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“So, which room are we supposed to find ?” asked Tsukasa, curiously but with a hint of annoyance in his voice.
“Room 39”, replied Rui, walking way ahead in front of Tsukasa, seemingly unaware that the other has been trying to catch up to him since they entered this hotel. Meddling for something in his pockets, he suddenly stopped in his tracks, startling Tsukasa who bumped into his back on the way.
“What's wrong?”
“I can't find the keys.”
“What?!” yelled Tsukasa. After realizing where they were, he stepped closer and whispered harshly: “We had one job! The class president clearly told us to keep the keys in place and stay in the room in case something happened. And this is what happens!”
For reference, the two were on a school trip in a different town. Due to an incident, the rest of their group had to look for a missing student. Rui and Tsukasa were sent in advance to their rooms, “in case something happened.”
What Tsukasa didn't know however, was that the group was just trying to look for an excuse to keep them as far away as possible, knowing the trouble they always went into. Tsukasa had taken this for a proof of his responsibility, and he was 𝘢𝘣𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘶𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺 adamant about fulfilling his task well.
And here they both were, keys lost in an enormous hotel.
Rui sighed. “Nevermind…here they are.”
Tsukasa almost face palmed, but he contented to make an expression of disdain. However, he sighed and said:
“I'm never believing you, ever again.”
With that, he snatched the keys from Rui’s hands and resumed walking quickly in order to keep distance with Rui.
“I wasn't joking this time.” protested Rui with an embarrassed expression.
“I 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 you were”, snapped back Tsukasa, while finally stopping in front of a door and opening it. “I've had enough of these jokes, you really need-”
His lips were sealed shut as he looked at the scenery they had just on walked on. The room that was reserved for them was quite spacious, a 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 bit too much for Tsukasa’s taste, but very beautiful too, with charming motifs and a wallpaper pleasant to the eye.
The only problem was, there was a countless amount of beds.
Tsukasa’s mouth gaped whole as Rui, who has just stopped behind him, went into an absurd fit of laughter.
“W-what is this supposed to mean!?” managed to say Tsukasa after a brief period of silence.
“I don't know” barely managed to reply Rui, still interrupting his speech with chuckles here and there.
Tsukasa sighed as he entered the room, and closed it after Rui. He sat on one of the many beds, and scratched his head trying to look for an explanation to this absurd situation.
“Should we go down and ask the receptionist if there was a mistake ?” suggested Rui after calming down.
“Oh no, 𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 not” answered Tsukasa. “Our group has told us to stay in our rooms and to 𝘯𝘰𝘵 come out at any costs, so that is what I will do.
“Are you even sure they said that?” asked Rui incredulously. “I was in the bathroom at the time, I wasn't even there–”
“Oh, 𝘰𝘣𝘷𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘭𝘺 they did! Why would have they entrusted us with keeping check of our room anyways?”
“It's not like something will happen.. Besides, is this even our room? Maybe we accidentally entered a wrong one–”
“I'm telling you it is!! Now let's just stay here, and ask for details till tomorrow.” replied Tsukasa as he laid back on the bed, finding it quite comfortable.
“I suppose we should make ourselves at home, I guess…” finished Rui, not seeming entirely convinced.
With that, Tsukasa opened one eye, and looked to his side. There were two pillows on the bed he was lying on, as well as the countless other beds present in the room.
Noticing Tsukasa's unusual silence, Rui asked:
“What are you looking at?”
Tsukasa grinned.
“I've got an idea…”
Glancing at the direction Tsukasa looked in, Rui’s expression went grim.
“Are you sure…” he went, looking down at the stupidly smiling Tsukasa who was still laying down on the bed.
“You were the one who said we should make ourselves at home” chimed Tsukasa, jumping up all of a sudden and running to the other side of the room.
Rui stared at him incredulously, while Tsukasa proceeded to explain.
“We're going to play Ultra pillow fight. You go to the other side of the room, and each one's bedside table will serve as a net. The one who throws the most pillows in the other's net wins! How's that sound?” explained gleefully Tsukasa.
“...” Rui kept staring at him. “Where did you get that name from?”
“I made it up, of course!” replied Tsukasa, so proudly Rui could almost see stars around him.
Rui sighed, but he let out a chuckle as he walked back to the opposite side of the room.
“Alright.”
Tsukasa raised a fist up in the air. “Let's go!!”
Rui hesitantly threw the first pillow, but immediately regretted his choice, as he was welcomed back with two or three pillows hitting him straight in the face.
“Hey!! I thought you were supposed to throw those in the ‘net’, not into my face!!–”
“I know!!” laughed Tsukasa, leaving Rui wondering if he even heard him or not. He smiled.
“Okay, you asked for it.”
With that, he picked up all the pillows that had been sent to him, and sent them flying back with even more force. Before Tsukasa could even react, he threw one or two pillows from his pile as a last touch.
Tsukasa could barely stand up after that vicious attack. He simply smirked, and said:
“The more pillows you send, the more I'll send back. You've been warned!!”
And thus ensued feral pillow throwing, loud laughing and chaos.
It was a good while before Rui accidentally hit a table lamp full force with a flying pillow. The lamp fell, and just as it was about to shatter itself on the floor, shattering Rui's dignity as well with it, Tsukasa’s hand caught it.
“...”
“Alright, that's enough.”
__________
Curled up together in a pillow fort, Tsukasa and Rui dug their heads around looking for something to do.
After a while, Tsukasa spoke up.
“I think we should simply play card games.”
“No, that's too boring.” replied Rui thoughtlessly.
“Okay, come up with something better, then.”
Just then, Rui thought of an idea.
“Listen. We should take advantage over this. That is an opportunity we should not let slip.”
“What do you mean?” asked Tsukasa, turning his head to meet Rui's eyes.
“I mean all of those beds. Surely we can find something fun to do with them.”
Tsukasa turned once more, looking over at the army of beds. “Hmm, you're right. What sort of idea can we come up with though?”
Rui smiled as he crawled out of the fort. Under Tsukasa’s apprehensive gaze, he worked himself up to push all those beds together. At the end, he wiped a drop of sweat out of his forehead, contemplating his job, and crawled on all fours back to the fort.
“Come.” Rui said, tilting his head in a welcoming gaze.
“What are you planning to do?” asked Tsukasa confusedly.
Instead of replying, Rui held out his hand and smiled.
That earned Tsukasa’s trust as he took Rui's hand inside his and left the fort. Taken aback with that sea of white, he flinched and stood up.
“Rui…are you serious?” Tsukasa asked in a deadpan tone.
“Yep!” replied the other.
Tsukasa did his hardest to not let out a groan, as he said: “We are in a hotel, Rui. These beds are not ours.”
Rui snickered. “Who said to make ourselves at home, again ?” He answered, tilting his head and seeming lost in thought.
After a few seconds of staring at Rui in disdain again, Tsukasa finally spoke up. “...Okay. But–”
Rui took Tsukasa’s hand. “No buts! We only have one chance!!”
As he was being dragged by Rui, who desperately tried to make him move, Tsukasa replied. “Wait, that's real. Let's not let it slip!!”
And then, they jumped on the beds, like they were back to being innocent children who had nothing better to do.
“This sure is fun, but repetitive. I'll get tired of it soon”, remarked Tsukasa while still jumping.
Rui’s brows scrunched up. “Why do you always have to criticize my ideas? I didn't do that to yours, but you do?”
“Well, my idea was 𝘰𝘣𝘷𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘭𝘺 better. It was a competition, which made the players more involved into the game and excited to win. Surely, humans are so weird. They get quickly bored by mundane games, but jump up to anything with even remotely a hint of competition.”
Rui laughed. “You're talking about yourself, Tsukasa-kun.”
“Of course, I'm a human. That makes my claim entirely true.”
“You're a human, but you're also weird.” Rui let out.
Tsukasa abruptly stopped. “I'm what?”
Rui tried to correct himself with an awkward laugh. “I mean, you said it. Humans are weird.”
“Rui, I just realized we are speaking like aliens.”
“Are we?….oh, we sure are.” Rui noticed as he scratched his chin with his free hand. He chuckled. “What planet would I be from, then ?”
“Maybe a very faraway planet or something…” Tsukasa replied, trailing off in thought.
Rui faintly smiled. Words left his mouth without warning. “You though, you would be a star.”
Tsukasa’s train of thought abruptly stopped, sending all the passengers flying into the front. He processed the words and only reacted after a few moments, practically fuming up.
“Rui!! Why do you always say such weird things to me?!”
Rui flapped his arm around. “I mean.. You're the one always boasting about being a ‘world future star’…It was just..”
“There are you, blaming it all on me at the end!!” Tsukasa kept going. “You're doing this on purpose! You're obviously just teasing me– I can see straight through your lies!”
Rui’s head drooped in hopelessness. “It really wasn't on purpose…”
“In your dreams maybe”, replied Tsukasa haughtily, that last sentence followed by silence.
Tsukasa looked around in wonder, taking his time to appreciate some crack or default on the wall or some beautiful pattern on the curtains he didn't notice before. As for Rui, his stare went into oblivion.
Coincidentally, Tsukasa’s eyes wondered around enough to notice he was still holding Rui’s hand. As if he was possessed, he immediately yanked it away. And then regretted it.
𝘖𝘩 𝘤𝘳𝘢𝘱, 𝘐 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘸𝘬𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥!!
In a attempt to redeem himself, he let out an “Ahem…” before he fell silent, not knowing where to bring the conversation.
“Hum….” replied Rui, just as lost as Tsukasa.
The latter decided to sit down. At least, if somebody came in, they wouldn't be found standing on the now single giant bed with nothing but crickets heard between them.
Rui followed his movements as well. While Tsukasa played around with his feet, staring at his non-existent shoes, Rui decided to get out of his trance and started pushing the first bed back up to its place.
Tsukasa, engrossed in his thoughts, only turned around when he heard the ear piercing noise of the heavy bed being pushed around. Eager to make himself useful at least, he ran over.
“Let me help you!”
Rui accepted his aid without much thought. But pushing back all the beds to where they belonged turned out to be harder than they thought. Rui had somehow done his job so well that the beds were now practically stuck to each other, and could only be pushed from the front, which made the task even harder.
After a while, Tsukasa gave up.
Rui looked at the now sprawled on the floor Tsukasa. Ignoring his complaints, he sat down next to him as well, and let out a long sigh.
“...see? You shouldn't even have done this in the first place. Now look at what we got into!!”
Rui was about to sigh again. 𝘕𝘰𝘸 𝘸𝘩𝘰'𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘣𝘭𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳, 𝘩𝘶𝘩 ? But before he could say those words, a pillow hanging from the bed fell over Tsukasa’s face, his mouth still running. He immediately stopped talking and yanked the pillow out of his face with a cartoonish expression, throwing it to the other side of the room.
“Honestly…!”
Since Rui wasn't used to seeing Tsukasa being so angry over small things, he thought about calming him down. But another part of his mind thought about something else.
Without a word, Rui got over to where the poor pillow was lodged, and threw it on Tsukasa with acute precision.
“Rui!!” yelled Tsukasa as he hurled over pillows he got from who knew where. Rui eventually sent back the very same pillows, and gradually, Tsukasa’s mumbles turned into laughs.
Before they knew it, they were back to pillow throwing, this time even messier than the previous. Tsukasa was still half-laying on the floor, sending innumerable pillows, while Rui stood to the wall and desperately tried to dodge them, while throwing around pillows as well.
The room became an entire mess again, and the pillow fort was long since gone.
While the two were still deep into that game, the door suddenly flew open. Rui and Tsukasa turned around their heads, all laughter coming to an abrupt stop. The figure on the doorstep was none other than their teacher…
An awkward silence took place instead. The students behind the teacher could only snap their necks trying to catch a glimpse to see what made the teacher’s face go white. The few students who saw what was happening immediately started quietly chuckling, and soon they started laughing.
After a short while that seemed infinitely longer, the teacher spoke up.
“...Rui, Tsukasa, what are you doing ?”
Some student behind went into a terrifying fit of laughter, while Tsukasa started babbling something.
“..The room!! We saw…It was very…There are a lot of beds…I mean…”
Hearing this, the teacher’s expression darkened immensely, and that student’s laughter only worsened.
“What do you think all those beds are for?” said the teacher quietly.
Tsukasa was unable to answer.
Other students started laughing, and the teacher face palmed. “Only two of those beds are yours. The rest are for…the other students…”
“Ohhh….” Rui went.
“Whatever” the teacher announced, breaking his own silence. “But this sort of behavior cannot go without punishment. You two will be forbidden from participating in any activities between the group.”
Rui fixed his posture. “I understand.”
“...” The teacher stared at him, expression still darkened beyond belief.
__________
At night, the other students chattered and whispered, telling each other stories and anecdotes. This was one of their supposed activities. Rui and Tsukasa could only watch from the sidelines as even the teacher warmed up and cracked a few jokes.
Long later, everyone went to sleep. Except Tsukasa and Rui, who still couldn't close an eye after the deeply embarassing situation they'd gone into. Their eyes bulged open like hawks, they didn't move.
Or at least, didn't yet. Tsukasa seemed to have a thought, and his brows furrowed. Eventually, he came to stand up and pushed his own bed 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 slowly, trying to lessen the noise as much as possible. Luckily, the students’ snores were somehow a good enough cover-up. Rui was watching his every movement, and he soon stood up to help Tsukasa as well.
Their work done, they climbed into the beds now pushed together into one, holding each other. Slowly, their embrassement eased, as they closed their eyes and dazedly went into sleep.