VIII (Aoi Kurashiki x Reader)

XVII

Around ten minutes later, they'd finished. Seven dusted his hands off on his suspenders. "That oughta work."

"Now we gotta light it. Vi, give me your matches." Santa held out an open palm.

"What makes you think I'd have matches, you pyromaniac?!"

"Then how're we gonna light it?"

Ah! Leaving the two behind, she bounded halfway up the stairs and stopped at the machine in the wall with the levers and lights. All the lights had turned green and the lever slid with ease. "Good job, Vi! The gears are turning!" Santa shouted from the conveyor belt.

Each gear, Gold, Silver, and Bronze, had spun to reveal a circular disk in an indent. The indent was similar to the box near the exit, three circles layered in the form of a triangle. The gold disk was found in the bottom left, the silver at the top, and the bronze in the bottom right. Each one was littered with red and blue lines.

The three, each holding a disk, clambered up the stairs and to the exit's puzzle. "Put them how we found them." (Y/N) instructed. Santa placed the gold one bottom left, Seven placed the bronze bottom right, and she placed the silver on top. From this angle, the red lines on the disks appeared to form something. If she just rotated them all the correct way-  they formed a star polygon.

Without a second more to think, the exit door slid into the ceiling. "Yes! It's open!"

"All right, mind getting June, Vi?" Seven nodded to her. "Santa and I will keep an eye on this door."

"Why?" Santa challenged, fixing his thin scarf around his neck and arms. "Even if it shuts, we know how to solve the puzzle."

"I guess you're right." Seven sighed. "Guess we can all go get June."

He waved a hand. "Nah. I'm cool with letting Vi handle it."

"Man, you're confusing me..." Seven's complaint became muffled as (Y/N) walked away.

In silence, she returned to where she'd left the feverish girl. "Oh, Vi?" She was standing upright again, hands laced at her waist.

"Are you okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine now. Sorry for making you guys worry." She fiddled with her fingers. (Y/N) grabbed June's arm and leaned over to press her palm against her forehead.

"Good, you don't feel as warm." (Y/N) smiled and gave her wrist a tiny squeeze. "Let's go. We got the exit open."

The two girls hurried back to the exit, motivated by the thought of escape. Rounding the corner, the two stopped abruptly at the foot of the stairway. "Oh...Santa?" The silver-haired man sat atop one of the first steps, one arm thrown over his thigh, the other holding a scrap of paper. He seemed content staring at it- his face drawn in concentration, maybe a little sadness. "What are you looking at?"

"It's a photo of my sister."

June's face lit up. "Sister? Santa, you've got a sister?"

"Yeah..." He stared longingly at the photo, a fond smile stretching his lips. "Kid was as cute as a button." (Y/N)'d never heard Santa's voice so full of adoration before, just by looking at a tiny photograph in his hand.

"Why...uh...why are you looking at a picture of her?" (Y/N) tried, stepping a tad closer.

He withdrew the paper with a sigh and pocketed it, forever hiding the adorable face of his sibling. If they looked anything alike, there was no doubt she was beautiful. "I was her Santa Claus."

A moment passed. "Wait. What?"

"Have you ever heard the story of the two Santa Clauses?" He looked up at the two girls. "It goes that a long time ago, there were two Santas. One of em' wore white, and the other one wore black. The white Santa gave presents to good kids, and the black Santa played tricks on bad kids." Santa's eyes began to glaze over as he went on. "They went on like that for a while, but eventually the black Santa's tricks started to get worse and worse. Pretty soon, the white Santa couldn't stand it anymore... and he stabbed the black Santa to death."