Chapter 5 – Test of Courage 2
Late night, before 21:00.
Two young men are gathering at a convenience store in front of the station.
One is Shibutani Hayato. With a short blond hair, earrings, rings and other accessories, his appearance is well adjusted.
If you look only at his appearance, it's just another yankee. But a woman passing by involuntarily glancing at him because of his neat face.
"I'm looking forward to it, Hayato"
"Oh, as expected if it was via Suzuki, Yamashiro would say OK too."
Another man talking to the blonde boy.
Koyama Yuuta. He is a slender man with long hair that hides his ears, and with a little hunchback. On his waist is a wallet chain that connects to his wallet, which is a favorite he recently bought online.
"Suzuki is aiming for Hayato, right?"
"Well.... I'm not interested because she has small breasts."
"Uwa~, so cruel!"
Then they laugh with a smirk.
"For the time being, when arrived there we act separately?"
"Ouh. I'm with Yamashiro and Yuuta is with Suzuki."
"... Isn't I supposed to be with Yamashiro?"
Hayato sighed exaggeratedly when Yuta said so.
"What? You promised right?"
Hayato approaches Yuta with a low voice unlike before.
Yuta shook his head in a hurry at his transformation.
"Sorry Hayato. My bad."
"If you ask me quietly, I'll give you the photo. Don't worry."
Hayato puts his hand on Yuuta's shoulder with a bright face.
With Hayato's hand on his shoulder, Yuuta could only looked down and bit his lips.
"Made you wait"
"I'm sorry to have kept you waiting! Hayato-kun!"
Two girls arrived in front of the same convenience store.
One is Yamashiro Rina.
She wears sneakers with a large hoodie and jeans.
She has big breasts, but now she's wearing a men's hoodie, so her bodyline is barely visible. She also had her hands hidden because of her long sleeves.
She wasn't wearing any make-up and she had her hair, which normally extends to her shoulders, form a bun in the back.
And the other is Suzuki Akina.
Unlike Rina, she is very fashionable with a denim dress, sandals, and a bracelet.
Naturally her makeup is also perfect.
"I haven't waited at all. Oh, yes this, I bought some juice."
Hayato gives the drink in the plastic bag to them.
"Thank you, Hayato-kun. You are kind."
"Oh, I don't need it. I'm not thirsty."
In contrast to Akina, who received the juice, Rina refused to receive drinks.
That action, seems to hurt Akina's nerves so Akina is angry with Rina.
"Nee~ today, you seem in bad mood? He bought juice for us afterall, at least say thank you."
"If so, you can drink my share too."
"No, it's not like that..."
"Ahahaha. Sorry, Yamashiro. You don't have to force yourself to drink. Let's go."
Side Yamashiro Rina
"Hey, what's with that getup?"
"What?"
"That crappy hoodie, you don't usually wear it."
Shibutani and Koyama are at the forefront and have moved to the goal.
As we walked behind them, Akina complained in a whisper.
"It's okay. It's a waste of time just to dress for two boys I don’t like cutely, and the hoodie I borrowed from my brother doesn't show my body’s line, so I don't need to care about the line of sight."
"Well, that's fine too..."
"More than that, the juice, isn't the cap open?"
"Huh?"
When I say that, Akina slowly turns the cap of the plastic bottle in her hand.
Then, the cap was opened without any resistance.
"Are, It's open. Did the cap loosen up?"
"... That... Me not receiving it is the correct choice"
I thought it was worse than I expected.
Originally, Shibutani's older brother has strange rumors.
He's a runaway cadre, yakuza's henchman, and so on.
I don't know when, but it seems that some people have actually seen him walking with stern people.
Therefore, no boy goes against Hayato.
They're scared of his brother behind him.
I will never drink something prepared by such Hayato, who is rumored to have such a connection.
I wonder if he put some weird medicine in it.
Following two people walking in front.
I don't usually come to this area, but is this a so-called red-light district?
It seems that many such shops are lined up if you go down the straight road.
In front of the building, I see a woman who seems to be a saleswoman waiting while smoking a cigarette.
There are many love hotels around here and it seems that the abandoned love hotel, which is the destination of this time, is also nearby.
"We arrived"
"Heh~ here huh. There's that creepy atmosphere around. Good finding Hayato-kun."
"Well, If I remember correctly there are rumors that there is ghost of female killed here."
"Eh~. Hayato-kun, I'm scared..."
The abandoned building was just a little far apart from others.
Maybe it's been a long time since abandoned, everywhere is full of rust.
Looking at the place where the window glass is almost broken, it seems that there are many people like us who try to enter for the purpose of courage test.
It seems that places like this are left unattended because it costs money to rebuild and there are no buyers.
"It looks like we can enter through that window, so let's go."
Then Hayato and Yuuta use smartphone's flashlight and walk.
When I tried to follow them, my legs stopped.
[Fufufufufu]
Looking around immediately.
There is no one.
I felt cold sweat flowing down my spine.
After all there is something. I can hear it even with my low level of awareness... This is little bad.
"Ne~, did you hear laughter now?"
"Wai… Stop it Rina"
"Hahaha, Yamashiro is easily scared, huh? See, it's okay if we hold hands."
Shibuya, who was walking at the front, laughed and put out his hand.
What a joke, who will grab your hand?
"It's okay! I'm holding Akina."
In order to avoid breaking the air as much as possible, I put my hand on Akina's arm.
"Heh~? It's a test of courage for men and women. Why stick with woman?"
"That's right"
Koyama also calls out to match Shibuya's words.
"Its okay right. Why do I have to hold boy. Hora, lets move"
"Okay, Okay"
Then Shibuya and his friends laughed and continued.
Akina and I followed shortly.
Place my hand on the broken window and let my body pass.
It was a fairly large window, so I can go in without any problems.
When I enter the building, I feels like the temperature has dropped all a sudden.
The room I entered had a desk and a broken monitor, must be an ordinary office originally.
I feel line of sight.
It doesn't feel that strong, but it's better not to be too long here.
"This is the reception desk"
"Eh~ why is that"
"Oh, there's a gap over there right. That's where the key placed for customer."
Keys are lined up in a key case hanging on the wall.
There are some where there is no key, so I guess people before us take it.
When I saw where Shibuya stabbed my finger, there was a thick frosted glass, and there was a gap at the bottom where receptionist would hand over the key.
"He~ As expected of Shibutani, you're familiar with it."
"Ah, I've been here with my ex-girlfriend afterall."
While saying that, Shibuya twisted the knob on the nearby door and opened the door.
I can see a place like a dim corridor.
There is a staircase in the far back... and I could see a face peeking from there.
I feel goosebumps.
A prank made by someone before us?
No, it's not.
Ordinary humans can't show their faces right from such a high place.
Terrible.
This spirit may be stronger than I expected.
"Okay, you can go up from the stairs over there. So, I have proposal. Let's split into two from here."
Shibuya looked at us and said that.
I hurriedly look at that direction again.
But there is no face there anymore.
"Good! It's becoming more and more like a test of courage."
"Yeah. Okay, but how do you divide people?"
The voices of Koyama and Akina can be heard somewhere.
Think hard, my head. How I can avoid the worst situation of splitting into two in this situation. Should I say that we should act with four people forcibly?
"It's dangerous, so let's act with four people"
When I said that, Akina pulled the sleeve of my hoodie.
Looking at her face, she looks serious as if she was thinking about something.
Don't tell me, you agree with splitting into two?
Please cool your head a bit.
"Listen, Akina. I think it's really dangerous here."
Akina bites her lips and shakes her head.
Ha~, she's really becoming blind.
"... Then, Akina. Here, a charm. Take it for the time being."
"Huh……?"
I handed something hidden in my sleeve to Akina's hand.
Akina who received it looked a little suspicious, but she received it for the time being.
"Hold it tightly in your hand. Don't put it in your bag."
"……Yes"
Is this all right for the time being?
My anxiety never subsided.
"He~... Yamashiro brought a charm huh. It's cute."
"Yeah… Well then, let's go to 3rd floor."
Then Koyama tried to move while holding Akina's hand.
"……Huh?"
"What's wrong? Let's go"
"Eh, but"
Akina seems to be confused when she sees Yuuta's face who trying to take her.
And before I knew it, Shibuya, who was next to me, held my hand.
"Then for us, let's go to 2nd floor"
"Wa, wait. Have you decided on a combination yet?"
"Actually, that Yuuta. He is aiming for Suzuki. So please cooperate."
He quietly whispered into my ear.
Bad, I lost the first move.
I should have gone with Koyama immediately.
At worst, I thought that I could handle Koyama...
Looking at Akina's face.
"..."
There was no emotion on that face.
No, I can see the expression of anger firmly etched in her eyes.
Akina's mouth moves slowly.
"Wait Akina..."
"Let's go"
Yuuta grabbed Akina's hand and went straight to the upfloors with stairs.
I can't forget the expression of Akina who was looking at me until the end.
Besides, what Akina last said:
'Traitor.'
(T/N : …. Uwaaa~ Woman is scary. Scary. Scary. Love is scary)
