown and she turned away from him. "Vi..." He whined. "Wait!"

(Y/N) fisted her hands and slowly turned back to face him. "What, Santa? What?"

He blinked, the corners of his lips turning up as he looked at her face. She wondered if he was tempted to laugh at her busted lip. "I get the feeling you don't wanna talk to me." (Y/N) stayed silent, studying the frustration on his face. His right cheekbone jutted out, displaying the beginnings of a bruise. For a second, she felt bad for slapping him- But only for a second.

Santa threw up his hands. "Fine. I won't apologize at all."

"Fine." Two adults, yet both of them stormed off in opposite directions like toddlers. Their argument had been brief but it still stung nevertheless. Still, she wondered if he really had been aiming for a sincere apology.

(Y/N) crouched, tracing her finger around a circular indent in the boiler. She tugged on the hatch. There were three hatches on each of the walls in the room. "Pretty sure you're supposed to put coal in through those but they're welded shut." (Y/N) turned to see Santa again, purposely looking away from her. It was almost comedic how quick they'd come back to each other. "I know you're mad at me, but we have to talk to get out of here."

"I know." (Y/N) mumbled, standing up. She reached into her back pocket and fished out her lucky charm. Santa watched as she rubbed her thumb over its surface.

"What?"

"With everything that's happened. I was kidnapped and two people have died. It just doesn't feel lucky anymore." She sighed, releasing the paper, watching as it met the ground.

As she turned to leave, Santa stopped her. "Didn't-uh-didn't someone special give you that?"

Her shoulders tensed and she turned back to face him. "Someone... special?"

Santa paused, rubbing his thumb across his palm. "Nevermind."

Sparing one last glance down at the paper on the floor, (Y/N) sighed. Hope, Faith, Love, and Luck, all the things the clover was meant to represent had failed her. Clearly, there'd been nothing lucky about their situation, there was no longer any hope left. Santa had been right, all those things would fail you in the end. "The guy who gave it to me lied." And with that, she walked away.

Desperate to forget their conversation and leave the 'lucky' charm behind, she joined June by the conveyor belt. Thankfully, she was beginning to look better. Her face wasn't as pale and her eyes were focused again. If anything happened to her while Junpei was gone, they'd never hear the end of it. Directly next to the spot she was leaning against was a small hatch.

"The hell is this for?" Seven hummed, peering into the hole along with (Y/N).

"Shouldn't you know, 'Mr. This is the Boiler'?" She nagged. "I'm pretty certain these are terminals for some sort of connector." Pointing at the three rectangular holes in the back of the divet, Seven seemed to agree.