Chapter 27: Chapter 27 - Hotel Room Disaster

Kyoto’s hotel was stunning.

Wooden hallways, warm lights, tatami mats, and a relaxing vibe.

But Kuro Kurogane didn’t see any of it.

Nothing but chaos from his peers occurred within 15 minutes of arriving.

"NO RUNNING IN THE HALLWAYS!"

Teachers’ words echoed in vain while students did not follow the directions of their superiors.

Kuro quietly walked with his bag to the boys’ living area.

Peace , At last . No Mina.No Akari.No mental combat.

Just about staying alive all night.

" I hope tonight will be quiet," Kuro said to himself.

He was wrong , really wrong.

The boys’ living area was already at a very loud volume.

The futons were all over the place, and the group was arguing about snacks and card games.

"Kurogane!" one boy yelled, pointing his finger at Kuro .

"How does it feel to be surrounded by girls 24/7?"

"Exhausting, dude."

"DON’T FLEX."

"I’m actually suffering."

No one believed him.Kuro rolled his eyes and sat on the floor next to a wall and opened his phone.

The light from his phone turned on almost immediately.

Akari:

Kuro-kun what room number are you in?

Kuro:

No!

Akari:

Too late :)

Kuro was just staring blankly at his phone.

Danger was coming.

Three hours later, night began to fall in Kyoto, and after teachers completed checking the boys’ rooms, the hotel became quiet.

Kuro was starting to feel relaxed when the 3 boys around him were playing games at a loud volume.

Then...

Knock-knock.

The entire group froze.

All of the boys turned to face the sliding door.

Knocking continued.

And then Akari whispered dramatically from outside.

"Kuro-kun~"

Silence.

Girly screams filled the room.

"YOU BROUGHT GIRLS!?", "YOU SON OF BITCH , PLAYBOY MONSTER."

"Kurogane, you’re a traitor."

"I NEVER INVITED ANYONE!"

That was already too late for Kuro.So the sliding door slid open slowly.

Akari first peeked inside, wearing comically large pajamas and a ridiculous innocent smile.

Then, Aoi came in.Mina came in.And a not-so-happy Rika came in.The boys lost it.

"Kurogane’s bedroom just turned into a dating sim event..."

"I should have stayed at home."

Kuro dropped his head into his hands.

" Why the fuck are you here?"

Akari strode inside, like it was a normal day.

"Sleepover."

"This is a SCHOOL TRIP !!!!."

"Exactly."

"This makes no sense."

Meanwhile, Mina had just sat down on Kuro’s futon.

"Comfy."

"Get off my bed."

"Uh-uh."

Of course.What about Rika, standing at the doorway and worried.

"Um, should we have really done this...?"

"No.", Kuro answered right then and there.

Akari completely ignored him.

"We’ll leave before the teacher’s notice."

"That will end badly."

Meanwhile, Aoi seemed to slide down beside Kuro like it was ’no big deal’, as though this were normal.

" This boy’s room is louder than I thought it would be."

"That’s because of idiots that live here."

" WE CAN HEAR YOU," one of the other boys screamed.

Mina was having so much fun raiding the snack stashes of the boys.

"Your classmates are totally wild."

"More like monsters."

"Depends on how you look at it."

That’s what I meant too.

Later the living room had devolved into a complete circus.

Pillows were in the air. Cards were being broken emotionally. Somehow, after much futility, half the boys had given Mina all the snacks they had left.

At the same time Akari was being very aggressive in taking over Kuro’s space.

"Kuro-kun."

"...What do you want?"

"Your shoulder."

"What about it?"

"Pillow."

As Kuro was about to answer another question Akari flopped down next to him and snuggled against him.

Warm body. Sweet shampoo smell. Way too close.

Kuro was motionless.The boys around him seemed to still be in shock.

"I am living my dream."

"No, you are well beyond dreaming."

Kuro knew he truly could never know what they were feeling.

But the truth is that this is an atmosphere of complete warmth.

Continuous noise. Total chaos. Complete comfort.

Next Aoi quietly slid up next to Kuro, now both of the twin’s larger, softer bodies were against him like this was the way it was meant to be.

Kuro was emotionally wiped out and he couldn’t even think of where to run to for refuge.

"That’s correct." Aoi calmly responded.

Mina gave Kuro one last smile from across the room on the futon.

"Your step sisters are very possessive of you."

Akari smiled proudly.

"Thank you."

"That was not a compliment."

Then everything changed.You could hear footsteps in the hallway.

Everyone froze.Then you could faintly hear one of the teacher’s out in the hallway saying "Make sure nobody leaves their assigned room."

Silence.Complete and utter quiet.Rika was on the verge of flipping out.

"We’re dead meat," she thought.

"Keep your cool," Mina had told her softly.

"How the hell can you be calm?"

Kuro was dramatically ripping her sleeve out of his pocket.

"Save us, Kuro-kun," Akari said.

"I can’t even save myself!" Kuro said in a pitiful voice.Footsteps were getting closer and closer.

Then suddenly Mina shoved Kuro down onto his futon and flopped down on top of him.

Akari followed immediately after Mina. Aoi flopped down.

Kuro’s brain went blank. Dead.He’s sandwiched by two girls.

Akari is facing into him, and Aoi is pressed into the other side (she’s past his knees and onto the blankets).

They’re hiding from teachers.

"This isn’t real," Kuro thought as he was freaking out.

Rika hides behind some luggage.The footsteps stopped right outside the room.

Everyone held their breath.The handle of the door turned just slightly.

Kuro thought he was gonna die inside right then. Seriously.

Then the footsteps continued past. It was silent for three seconds.

Then everyone breathed again at the same time.

"We survived!" Rika said in a weak voice.

Mina started to laugh again.

"This is the best trip ever!"

Kuro had rotted inside, he looked like he was dead.

"I think I lost ten years off my life after this little trip."

Eventually the girls got ready to leave to not get checked on—and the hair was calm, they were no longer frantic.

The atmosphere was much calmer now.

Akari was standing next to the door looking at Kuro.

"Today was really fun," she said.

"You will destroy my emotions," Kuro replied.

"But it was fun," Akari replied.

Aoi gave him a quiet look as well.

" Night," she said.

They were simple words, but she had said them in such a soft way.

Mina then smiled smugly.

"Don’t have a dream about the three of us."

" I’ll just dream about peace," Kuro replied.

"Dreaming about peace is an impossible genre to write about," Mina shot back.

With a weary sigh, Rika said,

"...Goodnight."

After saying their goodbyes, all three girls exited the room into the hallway.

The room became quiet for the first time all night.

As if the boys had decided to turn (to look at Kuro) at the same time.

They didn’t say anything.

"I hate you."

"I can understand why," was Kuro’s honest reply.

He then laid down on his back and stared at the ceiling.

He looked at the space where a warm body had been next to him, then he took in (the faint) smell of perfume that lingered on his futon.

And of course, he was not able to sleep.

Instead, Kuro laid quietly in the dark, with a small smile still on his face.