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“Can you let me go now?”
“Alright,” Sakiko responded. She let go of Sodachi, then crawled over to the side of the bed. She stood up and began looking around. She hurried over to a nearby dresser, then frowned. She tilted her head to one side, squinting slightly.
“Is something wrong?” Sodachi asked. She was laying on her back, with her hands handcuffed together. Her legs, on the other hand, were tied together through a series of complicated knots. She tried craning her neck to see what Sakiko was looking at, but she didn’t see anything. So, she tried crawling over to the edge of the bed to see if that would help.
Still not turning around, Sakiko frowned. She glanced at the floor around the dresser, but tried to keep the motion subtle. She didn’t want Sodachi realizing there was a problem.
But she had to say something. “Um…” She stammered. She continued looking around, but to no avail.
Eventually, she had to admit it. “I… think I may have lost the key.”
“You lost it?” Sodachi had concern in her voice. “Are you sure?”
“I can’t find it… I must have put it somewhere else.”
“Ah…” Sodachi was glad Sakiko was looking the other way. That way, she couldn’t see the disappointment on Sodachi’s face.
Sodachi tried jostling the handcuffs on her own. “These have an escape mechanism, right? Like, for this exact situation?”
Sakiko began to blush. “Well, um… Play handcuffs are, yes. But these are real ones. I wanted a better experience.”
“I don’t think this is a better experience…” Sodachi sighed. “Can you please untie my legs so I can stand up?”
Sakiko turned around. Sodachi was still laying down on the edge of the bed. Sakiko helped her sit up such that her legs were hanging off the bed. Sakiko kneeled down before her. But she moved quickly, ducking her head down. She still didn’t want to look Sodachi in the eyes. It was embarrassing to even consider this happening.
Once Sodachi’s legs were free, she moved them around a little, careful to not kick Sakiko. Once she was sure she wasn’t going to feel numb, she stood up and tried walking around the room.
“Well, did you put it somewhere else? Forget where you put it?”
“Well, if I put it somewhere else, I don’t know where it would be. I was sure I put it on the dresser.”
Sakiko began moving the things on the dresser around. A lamp, a clock, some small objects. But the key wasn’t hiding behind any of them. It wasn’t there at all.
As Sakiko tried searching the ground, Sodachi tried looking elsewhere in the room. She had to move carefully, because if she tripped, she would faceplant.
“Did you leave it on your desk?”
Without turning around, Sakiko responded. “No. I was never over there. It has to be somewhere over here…” She was on her hands and knees. “I don’t know why it would be in the closet… I don’t know where it could be, if not over here.”
Since Sodachi’s hands were in front of her, she could still use them to hold onto things. Her dexterity was limited, but it was enough to open the closet door. She peered inside. There were some shelves and a lot of clothes, but no place where Sakiko would put a key. Not unless she dropped it.
Back in the room, Sakiko had stood up. She was looking at places near the dresser, including on the bed. She kept wracking her head for ideas of where the key could be, but nothing came to mind. She even checked under the bed. If it had fallen, there was a chance that it might have gotten swept under the bed.
As Sakiko rooted around, Sodachi sat down on the bed. “Do we have another way to get these off me? Or are we going to need to call someone to get it fixed? That would be embarrassing.”
“It would be…” Sakiko sighed. “We can consider this a lesson for the future.”
“I would rather any future lessons not come at my expense.”
Sakiko winced at that. “Sorry…” Words like that could not convey how embarrassed she was feeling in that moment. She truly was sorry, in more ways than one.
Sodachi looked down at her wrists, then tried jostling the handcuffs once more. They were sturdy. She hadn’t realized just how much before now. If she had known that beforehand, she might have been more apprehensive about letting Sakiko handcuff her. It had sounded fun, but…
If they did this again, she would make sure Sakiko got something better suited for the purpose. Or at least something with an escape mechanism.
It was embarrassing.
Of course, the embarrassment Sodachi was feeling was nothing compared to Sakiko. Sakiko still felt that she couldn’t show her face to Sodachi. Not until she found the key. But no matter where she looked, she couldn’t find it. And the longer this went on, the worse she felt.
“Are you sure you didm’t leave it on the desk? Or somewhere over there? Why are you so sure it’s on the dresser?”
“Because that’s where I put it. I know where I put it. I was sure I put it there, so that I wouldn’t lose it.”
“But evidently, you did…” Sodachi sighed, then wobbled to her feet as best she could. Balancing without being able to use her arms was odd. Felt untrustworthy.
Sodachi walked over to the desk and began looking around. After a few moments, she groaned. “It’s on the desk.”
Sakiko blushed, ashamedly. She tried to bury herself in the room’s carpet. At the same time, Sodachi leaned down and picked up the key. She tried unlocking the handcuffs herself, but found it dextrously challenging.
“I’ll need you to unlock these for me.” She walked over to where Sakiko was sitting. She knelt, to the best of her ability. When Sakiko finally turned around, Sodachi handed her the key. Then she pushed her wrists forward.
“I’m sorry…” Sakiko muttered. She started unlocking the handcuffs. “This is my fault…”
“It is, but I don’t hold it against you.” As soon as Sodachi’s hands were free, she reached around Sakiko and pulled her into a hug. “We can try this again some other time. Hopefully without you losing the key.”
Sakiko hugged Sodachi back. She had a pouting expression on her face. “Yeah…”